VI PREFACE. 
Sir William Denison, the governor, have brought 
to our minds the progress and prospects of this 
remarkable community in a striking manner. 
The following letter, addressed to the author 
of this work by his friend, Vice-Admiral Sir 
Fairfax Moresby, K.C.B., late Commander-in- 
Chief of Her Majesty's Naval Forces in the 
Southern Pacific, will explain the occasion of 
Mr. Nobbs's visit to England in the autumn of 
1852 :- 
" VALPARAISO, August, 1852. 
" This will be conveyed to you by Mr. Nobbs, 
the Pastor of Pitcairn's Island. It was not until 
after our departure from thence, that I found he 
had received a letter from you, dated the 29th of 
November, 1850, which, I confess, has relieved 
me of much anxiety on the responsibility I have 
taken upon myself of sending Mr. Nobbs to 
England. 
" I can most conscientiously assure you, that 
the state of society at Pitcairn has not been too 
highly described. The Bible and Prayer-book 
of the Bounty, as handed to Mr. Nobbs from 
John Adams, have been, and continue to be, the 
objects of their study, and have enabled them 
to withstand the innovations that too fervid 
