The officers went ashore
with the youths, and were received by old Adams (as we shall now call
him), who conducted them to his house, and treated them to an elegant
repast of eggs, fowl, yams, plantains, bread-fruit, etc. They now
learned from him an account of the fate of his companions, who, with
himself, preferred accompanying Christian in the _Bounty_ to remaining at
Otaheite--which account agreed with that he afterwards gave at greater
length to Captain Beechey in 1828. Our limits will not permit us to
detail all the interesting particulars at length, as we could have
wished, but they are in substance as follows:--
It was Christian's object, in order to avoid the vengeance of the British
law, to proceed to some unknown and uninhabited island, and the Marquesas
Islands were first fixed upon. But Christian, on reading Captain
Cartaret's account of Pitcairn's Island, thought it better adapted for
the purpose, and shaped his course thither. Having landed and traversed
it, they found it every way suitable to their wishes, possessing water,
wood, a good soil, and some fruits. Having ascertained all this, they
returned on board, and having landed their hogs, goats, and poultry, and
gutted the ship of everything that could be useful to them, they set fire
to her, and destroyed every vestige that might lead to the discovery of
their retreat.
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