An Island Saved By a Bible
N the shelf of a large public library there re
§r01t poses a modest little leather-bound Bible
JL scarcely larger than the palm of the hand.
This book is known as the Pitcairn Bible and
| mMf it stands as the centerpiece in the story of
the romantic settlement of the Pitcairn Island.
that little speck of the South Seas inhabited by godly
descendants of English mutineers and native women.
In 1808 the American merchant ship Topaz put in
at Pitcairn Island, which, according to reputable
charts, was uninhabited. The Topaz lay-to all night
off-shore and made toward land early the following
morning. As the dawn lifted, Captain Folger saw,
to his surprise, a finger of smoke rising above a clump
of palms. Then a small boat, manned by brown,
strongly built young men, was seen put off from shore.
When it came within speaking distance, Captain
Folger and his crew were dumfounded to hear them
selves hailed in English better than some members of
the crew could speak.
Cordially invited to land, the crew of the Topaz
saw more to amaze them ashore. They saw a village
of homes distinctly different from any other South
Sea settlement in an English community, founded, as
they were told, by mutineers of the British ship
Bounty, which sailed from Spithead in 1787. On this
ill-fated ship when it left England on its last voyage
was this little Bible.
After almost a year, in 1788, the Bounty, with
Lieut. William Bligh and forty-six men, one of them
a gardener, reached Tahiti. Turned loose on this
luxuriant island after ten months at sea the men were
completely enthralled with the beauty of the place and
with the charm of the native women.
Although the men left unwillingly when the Bounty
headed for England and suffered much at the hands
of the cruel Lieut. Bligh, the men mutinied and, led
by Fletcher Christian, the master’s mate, the crew to
the number of eighteen stocked the largest boat of
the ship with provisions aDd set the captain adrift
with eighteen loyal men.
Having given Bligh and his companions their free
dom, the cooler heads among the mutineers urged that
all who were left in the Bounty should lose themselves
among the islands of the South Seas. There was some
disputing this point, for most of the men wished to
go back to Tahiti. After a compromise the Bounty
sailed back to the glamorous island, and sixteen men
landed with their shr^e of the ship’s provisions and
arms. Of these, tw'' died at the hands of the natives
and fourteen others vere overtaken by the vengeance
of the British law.
The nine mutineers who rer ained with the Bounty
took on board ten women and a girl of 15 years, and
also ten native men. They laid in fresh supplies and
provisions and sailed in search of an out-of-the-way
island, where they might be safe from discovery.
Eventually they found an island whi. a is now known
as Pitcairn. The Englishmen took everything off the
Bounty. Among these things was a small prayer
book, taken, ashore in a drawer unnoticed. Then, be
cause they needed to destroy every, trace of them
selves upon the waters, they burned the ship.
Fletcher Christian, still their leader, made some
THE PITCAIRN BIBLE.
attempt at organization. The land was divided among
the nine Englishmen to their mutual satisfaction, and
each with the help of his native manservant and his
native wife began cultivation of his own land. When
the Bounty’s supply of liquor gave out, Seaman Mc
Coy, a member of the party who had been a distiller
in England, found that he could distill a liquor from
the roots of plants. Because of the isolation, the mu
tineers’ drinking increased which resulted in the na
tives killing five of the Englishmen, including Fletcher
Christian, but McCoy, Quintall and Adams, the other
members, escaped to the woods and Young was con
cealed by the women. Drink and sinful living fol
lowed until all native men, several of the women and
all the white men save Adams and Young, were dead.
John Adams remained the sole adult male survivor and
the only pure-blooded white on the island. It is re
lated that this book made it possible for Adams, a
man of meager education, to formulate a code of laws
for his community. A colony of peaceful, affectionate
and friendly people grew up under his care. A genu
inely God-fearing community emerged from a sordid
beginning.
Twenty years had passed since the landing of the
nine mutineers, and the first babies were now grown
to men and women.
Adams passed away in 1829 after calling together
the heads of families and urging them to appoint a
leader in his place. His death did not interrupt the
colony’s peace and prosperity. Three years later the
population was about 100.
In 1839 an American vessel put in at Pitcairn
Island. It had on board Levi Hayden, mate, of New
Bedford, Mass. He found that two of the widows of
the mutineers were still living at an extreme old age.
One of them, the widow of Fletcher Christian, gave
Hayden the little Bible. Its type, she said, was too
small for her failing eyesight. In its place Hayd°n
gave her a Bible in larger print.
Returning to the United States Hayden, still in
possession of the Bible, presented it to Rev. Daniel
Miner Lord. Years later the son of the aged minister
presented the P.ible to the New York public library.