slant protector and companion ; whilst gratitude
on her part preventing her wishing to
leave him, both chose to remain here ; and
he and his Peggy made the second couple
married on this island, and no two people
can be happier.
The cows, oxen, sheep, and poultry, all
thrive here; but the pigs, owing to their
eating so much kelp or sea-weed, have a
very fishy, unpleasant taste. Fish is most
abundant on this coast, and of various kinds.
A few days since, I and two men took advantage
of its being a smooth sea, and went
out in the boat. We caught as fast as we could
haul them out of the water; and, amongst
other fish, a kind of mullet, which was delicious.
'
May 1st. ■— The day being remarkably fine,
I walked out to one of the beaches, about
four miles from our settlement; but the road
was most difficult to get through—ferns growing
up as high as the shoulders, and broken
stumps continually striking the shins; but as
there are no briars or thorns of any kind
growing on the island, you may lay hold of
every sort of bush without fearing to prick
your fingers, when you find yourself falling.
We saw numbers of sea elephants sleeping on
the beach. They were all large, fat, and unwieldy.
T wo years ago ‘ ‘ The Blendenhall ’’free trader,
in trying to make this island, the weather being
foggy, and it blowing hard,' ran on a rocky
island twenty-four miles to the westward.
She was close to the land before she saw it,
and then falling quite calm, and heavy rollers
setting in, she struck; and soon after fell in
pieces; the forepart (providentially the end
where the crew and passengers had crowded
together for safety) reached nearest the shore,
and the greater part saved themselves ; but
naked, and on an uninhabited island, their
situation was most deplorable; part of the
wreck washing on shore, and, amongst other
things, some bales of cloth, which was quickly
converted into clothing; and in this miserable
state they continued for four months, no one
at Tristan d’Acunha knowing any thing about
them. The sailors at length succeeded in