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[Page 2]
On the 17 Septr 1811 at about half past 2 o'clock in the Morning, to my surprize & astonishment, Land was discoverd both by the Briton & Tagus & nearly at the same moment, The Ships were hove too, & in hailing the Briton, it was determind to continue in that situation until day light in the morning, to ascertain the exact position of the Land in view, & according to circumstances, to reconnoitre it, if necessary : - We were then by our reckoning in the Latitude of about 24º:40 South & Longitude 130º:24 W. the Land bearing SSE 5 or 6 leagues. As in all the Charts in our possession there was no Land laid down in, or near this Longitude, we were extremely puzzled to make out what Island it could be; for Pitcairn Island being by all accounts in the Longitude of 133º 24W. we could not possibly imagine so great an error could have crept in our Charts, with respect to its situation.
At daylight in the morning we bore up & ran for the Island, & as we approached it, were still more surprizd when we beheld Plantations regularly laid out, & Huts or Houses much more neatly built, than those we had lately seen at the Marquesas Islands.
As Pitcairn Island is describd as uninhabited, we naturally conjecturd this in view could not be the place, particularly when on bringing to, two or three miles off the shore, we observd the Natives bringing down their Canoes on their Shoulders & shortly after, darting through a heavy surf & paddling off to the Ships; but what was still more extraordinary was the circumstance that now came to our knowledge, viz the Inhabitants speaking the English language perfectly well, & that the Island was peopled by the descendants of Fletcher Christian, who in 1788 had mutinied against his Captain Bligh, conspiring with others to take his Ship from him, turning him adrift with 19 other in a Boat, & ultimately retaining possession of the Bounty, (a Ship employd by Government to take the Bread Fruit Tree plant from Otaheite to the West Indies under the Command of Capt Bligh) & running away with her to establish themselves in some of the Islands in the neighborhood of Otaheite least frequented by Europeans.
It appears that not having been able to effect this, they returnd to Otaheite on the 22 Sept 1789 when 16 of the Crew having left the Ship & gone on shore, Christian with the remainder sailed suddenly away in the night time, cutting their Cable, & as the Missionary accounts say, have never since been heard of.