a solitary island in the Pacific Ocean, S. Lat. 25° 4', E. Long. 130° 8'. It is about 7 miles in circumference, and is elevated, and surrounded with steep cliffs. The highest peak on the island is 1046 feet above the sea. The N. coast, where the settlement was, presents a very fine appearance, the ground, which is thickly wooded, rising in the form of an amphitheatre, flanked by steep cliffs. The coasts of the island are for the most part inaccessible to vessels, as they are rocky and exposed to a heavy swell. There are a few small coves, and some traces of coral, but no coral reefs. The island has three landing-places; two having a steep ascent from the beach, and the other, which was generally used by the inhabitants, is very difficult of access. The structure of the island is sandstone, with particles of iron; and volcanic rocks also exist. The soil is deep and rich, consisting of clay mixed with sand. The climate is healthy, and the temperature varies from 59° to 89°. Bananas, plantains, yams, sweet potatoes, cocoa-nut trees, fig trees, mulberry trees, screw pines, and other vegetables are indigenous; while the bread-fruit tree, tobacco, &c., have been introduced. Swine, goats, and domestic fowls are the principal animals. The island was discovered by Carteret in 1767, and named after one of his officers called Pitcairn, who was the first to see it. Its chief interest, however, is connected with the mutineers of the Bounty and their descendants, who lived on it for upwards of sixty years. It was in 1790 that nine of these mutineers landed there, along with six men and twelve women from Tahiti. Although the island was then uninhabited, there is little doubt, from the remains that were subsequently discovered, that it was at one period occupied by natives, who had either become extinct or migrated to some other land. Violent quarrels soon began to break out among the settlers, excited by the use of spirits that were distilled from a root found on the island; and these feuds proved so bloody, that within ten years after the original settlement on the island, the whole of the Tahitian men and all the Englishmen but one, had perished. John Adams, the only surviving mutineer, having a Bible and Prayer-Book that had been saved from the Bounty, was struck on their peril with remorse for his crimes; and becoming a true Christian, began, with the aid of these books, to instruct the Tahitian women who remained, and their children by the white men. The result of this has been, that a very remarkable community grew up in this lonely isle, distinguished, according to the testimony of all who have visited them, by the kindness and gentleness of their character, and