A Narrative of the Briton's Voyage, to Pitcairn's Island. Illustrated with eighteen Etchings by the Author, from Drawings made on the Spot.

Bookseller Notes

First edition of this important early account of the Pitcairn Islands and their inhabitants. 'A very interesting narrative including some curious details regarding the mutiny of the Bounty, and a meeting with the last survivor, John Adams...' (Hill). Shillibeer set sail from England aboard the Briton, on New Year's Eve 1813. The crew docked at Rio de Janeiro, St. Helena and the Cape of Good Hope before arriving at Pitcairn in September 1814. There, the vessel was boarded by a number of the inhabitants, with whom the crew discussed the infamous mutiny and life on the island. Shillibeer replicates this conversation in full, in what seems a surprisingly modern style of reportage. Though Shillibeer did not set foot on Pitcairn, he includes his Captain's account of meeting John Adams, the last surviving Bounty mutineer, at that point in his sixties and desirous of returning to England. 'He denied being accessary [sic] to, or having the least knowledge of the conspiracy, but he expressed great horror at the conduct of Captain Bligh, not only towards his men, but his officers also'. There is a wealth of supplementary information here: about Lima, Chile and Peru, and in particular about the Marquesas Islands. After Rio, the Briton was ordered into the Pacific to search for the American frigate Essex, which was threatening British whalers in those waters. This took them to the Marquesas, which entranced Shillibeer; he produces a brief glossary of the local language - the frankly astonishing inclusions for which reveal much about sailors and their encounters with the communities they visited: 'Do you like me?', 'Then give me a kiss?', 'Give me a spear', 'I will knock your brains out'. The charming, if somewhat nave, illustrations are the work of the author. They include an atmospheric depiction of the skull-lined chapel known as 'Golgotha' in Funchal, a (folding) panorama of Rio, Kicker Rocks (Galapagos), a view of Callao (Lima), a topographical representation on the planes of El Misti (the volcano just outside Arequipa), and Pitcairn Island itself. Two portraits show 'Patookee, a friendly chief in the Island of Nooaheevah' (i.e. Nuka Hiva, the largest of the Marquesas Islands), and Friday Christian, the son of Fletcher Christian and the first child born on Pitcairn to the mutineers. Although the title page asks for 18 illustrations, only 16 etchings are listed in the direction to the binders, and Shillibeer adds a note that 16 is complete.