Revised Jun 22 2021
The more recent account given by Captain Morshead, in a letter to Admiral Moresby, Dec. 15, 1853, deserves to be added to the array of testimony to the character of the islanders.
"With reference to the provisions that you entrusted to my discretion, I have left them on the island. Their yam harvest had been a fair average; but, owing to a long drought, great fears were entertained for the potato crop, on which they are equally dependent. One whaler only had been supplied for the year, yet there was not on the island a single yam, potato, hog, or goat available for traffic, although they would exchange them for an equal amount of nutriment in biscuit or flour. Their famine has taught them a good lesson; for in many houses I saw small parcels of biscuit tied up to the beams to await their pending scarcity, Under these circumstances, I was induced to leave the supplies with directions that they were to be reserved for the contingency.
"It has long been their custom to leave any cases at issue for the decision of a captain of a man-of-war as a final appeal. Only one was left for me to decide; it had previously been before the magistrate, and submitted to a jury, and on my confirming the opinion of their own tribunal, they all shook hands.
"I trust I may be allowed to add my testimony to their already established reputation for morality and virtue. With the Scriptures daily, even hourly, in their hands, it is impossible that any can act from higher principles or purer motives; and all their impulses happily appear for good, while their goodness ever inclines them to judge charitably of the faults of others; but so simple and confiding is their nature, that any designing person thrown among them might easily destroy their peace and harmony. It has never been my lot to witness a community more entitled to admiration and respect; and from this estimation of their character, it is impossible to separate the credit that is due to Mr. Nobbs, who has been their friend and teacher for twenty-five years, and is now happily their spiritual guide and minister."