catch a ray of the Sun of Righteousness, without a chance (so to
speak) of hearing the sound of the gospel of Christ: they might there
listen in their lonely wretchedness to the rise and fall of the tide of
that ocean by which their little island is surrounded, but they were
shut out for ever, it would seem, from the voice of the great multitude
of the faithful, "as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of
mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth!"

[114] At a time of great distress, when 270 additional inhabitants had
just made good their landing at Norfolk Island, whilst the ships and
provisions sent with them from Port Jackson were almost entirely lost,
these birds of providence, as they were justly called, furnished a
supply for the necessities of the people. Mount Pitt, the highest ground
in the island, was observed to be crowded with these birds during the
night, for in the day-time they go out to sea in search of food. They
burrow in the ground, and the hill was as full of holes as a
rabbit-warren; in size they were not bigger than pigeons, but they
looked much larger in their feathers. Their eggs were well tasted
enough, and though the birds themselves had a fishy flavour, hunger
made them acceptable. They were easily taken, for when small fires were
kindled to attract their notice, they would drop down faster than the
people could seize them. For two months together, it is said, that not
less than from two to three thousand of these birds were taken every
night, so that it was with reason that the starving population of
Norfolk Island called them birds of providence.

[115] A peculiar language prevailed in this horrid place. It is said
that a bad man was called a good man, and that one who was ready to
perform his duty was generally called a bad man; and so, in other
respects, language was adapted to the complete subversion of the human
heart there existing. See ULLATHORNE'S _Evidence before the Committee on
Transportation_, 1838, No. 271, p. 27.

The relinquishment of the settlement at Norfolk Island, under Governor
King's administration, after the money that had been spent upon it, and
the success which was attending that expenditure, might well appear to
be a hasty and imprudent act; but, undoubtedly, in its consequences it
turned out beneficial to Great Britain. Instead of Norfolk Island,
another much larger, and far mo