ived.
--Oh deem it not
Presumptuous, that my soul grateful thus rates
The present high deliv'rance it hath found;--
Sole effort of Thy wisdom, sov'reign Pow'r,
Without whose knowledge, not a sparrow fells!
Oh I may I cease to live, ere cease to bless
That interposing hand, which turn'd aside--
Nay, to my life and preservation turn'd,--
The fatal blow precipitate, ordain'd
To level all my little hopes in dust,
And give me--to the grave.

[37] With which the Editor, at his request, was favoured at the time.

[38] The only authority that then existed for laying down this island
was that of Captain Carteret, who first saw it in 1767. 'It is so high,'
he says, 'that we saw it at the distance of more than fifteen leagues,
and it having been discovered by a young gentleman, son to Major
Pitcairn of the marines, who was unfortunately lost in the _Aurora_, we
called it _Pitcairn's Island_.' He makes it in lat. 25 deg. 2' S. and long.
133 deg. 30' W., no less than _three degrees_ out of its true longitude!
_Three minutes_ would _now_ be thought a considerable error:--such are
the superior advantages conferred by lunar observations and improvements
in chronometers.

Pitcairn's Island has been supposed to be the '_Encarnacion_' of Quiros,
by whom it is stated to be in lat. 24 deg. 30', and one thousand leagues
from the coast of Peru; but as he describes it as 'a low, sandy island,
almost level with the sea, having a few trees on it,' we must look for
'_Encarnacion_' somewhere else; and _Ducies_ Island, nearly in that
latitude, very low, and within 5 deg. of longitude from Pitcairn's Island,
answers precisely to it.

[39] As the manner of Christian's death has been differently reported to
each different visitor, by Adams, the only evidence in existence, with
the exception of three or four Otaheitan women, and a few infants, some
singular circumstances may here be mentioned that happened at home, just
at the time of Folder's visit, and which might render his death on
Pitcairn's Island almost a matter of doubt.

About the years 1808 and 1809, a very general opinion was prevalent in
the neighbourhood of the lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland, that
Christian was in that part of the country, and made frequent private
visits to an aunt who was living there. Being the near relative of Mr.
Christian Curwen, long member of Parliament for Carlisle, and himself a
native, he was