Pitcairn Island is a small piece of rock, just a few square kilometer in size, jutting a thousand feet above the very middle of the Pacific Ocean. Like Henderson Island, it was briefly settled by Polynesians some five hundred years ago and was abandoned for unknown reasons. In 1790, well after the Polynesians left, Pitcairn was settled by eight Bounty mutineers, and 19 kidnapped Tahitians (six men slaves, 12 women and a young girl). Within a couple of years, the English and Tahitian men began killing one another, initially due to racial strife, then sexual competition over each others' wives. Soon , the women entered the fray, eventually leaving only John Adams alive amidst a somewhat unclear number of Tahitian women.
The resulting population remained isolated from the rest of the world until it was briefly spotted by sea eighteen years later. The next time another human being was to actually set foot on the island was twenty-five years later, in 1815, when Captain Folger of the Topaz finally braved the difficult passage ashore.
By then, Pitcairn's population consisted of two very distinct age groups, not unlike that described in the novel. The children were English-speaking, despite the fact that there was only one native English-speaking inhabitant (John Adams). The children had been taught a distorted version of Christianity by the domineering John Adams, who behaved almost like a king. The only book on the island was a Bible, and the inhabitants had no real knowledge of how it was to be interpreted or the context for its words—the religious practices that resulted are in themselves worthy of study.
Because of the scarcity of biologically eligible partners, the islanders married absurdly young, oft times with huge differences in ages. They also utterly refused to discuss their past (likely at the direction of John Adams, still afraid he would be returned to stand trial in England). It is for this reason that many of the events of those first few years remain unclear.
The initial conversation between the children of Pitcairn (approaching the whaling ship in their small canoe) and Captain Folger is indicative of how utterly out of touch the civilization was.
"Who are you?" [Asked by Captain Folger]
"We are Englishmen." [Answered by Thursday Christian, Fletcher Christian's son, from their approaching canoe]
"Where were you born?"
"On that island which you see."
"How are you Englishmen, if you were born on that island, which the English do not own, and never possessed?"
"We are Englishmen because our father was an Englishman."
"Who was your father?"
With interesting simplicity, they answered, "Aleck." [Meaning Alex, John Adam's alias]
"Who is Aleck?"
"Don't you know Aleck?"
"How should I know Aleck?"
And later, when Captain Folger explained he was from the United States, they asked if that was in Ireland (John Adams' home country).
Pitcairn Today
While unable to support more than a hundred or so inhabitants, and completely isolated from the rest of the world, Pitcairn's population has proven nearly impossible to uproot. In 1831, the entire population was moved to Tahiti, but unable to adjust, they soon returned to their island prison. Twenty years later, they again tried to relocate—this time to Norfolk Island—because the Pitcairn's resources were insufficient to support their burgeoning population. But again, most returned after just a few years. Today, the island remains isolated from the rest of the world, to the point of having nowhere to land a plane, no regular shipping or mail service, and only the very occasional visit from a yacht.
Stan's Leap, while true to the history and geography of Pitcairn, takes great liberty in at least two respects.First, the idea that one could glide a yacht into dock on Pitcairn is ludicrous. Even with the concrete pier now in place, docking requires special longboats guided with extreme precision, skill, and timing—and even then, the Pitcairners will not venture out except in ideal weather. To this day, no ship or even yacht has ever docked at Pitcairn.The book also does not even attempt to capture the personality of the Pitcairn islanders, and in fact it does them a gross disservice. The Pitcairn islanders are extraordinarily friendly to the few visitors that are able to find their way there, and are a religious and conservative people (though these adjectives should be interpreted very freely).
The legal issues discussed in the book, regarding statutory rape on the island, are, unfortunately, true. In order to survive, the islanders have had to adopt a unique social environment that is complicated and delicate; their customs are neither right nor wrong, but are merely different and difficult for us to understand. Still, the British try to bring criminal charges against their population.
There is also some truth to the thought that sustaining civilization on Pitcairn may soon be impossible. As ships become larger and more difficult to divert from established shipping lanes, the island grows more remote, and the island's population is dwindling. If the British courts continue to try to impose British law on this handful of unique people, it's all but certain that Pitcairn will again become uninhabited.
Further Resources
For more about the people of Pitcairn, I recommend reading Glynn Christian's book, Fragile Paradise (Long Riders' Guild Press) 2005, or the January 2008 article "Trouble in Paradise," featured in Vanity Fair magazine (no. 569, page 94, William Prochnau and Laura Parker).
