Section 236. A CURIOUS STORY. IV.
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During his stay at Tristan he heard that a large number of seals were to be had among the islands[1], and he seems to have been greatly pleased with the Tristaners and to have formed a project of returning there. When he got home, his brother had just got back from the war and was unemployed; he infected him with his notion[2], and the two agreed[3] to join in a venture to Tristan to see what they could (App. § 33) make[4] by seal-hunting and barter.
They accordingly sailed for[5] St. Helena in August 1871, and on the 6th of November left St. Helena for Tristan in an American whaler bound on a cruise[6] in the South Atlantic. The captain of the whaler, who had been often at Tristan d’Acunha, had some doubt of the reception which the young men would get[7] if they went as permanent settlers[8] there, and he spoke so strongly of the advantages of Inaccessible Island, on account of the greater productiveness of the soil, and of its being the centre[9] of the seal-fishing, that they changed their plans and were landed on the west side of Inaccessible Island on the 27th of November 1871,—early in summer. A quarter of an hour after, the whaler departed, leaving them the only inhabitants of one of the most remote spots on the face of the earth. They do not seem, however, to have been in the least depressed by their isolation.
The same day the younger brother clambered up to the plateau with the help of the tussock grass[10], in search of goats or pigs, and remained there all night, and on the following day the two set to work to build themselves a hut for shelter. They had reached the end of their voyage by no means unprovided, and the inventory of their belongings[11] is curious.