Revised Jun 1 2021
TOWARD the close of the eighteenth century, at a time when events producing the most important results were occurring among some of the nations of the earth, there was being laid, unconsciously, the foundation of a history which in all its points could equal, if not surpass, any tale of fiction.
During the reign of King George Third, of England, the English Government considered it advisable to introduce, if possible, the breadfruit into her colonies in the West Indies, and for this purpose a ship was specially fitted out and provisioned. A small sloop-of-war, named the Bounty, was the one provided, and her internal arrangements were begun and completed with the view of transferring, with the least possible injury, the tender plants from their native soil.
On the twenty-ninth day of December, 1787, the Bounty left England, under orders to proceed to the Society Islands, for the purpose of procuring plants of the breadfruit tree, to be conveyed to the West Indies. Lieutenant William Bligh was appointed commander, and about forty-five persons, including a gardener, made up the crew. Provisions for eighteen months were put on board.
The different feelings that possessed the minds of the men who were leaving behind them what they held most sacred and dear on earth, may be imagined; yet were they doubtless cheered by the thought of one day meeting again the dear friends at home, when the long separation was ended. But for the ship, and for some of the crew, it was never to be, and could the results of that voyage have been foreseen, it is a question how many of those who then left their native land would have dared to embark on a journey that was to be fraught with events so startling in their nature, and that was to end so strangely, that even at this distant day the story is repeated and listened to with sustained interest, not only by strangers, but by the immediate descendants of the misguided men, who themselves fell victims at last to their own wrongdoing.
The voyage out was safely accomplished, the Bounty having arrived at Tahiti in the month of October, the year following her departure from England. Six months were spent at the island collecting and stowing away the plants, the crew in the meanwhile becoming very friendly with the natives. A violent storm threatening, Captain Bligh deemed it prudent to leave. This was in April, 1789.
Leaving Tahiti, the Bounty went on to Anamooka, where Captain Bligh took in water, fruits, goats, and other live stock, and put to sea again on the 26th of the same month. It was after leaving the last mentioned island that some dissatisfaction was first noticed among the crew. Hitherto, if there had been cause for complaint respecting the captain's treatment of those he commanded, it had not been openly manifested. It has now become matter of history that William Bligh possessed a tyrannical temper, and frequently had misunderstandings with his officers and men. This, and the fact that many of the crew had formed intimate acquaintance with the people of the islands, doubtless caused them to conceive the plan of seizing the ship, after having disposed of the officers.
Shortly before the mutiny broke out, one of the men, Fletcher Christian (master's mate), incurred the captain's severe displeasure. It is said that through the advice of a young officer who perished in the Pandora, Christian first formed the design of mutiny, which was so effectually carried out. Be that as it may, the night of the 28th of April, 1789, witnessed the outbreak on board the Bounty, as the mutinous crew rose in arms against their captain. Fletcher Christian, aided by three other men, secured the person of Captain Bligh. They entered his cabin, and dragged him from his bed. Being soon overpowered, his hands were pinioned behind him, thus rendering him helpless in the hands of his captors.
A boat had been made ready to receive the unfortunate Bligh and those of his companions who were to share his fate, but the share of provisions allowed them was very small. Owing to the smallness of the size of the boat, only eighteen men besides the captain ventured to trust their lives in it. Others would gladly have accompanied the eighteen, but there was no possibility of obtaining room in the boat, already too full, and their only alternative was to remain in the ship with their misguided companions. The boat containing the unfortunate men being cut adrift was soon headed for the island of Tofoa, about thirty miles distant, where a landing was effected. The natives there showed a decidedly hostile spirit, and when made aware of the presence of the white men, they rushed down to the beach, shooting arrows and hurling stones at the intruders. A man named John Norton was killed. The other eighteen hastened to get beyond the reach of their pursuers and their arrows. Then commenced a voyage attended with so much hardship and misery in the exposed condition of the voyagers that even to this day it commands the admiration and excites the wonder of all who hear. Going over the vast distance of upwards of twelve hundred leagues, encountering every kind of weather, enduring dreadful sufferings, hunger, and thirst, these men at last reached the island of Timor, where was a Dutch settlement. Here they were shown the greatest hospitality and kindness by the governor. Leaving Timor, they went to Batavia, where Bligh and some of his officers took passage on a vessel bound for Europe. They eventually reached England in safety.
No time was lost in acquainting the English Government with the disastrous failure of the Bounty's mission, and, although there were some among the crew who, at the time of the mutiny, pleaded that no blame should be attached to them, the result showed that Bligh did not spare those whose hearts and hands were alike innocent of any wrong against him. Very soon the Pandora, commanded by Captain Edwards, a man devoid of the humane feelings of kindness and pity, was sent in search of the men who had so willfully forgotten their duty. Of these only fourteen were found, eight having accompanied Fletcher Christian, with the Bounty, and two of their number having been killed by the natives of Tahiti some little while before. These poor men were conveyed in irons on board the Pandora, where they were placed in a close room, with one small opening to admit light and air. Chained to the floor, exposed to the most cruel treatment that the mind of the inhuman Edwards could conceive, enduring the heaviest privations, and compelled to live in their noisome den from day to day without any means of having it cleansed, the condition of these sufferers can more readily be imagined than described.
In this cruel position they were forced to exist; and when at last the Pandora was wrecked on a coral reef, the unfeeling Edwards would not listen to the piteous pleadings of the prisoners and release them, even to afford what help they might be able to render in trying to save the ship. One sailor, however, possessed of humane feelings, would not willingly let so many of his fellow-creatures perish thus before his eyes, and, exerting all his strength, succeeded in accomplishing their release, but not until four of them had perished. On board the ship that finally conveyed them to England, they were treated as human beings, and allowed freedom from their chains. Of these ten men "four were acquitted; one was discharged on account of an informality in the indictment; the other five were found guilty and were condemned to death. Of these two received a pardon, and the three others were executed at Spithead," from which place they had sailed on their eventful voyage four years before.