Bligh and the "Bounty"
COOK'S first and second expeditions had drawn special attention to
the bread-fruit as an article of food. The English planters in the
West Indies thought that the bread-fruit tree would be a valuable
addition to their food supply; for, owing to the foolish economics
of slave labour, periodical famines occurred in Jamaica and other
West India islands from one cause and another. Accordingly, in
1787 the British Admiralty dispatched WILLIAM BLIGH, in command of
a king's ship named the _Bounty_, to the Pacific Ocean to obtain
young bread-fruit trees, and then convey them to the West Indies.
Bligh had commenced his experiences in Australia by accompanying
Captain Cook on his second expedition in 1772 as sailing-master
or navigating officer of the _Resolution_. In 1772, and after
Cook had started on his third expedition, Bligh was promoted to
be a commander and sent out in H.M.S. _Providence_ to Tahiti in
connection with Cook's last voyage. On 23 December, 1787, he left
England in the _Bounty_, but owing to the frightful storms off the
extremity of South America his ship was unable to proceed direct
to the Pacific and obliged to cross the Southern Atlantic to the
Cape of Good Hope and remain there thirty-eight days to refit, to
replenish the provisions and refresh the crew. Starting again from
the Cape on 1 July, 1788, they reached Adventure Bay in Tasmania
on 20 August, after a remarkably swift passage across the southern
Indian Ocean. Another uneventful voyage of short duration took them
to Tahiti.
With him there sailed a Mr. Nelson, a horticulturist, who had been
with Cook in his third expedition and had planted shaddock trees
in Tahiti (now found to be, eleven years afterwards, well grown
and full of fruit). Nelson at once set to work with the assistance
of the natives to dig up quantities of young bread-fruit plants.
He obtained 1015, besides many specimens of other Tahitian plants.
The _Bounty_, on 4 April, 1789, sailed away from Tahiti, "where for
twenty-three weeks we had been treated with the utmost affection
and regard, which seemed to increase in proportion to our stay".
After calling at Anamuka in the Tonga archipelago the celebrated
mutiny occurred. In the early morning of 28 April, when Bligh had
just turned in for a sleep, he was suddenly awakened by Fletcher
Christian, the master's mate (one of the officers on board, and
probably a Manxman), who, accompanied by several gunners and seamen,
tied his hands behind his back and threatened him with instant death
if he spoke a word. In spite of his shoutings, however, he was
not hurt, but dragged up on deck, where he found that twenty-five
officers and men had mutinied against his command and had resolved
to put him and seventeen others into an open boat and cast them
adrift.
The cause of this mutiny undoubtedly was Bligh's own behaviour to
officers and men, but above all to his officers, since leaving
England. He was obviously a man of the most violent temper and of
very coarse habits and mean disposition. Being purser as well as
commander, he evidently tried to make money out of the rations
issued to officers and men. He was perpetually charging his
officers with stealing coconuts or yams. He would subject the
midshipmen to the most cruel punishments, almost enough, one would
think, to have killed them; and it is obvious that mutiny was in the
hearts of many on board long before it actually broke out. Bligh
gave as his explanation that during the long stay at Tahiti most
of the men on board had contracted attachments towards the native
women and wished to return and settle down there permanently. But
it has been remarked that if this was the case they might have all
deserted in a body whilst on the island, or have mutinied before the
ship left these waters instead of doing so after leaving the Tonga
archipelago at a distance of three weeks' sailing from Tahiti. The
mutiny was undoubtedly precipitated by Bligh's complete loss of
temper whilst the ship was in the Tonga archipelago, and his threats
to make the life of all on board "a perfect hell" for the rest of
the voyage, which, by way of the Dutch Indies and the Cape of Good
Hope to Jamaica, would have been a tremendously long one.
Bligh, together with the sailing-master, the acting surgeon, the
botanist, and several other officers and petty officers, in all
nineteen persons, were thrust into a launch which, when loaded with
passengers and goods, was brought so near to the surface of the
water as to endanger her sinking with only a moderate swell of the
sea. Yet in this crazy boat Bligh and his companions sailed for a
distance of 4000 miles till they landed at Timor--one of the most
noteworthy sea adventures on record. Before they left the _Bounty_
they were given 150 pounds of bread, 32 pounds of pork, 6 quarts
of rum, 6 bottles of wine, 28 gallons of water, and four empty
barrels. Thus provisioned they sailed for the island of Tofoa,
intending to obtain bread-fruit and coconuts. When the natives met
them, Bligh, wisely or unwisely, accounted for his plight by telling
them that the _Bounty_ had capsized and that they alone were saved.
They were therefore regarded rather contemptuously as shipwrecked
sailors, and only received small quantities of bread-fruit,
bananas, and coconuts. Moreover, an attempt was made to seize the
boat, in which one of the seamen was killed. In terrible distress
they implored Bligh, who with all his faults had great force of
character, to get them back to England _somehow_. He told them
that their nearest hope of salvation was the Island of Timor, 4000
miles distant, more or less, and that if they were to reach that
they must obey his orders implicitly and maintain the most absolute
discipline. They agreed.
[Illustration: A DANCING GROUND AND DRUMS AT PORT SANDWICH, MALEKALA
(MALLICOLO) ISLAND, NEW HEBRIDES.]
Soon after leaving the last islet of the Tonga archipelago a
terrible storm burst on them, and the sea curling over the stern
of the boat the fatigue of baling became very great, and some of
the provisions were spoilt. They would probably have succumbed to
their miseries but for the rum, which was served out to them in
teaspoonfuls. When the weather improved they suffered from want of
room, their limbs being fearfully cramped, for scarcely any man
could stretch out to his full length, and the nights were cold,
especially to men soaked with seawater. They passed near the Fiji
Islands, from which they were chased by cannibals in canoes. They
were soused with heavy rain, and, though it increased their stock of
fresh water, this added to their miseries.
In order to serve out allowances methodically Bligh made a pair of
scales with two coconut shells, using pistol balls as weights. He
also interested the crew by his description of what was known of
both New Guinea and Australia, giving all the information stored
in his mind, so that in the case of his death the survivors might
still reach Timor. Their rations sometimes consisted of a quarter of
a pint of coconut milk, a little decayed bread, and the kernels of
four coconuts. Occasionally half an ounce of salt pork was given to
each man. The storms and the rain continued, and Bligh proposed to
the men that when wet through with rainwater they should wring their
clothes out in salt water before putting them on again, a proceeding
from which, he says, they derived much warmth and refreshment,
though every man complained of violent pains in his bones. Incessant
baling had to be carried on, both because of the deluge of rain and
the waves breaking into the boat. They were sometimes so covered
with rain and saltwater that they could scarcely see, and suffered
extreme cold. Sleep fled from them in their misery.
One day about noon some noddies (terns, a kind of gull) came so near
the boat that one was caught by the hand. It was about the size of
a small pigeon. Bligh divided it with its entrails into eighteen
portions, which were impartially distributed amongst the crew, Bligh
himself, in drawing lots, having nothing but the beak and claws.
Later they caught a gannet, which was also divided into eighteen
portions, though its blood was given to the three people who were
most distressed for want of food. After that they caught more and
more gannets, and found their crops containing flying-fish and small
cuttlefish, all of which were welcome additions to their diet.
On 28 May they heard the sound of breakers on the Barrier Reef which
surrounds north-eastern Australia. With intense thankfulness they
found a break in the reef a quarter of a mile in width. Through
this the boat sailed to the westward and came immediately into
smooth water, so that all the past hardships seemed at once to be
forgotten, and on this account a short religious service was held on
board. Soon afterwards they landed on the sandy point of an island
off the Australian coast, and to their intense delight discovered
oysters on the rocks. By the help of a small magnifying glass a fire
was made. One of the men had managed to bring away with him a copper
pot, and into this put a mixture of oysters, bread, and pork, from
which a stew was made sufficient to give each person a full pint
of nourishing food. Moreover, they obtained berries or fruits on
this island, which out of gratitude Bligh named Restoration Island.
Calling soon afterwards at another island they discovered one of the
species of "cabbage" palms already referred to in this book, and
from the palm cabbages and oysters they made excellent meals, which
restored almost everyone to health.
On one of these islands they saw, just as they were embarking after
filling the boat with oysters, twenty naked savages running and
hallooing and beckoning the strangers to come to them; but as each
one was armed with either a spear or a lance it was thought better
to hold no communication with them. At one of these islands off the
north coast of Australia, to which was given the name of "Sunday",
a mutinous feeling began again, which Bligh allayed by inviting
the mutineer to fight a duel with him. In spite of this unpleasant
occurrence on Sunday Island they obtained oysters, clams, dogfish,
and wild beans. A party was sent out by night to catch birds, and
returned with only twelve of the noddy terns. The reason they
did not get more was that one of the men rushed amongst the birds
precipitately and disturbed them in order to secure for himself as
large a number as possible. In his frightful hunger he acknowledged
that he had eaten _nine_ of these little gulls! Nevertheless, after
again putting out into the open sea on their course to Timor, hunger
again attacked them, and there was a terrible decline in health. On
10 June Bligh noticed a visible alteration for the worse, his people
showing extreme weakness, with swelled legs, hollow and ghastly
countenances, a constant inclination to slumber, and a weakness of
understanding. He administered wine, and cheered them up by saying
that from his calculations he believed they were now close to Timor.
He proved to be correct, for on 12 June the coast of Timor was
discovered at a distance of only 6 miles, and two days afterwards
they came to an anchor at the Dutch settlement in Kupang Bay,
where they were received with every mark of kindness, hospitality,
and humanity. They stayed at Kupang for two months to recruit
their strength, and then obtaining a small schooner they sailed
to Batavia, from which island they were sent home in the ships of
the Dutch East India Company. Bligh himself was landed at the Isle
of Wight on 11 March, 1790. Nelson the botanist, however, died at
Kupang, and five of the other officers and men succumbed to disease
at Java or on the way home, so that besides the man who was killed
on the Island of Tofoa, six only out of the nineteen men set adrift
by the mutineers failed to reach a home which was some 14,000 miles
distant from the place at which they had been cast adrift.
After setting Bligh and his companions adrift, Christian took
command of the _Bounty_, and her course was directed, not to
Tahiti, but to the Tubuai archipelago farther south. The mutineers
threw overboard the greater part of the bread-fruit plants, but,
quarrelling with the natives of Tubuai, they sailed to Tahiti. Here
Otu, the principal chief, became very inquisitive about the fate of
Captain Bligh and the bread-fruit plants. They told him a garbled
story about meeting Captain Cook and handing the plants over to
him, and that Mr. Christian had now returned to Tahiti to obtain an
additional supply of pigs, goats, fowls, and more bread-fruit. So
overjoyed were the Tahitians to hear that their dear friend Captain
Cook was not dead, but alive (which of course was a lie) and about
to settle on an island so near to them, that in the course of a
very few days the _Bounty_ received on board 312 pigs, 38 goats
(derived of course from the animals landed by Cook originally), 96
fowls, a bull and a cow, and a large quantity of bread-fruit and
bananas. The _Bounty_ also received on board eight men, nine women,
and seven boys. They then returned to Tubuai, where they ran the
ship on shore, landed the live stock, and set about building a fort.
But they soon quarrelled with the natives, of whom they shot many
with their firearms. Their position became untenable; so once more
they returned to Tahiti, in September, 1789. Here sixteen of the
mutineers were landed at their own request, while the remaining nine
decided to continue their voyage in the _Bounty_, which once more
sailed away with seven Tahiti men and twelve women, intending to
discover some unknown or uninhabited island in which there was no
harbour for shipping.
British ships of war sent out after the return of Bligh to search
for the mutineers brought away fourteen out of the sixteen who had
been landed at Tahiti. All these were put on their trial: three
were executed and the remainder either pardoned or only received
short terms of imprisonment. But they were conveyed to England
under circumstances of great brutality, and, curiously enough, on
their way back, the _Pandora_ (the ship of war which conveyed them
under the command of Captain Edwardes) struck on the Barrier Reef
off north-east Australia, and the mutineers, like everyone else,
had in one of the ship's boats to perform a voyage to Timor almost
equally remarkable with that of Captain Bligh. Once more the Dutch
officials at Kupang (who must have got rather tired by this time
of shipwrecked mutinous British seafarers) received them with the
greatest kindness and sent them towards England in a vessel of the
Dutch East India Company.[107]
[107] A midshipman on board the _Bounty_, Peter Heywood, who really
took no part in the mutiny other than not offering to accompany
Captain Bligh, and who surrendered himself to the _Pandora_ by
swimming off to that ship when she arrived at Tahiti, was afterwards
tried for his life in London under very affecting circumstances.
He might quite easily have been sentenced to death but for the
unflagging efforts of his sister Nessy, a young girl with some gifts
as a poetess, who resided in the Isle of Man. The journey of Nessy
Heywood to London, the way in which she petitioned and interviewed
ministers and secretaries of state, and ultimately so worked on
the feelings of the great people in the capital, that although her
brother was convicted he was afterwards pardoned and restored to
the naval service, is as much worthy to be made the subject of an
historical novel as the conduct of Jeanie Deans in the _Heart of
Midlothian_. Unhappily Nessy wore herself out in this struggle, and
a few months after her brother's restoration to liberty died of
consumption. Peter Heywood afterwards distinguished himself in the
naval wars with France, became a post-captain, and died in 1831.
Meantime the people in England were still in ignorance of what
fate had attended the last of the mutineers. This was not revealed
until 1809. An American ship, the _Topaz_, of Boston, by a mere
chance approached the shores of desolate little Pitcairn Island,
and on landing there to obtain water they discovered, to their
astonishment, an old Englishman calling himself Alexander Smith,
and the only survivor of the nine mutineers who left Tahiti in 1789
in search of a distant and desert island, accompanied by twelve
Tahitian women, six men, and a number of boys. Smith stated to
the captain of the _Topaz_ that the _Bounty_ was run on shore at
Pitcairn and broken up in 1790, but about four years afterwards a
good deal of jealousy and ill humour arising between the Tahitians
and the English seamen, the former suddenly revolted and killed
every Englishman, except Alexander Smith, who was severely wounded.
[Alexander Smith had for some reason, then or earlier, changed his
name to that of John Adams, by which he is better known in history.]
The same night the Tahitian widows of the slain Englishmen rose up
and put to death the whole of the Tahitian men, leaving Smith the
only adult man alive on the island, together with eight or nine
women, and several children who were the offspring of the English
mutineers and the Tahitian women. These survivors now applied
themselves sedulously to tilling the ground, so that in course of
time it produced plenty of yams, coconuts and bananas, while they
bred hogs and poultry in abundance. The population at the time of
the _Topaz's_ visit amounted to thirty-five, who all acknowledged
Smith as their chief and "father". They all spoke English, and Smith
had done his best to educate them in a religious and a moral way. He
died in March, 1829.
The little colony had been joined before that time by a seaman from
a whaling ship, named John Buffet, who deliberately settled there
and constituted himself chaplain and schoolmaster. He certainly
contributed a good deal in course of time to the education and good
morals of this colony of handsome half-breeds, a colony which was
from time to time visited by British war vessels.
As to Christian, it was at first said that he had committed suicide
soon after arriving at Pitcairn Island, but the true story was that
he was killed by one of the Tahitians. But he left behind him a son
who grew up to be a handsome young fellow, and greatly astonished
the naval officers whose ship visited Pitcairn in 1814 by coming
off in Tahitian undress and saying in excellent English: "Won't you
heave us a rope, now?" He then sprang with alacrity up the side of
the ship and said, in reply to the question "Who are you?": "My
name is Thursday October Christian." He was fully 6 feet high,
with almost black hair, a handsome face, and wearing no clothes
except a straw hat and a piece of cloth round his waist. His manner
of speaking English was exceedingly correct both in grammar and
pronunciation, and he was accompanied by a fine handsome youth of
seventeen or eighteen, who called himself George Young, who was the
son of one of the midshipmen of the _Bounty_.
Pitcairn was named after a midshipman in the ship of Captain Philip
Carteret, who first sighted the island in 1767. It rises to 2000
feet in height, and its area is only 2 square miles. It is 100 miles
from the nearest island of the Paumotu group. It possesses the
remains of carved stone pillars similar to those of Easter Island,
together with stone axes, showing that at a remote period it was
inhabited. When first discovered its surface was clothed with rich
forest, the soil was very fertile, but the coast was rock-bound and
dangerous of approach.
There were no springs or streams in Pitcairn Island, and when the
forest began to be cut down by the settlers the rainfall decreased
and there was a scarcity of water. An attempt was made by the
mutineers' descendants to return to Tahiti in 1830, but it was given
up, and the Pitcairn Islanders continued to inhabit the little
island until 1856, when the whole of them--by this time 194 in
number--were landed on Norfolk Island, between New Zealand and New
Caledonia. There most of their descendants live to this day. But
in 1858 two families of these handsome hybrid people returned to
Pitcairn, which now has a population of 170, who no longer speak
English but an extraordinary mixture of Polynesian and English. They
have also a good deal degenerated from the high standard of morality
which was maintained in earlier days.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN BLIGH AND HIS MEN SEARCHING FOR OYSTERS OFF
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF]
As to Bligh, he was sent back to Tahiti in command of the
_Providence_ in 1791, and promptly obtained another supply of
bread-fruit plants which he conveyed safely to Jamaica, thus
introducing the bread-fruit tree into the West Indies. After
distinguishing himself markedly in the British naval service he
was appointed Governor of New South Wales in 1805, but became so
intensely disliked there by the violence of his temper and his
arbitrary acts that another mutiny arose against him headed by
the principal military officer. Bligh was kept in prison by the
mutineers for two years, but returned to England in 1811, where he
was promoted to be an admiral. He died in London in 1817.