Mutiny on the Bounty
Sir John Barrow
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THE EVENTFUL HISTORY
OF THE
MUTINY AND PIRATICAL SEIZURE
OF H.M.S. BOUNTY:
ITS CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCES.
[By Sir John Barrow]
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
MDCCCXXXI.
CONTENTS
PREFACE
CHAPTER I. OTAHEITE
" II. THE BREAD-FRUIT
" III. THE MUTINY
" IV. THE OPEN-BOAT NAVIGATION
" V. THE 'PANDORA'
" VI. THE COURT-MARTIAL
" VII. THE KING'S WARRANT
" VIII. THE LAST OF THE MUTINEERS
CONCLUSION
ADDITIONAL NOTE
ENDNOTES
PREFACE
The Editor of this little volume (for he presumes not to write _Author_)
has been induced to bring into one connected view what has hitherto
appeared only as detached fragments (and some of these not generally
accessible)--the historical narrative of an event which deeply
interested the public at the time of its occurrence, and from which the
naval service in particular, in all its ranks, may still draw
instructive and useful lessons.
The story in itself is replete with interest. We are taught by _The
Book_ of sacred history that the disobedience of our first parents
entailed on our globe of earth a sinful and a suffering race: in our
time there has sprung up from the most abandoned of this sinful
family--from pirates, mutineers, and murderers--a little society which,
under the precepts of that sacred volume, is characterized by religion,
morality, and innocence. The discovery of this happy people, as
unexpected as it was accidental, and all that regards their condition
and history, partake so much of the romantic as to render the story not
ill adapted for an epic poem. Lord Byron, indeed, has partially treated
the subject; but by blending two incongruous stories, and leaving both
of them imperfect, and by mixing up fact with fiction, has been less
felicitous than usual; for, beautiful as many passages in his _Island_
are, in a region where every tree, and flower, and fountain breathe
poetry, yet as a whole the poem is feeble and deficient in dramatic
effect.
There still remains to us at least one poet, who, if he could be
prevailed on to undertake it, would do justice to the story. To his
suggestion the publication of the present narrative owes its appearance.
But a higher object at present is engaging his attention, which, when
completed, judging from that portion already before the public, will
have raised a splendid and lasting monument to the name of William
Sotheby, in his translation of the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_.
To the kindness of Mrs. Heywood, the relict of the late Captain Peter
Heywood, the Editor is indebted for those beautiful and affectionate
letters, written by a beloved sister to her unfortunate brother, while a
prisoner and under sentence of death; as well as for some occasional
poetry, which displays an intensity of feeling, a tenderness of
expression, and a high tone of sentiment that do honour to the head and
heart of this amiable and accomplished lady. Those letters also from the
brother to his deeply afflicted family will be read with peculiar
interest.
CHAPTER I
OTAHEITE
The gentle island, and the genial soil,
The friendly hearts, the feasts without a toil,
The courteous manners but from nature caught,
The wealth unhoarded, and the love unbougnt,
* * * * *
The bread-tree, which, without the ploughshare, yields
The unreap'd harvest of unfurrow'd fields,
And bakes its unadulterated loaves
Without a furnace in unpurchased groves,
And flings off famine from its fertile breast,
A priceless market for the gathering guest;--
These, etc.-- BYRON.
The reign of George III will be distinguished in history by the great
extension and improvement which geographical knowledge received under
the immediate auspices of this sovereign. At a very early period, after
his accession to the throne of these realms, expeditions of discovery
were undertaken, 'not (as Dr. Hawkesworth observes) with a view to the
acquisition of treasure, or the extent of dominion, but for the
improvement of commerce, and the increase and diffusion of knowledge.'
This excellent monarch was himself no mean proficient in the science of
geography; and it may be doubted if any one of his subjects, at the
period alluded to, was in possession of so extensive or so well-arranged
a cabinet of maps and charts as his was, or who understood their merits
or their defects so well as he did.
The first expeditions that were sent forth, after the conclusion of the
war, were those of Byron, Wallis, and Carteret. In the instructions to
the first of these commanders it is said, 'there is reason to believe
that lands and islands of great extent, hitherto unvisited by any
European power, may be found in the Atlantic Ocean, between the Cape of
Good Hope and the Magellanic Strait, within the latitudes convenient for
navigation, and in climates adapted to the produce of commodities useful
in commerce.' It could not require much knowledge or consideration to be
assured that, between the Cape and the Strait, climates producing
commodities useful in commerce, with the exception of whales and seals,
were likely to be found. The fact was that, among the real objects of
this and other subsequent voyages, there was one which had engaged the
attention of certain philosophers, from the time of the Spanish
navigator, Quiros: this able navigator had maintained that a _Terra
Australis incognita_ must necessarily exist, somewhere in the high
latitudes of the southern hemisphere, to counterbalance the great
masses of land in those of the northern one, and thus maintain a just
equipoise of the globe.
While these expeditions were in progress, the Royal Society, in 1768,
addressed an application to the king, praying him to appoint a ship of
war to convey to the South Seas Mr. Alexander Dalrymple (who had adopted
the opinion of Quiros), and certain others, for the main purpose,
however, of observing the transit of Venus over the sun's disc, which
was to happen in the year 1769. By the king's command, a bark of three
hundred and seventy tons was taken up by the Admiralty to perform this
service, but, as Mr. Dalrymple was a civilian, he could not be entrusted
with the command of the ship, and on that account declined going in her.
The command was therefore conferred on Lieutenant James Cook, an officer
of undoubted ability, and well versed in astronomy and the theory and
practice of navigation, with whom the Royal Society associated Mr.
Charles Green, who had long been assistant to Dr. Bradley, the
astronomer royal, to aid him in the observation of the transit. Mr.
Banks, a private gentleman of good fortune, who afterwards became the
valuable and distinguished President of the Royal Society, and Dr.
Solander, a Swedish gentleman of great acquirements, particularly in
natural history, accompanied Lieutenant Cook on this interesting voyage.
The islands of Marquesas de Mendoza, or those of Rotterdam or Amsterdam,
were proposed by the Royal Society as proper places for making the
observation. While fitting out, however, Captain Wallis returned from
his expedition, and strongly recommended as most suitable for the
purpose, Port Royal Harbour, on an island he had discovered, to which he
had given the name of 'King George's Island,' and which has since been
known by its native name, _Otaheite_ or _Tahite_.[1]
This lovely island is most intimately connected with the mutiny which
took place on board the _Bounty_, and with the fate of the mutineers and
their innocent offspring. Its many seducing temptations have been urged
as one, if not the main, cause of the mutiny, which was supposed, at
least by the commander of that ship, to have been excited by--
Young hearts which languish'd for some sunny isle,
Where summer years, and summer women smile,
Men without country, who, too long estranged,
Had found no native home, or found it changed,
And, half uncivilized, preferr'd the cave
Of some soft savage to the uncertain wave.
It may be proper, therefore, as introductory to the present narrative,
to give a general description of the rich and spontaneous gifts which
Nature has lavished on this once 'happy island;'--of the simple and
ingenuous manners of its natives,--and of those allurements which were
supposed, erroneously however, to have occasioned the unfortunate
catastrophe alluded to;--to glance at
The nymphs' seducements and the magic bower,
as they existed at the period of the first intercourse between the
Otaheitans and the crews of those ships, which carried to their shores,
in succession, Wallis, Bougainville, and Cook.
The first communication which Wallis had with these people was
unfortunately of a hostile nature. Having approached with his ship close
to the shore, the usual symbol of peace and friendship, a branch of the
plantain tree, was held up by a native in one of the numerous canoes
that surrounded the ship. Great numbers, on being invited, crowded on
board the stranger ship, but one of them, being butted on the haunches
by a goat, and turning hastily round, perceived it rearing on its hind
legs, ready to repeat the blow, was so terrified at the appearance of
this strange animal, so different from any he had ever seen, that, in
the moment of terror, he jumped overboard, and all the rest followed his
example with the utmost precipitation.
This little incident, however, produced no mischief; but as the boats
were sounding in the bay, and several canoes crowding round them, Wallis
suspected the islanders had a design to attack them, and, on this mere
suspicion, ordered the boats by signal to come on board, 'and at the
same time,' he says, 'to intimidate the Indians, I fired a nine-pounder
over their heads.' This, as might have been imagined, startled the
islanders, but did not prevent them from attempting immediately to cut
off the cutter, as she was standing towards the ship. Several stones
were thrown into this boat, on which the commanding officer fired a
musket, loaded with buck-shot, at the man who threw the first stone, and
wounded him in the shoulder.
Finding no good anchorage at this place, the ship proceeded to another
part of the island, where, on one of the boats being assailed by the
Indians in two or three canoes, with their clubs and paddles in their
hands, 'Our people,' says the commander, 'being much pressed, were
obliged to fire, by which one of the assailants was killed, and another
much wounded.' This unlucky rencontre did not, however, prevent, as soon
as the ship was moored, a great number of canoes from coming off the
next morning, with hogs, fowls, and fruit. A brisk traffic soon
commenced, our people exchanging knives, nails, and trinkets, for more
substantial articles of food, of which they were in want. Among the
canoes that came out last were some double ones of very large size, with
twelve or fifteen stout men in each, and it was observed that they had
little on board except a quantity of round pebble stones. Other canoes
came off along with them, having only women on board; and while these
females were assiduously practising their allurements, by attitudes that
could not be misunderstood, with the view, as it would seem, to distract
the attention of the crew, the large double canoes closed round the
ship; and as these advanced, some of the men began singing, some blowing
conchs, and others playing on flutes. One of them, with a person sitting
under a canopy, approached the ship so close, as to allow this person to
hand up a bunch of red and yellow feathers, making signs it was for the
captain. He then put off to a little distance, and, on holding up the
branch of a cocoa-nut tree, there was an universal shout from all the
canoes, which at the same moment moved towards the ship, and a shower of
stones was poured into her on every side. The guard was now ordered to
fire, and two of the quarter-deck guns, loaded with small shot, were
fired among them at the same time, which created great terror and
confusion, and caused them to retreat to a short distance. In a few
minutes, however, they renewed the attack. The great guns were now
ordered to be discharged among them, and also into a mass of canoes that
were putting off from the shore. It is stated that, at this time, there
could not be less than three hundred canoes about the ship, having on
board at least two thousand men. Again they dispersed, but having soon
collected into something like order, they hoisted white streamers, and
pulled towards the ship's stern, when they again began to throw stones
with great force and dexterity, by the help of slings, each of the
stones weighing about two pounds, and many of them wounded the people on
board. At length a shot hit the canoe that apparently had the chief on
board, and cut it asunder. This was no sooner observed by the rest, than
they all dispersed in such haste, that in half an hour there was not a
single canoe to be seen; and all the people who had crowded the shore
fled over the hills with the utmost precipitation. What was to happen on
the following day was matter of conjecture, but this point was soon
decided.
The white man landed;--need the rest be told?
The new world stretch'd its dusk hand to the old.
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