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Mutiny on the Bounty
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.