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© Copyright 2001, Jim Loy
We all know the story of the mutiny on the HMS Bounty, or do we?
William Bligh, an expert navigator who had sailed on Captain James Cook's last voyage, was given command of the Bounty, in December 1787. His mission was to sail to Tahiti (also called Otaheite), collect bread fruit trees, and transport them to the East Indies, where the fruit would feed slaves. They were going to incidentally circumnavigate the world. Although Bligh was deficient in what we would call people skills, he was one of the least cruel of ship captains. He intended to never have any sailor flogged. The Bounty sailed around Cape Horn and then to Tahiti, where they collected their trees. Many of the sailors acquired Tahitian wives, and wanted to stay. They of course were forced back on board the Bounty. Over 1000 nautical miles west of Tahiti, in the vicinity of Fiji (then called the Friendly Islands), 22 of the sailors mutinied, led by first mate Fletcher Christian. They forced Bligh and all of his officers into a twenty-three foot long launch (which had a mast and sail), set them adrift, and sailed the Bounty back to Tahiti. They took the non-officers who had not mutinied with them to Tahiti.
On April 28, 1789, Captain Bligh and 18 officers sailed west in their launch. Unarmed, they soon landed at an island and were attacked by natives. One man was killed. Bligh then determined to not land at any other island, for fear of attack. They sailed to Australia (New Holland), and then (as they were not aware of English settlements in Australia) sailed further to Java, a Dutch colony where several of his men died of malnutrition and other diseases. They had sailed over 4000 nautical miles in the launch, and survived starvation and fierce storms, one of the most amazing feats in history. The twelve survivors caught different ships back to England, where Bligh became a hero.
The mutineers found themselves unwelcome on Tahiti, and they were sure to be caught and hanged some day. So most of them gathered up their wives and sailed the Bounty to Pitcairn Island, which had previously been discovered and then lost. The Bounty burned and sank, probably intentionally. Pitcairn Island was rediscovered after they were all dead, some having died by violence. Their descendants populate Pitcairn Island to this day.
The HMS Pandora, under the command of Edward Edwards, was sent to Tahiti to capture the mutineers and return them to trial in England. They collected all of the fourteen sailors still living on Tahiti, a few were mutineers, most were innocent. All were placed in chains in the hold of the Pandora. The Pandora sank on a reef off the coast of Australia. Captain Edwards ordered that all prisoners were to go down with the ship. But someone freed most of the prisoners (four died). Edwards, his crew, and the prisoners were eventually rescued, and returned to England. Three mutineers were hanged.