THE MUTINY OF THE BOUNTY

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 17 March 1917, Page 2

THE MUTINY OF THE BOUNTY

Few New Zealanders arc not familiar with the tragic story of the Mutiny of the Bounty, one of the most thrilling incidents in the history of the Southern Hemisphere. It is the story of an English captain,, a man of ungovernable temper and cruel disposition who became so overbearing and tyrannical that some of his men in desperation at the treatment they received mutinied against him. The terrible sufferings of the captain and his companions, w r ho were cast adrift in an open boat, and the fate of the mutineers who made off with the Bounty, provide more excitement and adventure than the most romantic novel of the sea. In 1878 Captain Bligh was sent from England to Otaheite in charge of the Bounty, a sloop specially fitted out to carry young plants of the breadfruit tree for transplantation to the West Indies On the passage to Otaheite Bligh had several quarrels with his crew, and his brutality became more marked after the vessel had commenced Ler return voyage. Matters came to a bead on April 27,, when the third mate, Christian, who had been often the subject of the captain insults, persuaded a section of the crew to seize the ship. While most of those on board were peacefully sleeping he armed the men whom he could trust, and putting a 'guard af "the officers’ cabins, went himself with three others to the captain ”s cabin. It was just sunrise when they dragged him from his bed, and tying his hands behind his back brought him on deck. Christian then gave orders to lower the boat, and one by one Captain Bligh, his officers and men were placed in the little craft. Some canvas sails, a small cask of water, and a quadrant and compass were thrown in, together with a few scraps of food. Nineteen men were then cast adrift in a lonely sea, and the Bounty sailed away, leaving them to their fate. Thrilling experiences befel the castaways before they reached a friendly shore, They had provisions for five days, and were adrift for fifty, during which they covered 3,618 miles. They were attacked by treacherous natives at Tofoa, and one of their number was stoned to death. They were tossed about by gales, and suffered agonies of hunger and thirst. At one time for fifteen weary days and nights of ceaseless rain they toiled sometimes through fierce storms, and before terrific seas, with only their miserable pittance of bread and water to keep body and soul together. Eventually the Great Barrier Reef was sighted, and weary and worn the exhausted mariners were able to land arid were overjoyed to find fresh water, oysters, and huge ciams. Filling their boat with supplies and with only a few days’ rest. Captain Bligh and his comrades were about to set sail once more, when twenty naked savages came rushing down the beach brandishing huge spears. The Englishmen made haste to escape,., however, and put to sea.

On June 3 they doubled Cape York, and were again in the open ocean. After further sufferings they sighted land on June 11, and on June 14 they arrived at Company Bay, hollow-eyed and ghastly-looking —truly a crew of spectres.

And what of the Bounty a«d her crew of mutineers After leaving the derelict crew and their little boat, Christian had sailed out into unknown seas with his band of desperate followers to find some solitary island where they might be lost for ever from the world. The Bounty eventually reached Pitcairn Island, and here the mutineers dismantled her, and in 1790 burned the ship, as they feared she might attract the attention of some passing craft. The Englishmen divided the island into nine equal parts,, giving none to the natives whom they made their slaves. Christian had meanwhile been brooding over his crime and became gloomy, taciturn, and abusive. Whether from suicide or murder his death happened about a year after the landing. Trouble then commenced between the Englishmen and the Otaheiteans, and the latten planned to massacre their oppressors A day was fixed to attack and put to death all the Englishmen when they were at work in the yam fields. They killed two with a maul, another with a musket, while three made their escape, including Adams. Young, who was a great favorite with the native women, was hidden by them during the attack. The same night the native men were murdered by the widows of the Europeans. This was in 1793. From that time till 1798 the colonists went on quietly, until McKay, one of the remaining mutineers, succeeded in extracting an intoxicating liquor from the ti root. With Quintal, another of the mutineers, he started drinking heavily, until maddened by drink he threw himself from a cliff and was killed. Quintal became dangerous, and Adams and Young determined to kill him. This they did by felling him with an axe. There were now only two men left on the island, 'Adams and Young, and the latter died 6f asthma about a year after the murder of Quintal. Andrew Lang has told us how, in

tueir beautiful home of the sea, the children of Pitcairn Island were trained to an almost perfect sense of piety by old John Adams, the last survivor of the Bounty. With a Bible and Prayer Book to aid him he persevered with his self-imposed task. Though in the eyes of the law his crime can never be wiped out, in the i eyes of humanity,, his sincere repentance, and long and tender devotion to his charge —a charge that ended only on the day of his death —will for ever render the last of the mutineers a character to be remembered with admiration and respect.