In 1787 Captain William Bligh, aged 33, was given command
of the Bounty, a merchant ship: his mission was to transport
breadfruit from Tahiti to the West Indies. The Bounty set sail on
December 23rd. Almost everyone knows the story. Or do they? This is
Bligh's version, in his own words.
It will very naturally be asked, what could be the
reason for such a revolt? .... the mutineers had flattered themselves
with the hopes of a more happy life among the Otaheiteans ... and this,
joined to some female connexions, most probably occasioned the whole
transaction.
The famous mutiny took place on April 28th, 1789:
Just before Sunrise Mr Christian and the Master at
Arms… came into my cabin while I was fast asleep, and seizing me tyed
my hands with a Cord & threatened instant death if I made the least
noise. I however called sufficiently loud to alarm the Officers, who
found themselves equally secured by centinels at their doors… Mr
Christian had a Cutlass & the others were armed with Musquets &
bayonets.
Bligh and 18 other crew members loyal to him were set
adrift in the Bounty's launch, an open boat, 23-foot long by 6'9"
wide. Before being set adrift, two of the condemned men were
allowed to collect twine, canvas, lines, sails,
cordage, an 8 and 20 gallon cask of water, and Mr. Samuel got 150 lbs.
of bread, with a small quantity of rum and wine, also a quadrant and
compass; but he was forbidden, on pain of death, to touch either map,
ephemeris, book of astronomical observations, sextant, time-keeper, or
any of my surveys or drawings.
This would have been, for most seamen, a death sentence.
But Bligh pulled off one of the greatest feats of seamanship in history:
his took his boat straight for Timor, Java, covering 3618 nautical miles
in 47 days - with not a single man lost.
Was Bligh a villain? Or a just a stern captain - like most
others of his time - with a bad crew? This book is more interesting than
the near-fictional 1932 Mutiny on the Bounty by Nordoff and Hall or
any version produced by Hollywood.
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