Part 16

In the course of the deadly struggles occurring between the several parties, Christian, Mills, Williams, Martin, and Brown, were murdered in the year 1793, by the Otaheitan men, whom they had brought to the island with them. Christian was the first to fall a victim to their revenge. Mills was the next. Adams was shot, the ball entering at his shoulder and coming out at his neck. He fell; but suddenly sprang up and ran. They caught him; and a blow was aimed at his head with the butt-end of a musket. This he warded off with his hand, having his finger broken by the blow. On his again escaping, he ran down the rocks toward the sea; but his pursuers called out to him, that if he would return, he should not be hurt. He returned accordingly, and they troubled him no more. All the Otaheitan men were killed in the same year, one of them having been destroyed by Young’s wife, with an axe. As soon as she had killed the last survivor but one of the Otaheitans, she gave a signal to her husband to fire upon the remaining black, which was done with fatal precision. This woman, Susannah, who afterwards married Thursday October Christian, Fletcher Christian’s son, died at an advanced age, in the year 1850. She was the last survivor of the _Bounty_.

But other horrors remained behind. In 1798, M‘Coy, in a fit of _delirium tremens_, brought on by drunkenness, having thrown himself from the rocks into the sea, was drowned. Quintal, a violent and headstrong man, after threatening the lives of his companions, was killed by Young and Adams, who, in 1799, took away his life with an axe, in self-defence. Thus, six of the mutineers were murdered, and one committed suicide. Edward Young died of asthma, in 1800. Adams, as has been seen, was severely wounded in one of the contests that took place, but had recovered. Only two of the fifteen men who had landed from the _Bounty_ (Young and Adams) died a natural death. The news of the mutiny and the sufferings of Bligh excited a great sensation in England. Bligh was at once made a commander; and Captain Edwards was forthwith dispatched to Otaheite, in Her Majesty’s ship _Pandora_, to search for the _Bounty_, and to arrest and bring back to England the mutinous crew. The _Pandora_ reached Otaheite the 23rd March, 1791, and before the vessel anchored, Coleman, the armourer of the _Bounty_, came in a canoe, and gave himself up. Two days afterwards the whole of the crew of the _Bounty_, who had stayed at Otaheite, surrendered themselves, with the exception of two, who fled to the mountains, and were murdered by the natives.

After a tempestuous voyage and a shipwreck, in which four of his prisoners perished, Captain Edwards succeeded in bringing ten of the mutineers to England. These were tried by court-martial.

By the 15th article of war, statute 22 George II., cap. 33, every person in, or belonging to, the fleet, who shall run away with any of His Majesty’s ships or vessels of war, shall, on being convicted of such offence, by the sentence of the court-martial, suffer death; and by the 16th article of war of the same statute, every person in, or belonging to, the fleet, who shall desert or entice others to do so, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as the circumstances of the offence shall deserve, and a court-martial shall judge fit: and by the 19th article of war of the same statute, if any person in, or belonging to, the fleet, shall make, or endeavour to make, any mutinous assembly, upon any pretence whatever, every person offending herein, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court-martial, shall suffer death.

The court-martial in this case was held at Portsmouth, on board His Majesty’s ship _Duke_, on the 12th September, 1792. Vice-Admiral Lord Hood was the President. The officers who sat at the trial were Captains Sir A. S. Hamond, Bart., John Colpoys, Sir George Montagu, Sir Roger Curtis, John Bazeley, Sir Andrew S. Douglas, John T. Duckworth, John N. Inglefield, John Knight, Albemarle Bertie, (afterwards Admiral of the White, K.B., and a Baronet), and R. G. Keats.

The names of the ten prisoners, capitally charged with mutiny and piracy, were Peter Heywood, James Morrison, Thomas Ellison, Thomas Burkitt, John Millward, William Muspratt, Charles Norman, Joseph Coleman, Thomas M^cIntosh, and Michael Byrne.

The trial was concluded on the sixth day, the 18th of September, when the prisoners were brought in. The court having agreed that the charges of running away with the ship and deserting His Majesty’s service had been proved against six of the prisoners, they found Heywood, Morrison, Ellison, Burkitt, Millward, and Muspratt _guilty_, and adjudged them to suffer death by being hanged by the neck on board one of His Majesty’s ships-of-war. The court acquitted Norman, Coleman, McIntosh, and Byrne, and recommended Peter Heywood and James Morrison to His Majesty’s mercy.

On the 24th of October, 1792, the royal warrant was dispatched, granting a free pardon to Heywood (he died a captain, R.N., the 10th of February, 1831) and to Morrison, with a respite for Muspratt. At the same time was sent a warrant for executing Burkitt, Ellison, and Millward. Muspratt was afterwards pardoned. Millward and Muspratt, with Churchill, were the men who had been deserters at Otaheite, and who had been forgiven by Bligh for that offence. Burkitt had been forward in the mutiny on board the _Bounty_. Ellison was a mere boy on the occasion of that act of violence; he is thus described in the list forwarded from Batavia in October, 1789:—“Thomas Ellison, seaman, aged seventeen years, five feet three inches high, fair complexion, dark hair, strong made; has got his name tattooed on his right arm, and dated October 25, 1788.”

Morrison, before his connection with the _Bounty_, had served in the navy as a midshipman, and, after his pardon, had been appointed gunner of the _Blenheim_, in which he perished with Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge. In a violent gale on the 1st of February, 1807, that vessel was lost, with all the passengers and crew on her way from Madras to the Cape of Good Hope.

Burkitt, Ellison and Millward were executed, pursuant to their sentence, on the 26th of October, 1792, on board the ship _Brunswick_, in Portsmouth Harbour. Captain Hammond reported that the criminals had behaved with great penitence and decorum, had acknowledged the justice of their sentence, and exhorted their fellow-sailors to take warning by their untimely fate, enjoining them, whatever might be their hardships, never to forget their obedience to their officers, but to remember the duty which they owed to their king and country. The captain said that a party from each ship in the harbour, and at Spithead, had attended the execution; and that from the accounts he had received, the example seems to have made a salutary impression on the minds of all the ships’ companies present.

More than sixteen years elapsed after that act of justice before aught more was heard of the remaining mutineers of the _Bounty_, when, in 1808, the captain of an American schooner, by chance wintering at Pitcairn’s Island, made the wonderful discovery thus narrated by himself:—

“We left the friendly Marquesans on the 2nd of September, and were proceeding on our voyage, to regain the port of Valparaiso, steering a course which ought, according to the charts, and every other authority, to have carried us nearly three degrees of longitude to the eastward of Pitcairn’s Island, our surprise was greatly excited by its sudden appearance; it was in the second watch that we made it. At daylight we proceeded to a more close examination, and soon perceived huts, cultivation, and people; of the latter, some were making signs, others launching their little canoes through the surf, into which they threw themselves with great dexterity, and pulled towards us.

“At this moment, I believe, neither Captain Bligh (of the _Bounty_) nor Christian had entered any of our thoughts; and in waiting the approach of strangers, we prepared to ask them some questions in the language of those people we had so recently left. They approached us; and for me to picture the wonder which was conspicuous in every countenance at being hailed in perfect English, ‘What was the name of the ship, and who commanded her?’ would be impossible; our surprise can alone be conceived. The captain answered, and now a regular conversation commenced. He requested them to come alongside, and the reply was, ‘We have no boat-hook to hold on by.’ ‘I will throw you a rope.’ ‘If you do we have nothing to make it fast to.’ was the answer. However, they at length came on board, exemplifying not the least fear, but their astonishment was unbounded. After the friendly salutation of ‘Good morrow, sir,’ from the first man who entered, Mackay, for that was his name, said, ‘Do you know one William Bligh in England?’ This question threw a new light on the subject, and he was immediately asked ‘If he knew one Christian?’ and the reply was given with so much natural simplicity, that I shall here use his own words: ‘Oh, yes,’ said he, ‘very well; his son is in the boat there, coming up; his name is Friday Fletcher October Christian; his father is dead now—he was shot by a black fellow.’ Several of them had now reached the ship, and the scene was become exceedingly interesting; every one betrayed the greatest anxiety to know the ultimate fate of that misled young man, of whose end so many vague reports had been in circulation, and those who did not ask questions, devoured with avidity every word which led to an elucidation of the mysterious termination of the unfortunate _Bounty_.

“Christian was shot by a black fellow—it was supposed through a jealousy which was known to exist between the people of Otaheite and the English; he was shot while at work in the yam plantation; the man who shot Christian was afterwards shot by an Englishman. A further dispute arose between the Otaheitans and English after the death of Christian, when the blacks rose and shot two Englishmen and wounded John Adams, the only surviving man of the mutineers, who saved himself from being murdered by hiding himself in the wood; and the same night the women, enraged by the murder of the English, to whom they were more partial than their countrymen, rose and put every Otaheitan to death in his sleep. This saved Adams. His wounds were soon healed; and, although old, he enjoys good health. Christian brought with him from Otaheite, in the _Bounty_, nine white men, six blacks, and eleven women; and at that time there were forty-eight persons on the island. Adams had told them he had been on the island about twenty-five years; that the _Bounty_ was run on shore, and everything useful taken out of her, and then set fire to and burnt. Christian was shot about two years after he came to the island, his wife having died soon after the birth of his son; and he taking by force the wife of one of the blacks to supply her place, was the chief cause of his being shot; and his son, Friday Fletcher October Christian, was the oldest person on the island, except John Adams. They were allowed to marry at the age of nineteen or twenty, but not to have more than one wife, as it was considered wicked to have more; and being asked if they had been taught any religion, they answered, ‘A very good religion,’ and to their credit they went through the whole of the Belief, and said that John Adams had taught it them by order of F. Christian; and he caused a prayer to be said every day at noon: ‘I will arise and go to my father, and say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son,’ which they continued to say every day, and never neglected it.

“John Adams was a fine-looking old man, approaching to sixty years of age. We conversed with him a long time relative to the mutiny of the _Bounty_ and the ultimate fate of Christian; he denied being accessary to, or having the least knowledge of, the conspiracy.

“He told me he was perfectly aware how deeply he was involved; that by following the fortune of Christian he had not only sacrificed every claim to his country, but that his life was the necessary forfeiture for such an act, and he supposed would be exacted from him was he ever to return. Notwithstanding all these circumstances, nothing would give him so much gratification as that of seeing once more, prior to his death, that country which gave him birth, and from which he had been so long estranged. There was sincerity in his speech; I can hardly describe it, but it had a very powerful influence in persuading me that these were his real sentiments. My interest was excited to so great a degree that I offered him a conveyance for himself and any of his family who chose to accompany him. He appeared pleased at the proposal, and, as no one was then present, he sent for his wife and children; the rest of the little community surrounded the door. He communicated his desire, and solicited their acquiescence. Appalled at a request not less sudden than in opposition to their wishes, they were all at a loss for a reply. His charming daughter, although inundated with tears, first broke silence. ‘Oh, do not, sir,’ said she, ‘take from me my father—do not take away my best, my dearest friend.’ Her voice failed her—she was unable to proceed; she leaned her head on her hand, and gave full vent to her grief. His wife, too (an Otaheitan), expressed a lively sorrow. The wishes of Adams soon became known among the others, who joined in pathetic solicitation for his stay on the island. Not an eye was dry; the big tears stood in those of the men; the women shed them in full abundance: I never witnessed a scene so fully affecting, or more replete with interest. To have taken him from a circle of such friends would have ill become a feeling heart; to have forced him away, in opposition to their joint entreaties, would have been an outrage to humanity. With an assurance that it was neither our wish nor intention to take him away against his inclination, their fears were at length dissipated. His daughter, too, had gained her usual serenity; but she was lovely in her tears, for each seemed to add an additional charm. Forgetting the unhappy deed which placed Adams in that spot, and seeing him only in the character he now is, at the head of a little community, adored by all, instructing all in religion, industry, and friendship, his situation might be truly envied, and one is almost inclined to hope that his unremitting attention to the government and morals of this extraordinary little colony, will ultimately form an equivalent for the part he formerly took.

“Several books belonging to Captain Bligh, which were taken out of the _Bounty_, were then in the possession of Adams, and the “First Voyage of Captain Cook” was brought on board the _Briton_. In the title-page of each volume the name of Captain Bligh was written, and I suppose in his own writing. Christian had written his own name immediately under it, without running his pen through, or in any way defacing, that of Captain Bligh. On the margin of several of the leaves were written, in pencil, numerous remarks on the work; but, as I consider them to have been the private remarks of Captain Bligh, and written unsuspecting the much-lamented event which subsequently took place, they shall by me be held sacred.”

From that time forward the colony at Pitcairn’s Island was again and again visited, and eventually became a continual subject of public interest. Adams remained its revered patriarch till 1829, when he died at the age of sixty-nine. The colony was afterwards admirably directed by the Rev. G. H. Nobbs, who, as chaplain of the Island, was ordained by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Bloomfield, bishop of London; and before returning to Pitcairn after his ordination he had an interview with the Queen and the Prince Consort, who both evinced the warmest and most cordial concern in the welfare and happiness of the colonists. As time went on and the numbers in the colony increased, Pitcairn’s Island became too small for their support, and they were, on their own wish, removed by Government to Norfolk Island, a lovely spot which had recently been given up as a convict settlement. I cannot better conclude this account of the Islanders than with the following interesting extract, which is from a letter written by Captain W. H. Denhem, of Her Majesty’s ship _Herald_, in charge of the survey in the South-Western Pacific Ocean, under date “Norfolk Island, 16th June, 1856,” having reference to the Pitcairn Islanders taking possession of their new settlement, Norfolk Island:—

“On the morning of the 31st instant, having arranged with Lieut. John Hutchinson and Mr. J. W. Smith, assistant-surveyors, in regard to completing the survey of the island and its inlets, together with lines of soundings to the edge of the bank upon its surrounding aspects, in connection with our survey of last year, I effected a landing.

“Looking to the date of the transport _Morayshire_, which left Sydney under the instructions of his Excellency the Governor-General and of Captain Stephen G. Fremantle, to bring the Pitcairn Island community to this island, I had reason to expect them every day. And as the presence of one of Her Majesty’s ships at the new home of that interesting people would doubtlessly cheer them, as well as afford them essential aid in landing and organising, on the one hand, whilst as simultaneously as possible clearing the island of its residue as a penal settlement (upon all of which points and general views I was cognizant of the wishes of the Government), I became solicitous of being on the spot. I therefore had only to hope that the transport would arrive before my primary object in taking Norfolk Island _en route_, to the Polynesian Islands could be accomplished.

“Fortunately, on Sunday the 8th instant, although a gloomy and boisterous day, with considerable surf, the _Morayshire_ not only closed with the island, but being joined by the _Herald_, and assisted by a tracing of our survey, she took up a favourable position for disembarkation, and by sunset the Pitcairn community, numbering 194 persons, were comfortably housed as well as landed without accident. I was invited to their first evening Church service at their new home, when a special thanksgiving was rendered unto God for the preservation vouchsafed, and His guidance implored in the new era they had just entered upon. It was an exemplary manifestation of habitual piety that would not allow fatigue, amounting with many to almost exhaustion, nor that excitement in the robust at the extreme novelty of matters around them, to interfere with their wonted primary duty in life; on the contrary, these artless, self-denying people, seemed to gather physical comfort and energy as they responded to our beautiful Church Service, rendered the more touchingly so by their admirable chanting, as they listened patiently and devoted to the well-adapted exhortation of their reverend pastor and counsellor, the Rev. George Hunn Nobbs. This gentleman could not rest until he had explained to me the pervading gratitude which the arrangements for the transit and reception of his flock had excited.

“To the manner in which Acting-Lieut. Gregorie managed their embarkation, so that every moveable article, even to the ‘gun’ and ‘anvil’ of the _Bounty_, has been transferred; to the accommodating spirit in which the master of the transport followed out his undertaking on a five weeks’ passage, during which the most tender treatment was necessary for alarming cases of sea-sickness that ceased not from island to island, including a birth which took place; and finally, to the joyful sight of one of the Queen’s ships, in whose boats, under Lieut. John Hutchinson, of the _Herald_, and in the separate charge of Messrs. Nixon, Howard, and Nugent, they were landed, while the commissariat officer and myself greeted them individually as they set foot on shore, and conducted them to the comfortably-prepared quarters, until they made their own selections from the ample dwellings erected for them, may be attributed the happy accomplishment of an event so vitally important to this peculiar community, in conformity with the deep interest taken in them by Her Majesty and the Government.

“The ensuing week has been successfully employed in landing all the seventy years’ gathering of chattels belonging to the Pitcairners, notwithstanding the precarious seaboard of this island, causing the ships to put to sea every night. They could, therefore, duly observe yesterday’s Sabbath in the fitted-up church they had seen, and in which the sacrament was most impressively administered to us, together with every adult of the new congregation—a privilege I can never forget. Another solemnity marked this Sabbath, which, by our attending, assuaged the general depression which their first mourning visit to the cemetery was calculated to inflict; it being their custom for the whole of the community to attend each funeral. In the present case it was to inter a female infant, which had been embarked in a most delicate state, but had survived the voyage, though beyond medical relief when placed under the care of one of my medical officers, Mr. Denis Macdonald, in whose arms, as a slight consolation to its parents, it expired.

“Adverting to Pitcairn Island, future voyagers may find fresh beef there, as its late settlers left a bull and nine cows upon it. The pigs were destroyed, lest they might, in time, break through the fence and disturb the graveyard.”

A word or two remain to be said about Bligh. His subsequent career was also one of public distinction: he was made a post-captain, and went on a second and successful voyage, with the same object as the first, to Otaheite. He was absent on it at the time of the court-martial. In 1797 the Admiralty employed him to go among the mutineers of the Nore, to endeavour to call the misguided men to a sense of duty; he behaved on the occasion with great courage and discretion. In 1801 Bligh commanded the _Glatton_, at the battle of Copenhagen, under Lord Nelson, and was publicly thanked by his Lordship after the action. He was subsequently Governor of New South Wales, and became finally a Vice-Admiral of the Blue. He died in Bond-street, London, on the 7th December, 1817, and was interred in the churchyard of St. Mary’s, Lambeth, where a tomb has been erected to his memory. Admiral Bligh married, at Douglas, Isle of Man, Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Beetham, LL.D., Comptroller of the Customs, Isle of Man, by his wife, Miss Campbell, daughter of Principal Campbell, of Glasgow College. (Dr. Beetham was a contemporary at college of David Hume, Adam Smith, and Lord Selkirk, and an intimacy was kept up between them in after-life.)