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| Sunday, 1 May 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Trial of the Mutiny on 'Bounty' by Lionel Wijesiri After nearly two centuries and sixteen years, the mutiny that took place on HMS Bounty on April 28, 1789, continues to command attention. In terms of mutinies it was not exceptional; as far as after-the-fact analyses are concerned, it is the most studied of all mutinies.
In 1787, Lieutenant William Bligh, a young British Naval Officer, having served as sailing master to Captain James Cook on his voyages to the South Pacific, was commissioned by the British Admiralty, to undertake a voyage in a small ship, HMS Bounty. The goal of the voyage was to obtain a large number of breadfruit plantings to be taken to the Caribbean where they would be transplanted to provide food for the slaves in those colonies. Bligh was assisted by Fletcher Christian as Master's Mate. Bligh's character was an interesting mixture of highly admiral qualities and pernicious flaws. He was also one of the finest navigators in maritime history and a superb cartographer. But Bligh had a disastrous flaw in his character: he had no understanding of the impact his frequent emotional outbursts and insulting accusations had on other people. On December 23, 1787, Bounty sailed for Tahiti. It reached Tahiti on October 25, 1788, after ten months at sea. Bligh and his crew spent five months in Tahiti, collecting and preparing breadfruit plants. Bligh allowed the crew to live ashore and care for the potted breadfruit plants, and they became socialised to the customs and culture of the Tahitians. Fletcher Christian married Maimiti, a Tahitian woman. When HMS Bounty finally left Tahiti on April 6, 1789 there were 1015 breadfruit plants onboard, and a very unhappy crew. They were back to the harsh realities of shipboard life. Bligh's reaction was ranting and raving. The crew and the officers reacted with disgruntled compliance. Christian was affected the most and seemed to be the recipient of most of Bligh's abuse. Christian was also psychologically ill over the loss of his Tahitian mistress. Bligh berated Christian during the day, and invited him to dine in the evening. Christian finally decided to desert. On April 28, in the Friendly Islands, Fletcher Christian led the famous mutiny. Of the 42 men on board aside from Bligh and Christian, 11 joined Christian in mutiny while 31 remained loyal to Bligh. The mutineers ordered Bligh, the ship's master, two midshipmen, and the ship's clerk into Bounty's launch. Several more men voluntarily joined Bligh rather than remaining aboard. In all, 18 of the loyal crew were in the launch with Bligh; the other 13 were forced to stay and man the ship with the mutineers. Equipped only with a sextant and a pocket watch, no charts or compass, Bligh navigated the 23-foot launch on an epic 41-day, 3,200-mile open-boat voyage to Timor, and landing there on June 14. Meanwhile, the mutineers sailed for the island of Tubuai, where they tried to settle. After three months, however, they returned to Tahiti to put 16 of the crew ashore. Christian, eight other crewmen, six Tahitian men, and 11 women, one with a baby, set sail in Bounty hoping to elude the Royal Navy. Moving on, they discovered Pitcairn Island, which had been misplaced on the Royal Navy's charts. On January 23, 1790, they burned the ship in what is now Bounty Bay. Her remains continue to be visible there into the 21st century. On March 15, 1790, Lieutenant Bligh returned to England and reported the mutiny to the Admiralty. HMS Pandora, under the command of Captain Edward Edwards, was dispatched on November 7, 1790 to search for Bounty and the mutineers. Pandora reached Tahiti on March 23, 1791 and within weeks arrested 14 men from Bounty. These fourteen were imprisoned in a makeshift cell on Pandora's deck, which they derisively called "Pandora's Box". On May 8, 1791, Pandora left Tahiti, and spent about three months in search of Bounty and the remaining mutineers, without finding anything. Heading west through the Torres Strait, Pandora ran aground on a reef (part of the Great Barrier Reef) on August 29, 1791. The ship sank, and 31 of the crew and four of the prisoners were lost. The remaining 89 of the ship's company and ten prisoners (released from their cage at the last moment) assembled in four small boats and sailed for Timor, arriving there on September 16, 1791. After being repatriated to England, the ten prisoners were tried by a naval court. In the judgment delivered on September 18, 1792, four men whom Bligh had designated as innocent were acquitted. Two were found guilty, but pardoned. Another was reprieved due to a legal technicality. The other three men were convicted and hanged. In other trials, both Bligh and Edwards were tried for the loss of their ships, and both were acquitted. Bligh resumed his naval career. Even before Edwards had returned from his search for Bounty, HMS Providence and her tender Assistant began a second voyage to collect breadfruit trees on August 3, 1791. This mission was again commanded by Bligh, now promoted to Captain Bligh. The second voyage was a complete success where 2,126 breadfruit plants and hundreds of other botanical specimens were collected and delivered to the West Indies. Departing Tahiti on July 19, 1792, Bligh once again successfully navigated the Torres Strait. When an American sailing ship Topaz, rediscovered Pitcairn Island in 1808, only John Adams, ten women and some children still lived. Murder accounted for most of the deaths, though suicide, accident, and disease played parts. Fletcher Christian was believed to have been one of the murder victims; he was survived by his mistress and their son. However, rumours said that Fletcher left the island and made it back to England. In 1825, John Adams was granted amnesty for his mutiny; On November 30, 1838, the Pitcairn Islands were incorporated into the British Empire. After the Bounty voyage, Bligh commanded a number of scientific voyages. Service under Horatio Nelson in the wars with France, Bligh was appointed (1805) the governor of New South Wales and he died a vice-admiral. Over 250 books, thousands of magazine articles, five major movies, and hundreds of original manuscripts have helped to document the story from almost every conceivable perspective. However, the true reasons for the mutiny may never be known and what they were might have been lost to time.
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