surveys
or drawings.

'The mutineers having forced those of the seamen whom they meant to get
rid of into the boat, Christian directed a dram to be served to each of
his own crew. I then unhappily saw that nothing could be done to effect
the recovery of the ship: there was no one to assist me, and every
endeavour on my part was answered with threats of death.

'The officers were next called upon deck, and forced over the side into
the boat, while I was kept apart from every one, abaft the mizen-mast;
Christian, armed with a bayonet, holding me by the bandage that secured
my hands. The guard round me had their pieces cocked, but on my daring
the ungrateful wretches to fire, they uncocked them.

'Isaac Martin, one of the guard over me, I saw had an inclination to
assist me, and as he fed me with shaddock (my lips being quite parched)
we explained our wishes to each other by our looks; but this being
observed, Martin was removed from me. He then attempted to leave the
ship, for which purpose he got into the boat; but with many threats they
obliged him to return.

'The armourer, Joseph Coleman, and two of the carpenters, M'Intosh and
Norman, were also kept, contrary to their inclination; and they begged
of me, after I was astern in the boat, to remember that they declared
they had no hand in the transaction. Michael Byrne, I am told, likewise
wanted to leave the ship.

'It is of no moment for me to recount my endeavours to bring back the
offenders to a sense of their duty; all I could do was by speaking to
them in general; but it was to no purpose, for I was kept securely
bound, and no one except the guard suffered to come near me.

'To Mr. Samuel (clerk) I am indebted for securing my journals and
commission, with some material ship papers. Without these I had nothing
to certify what I had done, and my honour and character might have been
suspected, without my possessing a proper document to have defended
them. All this he did with great resolution, though guarded and strictly
watched. He attempted to save the timekeeper, and a box with my surveys,
drawings, and remarks, for fifteen years past, which were numerous; when
he was hurried away with "D--n your eyes, you are well off to get what
you have."

It appeared to me that Christian was some time in doubt whether he
should keep the carpenter, or his mates; at length he determined on the
latter, and the carpenter was ordered into the boat. He was permitted,
but not without some opposition, to take his tool-chest.

'Much altercation took place among the mutinous crew during the whole
business: some swore "I'll be d---- d if he does not find his way home,
if he gets anything with him"; and when the carpenter's chest was
carrying away, "D---- n my eyes, he will have a vessel built in a
month"; while others laughed at the helpless situation of the boat,
being very deep, and so little room for those who were in her. As for
Christian, he seemed as if meditating destruction on himself and every
one else.

'I asked for arms, but they laughed at me, and said I was well
acquainted with the people among whom I was going, and therefore did not
want them; four cutlasses, however, were thrown into the boat, after we
were veered astern.

'The officers and men being in the boat, they only waited for me, of
which the master-at-arms informed Christian; who then said--"Come,
Captain Bligh, your officers and men are now in the boat, and you must
go with them; if you attempt to make the least resistance, you will
instantly be put to death"; and without further ceremony, with a tribe
of armed ruffians about me, I was forced over the side, when they untied
my hands. Being in the boat, we were veered astern by a rope, a few
pieces of pork were thrown to us, and some clothes, also the cutlasses I
have already mentioned; and it was then that the armourer and carpenters
called out to me to remember that they had no hand in the transaction.
After having undergone a great deal of ridicule, and been kept for some
time to make sport for these unfeeling wretches, we were at length cast
adrift in the open ocean.

'I had with me in the boat the following persons:

Names. Stations.

JOHN FRYER Master.
THOMAS LEDWAKD Acting Surgeon.
DAVID NELSON Botanist.
WILLIAM PECKOVER Gunner.
WILLIAM COLE Boatswain.
WILLIAM PURCELL Carpenter.
WILLIAM ELPHINSTONE Master's Mate.
THOMAS HAYWARD } Midshipman.
JOHN HALLET } do.
JOHN NORTON } Quarter-Master.
PETER LENKLETTER } do.
LAWRENCE LEBOGUE Sailmaker.
JOHN SMITH } Cook.
THOMAS HALL } do.
GEORGE SIMPSON Quarter-Master's Mate.
ROBERT TINKLER A boy.
ROBERT LAMB Butcher.
MR. SAMUEL Clerk.

In all eighteen.

'There remained in the _Bounty_:

Names. Stations.

FLETCHER CHRISTIAN Master's Mate.
PETER HEYWOOD } Midshipman.
EDWARD YOUNG } Midshipman.
GEORGE STEWART } Midshipman.
CHARLES CHURCHILL Master-at-Arms.
JOHN MILLS Gunner's Mate.
JAMES MORRISON Boatswain's Mate.
THOMAS BURKITT } Able Seaman.
MATTHEW QUINTAL } do.
JOHN SUMNER } do.
JOHN MILLWARD } do.
WILLIAM M'KOY } do.
HENRY HILLBRANT } do.
MICHAEL BYRNE } do.
WILLIAM MUSPRATT } do.
ALEXANDER SMITH } do.
JOHN WILLIAMS } do.
THOMAS ELLISON } do.
ISAAC MARTIN } do.
RICHARD SKINNER } do.
MATTHEW THOMPSON } do.
WILLIAM BROWN Gardener.
JOSEPH COLEMAN Armourer.
CHARLES NORMAN Carpenter's Mate.
THOMAS M'INTOSH Carpenter's Crew.

In all twenty-five--and the most able of the ship's company.

'Christian, the chief of the mutineers, is of a respectable family in
the North of England. This was the third voyage he had made with me; and
as I found it necessary to keep my ship's company at three watches, I
had given him an order to take charge of the third, his abilities being
thoroughly equal to the task; and by this means the master and gunner
were not at watch and watch.

'Heywood is also of a respectable family in the North of England,[5] and
a young man of abilities as well as Christian. These two had been
objects of my particular regard and attention, and I had taken great
pains to instruct them, having entertained hopes that, as professional
men, they would have become a credit to their country.

'Young was well recommended, and had the look of an able, stout seaman;
he, however, fell short of what his appearance promised. [In the account
sent home he is thus described: Edward Young, midshipman, aged
twenty-two years. Dark complexion and rather a bad look--strong
made--has lost several of his fore teeth, and those that remain are all
rotten.]

'Stewart was a young man of creditable parents in the Orkneys; at which
place, on the return of the _Resolution_ from the South Seas, in 1780,
we received so many civilities that, on that account only, I should
gladly have taken him with me: but, independent of this recommendation,
he was a seaman, and had always borne a good character.

'Notwithstanding the roughness with which I was treated, the remembrance
of past kindnesses produced some signs of remorse in Christian. When
they were forcing me out of the ship, I asked him if this treatment was
a proper return for the many instances he had received of my friendship?
he appeared disturbed at my question, and answered with much emotion,
"That,--Captain Bligh,--that is the thing;--I am in hell,--I am in
hell!"

'As soon as I had time to reflect, I felt an inward satisfaction, which
prevented any depression of my spirits: conscious of my integrity, and
anxious solicitude for the good of the service in which I had been
engaged, I found my mind wonderfully supported, and I began to conceive
hopes, notwithstanding so heavy a calamity, that I should one day be
able to account to my king and country for the misfortune. A few hours
before my situation had been peculiarly flattering. I had a ship in the
most perfect order, and well stored with every necessary both for
service and health; by early attention to those particulars I had, as
much as lay in my power, provided against any accident in case I could
not get through Endeavour Straits, as well as against what might befall
me in them; add to this, the plants had been successfully preserved in
the most flourishing state: so that, upon the whole, the voyage was
two-thirds completed, and the remaining part, to all appearance, in a
very promising way; every person on board being in perfect health, to
establish which was ever amongst the principal objects of my attention.

'It will very naturally be asked, what could be the reason for such a
revolt? In answer to which I can only conjecture that the mutineers had
flattered themselves with the hopes of a more happy life among the
Otaheitans than they could possibly enjoy in England; and this, joined
to some female connexions, most probably occasioned the whole
transaction. The ship, indeed, while within our sight, steered to the
W.N.W., but I considered this only as a feint; for when we were sent
away,--"Huzza for Otaheite!"--was frequently heard among the mutineers.

'The women of Otaheite are handsome, mild, and cheerful in their manners
and conversation, possessed of great sensibility, and have sufficient
delicacy to make them admired and beloved. The chiefs were so much
attached to our people, that they rather encouraged their stay among
them than otherwise, and even made them promises of large possessions.
Under these and many other attendant circumstances, equally desirable,
it is now perhaps not so much to be wondered at, though scarcely
possible to have been foreseen, that a set of sailors, most of them void
of connexions, should be led away; especially when, in addition to such
powerful inducements, they imagined it in their power to fix themselves
in the midst of plenty, on one of the finest islands in the world, where
they need hot labour, and where the allurements of dissipation are
beyond anything that can be conceived. The utmost, however, that any
commander could have supposed to have happened is, that some of the
people would have been tempted to desert. But if it should be asserted
that a commander is to guard against an act of mutiny and piracy in his
own ship, more than by the common rules of service, it is as much as to
say that he must sleep locked up, and when awake, be girded with
pistols.

'Desertions have happened, more or less, from most of the ships that
have been at the Society Islands; but it has always been in the
commander's power to make the chiefs return their people; the
knowledge, therefore, that it was unsafe to desert, perhaps first led
mine to consider with what ease so small a ship might be surprised, and
that so favourable an opportunity would never offer to them again.

'The secrecy of this mutiny is beyond all conception. Thirteen of the
party, who were with me, had always lived forward among the seamen; yet
neither they, nor the messmates of Christian, Stewart, Heywood, and
Young, had ever observed any circumstance that made them in the least
suspect what was going on. To such a close-planned act of villainy, my
mind being entirely free from any suspicion, it is not wonderful that I
fell a sacrifice. Perhaps, if there had been marines on board, a
sentinel at my cabin-door might have prevented it; for I slept with the
door always open, that the officer of the watch might have access to me
on all occasions, the possibility of such a conspiracy being ever the
farthest from my thoughts. Had their mutiny been occasioned by any
grievances, either real or imaginary, I must have discovered symptoms of
their discontent, which would have put me on my guard; but the ease was
far otherwise. Christian, in particular, I was on the most friendly
terms with: that very day he was engaged to have dined with me; and the
preceding night he excused himself from supping with me, on