The Lonely Island | Page 6

boat,
but Quintal, pointing a musket at him, threatened to shoot him if he did
not return to the ship. He obeyed the order with reluctance, and soon
after the boat was cast adrift.
The crew of the Bounty at the time consisted of forty-four souls, all told.
Eighteen of these went adrift with the Captain. The remaining
twenty-five steered back to the sunny isles of the Pacific.
CHAPTER TWO.
RECORDS THE DUTIES AND TROUBLES OF THE MUTINEERS.
It is not our purpose to follow the fortunes of Captain Bligh. The
mutineers in the Bounty claim our undivided attention.
As regards Bligh, it is sufficient to say that he performed one of the
most remarkable boat-voyages on record. In an overloaded and open
boat, on the shortest allowance of provision compatible with existence,
through calm and tempest, heat and cold, exposed to the attacks of
cannibals and to the reproaches of worn-out and mutinous men, he
traversed 3618 miles of ocean in forty-one days, and brought himself
and his followers to land, with the exception of one man who was
killed by the natives. In this achievement he displayed those qualities of
indomitable resolution and unflagging courage which ultimately raised
him to high rank in the navy. But we leave him now to trace those
incidents which result from the display of his other qualities--
ungovernable passion, overbearing impetuosity, and incomprehensible
meanness.
The first act of Fletcher Christian, after taking command of the ship,
was to serve out a glass of grog all round. He then called a council of
war, in which the mutineers discussed the question what they should
do.
"You see, lads," said Christian, "it is absolutely certain that we shan't
be left among these islands in peace. Whether Bligh manages to get

home or not, the British Government is sure to send out to see what has
become of us. My notion is that we should bear away to the south'ard,
far out of the usual track of ships, find out some uninhabited and
suitable island, and establish ourselves thereon?"
"What! without wives, or sisters, or mothers, or grandmothers, to say
nothin' o' mothers-in-law, to cook our victuals an' look after our
shirt-buttons?" said Isaac Martin, who, having been detained against his
will, had become lugubriously, or recklessly, facetious, and was
stimulated to a sort of fierce hilarity by his glass of rum.
"You're right, Martin," said Brown, the assistant botanist, "we couldn't
get along without wives, so I vote that we go back to Otaheite, get
married, every man of us, an' ho! for the South Pole. The British
cruisers would never find us there."
There was a general laugh at this sally, but gravity returned almost
instantly to every face, for they were in no humour just then for jesting.
It is probable that each man began to realise the dreadful nature of his
position as an outlaw whose life was forfeited to his country, and who
could never more hope to tread the shores of Old England, or look upon
the faces of kindred or friends. In such circumstances men sometimes
try to hide their true feelings under a veil of recklessness or forced
mirth, but seldom succeed in the attempt.
"No man in his senses would go back to Otaheite--at least not to stay
there," said John Adams, gravely; "it's the first place they will send to
look for us."
"What's the odds?" growled one of the seamen. "They won't look there
for us for a long time to come, unless Cap'n Bligh borrows a pair of
wings from an albatross, an' goes home as the crow flies."
At this point John Mills, the gunner's mate, a man of about forty,
cleared his throat and gave it as his opinion that they should not go
back to Otaheite, but should leave the matter of their future destination
in the hands of Mr Christian, who was well able to guide them.

This proposal was heartily backed by Edward Young, midshipman, a
stout young fellow of twenty-two, who was fond of Christian; but there
were one or two dissentient voices, among which were the little middy
Peter Heywood, his brother-officer George Stewart, and James
Morrison the boatswain's mate. These wished to return to Otaheite, but
the counsel of the majority prevailed, and Christian ultimately steered
for the island of Toubouai, which lay some five hundred miles to the
south of Otaheite. There he expected to be safe from pursuit, and there
it was resolved that the mutineers should take up their abode if the
natives proved friendly.
That night, while the Bounty was skimming gently over the starlit sea
before a light breeze, the three officers, Heywood, Stewart, and Young,
leaned over the weather side of the quarter-deck, and held a whispered
conversation.
"Why did you