The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty (58 page)
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Authors: Caroline Alexander
Tags: #History, #Europe, #Great Britain, #Military, #Naval
BOOK: The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty
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“I was very much Surprised,” Folger wrote in his log. The island had been represented by Carteret as being “destitute of Inhabitants.” Folger had thought he was at least eight hundred miles from the nearest inhabited land.
Suddenly, skimming toward them through heavy surf, came a double canoe, expertly paddled by three young men. And to their utter amazement, Folger’s party heard themselves hailed in English by the three dark-skinned men, asking for the captain of the ship.
Turning to his crew, Mayhew asked them who they thought the men could be.
“Curse them, they must be Spaniards,” his mate had replied, judging from the young men’s tawny good looks. The canoe and the boat now bobbed beside each other and it was seen that the three friendly strangers had brought a hog, fruit and coconuts as presents for their visitors, Tahitian fashion.
“Where are you from?” one of the young men asked. Folger, believing the men would know little about America, answered, “England.”
“Don’t you know my father?” asked another islander, who appeared to be in his late teens. “He is an Englishman.” Folger did not know his father, and the youth tried again. “Did you ever know Captain Bligh?” he asked, adding that “his father had sailed with him.” And thus it dawned on Folger that he had solved the mystery of what had become of Fletcher Christian and the
Bounty.
Bounty.
Ferried by the adroit canoeists through the violent surf that guarded the island, Folger arrived onshore. He was met by the island’s small colony of thirty-five inhabitants of mostly women, youths and children—the widows and offspring of the
Bounty
mutineers. Ranging from one week to some eighteen years of age, the
Bounty
children were a handsome people, the young men standing over six feet, men and women alike strong-limbed and athletic—they not infrequently swam around the island for pleasure and exercise, they said. Dark-haired, with perfect white teeth and tawny skin, they stood nearly naked, the men dressed only in loincloths and straw hats, the young women with long skirts and shawls of bark cloth draped over their shoulders. They had plenty of old clothes from the
Bounty,
as it turned out, but preferred not to wear them. The oldest of the young men, a youth of eighteen, with a recognizably English face under his dark tan and long, plaited hair, was Fletcher Christian’s son, Thursday October Christian. His father had named him for the day and month of the child’s birth, much as another mutineer had tattooed himself, nearly twenty years before, with the date of his arrival and rebirth on Tahiti.
Bounty
mutineers. Ranging from one week to some eighteen years of age, the
Bounty
children were a handsome people, the young men standing over six feet, men and women alike strong-limbed and athletic—they not infrequently swam around the island for pleasure and exercise, they said. Dark-haired, with perfect white teeth and tawny skin, they stood nearly naked, the men dressed only in loincloths and straw hats, the young women with long skirts and shawls of bark cloth draped over their shoulders. They had plenty of old clothes from the
Bounty,
as it turned out, but preferred not to wear them. The oldest of the young men, a youth of eighteen, with a recognizably English face under his dark tan and long, plaited hair, was Fletcher Christian’s son, Thursday October Christian. His father had named him for the day and month of the child’s birth, much as another mutineer had tattooed himself, nearly twenty years before, with the date of his arrival and rebirth on Tahiti.
Reluctantly, tentatively, and much against the misgivings of his suspicious wife, the island patriarch came out to meet with Folger. Alexander Smith, former able seaman, had been about twenty-three when the
Bounty
sailed. Short and stocky, at five foot five, and badly scarred by smallpox, he had been, as Bligh reported, “very much tatowed on his Body, Legs, Arms & feet” while at Tahiti. Smith was in his midforties but looked much older, his brown hair mixed with white and hanging in long strands from his bald pate. He was the sole surviving mutineer.
Bounty
sailed. Short and stocky, at five foot five, and badly scarred by smallpox, he had been, as Bligh reported, “very much tatowed on his Body, Legs, Arms & feet” while at Tahiti. Smith was in his midforties but looked much older, his brown hair mixed with white and hanging in long strands from his bald pate. He was the sole surviving mutineer.
Smith’s principal concern at this first meeting with the outside world, and the source of his wife’s anxiety, was that a King’s ship might carry him away to serve justice in England. Folger had caught wind of this fear, and revised his own introduction, disclosing to his three young guides that he was not after all from England but from America.
“Where is America?” they had asked, and then settled among themselves that it was “some Irish place.” Now, reassured by Folger personally on this count, Alexander Smith relaxed and became more expansive.
“Old England forever!” the mutineer had exclaimed, on learning of the great naval victories won by Lords Howe and Nelson.
For his part, Folger does not seem to have been particularly inquisitive about the events on the
Bounty.
Smith had kept “a regular Journal, which had become very voluminous,” from which he invited Folger to copy any extracts he chose—an offer Folger declined in light of the fact that he was staying “only five hours.” The information Folger did pick up was somewhat murky, in part because he left no account of how it was obtained: Had Smith volunteered information, or had Folger asked leading questions, based upon what he knew of this by now famous story?
Bounty.
Smith had kept “a regular Journal, which had become very voluminous,” from which he invited Folger to copy any extracts he chose—an offer Folger declined in light of the fact that he was staying “only five hours.” The information Folger did pick up was somewhat murky, in part because he left no account of how it was obtained: Had Smith volunteered information, or had Folger asked leading questions, based upon what he knew of this by now famous story?
The mutiny, said Smith, looking back to those few fraught hours almost two decades ago, “originated with Lieutenant Christian, who at the time was Officer of the Watch,” and its cause was the “overbearing and tyrannical Conduct of the Captain.” Alexander Smith had been fast asleep in his hammock when it broke out and on learning of the events had come on deck bewildered and disoriented. “Arms were put into his hands.”
(“I saw Chas. Churchill, Isaac Martin, Alexr. Smith, Jn. Sumner, Matthew Quintell, come armed with Musquets and bayonets, loading as they Came Aft,” Charles Norman had testified.)
After leaving sixteen men and cutting the ship’s cable in the night at Tahiti, Christian steered the
Bounty
for a group of islands said to have been discovered by the Spanish. When no such islands were found, the company had struck out for Pitcairn’s, which they had at last hit upon despite its wrong position on the charts. Running the
Bounty
aground on the island’s rocky, treacherous shore, they had then broken up the ship that had carried them on so many adventures.
Bounty
for a group of islands said to have been discovered by the Spanish. When no such islands were found, the company had struck out for Pitcairn’s, which they had at last hit upon despite its wrong position on the charts. Running the
Bounty
aground on the island’s rocky, treacherous shore, they had then broken up the ship that had carried them on so many adventures.
The little band of mutineers had forged a successful settlement, with each Englishman building his own thatched house and tending his own garden, together with his wife. Good, rich soil and an abundance of fruit, coconut, fish and wild birds made it possible to build new lives from scratch. The breadfruit tree was found in abundance.
The colony had prospered, although two of the mutineers died in the first two years, one of “sickness,” one by jumping off the towering rocks in a fit of insanity. Four or five years later, six of the seven remaining mutineers, including Fletcher Christian, were killed in the night by their “Otaheite servants,” who had risen against them. Only Alexander Smith had been left alive, although badly wounded. The widows of the mutineers then in turn killed their Tahitian kinsmen in revenge, and so Smith had been left with all the women, and their various offspring.
This much came from Smith alone. As Captain Folger noted, it was peculiar, but all the children spoke only English and all the Tahitian widows only Tahitian. It was, then, obviously not possible to interview the women who had been eyewitnesses, if not participants, in the events Smith so dispassionately described.
Before they parted, Smith gave Folger two generous and significant gifts: the
Bounty
’s Kendall chronometer and her azimuth compass, along with provisions and a length of mulberry bark cloth. Folger for his part presented Smith with a silk handkerchief, with which the mutineer seemed much pleased. Folger then departed, making his way back to the
Topaz
through the high, dangerous surf that protected the island from landfall, and continued on his sealing voyage.
Bounty
’s Kendall chronometer and her azimuth compass, along with provisions and a length of mulberry bark cloth. Folger for his part presented Smith with a silk handkerchief, with which the mutineer seemed much pleased. Folger then departed, making his way back to the
Topaz
through the high, dangerous surf that protected the island from landfall, and continued on his sealing voyage.
Before leaving Pitcairn’s, Folger asked Alexander Smith if he objected to having an account of his discovery published “in the papers,” and Smith said no—“he did not care for all the Navy of England cou’d never find him.” But in fact the story of the
Bounty
mutineers, which had evoked so much attention back in the old days, now received surprisingly little comment. Folger and his first mate made a report to a British lieutenant, Fitzmaurice, in Valparaíso, who in turn reported the discovery to his admiral, Sir William Sidney Smith, who passed the information on to the Admiralty.
Bounty
mutineers, which had evoked so much attention back in the old days, now received surprisingly little comment. Folger and his first mate made a report to a British lieutenant, Fitzmaurice, in Valparaíso, who in turn reported the discovery to his admiral, Sir William Sidney Smith, who passed the information on to the Admiralty.
In this roundabout manner, the news reached England, eventually prompting mention in the London press. In early 1810, the
Quarterly Review
printed the whole of Fitzmaurice’s report, although not as an item of interest in itself, but only as a brief aside within a longer, unrelated article. “If this interesting relation rested solely on the faith that is due to Americans, with whom, we say it with regret, truth is not always considered as a moral obligation, we should hesitate in giving it this publicity,” the
Review
reported frostily to its Tory readers. The editors, however, had checked their facts, and independently ascertained that Alexander Smith did indeed appear on the
Bounty
muster, and it also appeared that “the
Bounty
was actually supplied with a time-piece made by Kendall.”
Quarterly Review
printed the whole of Fitzmaurice’s report, although not as an item of interest in itself, but only as a brief aside within a longer, unrelated article. “If this interesting relation rested solely on the faith that is due to Americans, with whom, we say it with regret, truth is not always considered as a moral obligation, we should hesitate in giving it this publicity,” the
Review
reported frostily to its Tory readers. The editors, however, had checked their facts, and independently ascertained that Alexander Smith did indeed appear on the
Bounty
muster, and it also appeared that “the
Bounty
was actually supplied with a time-piece made by Kendall.”
In his report Lieutenant Fitzmaurice duly recorded Folger’s observation that the mutineers’ offspring all spoke English and had been educated “in a religious and moral way.” His report also made mention of a curious fact: the second mate of the
Topaz
asserted to him that “Christian the ringleader became insane shortly after their arrival on the island, and threw himself off the rocks into the sea.” Alexander Smith had of course told Folger that Christian had been killed in the uprising of the Otaheite “servants.” This discrepancy was reported without comment.
Topaz
asserted to him that “Christian the ringleader became insane shortly after their arrival on the island, and threw himself off the rocks into the sea.” Alexander Smith had of course told Folger that Christian had been killed in the uprising of the Otaheite “servants.” This discrepancy was reported without comment.
More unexpected than the lukewarm reception of Folger’s news in the popular press was the apparent total lack of interest on the part of the Admiralty. Perhaps the war with France was too great a distraction, or the Pacific was simply too far away, or the fact that Americans had broken the story may have rendered it unappealing; perhaps the
Bounty
was a story that nobody in the Admiralty particularly wished to see revived.
Bounty
was a story that nobody in the Admiralty particularly wished to see revived.
Whatever the reasons, the silence from the Admiralty was so profound that when six years later, in 1814, two British naval ships also chanced upon Pitcairn, they were completely ignorant of the events relating to the
Topaz.
Captain Sir Thomas Staines of the
Briton
accompanied by the
Tagus
under Captain Philip Pipon, coming from the Marquesas Islands, “fell in with an island where none is laid down in the Admiralty, or other charts”; evidently, the Admiralty had not seen fit to revise its sea maps.
Topaz.
Captain Sir Thomas Staines of the
Briton
accompanied by the
Tagus
under Captain Philip Pipon, coming from the Marquesas Islands, “fell in with an island where none is laid down in the Admiralty, or other charts”; evidently, the Admiralty had not seen fit to revise its sea maps.
As the two ships approached the picturesque island, with its forested heights and severe crags, they, like Folger, were surprised to see evidence of habitation in the form of striking huts and houses “more neatly constructed than those on the Marquesas islands” and tidy plantations. When the ships were about two miles from shore, according to Pipon, “some natives were observed bringing down their canoes on their shoulders, dashing through the heavy surf” toward the ships. Like Folger and his crew, Captains Staines and Pipon were astonished when one of the natives hailed them in English with the cry “Won’t you heave us a rope, now?”
The tall, young man of some twenty-four years who first climbed on board was Thursday October Christian; his companion, also a fine young man of about eighteen, was George Young, son of Edward Young who had been, with Christian, one of the only two officers among the nine Pitcairn mutineers. Evidently, at this second visit from their fathers’ world, the young men were bolder and willingly accepted an invitation to join the astonished company for a meal. The company’s astonishment was increased when one of the loincloth-clad visitors suddenly rose from the table “and placing his hands together in a posture of devotion, distinctly repeated, and in a pleasing tone and manner, ‘For what we are going to receive, the Lord make us truly thankful.’ ”
With these words—or rather the report of these words that would eventually be read with avid and approving interest in England—the Pitcairn Islanders at last strode onto the stage of history. With the assistance of their young guides, Captains Staines and Pipon made their way toward the ironbound shore, where a murderous surf pounded the cliff face. Scrambling ashore with “difficulty and a good wetting,” they were led from the rocky beach up a steep, zigzagging trail that passed beneath trees of coconut and breadfruit to the island’s settlement. Here, on a small plateau stood a square of neat houses laid out around a lawn on which chickens ran, and which bore the appearance, in the eyes of the wistful Englishmen, of a village green. Surveying these relics of the mutineers’ domestic history, the two captains were much impressed by the neat arrangement of the “village” and its surpassing cleanliness, all betraying the “labour & ingenuity of European hands.” Alexander Smith’s house stood at one end of the square, facing that of Thursday October Christian, the two symbolizing the poles of authority around which the community revolved. This trim village also enjoyed a grand lookout over the Pacific, a point from which any chance ship might be observed.
At the settlement the captains were met by the daughter of Alexander Smith, “arrayed in Nature’s simple garb, and wholly unadorned,” but, as Pipon later told his shipmates, “she was Beauty’s self and, needed not the aid of ornament.” This cautious beauty had been sent out as a spy to find out what might have brought the English ships. On being reassured that the men came alone and did not intend to apprehend her father, she led them to the patriarch himself. Thus Smith at last appeared, leading his wife, a very old, blind Tahitian woman, and introduced himself to the English captains as “John Adams.” This reversion to what was in fact his true, christened name was one of the many layers of truth that would be peeled away from Smith/Adams’s story over the coming years, as ship after ship came, went and made report to the outside world. Adams took the alias of Smith on joining the
Bounty,
enticed, one suspects, by the fact that her destination was as far from England as it was possible to travel; he may have been a deserter from another ship, or perhaps his reasons for wishing to escape detection were more personal.
Bounty,
enticed, one suspects, by the fact that her destination was as far from England as it was possible to travel; he may have been a deserter from another ship, or perhaps his reasons for wishing to escape detection were more personal.
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