The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of H.M.S. Bounty: Its Cause And Consequences Part 1

The Eventful History Of The Mutiny And Piratical Seizure Of H.M.S. Bounty: Its Cause And Consequences.

by Sir John Barrow.

PREFACE

The Editor of this little volume (for he presumes not to write _Author_) has been induced to bring into one connected view what has. .h.i.therto appeared only as detached fragments (and some of these not generally accessible)--the historical narrative of an event which deeply interested the public at the time of its occurrence, and from which the naval service in particular, in all its ranks, may still draw instructive and useful lessons.

The story in itself is replete with interest. We are taught by _The Book_ of sacred history that the disobedience of our first parents entailed on our globe of earth a sinful and a suffering race: in our time there has sprung up from the most abandoned of this sinful family--from pirates, mutineers, and murderers--a little society which, under the precepts of that sacred volume, is characterized by religion, morality, and innocence. The discovery of this happy people, as unexpected as it was accidental, and all that regards their condition and history, partake so much of the romantic as to render the story not ill adapted for an epic poem. Lord Byron, indeed, has partially treated the subject; but by blending two incongruous stories, and leaving both of them imperfect, and by mixing up fact with fiction, has been less felicitous than usual; for, beautiful as many pa.s.sages in his _Island_ are, in a region where every tree, and flower, and fountain breathe poetry, yet as a whole the poem is feeble and deficient in dramatic effect.

There still remains to us at least one poet, who, if he could be prevailed on to undertake it, would do justice to the story. To his suggestion the publication of the present narrative owes its appearance.

But a higher object at present is engaging his attention, which, when completed, judging from that portion already before the public, will have raised a splendid and lasting monument to the name of William Sotheby, in his translation of the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_.

To the kindness of Mrs. Heywood, the relict of the late Captain Peter Heywood, the Editor is indebted for those beautiful and affectionate letters, written by a beloved sister to her unfortunate brother, while a prisoner and under sentence of death; as well as for some occasional poetry, which displays an intensity of feeling, a tenderness of expression, and a high tone of sentiment that do honour to the head and heart of this amiable and accomplished lady. Those letters also from the brother to his deeply afflicted family will be read with peculiar interest.

CHAPTER I

OTAHEITE

The gentle island, and the genial soil, The friendly hearts, the feasts without a toil, The courteous manners but from nature caught, The wealth unh.o.a.rded, and the love unbougnt,

The bread-tree, which, without the ploughshare, yields The unreap'd harvest of unfurrow'd fields, And bakes its unadulterated loaves Without a furnace in unpurchased groves, And flings off famine from its fertile breast, A priceless market for the gathering guest;-- These, etc.-- BYRON.

The reign of George III will be distinguished in history by the great extension and improvement which geographical knowledge received under the immediate auspices of this sovereign. At a very early period, after his accession to the throne of these realms, expeditions of discovery were undertaken, 'not (as Dr. Hawkesworth observes) with a view to the acquisition of treasure, or the extent of dominion, but for the improvement of commerce, and the increase and diffusion of knowledge.'

This excellent monarch was himself no mean proficient in the science of geography; and it may be doubted if any one of his subjects, at the period alluded to, was in possession of so extensive or so well-arranged a cabinet of maps and charts as his was, or who understood their merits or their defects so well as he did.

The first expeditions that were sent forth, after the conclusion of the war, were those of Byron, Wallis, and Carteret. In the instructions to the first of these commanders it is said, 'there is reason to believe that lands and islands of great extent, hitherto unvisited by any European power, may be found in the Atlantic Ocean, between the Cape of Good Hope and the Magellanic Strait, within the lat.i.tudes convenient for navigation, and in climates adapted to the produce of commodities useful in commerce.' It could not require much knowledge or consideration to be a.s.sured that, between the Cape and the Strait, climates producing commodities useful in commerce, with the exception of whales and seals, were likely to be found. The fact was that, among the real objects of this and other subsequent voyages, there was one which had engaged the attention of certain philosophers, from the time of the Spanish navigator, Quiros: this able navigator had maintained that a _Terra Australis incognita_ must necessarily exist, somewhere in the high lat.i.tudes of the southern hemisphere, to counterbalance the great ma.s.ses of land in those of the northern one, and thus maintain a just equipoise of the globe.

While these expeditions were in progress, the Royal Society, in 1768, addressed an application to the king, praying him to appoint a s.h.i.+p of war to convey to the South Seas Mr. Alexander Dalrymple (who had adopted the opinion of Quiros), and certain others, for the main purpose, however, of observing the transit of Venus over the sun's disc, which was to happen in the year 1769. By the king's command, a bark of three hundred and seventy tons was taken up by the Admiralty to perform this service, but, as Mr. Dalrymple was a civilian, he could not be entrusted with the command of the s.h.i.+p, and on that account declined going in her.

The command was therefore conferred on Lieutenant James Cook, an officer of undoubted ability, and well versed in astronomy and the theory and practice of navigation, with whom the Royal Society a.s.sociated Mr.

Charles Green, who had long been a.s.sistant to Dr. Bradley, the astronomer royal, to aid him in the observation of the transit. Mr.

Banks, a private gentleman of good fortune, who afterwards became the valuable and distinguished President of the Royal Society, and Dr.

Solander, a Swedish gentleman of great acquirements, particularly in natural history, accompanied Lieutenant Cook on this interesting voyage.

The islands of Marquesas de Mendoza, or those of Rotterdam or Amsterdam, were proposed by the Royal Society as proper places for making the observation. While fitting out, however, Captain Wallis returned from his expedition, and strongly recommended as most suitable for the purpose, Port Royal Harbour, on an island he had discovered, to which he had given the name of 'King George's Island,' and which has since been known by its native name, _Otaheite_ or _Tahite_.[1]

This lovely island is most intimately connected with the mutiny which took place on board the _Bounty_, and with the fate of the mutineers and their innocent offspring. Its many seducing temptations have been urged as one, if not the main, cause of the mutiny, which was supposed, at least by the commander of that s.h.i.+p, to have been excited by--

Young hearts which languish'd for some sunny isle, Where summer years, and summer women smile, Men without country, who, too long estranged, Had found no native home, or found it changed, And, half uncivilized, preferr'd the cave Of some soft savage to the uncertain wave.

It may be proper, therefore, as introductory to the present narrative, to give a general description of the rich and spontaneous gifts which Nature has lavished on this once 'happy island;'--of the simple and ingenuous manners of its natives,--and of those allurements which were supposed, erroneously however, to have occasioned the unfortunate catastrophe alluded to;--to glance at

The nymphs' seducements and the magic bower,

as they existed at the period of the first intercourse between the Otaheitans and the crews of those s.h.i.+ps, which carried to their sh.o.r.es, in succession, Wallis, Bougainville, and Cook.

The first communication which Wallis had with these people was unfortunately of a hostile nature. Having approached with his s.h.i.+p close to the sh.o.r.e, the usual symbol of peace and friends.h.i.+p, a branch of the plantain tree, was held up by a native in one of the numerous canoes that surrounded the s.h.i.+p. Great numbers, on being invited, crowded on board the stranger s.h.i.+p, but one of them, being b.u.t.ted on the haunches by a goat, and turning hastily round, perceived it rearing on its hind legs, ready to repeat the blow, was so terrified at the appearance of this strange animal, so different from any he had ever seen, that, in the moment of terror, he jumped overboard, and all the rest followed his example with the utmost precipitation.

This little incident, however, produced no mischief; but as the boats were sounding in the bay, and several canoes crowding round them, Wallis suspected the islanders had a design to attack them, and, on this mere suspicion, ordered the boats by signal to come on board, 'and at the same time,' he says, 'to intimidate the Indians, I fired a nine-pounder over their heads.' This, as might have been imagined, startled the islanders, but did not prevent them from attempting immediately to cut off the cutter, as she was standing towards the s.h.i.+p. Several stones were thrown into this boat, on which the commanding officer fired a musket, loaded with buck-shot, at the man who threw the first stone, and wounded him in the shoulder.

Finding no good anchorage at this place, the s.h.i.+p proceeded to another part of the island, where, on one of the boats being a.s.sailed by the Indians in two or three canoes, with their clubs and paddles in their hands, 'Our people,' says the commander, 'being much pressed, were obliged to fire, by which one of the a.s.sailants was killed, and another much wounded.' This unlucky rencontre did not, however, prevent, as soon as the s.h.i.+p was moored, a great number of canoes from coming off the next morning, with hogs, fowls, and fruit. A brisk traffic soon commenced, our people exchanging knives, nails, and trinkets, for more substantial articles of food, of which they were in want. Among the canoes that came out last were some double ones of very large size, with twelve or fifteen stout men in each, and it was observed that they had little on board except a quant.i.ty of round pebble stones. Other canoes came off along with them, having only women on board; and while these females were a.s.siduously practising their allurements, by att.i.tudes that could not be misunderstood, with the view, as it would seem, to distract the attention of the crew, the large double canoes closed round the s.h.i.+p; and as these advanced, some of the men began singing, some blowing conchs, and others playing on flutes. One of them, with a person sitting under a canopy, approached the s.h.i.+p so close, as to allow this person to hand up a bunch of red and yellow feathers, making signs it was for the captain. He then put off to a little distance, and, on holding up the branch of a cocoa-nut tree, there was an universal shout from all the canoes, which at the same moment moved towards the s.h.i.+p, and a shower of stones was poured into her on every side. The guard was now ordered to fire, and two of the quarter-deck guns, loaded with small shot, were fired among them at the same time, which created great terror and confusion, and caused them to retreat to a short distance. In a few minutes, however, they renewed the attack. The great guns were now ordered to be discharged among them, and also into a ma.s.s of canoes that were putting off from the sh.o.r.e. It is stated that, at this time, there could not be less than three hundred canoes about the s.h.i.+p, having on board at least two thousand men. Again they dispersed, but having soon collected into something like order, they hoisted white streamers, and pulled towards the s.h.i.+p's stern, when they again began to throw stones with great force and dexterity, by the help of slings, each of the stones weighing about two pounds, and many of them wounded the people on board. At length a shot hit the canoe that apparently had the chief on board, and cut it asunder. This was no sooner observed by the rest, than they all dispersed in such haste, that in half an hour there was not a single canoe to be seen; and all the people who had crowded the sh.o.r.e fled over the hills with the utmost precipitation. What was to happen on the following day was matter of conjecture, but this point was soon decided.

The white man landed;--need the rest be told?

The new world stretch'd its dusk hand to the old.

Lieutenant Furneaux, on the next morning, landed, without opposition, close to a fine river that fell into the bay--stuck up a staff on which was hoisted a pendant,--turned a turf,--and by this process took possession of the island in the name of his Majesty, and called it _King George the Third's Island_. Just as he was embarking, an old man, to whom the Lieutenant had given a few trifles, brought some green boughs, which he threw down at the foot of the staff, then retiring, brought about a dozen of his countrymen, who approached the staff in a supplicating posture, then retired and brought two live hogs, which they laid down at the foot of the staff, and then began to dance. After this ceremony the hogs were put into a canoe and the old man carried them on board, handing up several green plantain leaves, and uttering a sentence on the delivery of each. Some presents were offered him in return, but he would accept of none.

Concluding that peace was now established, and that no further attack would be made, the boats were sent on sh.o.r.e the following day to get water. While the casks were filling, several natives were perceived coming from behind the hills and through the woods, and at the same time a mult.i.tude of canoes from behind a projecting point of the bay. As these were discovered to be laden with stones, and were making towards the s.h.i.+p, it was concluded their intention was to try their fortune in a second grand attack. 'As to shorten the contest would certainly lessen the mischief, I determined,' says Captain Wallis, 'to make this action decisive, and put an end to hostilities at once.' Accordingly a tremendous fire was opened at once on all the groups of canoes, which had the effect of immediately dispersing them. The fire was then directed into the wood, to drive out the islanders, who had a.s.sembled in large numbers, on which they all fled to the hill, where the women and children had seated themselves. Here they collected to the amount of several thousands, imagining themselves at that distance to be perfectly safe. The captain, however, ordered four shot to be fired over them, but two of the b.a.l.l.s, having fallen close to a tree where a number of them were sitting, they were so struck with terror and consternation, that, in less than two minutes, not a creature was to be seen. The coast being cleared, the boats were manned and armed, and all the carpenters with their axes were sent on sh.o.r.e, with directions to destroy every canoe they could find; and we are told this service was effectually performed, and that more than fifty canoes, many of which were sixty feet long, and three broad, and lashed together, were cut to pieces.

This act of severity must have been cruelly felt by these poor people, who, without iron or any kind of tools, but such as stones, sh.e.l.ls, teeth, and bones supplied them with, must have spent months and probably years in the construction of one of these extraordinary double boats.

Such was the inauspicious commencement of our acquaintance with the natives of Otaheite. Their determined hostility and perseverance in an unequal combat could only have arisen from one of two motives--either from an opinion that a s.h.i.+p of such magnitude, as they had never before beheld, could only be come to their coast to take their country from them; or an irresistible temptation to endeavour, at all hazards, to possess themselves of so valuable a prize. Be that as it may, the dread inspired by the effects of the cannon, and perhaps a conviction of the truth of what had been explained to them, that the 'strangers wanted only provisions and water,' had the effect of allaying all jealousy; for from the day of the last action, the most friendly and uninterrupted intercourse was established, and continued to the day of the _Dolphin's_ departure; and provisions of all kinds, hogs, dogs, fruit, and vegetables, were supplied in the greatest abundance, in exchange for pieces of iron, nails, and trinkets.

As a proof of the readiness of these simple people to forgive injuries, a poor woman, accompanied by a young man bearing a branch of the plantain tree, and another man with two hogs, approached the gunner, whom Captain Wallis had appointed to regulate the market, and looking round on the strangers with great attention, fixing her eyes sometimes on one and sometimes on another, at length burst into tears. It appeared that her husband and three of her sons had been killed in the attack on the s.h.i.+p. While this was under explanation, the poor creature was so affected as to require the support of the two young men, who from their weeping were probably two more of her sons. When somewhat composed, she ordered the two hogs to be delivered to the gunner, and gave him her hand in token of friends.h.i.+p, but would accept nothing in return.

Captain Wallis was now so well satisfied that there was nothing further to apprehend from the hostility of the natives, that he sent a party up the country to cut wood, who were treated with great kindness and hospitality by all they met, and the s.h.i.+p was visited by persons of both s.e.xes, who by their dress and behaviour appeared to be of a superior rank. Among others was a tall lady about five and forty years of age, of a pleasing countenance and majestic deportment. She was under no restraint, either from diffidence or fear, and conducted herself with that easy freedom which generally distinguishes conscious superiority and habitual command. She accepted some small present which the captain gave her, with a good grace and much pleasure; and having observed that he was weak and suffering from ill health, she pointed to the sh.o.r.e, which he understood to be an invitation, and made signs that he would go thither the next morning. His visit to this lady displays so much character and good feeling, that it will best be described in the captain's own words.

'The next morning I went on sh.o.r.e for the first time, and my princess or rather queen, for such by her authority she appeared to be, soon after came to me, followed by many of her attendants. As she perceived that my disorder had left me very weak, she ordered her people to take me in their arms, and carry me not only over the river, but all the way to her house; and observing that some of the people who were with me, particularly the first lieutenant and purser, had also been sick, she caused them also to be carried in the same manner, and a guard, which I had ordered out upon the occasion, followed. In our way, a vast mult.i.tude crowded about us, but upon her waving her hand, without speaking a word, they withdrew, and left us a free pa.s.sage. When we approached near her house, a great number of both s.e.xes came out to meet her; these she presented to me, after having intimated by signs that they were her relations, and taking hold of my hand she made them kiss it.

'We then entered the house, which covered a piece of ground three hundred and twenty-seven feet long, and forty-two feet broad. It consisted of a roof thatched with palm leaves, and raised upon thirty-nine pillars on each side, and fourteen in the middle. The ridge of the thatch, on the inside, was thirty feet high, and the sides of the house, to the edge of the roof, were twelve feet high; all below the roof being open. As soon as we entered the house, she made us sit down, and then calling four young girls, she a.s.sisted them to take off my shoes, draw down my stockings, and pull off my coat, and then directed them to smooth down the skin, and gently chafe it with their hands. The same operation was also performed on the first lieutenant and the purser, but upon none of those who appeared to be in health. While this was doing, our surgeon, who had walked till he was very warm, took off his wig to cool and refresh himself: a sudden exclamation of one of the Indians, who saw it, drew the attention of the rest, and in a moment every eye was fixed upon the prodigy, and every operation was suspended.

The whole a.s.sembly stood some time motionless, in silent astonishment, which could not have been more strongly expressed, if they had discovered that our friend's limbs had been screwed on to the trunk. In a short time, however, the young women who were chafing us, resumed their employment, and having continued for about half an hour, they dressed us again, but in this they were, as may easily be imagined, very awkward; I found great benefit, however, from the chafing, and so did the lieutenant and the purser.

'After a little time our generous benefactress ordered some bales of Indian cloth to be brought out, with which she clothed me, and all that were with me, according to the fas.h.i.+on of the country. At first I declined the acceptance of this favour, but being unwilling not to seem pleased with what was intended to please me, I acquiesced. When we went away, she ordered a very large sow, big with young, to be taken down to the boat, and accompanied us thither herself. She had given directions to her people to carry me, as they had done when I came, but as I chose rather to walk, she took me by the arm, and whenever we came to a plash of water or dirt, she lifted me over with as little trouble as it would have cost me to have lifted over a child, if I had been well.'

The following morning Captain Wallis sent her a present by the gunner, who found her in the midst of an entertainment given to at least a thousand people. The messes were put into sh.e.l.ls of cocoa-nuts, and the sh.e.l.ls into wooden trays, like those used by our butchers, and she distributed them with her own hands to the guests, who were seated in rows in the open air, round the great house. When this was done, she sat down herself upon a place somewhat elevated above the rest, and two women, placing themselves, one on each side of her, fed her, she opening her mouth as they brought their hands up with the food. From this time, provisions were sent to market in the greatest abundance. The queen frequently visited the captain on board, and always with a present, but she never condescended to barter, nor would she accept of any return.

One day, after visiting her at her house, the captain at parting made her comprehend by signs, that he intended to quit the island in seven days: she immediately understood his meaning, and by similar signs, expressed her wish that he should stay twenty days; that he should go with her a couple of days' journey into the country, stay there a few days, return with plenty of hogs and poultry, and then go away; but on persisting in his first intention, she burst into tears, and it was not without great difficulty that she could be pacified. The next time that she went on board, Captain Wallis ordered a good dinner for her entertainment and those chiefs who were of her party; but the queen would neither eat nor drink. As she was going over the s.h.i.+p's side, she asked, by signs, whether he still persisted in leaving the island at the time he had fixed, and on receiving an answer in the affirmative, she expressed her regret by a flood of tears; and as soon as her pa.s.sion subsided, she told the captain that she would come on board again the following day.

Accordingly, the next day she again visited the s.h.i.+p twice, bringing each time large presents of hogs, fowls, and fruits. The captain, after expressing his sense of her kindness and bounty, announced his intention of sailing the following morning. This, as usual, threw her into tears, and after recovering herself, she made anxious inquiry when he should return; he said in fifty days, with which she seemed to be satisfied.

'She stayed on board,' says Captain Wallis, 'till night, and it was then with the greatest difficulty that she could be prevailed upon to go on sh.o.r.e. When she was told that the boat was ready, she threw herself down upon the arm-chest, and wept a long time, with an excess of pa.s.sion that could not be pacified; at last, however, with the greatest reluctance, she was prevailed upon to go into the boat, and was followed by her attendants.'

The next day, while the s.h.i.+p was unmooring, the whole beach was covered with the inhabitants. The queen came down, and having ordered a double canoe to be launched, was rowed off by her own people, followed by fifteen or sixteen other canoes. She soon made her appearance on board, but, not being able to speak, she sat down and gave vent to her pa.s.sion by weeping. Shortly after a breeze springing up, the s.h.i.+p made sail; and finding it now necessary to return into her canoe, 'she embraced us all,' says Captain Wallis, 'in the most affectionate manner, and with many tears; all her attendants also expressed great sorrow at our departure. In a few minutes she came into the bow of her canoe, where she sat weeping with inconsolable sorrow. I gave her many things which I thought would be of great use to her, and some for ornament; she silently accepted of all, but took little notice of any thing. About ten o'clock we had got without the reef, and a fresh breeze springing up, our Indian friends, and particularly the queen, once more bade us farewell, with such tenderness of affection and grief, as filled both my heart and my eyes.'

The tender pa.s.sion had certainly caught hold of one or both of these worthies; and if her Majesty's language had been as well understood by Captain Wallis, as that of Dido was to aeneas, when pressing him to stay with her, there is no doubt it would have been found not less pathetic--

Nec te noster amor, nec te data dextera quondam, Nec moritura tenet crudeli funere Dido?

This lady, however, did not sink, like the 'miserrima Dido,' under her griefs; on the contrary, we find her in full activity and animation, and equally generous, to Lieut. Cook and his party, under the name of _Oberea_, who, it now appeared, was no queen, but whose husband they discovered was uncle to the young king, then a minor, but from whom she was separated. She soon evinced a partiality for Mr. Banks, though not quite so strong as that for Wallis, but it appears to have been mutual, until an unlucky discovery took place, that she had, at her command, a stout strong-boned _cavaliere servente_; added to which, a theft, rather of an amusing nature, contributed for a time to create a coolness, and somewhat to disturb the good understanding that had subsisted between them. It happened that a party, consisting of Cook, Banks, Solander, and three or four others, were benighted at a distance from the anchorage.

Mr. Banks, says Lieut. Cook, thought himself fortunate in being offered a place by Oberea, in her own canoe, and wis.h.i.+ng his friends a good night, took his leave. He went to rest early, according to the custom of the country; and taking off his clothes, as was his constant practice, the nights being hot, Oberea kindly insisted upon taking them into her own custody, for otherwise, she said, they would certainly be stolen.

Mr. Banks having, as he thought, so good a safeguard, resigned himself to sleep with all imaginable tranquillity; but awakening about eleven o'clock, and wanting to get up, he searched for his clothes where he had seen them carefully deposited by Oberea, when he lay down to sleep, and perceived to his sorrow and surprise, that they were missing. He immediately awakened Oberea, who, starting up and hearing his complaint, ordered lights, and prepared in great haste to recover what had been lost. Tootahah (the regent) slept in the next canoe, and being soon alarmed, he came to them and set out with Oberea in search of the thief.

Mr. Banks was not in a condition to go with them, as of his apparel scarcely any thing was left him but his breeches. In about half an hour his two n.o.ble friends returned, but without having obtained any intelligence of his clothes or of the thief. Where Cook and Solander had disposed of themselves he did not know; but hearing music, which was sure to bring a crowd together, in which there was a chance of his a.s.sociates being among them, he rose, and made the best of his way towards it, and joined his party, as Cook says, 'more than half naked, and told us his melancholy story.'