The Bounty Mutiny: Sailors Seduced by the South Seas
The 1789 mutiny on the Bounty is an infamous tale of sailors being lured by the easy charms of the South Seas into casting adrift their commander and living out their days as fugitives from the Royal Navy. 'Captain' Bligh, victim of the mutiny led by master's mate Fletcher Christian, is traditionally cast as a harsh disciplinarian who only got what was coming to him. As so often with tales which have captured the imagination through countless books and films, the true events are rather more complex. The only clear facts are that Bligh was exonerated for the mutiny, some of the mutineers were caught and hanged, while Christian led another group to live out their days on remote Pitcairn Island. Woven in amongst these more certain points are tantalising threads of speculation and fiction. The mutiny on the Bounty is a tale of floggings, murder, and two incredible escapes, one from the sea and another from justice.
A Botanical Expedition
In 1787, the new 'captain' of the Royal Navy's Bounty was 33-year-old Lieutenant William Bligh. Bligh was experienced, but as the Bounty was a small ship, a mere cutter, naval regulations did not necessitate its commanding officer hold the rank of captain. This was to be Bligh's first disappointment in connection with the infamous expedition, and certainly not his last.
The British Admiralty assigned Bligh the task of sailing to Tahiti in the South Pacific, where he was to collect as many specimens of the breadfruit plant (Artocarpus incisa) – so called because its large fruit resembled bread – as he could spare space and water for. Bligh was then instructed to transport these wholesome plants to the West Indies, where they would be used to feed slaves working on plantations. A secondary objective of the voyage was to chart the straits between New Holland and New Guinea. Bligh was familiar with the arduous route to Tahiti, since he had visited ten years before, while serving under Captain James Cook.
The Bounty's master's mate was Fletcher Christian, and he would be the ringleader of the infamous mutiny. Christian seemed unable to get on with his captain despite having sailed under him on two previous voyages and only getting his position on the Bounty on Bligh's recommendation. But of Bligh and Christian, who was really the hero and who was the villain? Tradition has it that Bligh was an extremely harsh captain, and so sympathies often lie with Christian. In fact, Bligh was rather more lenient than most naval captains, but this may have been the cause of his downfall. Seamen got regular pay and plenty of grog, but on a long voyage, all sailors expected nothing less than cramped conditions, diabolical food, and harsh discipline if they stepped out of line. For most men, their profession was not a chosen one; they found themselves at sea because they had no other work options. For this very reason, a commander and his officers had to keep a watchful eye on the ordinary seamen, many of whom were only too eager to disappear on any shore that looked favourable to a permanent escape from the navy.
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⇒ The Bounty Mutiny: Sailors Seduced by the South Seas
