Page 80 - All About History - Issue 34-16

Mutiny on the Bounty

on two previous occasions and enjoyed a warm Still, even those with the highest morale were
relationship with his senior officer. He was aboard bound to suffer in the face of a voyage as hellish
Bounty being mentored by Bligh without pay, and as that encountered by Bounty as it sailed for Cape
during the voyage would be promoted to the rank Horn. Strong winds and violent storms battered
of acting lieutenant. the ship, forcing it further and further behind in
Although Hollywood would have us believe its schedule. Finally convinced that battling on
that Bligh was a tyrant or, at best, an obsessive was a recipe for disaster, Bligh told his exhausted
disciplinarian, he was no harder than many others crew that they would change course and navigate
in his position. Schooled in his early career by instead via the Cape of Good Hope.
Captain James Cook, Bligh believed in a system The men rejoiced and, so far, all seemed rosy
that was firm but certainly fair. Under his watch, again aboard the storm-lashed Bounty. In fact,
men were given adequate rest and rations, exercise when the ship anchored in April 1788 to take on
and entertainment, in return for adhering to strict board fresh provisions, Bligh was proud of how
rules and performing the duties required of them. high morale had remained, despite the hardships
Discipline was enforced when necessary, but if this of the months at sea. Christian and Bligh were
meant a trouble-free voyage, then the crew were so close by this point that the older man made
happy to go along with it. a monetary loan to his trusted comrade, placing
The sadist of the 1935 and 1962 films is nowhere Christian in his debt. Perhaps this sowed a seed
to be found in Bligh’s meticulous logs, and when of resentment in the younger man, but if it did, no
Matthew Quintal was flogged in March evidence exists to suggest so.
1788 for mutinous behaviour, he was When Bounty set sail once more, it
the exception and not the rule. was with a rejuvenated crew, yet
Punishment on board Bligh’s Fletcher as the months passed, conflict After seeking shelter on a
vessels was a fact of life as it Christian flared. The first sign of trouble nearby island after the mutiny,
was on any ship, and when the 25 September 1764 – came when Bligh clashed with Bligh and his followers were
lash was used, the deed was 20 September 1793 the ship’s carpenter, William chased off by natives
never undertaken lightly. Turning his back on a legal career to Purcell, during a stopover in
take to the sea, Christian’s early promise
and ambition ended with the Bounty
mutiny. His death on Pitcairn remains
a mystery, his dream of an island Christian and the other
paradise at an end. mutineers threatened to kill
Bligh if he raised the alarm

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