Fletcher Christian was born in
1764, near Cockermouth, Cumberland. His father died when Fletcher was an
infant, and his mother, Ann, increased the family debts substantially, moving
eventually to the Isle of Man. The teenaged Fletcher spent holidays there,
(where, incidentally, William Bligh had lived after his marriage in 1781). He
first went to sea in 1783, and had later served in the merchant fleet under
Bligh, on two voyages to the West Indies. Bligh seems to have been impressed by
the young Christian, who became something of his protégé, and recommended him
as a midshipman on the Bounty.
The Fleet of Otaheiti |
Christian, like his crewmates, took
enthusiastically to life on Tahiti. The food was good and abundant, the climate
balmy, the women uninhibited, and the men friendly – many became taios, or
protective friends, to the sailors, taking them into their homes and families.
Several of the men, including Christian, followed the Tahitian custom of
tattooing their bodies. Life, it seems, was good on the island Paradise.
Native Otaheitians |
However,
even life in Eden has its problems. The Tahitians were inclined to petty theft,
and Bligh warned his men to be aware of this at all time, and that the cost of
any losses would be deducted from their pay. But things went missing. Bligh had
able seaman Alexander Smith flogged when the gudgeon (a metal brace for the
rudder) of the launch was ‘drawn out’ on his watch. The Tahitians were appalled
by this treatment. Soon after, seaman Matthew Thompson was given twelve lashes
for ‘insolence and disobedience’; the cook’s assistant, William Muspratt
received the same for ‘neglect of duty’ and the butcher, Robert Lamb, was also
given a dozen when his cleaver was stolen. The drunken doctor, Huggan, eventually died,
(‘Exercise was a thing he could not bear an Idea of’, was Bligh’s verdict).
Royal Navy flogging. |
Then, the monsoon arrived.
The plants in the nursery were in danger from the
salt-water spray of the storms, and Bligh feared the Bounty herself was at risk
in the gales. In a break between storms, he arranged to move both to safer
berths, but during the move, on Christmas Day 1788, Fryer, the Master, managed
to ground the ship for a short while. During one of the dark January nights, three
crewmen went absent, taking with them the small launch, some guns, and
ammunition. Whilst onshore, Bligh heard that a native who had aided the
deserters was aboard Bounty; he rushed back, only to find Fryer had allowed the
man to escape, and no attempt had been made to follow him. Soon after, Bligh
discovered the spare sails were wet and rotted, in spite of earlier orders to
Fryer to wash and air them. In his log he wrote, “If I had any Officers to
supercede the Master and Boatswain, or was capable of doing without them
considering them as common seamen, they should no longer occupy their
respective Stations” (Jan 17, 1789).
After three weeks, news of the deserters’
position reached Bligh; he set out immediately, captured them, and returned
them to the ship. After reading the Articles of War, Charles Churchill was
lashed twelve times, and John Millward and William Muspratt (already lashed
earlier, see above) both had two dozen, the whole to be repeated again at a
later date. The three were held clapped in irons.
More flogging |
In spite of all this, Bligh
was being lenient, by the standards of the day; deserters could expect 100-150
lashes, and the officer of the watch, who had been asleep when they deserted,
could have faced execution, whereas Bligh merely disrated him. On February 4th,
the Bounty’s bower anchor cable was cut, (by the taio of Midshipman Hayward,
who feared his friend would be lashed); she could have drifted onto the reef
and been wrecked. A Tahitian stole an azimuth compass, which, with Chief
Tynah’s help, was eventually recovered – the thief was given a hundred lashes, clapped in
irons, but in the night he picked the lock and escaped over the side of the
ship.
Eventually, the breadfruits were ready to move and the weather had turned
fair. The plants were loaded, the Bounty provisioned and, on April 5th
1789, she left Tahiti, bound for the West Indies.
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