Captain Bligh - Misunderstood

One of my favorite tales of the sea, whether told in a book, or on the screen, has always been "Mutiny On The Bounty." I have read everything available concerning both the voyage and the mutiny, and I have come to some startling conclusions, all supported by fact.

Captain Bligh has been portrayed over the years as a cruel and heartless man. This is not accurate. The depictions of daily floggings, and the famous keel hauling episode, which never happened, have all served to miscolor the reputation of the Captain. Moreover, it has often overshadowed one of the greatest nautical feats ever accomplished; the 3,000 mile voyage in an overladen launch with scant provisions and no charts.

A careful review of the facts, and the testimonies of the crew, some of whom were mutineers, sheds bright light upon the undeserved and darker image of Captain William Bligh. The fact is that he was one of the most humane Captains of his time. The rate of floggings aboard HMS Bounty was well below that of any other ship of the era. He was also one of the best Navigators of his time, as we shall see.

Consider this, in the outward voyage to Tahiti there were NO floggings, this despite the fact that the ship's Carpenter, Purcell, had refused, on two occassions, direct orders from the Captain. This was a hanging offense, yet Bligh took no action at all. At the time, aboard other vessels, 7 floggings per month was not unusual, but in the first sixteen months there were only 7 floggings aboard the Bounty.

Moreover, Captain Bligh knew that the voyage would take two years. The practice at the time was for there to be two watches per day, which allows only sporadic sleep. This would be hard on the crew. Captain Bligh broke the watches into 3 shifts, the advantage being that the men got 8 hours off to rest instead of only 4 hours, which is very tiring. Again, this is the real Captain Bligh and not the portrayal of the man we have come to know through books and film.

The Captain had sailed with no Marines aboard to control the men, and discipline aboard was fairly relaxed. When they arrived at Tahiti he decided to let his men go ashore on a rotating basis. Having no Marine Guard aboard to prevent it, he knew he could not keep the men from the island. This was a huge mistake, as the men began to fratinize with the natives. Relationships were formed and the crew began to dread the return trip home.

In all of the logs and testimony given at the Admirality Hearing, there is no testimony pertaining to excessive cruelty on the part of Captain Bligh. Even in the journals of both Boatswain's Mate Morrison and Peter Haywood there is not a word of excessive punishment or floggings. The troubles all began within the first 3 weeks of the return voyage to England.

Half of the crew had wed while in Tahiti and were not too pleased with returning to a damp and dreary England after having lived in a veritable paradise for the past year. Chief amongst these crewmembers was Flecther Christian, who had wed the native Chief's daughter.

In the third week of the voyage home, and on Christian's watch, some coconuts had been pilfered during the night. This prompted the famed confrontation between Bligh and Christian, during which Bligh called Christian a "damned hound." To Christian this was a slur not taken lightly and he spent the remainder of the evening drinking heavily.

At dawn the next morning, Christian awoke Bligh with a cutlass at his throat. He then cast the Captain, and his loyal crew members, adrift to die. This left Captain Bligh 2 choices, either make for the nearest island, a mere thirty miles distant, and perish there, or sail with the current, three thousand miles, with no provisions, to the Dutch Island of Timor. From there he would reach England, return to Tahiti, capture several of the mutineers, bringing them back to England in chains to face justice. Some were hanged, others pardoned.

The Admirality rebuked Captain Bligh for losing the Bounty, but never acknowledged their own mistake of sending the ship on a 2 years voyage, with conscripted sailors, and no Marines. The record is fairly clear here. Captain Bligh was a man way ahead of his time concerning the treatment of men at sea. And yet, through the vagaries of history, and Hollywood, we have come to know him as a tyrant.

Paradise Lost - Pitcairn's Island (2004)

Everyone has heard of Pitcairn's Island. Even if you have never read the book "Mutiny on the Bounty" the name of the Island itself evokes the image of tranquility and seclusion. But there is a story behind that story; and it's not always pretty.

The residents of Pitcairn's Island came to the place by way of an illegal act; the mutiny of Her Majesty's ship Bounty by Lt. Fletcher Christian, who forcibly relieved Captain Bligh of his command. The reason oft stated; and enshrined in the book by Nordoff and Hall; has always been that Bligh was a terribly cruel Captain. And that impression has survived the facts, and probably always will.

The truth is that Bligh was pretty much an enlightened Captain for his time; floggings on the Bounty's outbound voyage were actually fewer than on any other ships at the time. Bligh's biggest mistake was in letting his crew grow attached to the people of the island, making them very unhappy at the prospect of a return voyage home to England. Christian had married a native woman, for all intents and purposes, and was emotionally shattered at the prospect of leaving her. This was the real genesis for the mutiny. You can read the transcripts from the trial, rather than the fictional account if you have any doubts.

Pitcairn's Island was uncharted at the time, and Christian chose it for just that purpose. It lies halfway between New Zealand and South America. But troubles beset the newly freed mutineers almost from the very beginning in 1790. It all began with the women. There were fewer women than men in the original party, and some of the men were not willing to accept their situation of celibacy. Friction arose between some of the men over the issue; someone violated someone's honor; and then came the murders.

The island has existed in its own little niche for over 200 years, with the population reaching 233 in 1937 according to this article, and plummeting to 47 at the time this story surfaced in 2004. I have always been a fan of the book and apparently I cut the article out and left it in the book. While re-reading one of my favorite chapters the other day (I do that) I found it nestled comfortably between the pages where I last saw it 10 years ago.

Apparently there was some hank-panky on the island in the 1980's involving some of the children, who were sexually used; abused or molested; by 7 men living on the island; including the great great great etc grandson of Fletcher Christian; Steve Christian; who was also the Mayor at the time this article appeared. His son, Randy, was also charged with the same criminal acts.

According to the article the case began in 199 when a British police officer Gail Cox, who was visiting the island for an undisclosed purpose, heard that men on the island were having sex with girls as young as 12 years old. It took a 3 year investigation to gather enough evidence to charge 15 men; 8 of whom did not live on the island; with multiple counts of rape and unlawful intercourse with a minor.

The trial was conducted by a team of 2 dozen judges, prosecutors and defense attorney who came from French Polynesia to do their jobs. A court had to be built for the trail and a jail had to be erected for the defendants. With a population of about 47 people the defendants were actually enlisted in the endeavor. I can't help but think that this would be illegal in the States; kind of like giving the hangman the rope to string you up with. It's just not done.

By September 30, 2004 the trial had begun and the 7 residents of the island were found guilty and sentenced on October 24th all but one of them was found guilty of some of the 55 charges they faced. The other men; who all lived off the island; were convicted in a separate trial held in Auckland, New Zealand the following year.

The trial was a source of contention and disagreement among the residents of the island; particularly the women; some of whom had to have been aware of what was going on with their daughters. The full story of this aspect of the trial can be further explored in this article on Wikipedia;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcairn_sexual_assault_trial_of_2004

At any rate, this is a sad story. It's beginnings held such promise. The inhabitants truly thought they had found freedom in a world of paradise. But, in the end; through their own actions and infighting; Pitcairn's Island became just another Paradise Lost.