Page 49 - French Polynesia
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ligh had confidence in his navigational Others argue that the crew, inexperienced pardons. One was convicted but excused
B skills, which he had perfected under and unused to the rigors of the sea and, on a technicality. The remaining three were
the instruction of Captain Cook. His first after having been exposed to freedom and convicted and hanged.
responsibility was to bring his men to
safety. Thus, he undertook the seemingly sexual license on Tahiti, refused to return to B ligh went on to serve under Admiral
impossible 3,618 nautical miles voyage to Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen on
Timor, the nearest European settlement. In the “Jack Tar’s” life of an ordinary seaman.
this remarkable act of seamanship, Bligh This view holds that the crew took the ship
succeeded in reaching Timor after a 47-day
voyage when they reached the Great Barrier so they could return to comfort and ease on 2 April 1801, in command of HMS Glatton, a
Reef, the 18 men lived on 1/12 of a pound
of bread per day. On 29 May they landed Tahiti. In October 1790, Bligh was honora- 56-gun ship of the line, which was experi-
on a small island off the coast of Australia.
Several of the men who survived this ordeal bly acquitted at the court-martial inquiring mentally fitted exclusively with carronades.
with him soon died of sickness, possibly
malaria, in the pestilential Dutch East Indies into the loss of the Bounty. Shortly thereaf- After the battle, Nelson personally praised
port of Batavia, the present-day Indonesian
capital of Jakarta, as they waited for trans- ter, he published A Narrative of the Mutiny Bligh for Bligh’s contribution to the victory.
port to Britain.
on board His Majesty’s Ship “Bounty”; And He sailed Glatton safely between the banks
T o this day, the reasons behind the
mutiny are a subject of debate. Many The Subsequent Voyage Of Part Of The while three other vessels ran aground.
believe that Bligh was a cruel tyrant whose
abuse of the crew led them to feel that they Crew, In The Ship’s Boat,from Tofoa, One of W hen Nelson pretended not to notice
had no choice but to take over the ship. the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Set- Admiral Parker’s signal “43” (stop the
tlement in the East Indies. . Of the 10 sur-
viving prisoners eventually brought home battle) and kept the signal “16” hoisted to
in spite of the Pandora’s loss, four were continue the engagement, Bligh was the
acquitted, owing to Bligh’s testimony that only captain in the squadron who could
they were non-mutineers that Bligh was see that the two signals were in conflict. By
obliged to leave on the Bounty because of choosing to fly Nelson’s signal, he ensured
lack of space in the launch. Two others were that all the vessels behind him kept fight-
convicted because, while not participating ing. Bligh was promoted to rear admiral in
in the mutiny, they were passive and did 1810 and in 1814 was promoted again, to
not resist. They subsequently received royal vice admiral of the blue.
