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famoustrials
thomasmore
galileo
bounty
johnbrown
oscarwwilde
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 The
true story of the the 1789 mutiny on the Bounty is far more
complicated than suggested by film versions of the event. One of the
most amazing navigational feats in maritime history, the founding of
a British settlement that continues to exist today, and a court
martial in England that answered the question of which of ten
captured mutineers should live and which should die.
The ill-fated voyage of the Bounty would never have happened had
it not been for the discovery in 1769 of a botanical curiosity,
given the name breadfruit on the island of Tahiti.
On board the Endeavor, captained by the celebrated James Cook, as
it sailed into Tahiti was some of England's best scientific talent,
including botanist Joseph Banks. The onset of the rainy season meant
that the Bounty would be in Tahiti for five months.
The first serious problem of the Tahitian stay occurred in
January, when three crew members (Charles Churchill, John Millward,
and William Muspratt) and a considerable amount of arms and
ammunition turned up missing. Bligh demanded that his Tahitian
friends aid in returning the deserters and their supplies.
Bligh described what happened in the predawn hours of April 28
"Just before sun-rising, Mr. Christian, with the master at arms,
gunner's mate, and Thomas Burket, seaman, came into my cabin while I
was asleep, and seizing me, tied my hands with a cord behind my
back, and threatened me with instant death, if I spoke or made the
least noise." The mutineers hauled Bligh--still in his nightshirt
and naked from the waist down--out of bed and forced him on deck. As
others gathered on deck, the mutineers ordered toe boatswain to
lower the Bounty's launch.
Eleven months after the mutiny, and against all odds, William
Bligh reached the home shores of England. Bligh took rightful pride
in his accomplishment, and in his Narrative of the Mutiny, published
just months after his return, he devoted a scant six pages to the
mutiny and eighty to the story of his remarkable
Famous Trials
Thomas More Galileo
Mutiny on the Bounty
John Brown
Oscar Wilde |
