Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 - 1953), Monday 14 August 1933, page 1


B OUR fl f BY CHARLEI CHkUVE TtHE STORY OF THE PICTURE T E SA E NAP4 T-z41ITRIBU1EO BY ;UNIVERfAL PIGTJR

(Continued.) "JIUZZA for Otaheitc," shouted the mutineers, as Bligh and his 18 companions drifted away from the Bounty to:,begin a 3,600 miles' voyage in a boat showing only seven inches of freeboard. In this article Mr. Chauvel tells how the mutineers drank, and fought like wild beasts over the South Sea island women, and how Christian finally left Tahiti to seek some unknown isle.CHAPTER CHAPTER TWO. It was at half-past three on the caim nmorning, of April 28, 1798, that the explosion came which sent Bligh on the world's most famous boat voyage, and eventually brought Christian to Pitcairn Island. Those seamen who had been flogged and were ripe for such an adventure were , roused from :heir slumber. The keys of the arms chest had been obtained by the request for a rifle to shoot a shark, Awoke a Prisoner. Fletcher Christian, aided by t nree others, secured Captain Bligh asleep in his cabin. With his hands behind his back, Bligh was marched to the quarter-deck, with Christian holding a pistol to his side. The boatswain and carpenter hoisted out tl}e long boat. Bligh implored Christian to refrain, promising that-if he were set free he would overlook the whole proceeding.' Owing to the smallness of the launch only 18 men, besides Bligh, ventured to trust their lives in it. "Huzza for Otaheite !" shouted the men, as they turned from the side of the ship to their new commander, who, with arms folded, was standing on the poop deck grim by watching the departing launch. The wonder trip that Bligh made with the 18 men in the open launch over 3,000 miles of tropical seas to the Island of Timor is still regarded as the maost amazing feat upon the open seas. This story, ho}vever, is not of Bligh ; it is of the mutineers. The mutineers had shouted, "Otaheite, Otaheite !" What happened to them ? Brush With Natives. Some sailor's whim to pause at the nearest island, Tubuai, for women. brought forth a sharp skirmish with the natives. Christian decided to hurry on, and a few mornings later the great peaks of Tahiti stood out against the blue of the morning sky. The popular Christian had retur'ned, and the great God' Ore. was pleased. Chief Tinah was carried shoulder high upon the prow of the leading -canoe in a Polynesian armada of 250 vessels. -Chistian's excuse for returning was that they had metCaptain-Cook, who had taken tlhe rest-of the rrew on board and sent him -back to secure live stock and other provisions. Tahiti feasted, Bligh was not there, snonltive lovers parted for the white sailors and drank "pol"' and fought like beasts over their women. " The die had been east,. and there was' no turning back. , Christian realised that unless he shouldered the full responsibility of the days ahead, the future, which promised the most awful adventure of -all, would be worse than the gallows or as bad as a" life in irons--for dear life he must command. It is to his credit that he put Isobol last. His one.thought was to leave Tahiti for over, and without women,' .Back to Tubual.. Ho fought like a madman to get the oBounty from Tahiti. Through slhier force of.character and brute strength he won out, and after ten days the well provisioned Bounty set sail fromn Tahiti, carrying a bull and a cow that Captain Cook had left behind on the island. He promised his followers the fair isle of Tubuai, which all the crew agreed poss'ssed the most beautiful \Polynrsian

\women. 'Ie planned to build a11 fort to subdue the natives, and par= ceel out the island in equal shares to each of his followers. After putting to sea Christian ldiscovered that nine Tahitian men, 12 women, and eight boys had stowed away in the Bounty. Upon the arrival of the mutineers' at Tubuai .a canoe load. of naked girls, the most beautiful of the islarld, were escorted to the Bounty by it fleet of fighting men as a sign of peace following the hostility that was shown on the previous visit. Much iron had to be given to the Tubuai chiefs before the girls were allowed to join the crew of the ship, and when nightfall set in each girl fled from her sailor lover and like lithe little panthers, were soon lost in the murky groves of the island. The chagrined sailors desired to recapture the girls the following day' with the rise of firearms, but Christian threatened to shoot the first man to attempt such an adventure. The Bounty's forge was set up on Tubuai ; axes were ground and flees felled. A sod of ground was turned by Christian, and a Union Jack hoisted .to commemorate the founding of Fort George. Drank and Fought. The fort was to have a moat and drawbridge. One four-pounder cannon was to be placed on iach corner, and on each face of the fort' two swivels were to be placedl, with two extras to be held in reserve. By this means two four-po'tmders and four swivel unsll could beI -brought to bear in any direction. This fort, which commanded the o.nlyi safe anchorage,' would have beenal- . i most impregnable-but its final construction was delayed by the continunal strife among the mutineers, over 1 whom Christian was gradually losing control. They drank heavily and fought amongst themselves over the girls. The request of the Tubuaian natives that the white men shouldl follow their custom and sleep in the I native huts caused 11ontinual war- 1 fare. Alexander Smith, described t in the navy criminal records as alis John Adams, an able seaman, aged 25, of fair complexion, strongly t made, very much pitted with small- I pox and very much tattoed on his body, legs, arms and feet, was the greatest offender with the natives, as he had fallen madly in love with a Tubuaian girl, and kidnapped her. M IMutineers Divided. Threatened by a serious uprisng of the whole of the Tubuaian men, t Christian, with great difficulty, col-· lected his crew and returned to Ta- o hiti. Ilere they determined to sop- v arato into two parties-one to settle , on Tahiti, and the otilr to remain a with Christian, who was to take the t Bounty away. fron the Tahitian is- r lands into uncharted seas, with the c hope of finding some lonely isle up- n on which to spend the rest of their D lives. Christian was accompanied a into the unknown, by eight of his y shipmates, six nlative men, ten native women, and a girl of fifteen-28 -persons In all. One of the women had a daughter 10 monthis old.. Christian had his. ( Isabella, anti Smith his kidnapped -Tubualan girl. The other mutin- i ,ers to stay with Christian were Edward Young, midshipman and nep- e hew of Sir George Young, Bart., who i1 took the.15 year.old girl Susannah ; f John Williams, who called his girl It Fasto i John Mills, Matthew Quintal, s William McCoy, Isaac Martin, and William Brown. 9 Christian, fearing that the other o party of mutineers might attempt' to prevent him taking the Bounty, collected his people, and cutting the ship's mooring to prevent sound,' he crept out of Tahiti's coral-girt la- . goon 'at midnight. Thus the Bounty, with its strange cargo of mixed " and reckless experimenters, movedl into the unknown, never to be seen -agalln. (To be continued.)