Historically Incorrect

Nearly all of the accounts of what occured on Pitcairn after the mutineers landed there are based on stories told by John Adams (AKA Alexander Smith) to sailors from various ships that landed there while he was still alive.

At first, he was reluctant to talk (he may have been worried about the possibility of being hauled back to England and hung), and after that, his story seemed to change from visit to visit. However, after reading about a half dozen books on the subject, I agree that the demise of Christian as described above is most likely accurate. Rumors of him somehow making his way back to England were sparked by a strange encounter Peter Heywood had with a man he said looked like Christian, but who fled when he approached him.

Among the books I've read:

The Bounty - Caroline Alexander
She avoids speculation; the facts she cites are all well documented. She also goes into detail about the efforts of the Christian and Heywood families to vindicate them at the expense of Bligh.

Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian - Richard Hough
I enjoyed this one as well. If I recall correctly, this is the one that dealt with the notion that Bligh and Christian had had an affair on a previous voyoage, and Christian's rejection of Bligh's advances on the Bounty led to Bligh "abuse" of Christian - an interesting idea, but there is absolutely no evidence of this. Otherwise, I thought the book was pretty good.

Sir John Barrow - The Mutiny Aboard HMS Bounty
This was written in 1831 by someone who was alive at the time of the mutiny, so his viewpoints reflect prevailing attitudes.

Glynn Christian - Fragile Paradise
This was written by a descendant of Fletcher Christian - obviously so, as he misses no opportunity to snipe at Bligh (Bligh had his faults, but in my opinion, Christian was the real villian). Well worth reading, though.

John Toohey - Captain Bligh's Portable Nightmare
This deals almost entirely with the extraordinary (in more ways than one!) open sea voyage to Timor after the mutiny. (This in itself would also make a good movie, as would the voyage and shipwreck of the Pandora, the ship sent to Tahiti to seek the mutineers.)

Sven Wahlroos - Mutiny and Romance in the South Seas
Interesting for several reasons. First of all, it's completely chonological, so it describes the various parties whereabouts simultaneously. Secondly, it's written by a professional psychologist, so there is plenty of centuries-after-the-fact armchair analysis. Finallt, the second half of the book is a Bounty encylopedia, so it provides a handy reference if you want to look up a particular person or place.

Finally, the Nordhoff and Hall Bounty Trilogy is great reading. It's fairly accurate, but I think it is also slanted against Bligh.

I've never located copies of either of the two full first hand accounts of the mutiny, by Bligh and Boatswain's Mate James Morrison. Both are heavily cited (well, duh!). Morrison, who was convicted and pardoned, had quite the axe to grind with Bligh. I have no doubt that portions of each of these accounts must be taken with a grain of salt.


As ugly as Pitcairn's early history was, recents events are even worse:

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

From a review on amazon.com: "the author saves his blockbuster thesis for the last chapter. He argues that the crusty Captain Bligh and Spencer[sic] Christian were really gay lovers and this explains the combustibility and passions that came into play. Bligh according to this view was jealous of Christian's love affair with the Tahitian girl he later fathered three children with. The author offers not one shred of evidence for this, not one shred, and says as much in the final pages of the book."


Genealogy records indicate that all of Fletcher Christian's children and grandchildren died in the South Pacific. I haven't come across any stories of them visiting England.

I flipped through a book on the history of the Royal Navy until the 19th century.

It spent a few pages discussing the Bounty incident. It summed Bligh up as this -he was a brilliant seaman and unmatched navigator who simply lacked people skills. When you added this to Fletcher Christian's moodiness (he was described has being prone to very severe mood swings. He could go from extreme happiness to extreme depression, and vice versa, in a very short span of time) and the small size of the ship, it was a recipe for trouble.

IMO, the mutiny resulted from Fletcher Christian's inherent instability and desire to escape back to an idyllic life on Tahiti. This was compounded by Bligh's constant verbal abuse. Bligh did have a short fuse and was prone to exploding and giving severe dressings down. However, Bligh was the type of person who would unleash abuse on someone for a mistake and then declare the matter closed and move on. Once he was done screaming at someone, he pretty much declared the issue done and would forget the whole thing. It was like his verbal explosions -for him- kept him from stewing on matters. They were his release valve.

Christian, however, DID stew over matters. He brooded over Bligh's harangues until things reached the point of no return.

I think the real problem was the respective personalities and temperments of Bligh and Christian. They were simply not suited to be cooped up for such a long time on such a small ship.

Bligh really would have been much better suited for a voyage that would have been shorter in duration but that had a possibility of seeing combat or other such dangers. That would allow Bligh to really apply his skills as a seaman and the crew would be focused.

If Captain Bligh had any faults it was his leniency. He should have hung Churchill and the other two deserters. All three who were mutineers. And Bligh did go on to a successful career in the RN. The British conceit and arrogance reaches a high water mark with their navy. They like to sing songs claiming they "Rule the Seas". And while they tried to colonize the world and control free trade over the oceans with brutality and violence toward other nations they do hold their navy in somewhat high regard. Bligh was promoted to Vice Admiral. A very high and respected position.

The mutineers were mostly uneducated classless scum. Fighting for sexual favors of the kidnapped Tahitians. Killing the Tahitian men over jealousy and perceived White/British superiority. The cunning and deceit shown to the Natives and the feud factions that formed and especially the still and drunkenness of the mutineers caused the eventual demise of the mutineers colony.

As far as Adams goes, his changing versions must be questioned. If one man out of many survives, who do you think was killing the others? Oh they were all bad and he survived while they tried to kill him? Yeah sure. Their descendents still live on Pitcairn. The brutal violent actions of the mutineers society shows the level of civilization of these people. Unlike Bligh they were a drunken sexually uncontrolled mob.

Serving at sea was a young man's game in those days. A 14 year old aboard would not have been at all unusual. Bligh was just 16 when he first served at sea, and Heywood was 14. When the Bounty sailed, Bligh was only 33, and Christian just 23.

I am not sure if this will be answered, if Christian was murdered, how did his blood line survive to this day concerning descendants?

The writers of textbooks, literature and cinema twist history according to their biases. They twist history to fit their world view and further a political agenda.

Very good thread and summed up beautifully, as Bligh was a matchless navigator but failing in social skills. The 1935 movie was much to blame in making Bligh a villain, but there was a precedent. When Bligh returned to England, he went through a court martial (as was de rigeur for all captains who lost their ships)but was exonerated and feted for his navigational exploits. However, Christian's brother, Edward, was a lawyer and managed to blacken Bligh's name in the public eye. Bligh himself, as mentioned earlier, went on to be a rear admiral and later, governor of New South Wales. He suffered two more mutinies- at Spithead and in New South Wales. At Spithead, there was an en masse mutiny on a number of ships, so he wasn't wholly responsible there but I imagine his poor people skills were responsible for the mutiny in New South Wales. Earlier posts correctly stated that Bligh was a lot more lenient than most naval commanders at the time (in fact he was only a lieutenant on the bounty, although in command)- obviously the sexual openess of the Tahitians was a factor for some in the mutiny (and it is said that the women were attracted to the British seaman because they were paler than their own men, which was thought to be godlike)but another reason is that the Bounty was too small and thus could not house a company of marines, one of whose duties it would have been, to protect the officers from possible mutiny from the crew.

The French haven't the nature for war. They'd rather eat and make love with their faces than fight.