Dec. 

 1825. 



82 VOYAGE TO THE 



chap, vation of the soil. In clearing the space that was 

 allotted to the village, a row of trees was left be- 

 tween it and the sea, for the purpose of concealing 

 the houses from the observation of any vessels that 

 might be passing, and nothing was allowed to be 

 erected that might in any way attract attention. 

 Until these houses were finished, the sails of the 

 Bounty were converted into tents, and when no 

 longer required for that purpose, became very ac- 

 ceptable as clothing. Thus supplied with all the 

 necessaries of life, and some of its luxuries, they felt 

 their condition comfortable even beyond their most 

 sanguine expectation, and every thing went on 

 peaceably and prosperously for about two years, at 

 the expiration of which Williams, who had the mis- 

 fortune to lose his wife about a month after his ar- 

 rival, by a fall from a precipice while collecting birds' 

 eggs, became dissatisfied, and threatened to leave 

 the island in one of the boats of the Bounty, unless 

 he had another wife : an unreasonable request, as it 

 could not be complied with, except at the expense 

 of the happiness of one of his companions : but Wil- 

 liams, actuated by selfish considerations alone, per- 

 sisted in his threat, and the Europeans not willing 

 to part with him, on account of his usefulness as an 

 armourer, constrained one of the blacks to bestow 

 his wife upon the applicant. The blacks, outrageous 

 at this second act of flagrant injustice, made com- 

 mon cause with their companion, and matured a 

 plan of revenge upon their aggressors, which, had it 

 succeeded, would have proved fatal to all the Euro- 

 peans. Fortunately, the secret was imparted to the 

 women, who ingeniously communicated it to the 

 white men in a song, of which the words were, 



