236 CHRISTIAN ELECTED CAPTAIN. 
It might have been supposed, that the ter- 
rible lesson Bligh had received would have 
taught him caution for the future; but it made 
little impression on his character. As com- 
mander of a ship of the line, his severity again” 
provoked a mutiny; and when afterwards Go- 
vernor of New South Wales, an insurrection 
was excited from the same excess of discipline. 
To return from this digression to the history 
of the colonization of Pitcairn Island. The 
mutineers of the Bounty, after the success ‘of 
their plot, unanimously elected Christian for their 
Captain, and sailed for Tahaiti. On their way 
thither, they passed the small hilly, well peo- 
pled island of Tabuai, seen in 1777 by Cook, 
and formed the resolution of settling there. 
With much difficulty they brought the ship 
into harbour, through numerous coral reefs. 
They were received in the most friendly man- 
ner by the natives, who only showed symptoms 
of uneasiness when they saw the new comers 
preparing to erect a fortress on a point of land 
near the harbour; even in this obnoxious un- 
dertaking, however, they assisted; but har- 
mony was not of much longer continuance. 
