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and he went into the boat. After he was in he begged for his commis- 

 sion and his sextant. The commission, and also his pocket book and 

 private journal, were instantly given him by Mr. Christain's orders ; and 

 Mr. Christian took up his own sextant and handed it into the boat with 

 a 'Daily Assistant,' saying, 'There, Captain Bligh, these are sufficient 

 for every purpose, and you know the sextant to be a good one.' Mr. 

 Bligh begged for a musket, which was refused, but Mr. Christian ordered 

 four cutlasses to be handed in, and twenty-five or twenty-six four-pound 

 pieces of pork and two gourds of water, as well as several other things : 

 after which the boat, containing nineteen hands, was cast off — about 

 eight o'clock in the morning. Mr. Christian then called together the 

 hands left in the ship (twenty-five in number^ including two of the 

 midshipmen, Mr. Heywood and Mr. Stuart) and explained to them the 

 cause of this sad affair, to the following effect : — Being much hurt by the 

 treatment he had received from Mr. Bligh, he had determined to quit 

 the ship the preceding evening, and had informed the boatswain and 

 carpenter, and Mr. Stuart and Mr. Heywood of his resolution, who 

 supplied him with some nails, beads, part of a roasted pig, and some 

 other articles which he put into a bag and hid the bag in the 

 clue of Robert Tinkler's hammock. Mr. Christian also made fast 

 some staves to a stout plank, by which raft he intended to make his 

 escape, but finding he could not do so in the first and middle watches, 

 he went to sleep about half-past three. When Mr. Stuart called him to 

 relieve the watch, he begged Mr. Christian not to make the attempt, and 

 added that the crew were ripe for anything. This made a great impres- 

 on Mr. Christian, and he at once resolved to seize the ship." Peter 

 Heywood subsequently related, from what he knew of the circumstances, 

 that it was Christian's first intention to take Captain Bligh a prisoner to 

 England in the "Bounty," and to demand a trial by court martial. It 

 was probably the knowledge he possessed of the partiality of the tribunal 

 towards those in authority which drove him to another course ; and it 

 must be borne in mind that the mutiny was conceived and executed 

 upon the impulse of the moment, and gave no opportunity for reason to 

 assert her sway over a mind goaded to desperation by the bitter sense of 



