FROM THE MUTINY TO PITCAIRN ISLAND—MAUDE 543 
ity were typically improvident seamen, content to enjoy today; but 
at least three of them, Heywood, Stewart, and Morrison, who con- 
sidered that they were not implicated in the mutiny and had already 
planned to escape from Tubuai, regarded the move as the means by 
which they might eventually hope to return to England. 
Christian’s brother Edward, the distinguished jurist, gives a 
dramatic account of the scene in the great cabin of the Bounty when, 
realizing that the feeling of the meeting was against him, he made 
his last plea before the vote was taken : 
Gentlemen, I will carry you, and land you, wherever you please. I desire 
none to stay with me, but I have one favour to request, that you will grant 
me the ship, tie the foresail, and give me a few gallons of water, and 
leave me to run before the wind, and I shall land upon the first island the 
ship drives to. I have done such an act that I cannot stay at Otaheite. I 
will never live where I may be carried home to be a disgrace to my family. 
It is entirely consistent with Christian’s character to suppose that 
he would have done just this. But he was not to be put to the 
test, for his loyal companion Edward Young, followed by seven of 
the seamen, gave their votes to him, with the promise: “We shall 
never leave you, Mr. Christian, go where you will.” 
The final battle—Both Adams and Jenny speak of a further battle. 
According to the former, this was precipitated by a rumor that 
the natives were to be exterminated and that the moat was being 
dug to bury them in, but in Jenny’s version it was due to a con- 
spiracy between one of the Tahitians and the Tubuai people to take 
the ship, murder the crew and divide their property: she adds that 
Christian’s wife, who told her husband of the plot, never disclosed 
that one of her own countrymen was at the bottom of it (Beechey, 
1831, vol. 1, p. 78; Teehuteatuaonoa, 1826). 
A more probable reason for the fighting that occurred was, how- 
ever, given by the Tubuai natives themselves, who asserted that it 
was due to attempts made by the Tahitians, under Christian’s orders, 
to round up the livestock which had been landed, and in particular 
the 200 pigs which had been let loose on the island. These must have 
initially played havoc in the plantations, but the people had begun 
to appreciate their value, and resented their removal. 
In the skirmish which ensued: 
The natives were numerous, and fought with great courage, forcing the 
mutineers to avail themselves of a rising ground, where, with their superior 
skill, the advantage of fire-arms, and the aid of the Otaheiteans, who fought 
14 Edward Christian in the Appendix to Barney (1794), quoted by Rutter (1931, p. 35). 
Christian’s information was obtained, together with other evidence, from Heywood, Mor- 
rison, Muspratt, Coleman, M’Intosh, and Byrn, all of whom were present at the meeting. 
While, as Bligh points out, these were men of varying degrees of credit, and no indication 
is given as to the particular information obtained from each, I submit that in this instance, 
where his narrative tells if anything against his brother, we can accept it as substantially 
reliable. 
