546 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1959 
sufficient number would not have come to appreciate the economic 
advantages of marriage with a Kuropean. 
The inevitable might thus have been delayed; but it could not have 
been prevented. It is impossible to believe that, with the prejudiced, 
ignorant, and unruly men who comprised most of his followers, 
Christian could have maintained a respect for native customary rights 
over any long period; and in point of fact, several of his party did 
not want the experiment to succeed if it should militate against their 
chances of escape to civilization. 
The history of other isolated Pacific islands invaded by parties of 
Europeans shows us that, if they stayed for any length of time, they 
either provoked an open conflict and were overwhelmed by numbers, 
as on Nauru and Abemama, or infiltrated into the villages, where they 
became beachcombers often barely distinguishable in their mode of 
life from the natives themselves. In islands not so isolated, such as 
Hawaii and Tahiti, this was not, of course, the case, since the constant 
introduction of new blood from visiting ships and the possibility of 
engaging in commercial pursuits enabled the formation of more stable 
immigrant groups. 
As it was, the occupation of Tubuai did not last long enough for 
either of these alternatives to eventuate, but ended in failure and with- 
drawal after a bare 3 months, before the fort or a single home had 
been completed; and under the circumstances, this was probably the 
best ending that could have occurred. Christian had learned his les- 
son the hard way: that the only island on which he could safely make 
his future home must be one without any existing inhabitants. 
Tubuai, then, was foredoomed to be a failure; but it was a necessary 
one, for without the mistakes made and the experience gained there, 
Christian would never have appreciated the minimum requirements 
for successful colonization. The extent to which he made use of this 
experience on Pitcairn is another story, but the important point here 
is that without it to guide his choice the chances were decidedly 
against his ever even thinking of selecting that particular island, out 
of so many possibles, for his future home. 
As we shall discover from the remaining pages of this study, even 
with the necessary criteria now known, Pitcairn was far from being 
Christian’s immediate or first choice. The corollary of Tubuai is thus 
seen to be the saga of the Bounty’s four months of wandering “in 
search of a home.” 
PITCAIRN AND THE VOYAGE THITHER 
Before leaving Tubuai on September 17 a younger brother of 
Taroatohoa, called Taroamiva, came on board with two of his friends, 
as he considered that his life was in danger ashore owing to his friend- 
