MUEDEE OP JOHN NORTON. 27 
courage of his comrades, and exert his 
usurped authority in the vessel, ordered a 
dram of spirits to be served to each. Little 
did they think, when shouting with joy at 
their miscalled liberty, what troubles they 
were bringing upon their own heads. 
The party of men thus cast adrift on the 
wide ocean, were in a miserable condition. 
They began with touching at Tofoa, an 
island about thirty miles from the scene of 
the mutiny. There they landed and endea- 
voured to obtain bread-fruit, and water ; but 
after some show of friendship, the natives 
who lined the beach, gave signs of violence 
by knocking stones together, which they had 
in each hand. Macca-ackavow, one of their 
chiefs, having in vain requested Bligh to 
remain that night, May 1, 1789, the treache- 
rous old chief got up, and said, " Then, 
mattie," which signifies, We will kill you, 
and left him. Scarcely had the poor voyagers 
reached their boat, when about two hundred 
natives attacked them with stones, which 
flew like a shower of shot ; and all would 
probably have been cut off by these savages, 
had not one of the crew, John Norton, quarter- 
