106 DREADFUL FATE OF THE MUTINEERS. 
hearts, thousands of miles off, were wounded, if 
not broken, by suspense and uncertainty respect- 
ing the fate of himself and his companions, he was 
either employed in surveying the ocean around 
him, under the apprehension of the approach of 
the officers of justice, or in endeavouring to 
control the turbulent community among whom 
he had irrevocably cast his lot. 
It may be observed, that punishment in this 
life often bears a startling likeness to the sin 
which has been committed, and which not only 
thus finds the offender out, but shows him that 
it has done so. Within the narrow limits of 
the island, as in the confines of a ship, Christian 
had enemies at hand, who harassed, and at 
length took away his life ; and it is a remarkable 
fact, that he who had raised his hand in a crimi- 
nal manner against his superior in command, 
should have suffered death from those whom he 
looked upon as men under his authority. 
Nor must it be forgotten, that one chief cause 
of all the quarrels and miseries of the mutineers 
was intemperance. M'Coy had unhappily be- 
come acquainted with the art of distilling. 
With the aid of a copper boiler, which had 
been taken from the Bounty, and which was 
altered into a still, he soon made ardent spirit 
out of the ti-root (Dracaena terminalis). This 
served to thin yet further the number of the 
original male settlers, until only one of them 
was left remaining. 
It pleased God to touch the heart of that one, 
and to make him an instrument of good to those 
around him. His deceased comrades had left 
