#The mutiny free

In the British navy, the punishment for mutiny was simple: Hanging. Then he decided that if someone were leaving the Bounty, it would not be him. He tried building a raft from a few spare planks of wood, which would have been suicidal. That night, he was delusional he had to escape. Though Bligh had actually treated Christian better than the other officers, Christian could not take BlighвЂ™s constant verbal abuse. He could not handle being belittled so harshly. I'll make half of you jump overboard!'Д«ligh cut the food and grog rations for all the men.Д¬hristian lost his mind. God damn you, you scoundrels, you are all thieves alike, and combine with the men to rob me! I suppose you'll steal my yams next! But I'll sweat you for it, you rascals. When Christian said he didn't know how many, Bligh erupted, 'You damned hound! You must have stolen them from me. Blinded by anger, he quizzed each of his officers on how many coconuts they possessed. Two days later, Bligh suspected that one of his crew members had stolen his coconuts. One did not call a gentleman a вЂњcowardly rascalвЂќ without consequences. Among his family were three members of Parliament, two bishops, and even a King of England was a distant cousin. He was descended from 25 generations of the British aristocracy. First, after a failed attempt to get water from the island of Nomuka, Bligh spit a string of insults at Christian, calling him a 'cowardly rascal' for retreating from 'a set of naked savages while he had arms.'Д¬hristian was a man of noble heritage. The MutinyД«y the time the Bounty set sail again on April 4th, Bligh was in a nasty mood. They took to their paradise, and after seeing the peaceful life of the Tahitians, they did not look forward to returning to Bligh's rough, seagoing manner.

Several, including Christian, got tattoos and became part of island families. As a result, the Bounty stayed at anchor for five long months.Дuring that time, the men became accustomed to the easy pace and luxuries of Tahitian life.

#The mutiny free

Soon, each crew member was associated with an island man and had free access to his wife.Д«ligh had hoped to spend only a few weeks on Tahiti, but the October arrival made it difficult to transfer the breadfruit seedlings into pots to be taken to the Caribbean. The Tahitian women of that era had a very free sexuality, and the sailors were more than happy to take advantage. What they saw must have seemed like paradise with green mountains swallowed in clouds, endless black sand beaches, and emerald lagoons. It must have been heaven for the grimy, exhausted lower-class men, ten months and 27,086 miles from their squalid homes.

On October 26th, 1788, the weary sailors finally reached Tahiti. But the crew faced some of the most punishing weather ever seen by European sailors: raging winds out of the west, huge seas, blowing ice and snow.Д«ligh tried for 29 days to round the cape but eventually gave up and decided to go all the way around the world across the South Atlantic, around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian Ocean, around Australia, and up into the Pacific. The Bounty set sail in December 1787, headed for Cape Horn, on South America's tip. Christian had sailed alongside Bligh on two previous voyages, and his family had been friendly with Bligh's. When he assembled his crew for the Bounty, Bligh requested that a young gentleman named Fletcher Christian, aged 23, be added to his band. Phrases like 'insufferable disgrace,' 'incompetent mongrel,' and 'vile, shameful rogue,' tripped off his tongue with ease.Д«ligh was not physically cruel indeed, his men came under the whip less frequently than on other British ships of the period. His men were always scoundrels, rascals, hellhounds, beasts, and wretches. He was a brilliant navigator, an expert mapmaker, and a man of courage and energy.Д«ut he had one great flaw: he belittled his men with a vigor that would make a drill sergeant blush.

Bligh had never led an expedition, but he had fared well under Captain Cook in the South Pacific.