TRAGEDIES OF THE SEA.

NZ Truth, Issue 128, 30 November 1907, Page 8

TRAGEDIES OF THE SEA.

MUTINY OF THE BOUNTY.

Men Goaded into Rebellion,

The Brutal Murder of John Norton.

Not love for island maid, but foul affront, Fired the brain, ami steel' d the heart Of Christian and his mate. — McFarland. In his prosy account of the mutiny; of the Bounty, Bligh wrote '—"The secrecy of the mutiny is beyond all conception. Thirteen of the party who stood by me had always lived for'ard amongst the seamen, yet neither they, nor the messmates of Christian, Stewart, Hay wood, and Young, had ever observed any circumstance that made them m the least suspect what was going on. To such a close-planned act of villainy, my mind 'being; entirely free from any suspicion, dt is not wonderful that I .fell a sacrifice." A comparison of Blißh's account of the mutiny with statements from other, sources, will show that he was a long way from being justified m the conclusions he formed, or the assertions he hazarded. Be endeavored to represent the ■ mutiny as the deliberate result of a long .meditated design ; but, oni the contrary, it arose from the. sudden impulse of wounded and excited; spirits. Lieutenant Blight was an excellent seaman, but a rigid disciplinarian—which is but another name for mild tyranny— yet he was neither a< ; good officer nor a courteous gentleman. Indeed, at an early period of the voyage,

. A FEELING OF DISCONTENT : was aroused m the minds of the crew and officers. Blight stinted his men m their provisions, and , (as he was purser as well «as commander) too often supplied those provisions of a very inferior quality. .Thus, on one occasion, wJien the men were unwilling; to eat some decayed pumpkins which he had purchased at Teneriffe, he went upon deck > m a rage, turned the hands up, and ordered the first man m each mess to be called byname, exclaiming, "I'll see who'll dare to refuse the pumpkin, or anything else I may (order to be served out," adding, "You scoun--drels, I'll make you eat grass, or anything you can catch, before I have done with you." To Fletcher Christian, a young fellow of considerable talent and impetuous disposition. Bligh behaved ' with special harshness. On April 23, when the Bounty . anchored off Annamooka, Christian was sent with a party on shore to procure wood and. water. The natives proved troublesome, and threatened the party. As it was i | Bligh's orders that no person should \ affsout liliem on any occasion, they 'were- emboldened by meeting 'with no check to their insolence, and became

Tuesday last, contains the following passages : — "Reuter's misrepresentation of .my views continues. I wonder why the 'Daily News, 1 knowing the part played by Reuter m the Boer War, was not wiser.

"I appeal to the British public to preserve an open mind - until I return to place my views before them, and meanwhile not to accept the sensational falsehoods of journalists notorious for vilifying the Indian people.

HARDIE IN CANADA.

In anotJier .part ol the "Labor Lcaider," Hardie contributes an. interesting article on his Canadian tour, from which we excerpt the following 'notes :— •

The Typographical Union has won an* eight-hour day for its members all over . the American Continent, having spent nearly three million dollars on the jpb, and some sections of the building trades are on the 48-hour iweek ; but other trades are still working; nine and ten hours, and only m some places is the Saturday halfholiday recognised. THE COST OP LIVING. Now, as to cost of living. High wages are all very well for an advertisement, but the real test is, what standard of comfort will the wage maintain ? It is a fact not m dispute that the cost of living lias increased m Canada at a. much greater ratio than the increase m wages. Protection has seriously affected the price of clothing. I should say that, withHhe possible exception of boots, clothing costs two and a half times as much at home. Butter costs from 35 to 40 cents a pound, and eggs were selling whilst I was m Vancouver at 40 cents a dozen. Fuel, whether •timber or coal, is now a serious ■item m the monthly bill. Thus 12 x 9 lumber which three years ag© cost eight dollars per 1006 feet (rough) ,• now costs nineteen dollars. Wood for th» stove has gone up equally. House coal at Calgary isseve> •dollars a ton, and . firewood two dollars per half-cord. A year's .fuel .costs front fifty to seventy dollars. HOUSE RENT THE CHIEF BURDEN. But it is house rent that is the great item of iacrease. Until quite recently everyone who went to Canada acquired a building' site, cither as a free grant or on payment of a merely nominal sum. To some extent this is still true of the far Western towns. On the land so acquired the workman usually erected a wooden shack, very often littls better than a hen-house- But it was his own, and m course of time it developed into a good substantial shingle house. The men who wore fortunate enough to acquire a lot m a good site are now the owners of a property of considerable value, and it is these men Trhose cases arc always cited by the emigration touts. But now all this has changed, and it is almost as difficult to acquire land, unless a long wav out from the centre, as it is at home*

go troublesome that Christian, found it difficult 'to carry out his orders. However, on reporting the matter to Bligh, he received a volley of abuse, was censured as a cowardly rascal, and asked if he were afraid of naked savages whilst he had weapons m his hand. "The arms are of no effect, sir, while your orders prohibit their use," respectfully answered Christian. The mutiny seems to have arisen from an incident which well illustrates Bligh's fury of temper and coarseness of "manner. Said an eye-witness : "In the afternoon of the 27th, Bligh came upon deck, and missing some of the cocoanuts that had been piled up between the guns, said they had been stolen, and could, not have been taken away without the knowledge -of the- 'officers, "all of whom were sent for and questioned on the subject. On their declaring that they had not seen anybody touch \ them, lie shouted,

t( THEN YOU MUST HAVE TAIKIEN

THEM YOURSELVES," and interrogated them separately as to how miany they had purchased. On coming *bo Christian, he answered. *'l don't know, sir* but I hope you don't think me so mean as to be guilty of stealing yours,"- Bligh. replied, "Yes, I do; you must have stolen them from me, or you would be able to give a better account of them." Then, turning to the , otrb.ee officers, he said, "You are all thieves alike, and combine with the men to rob me ; I suppose you will steal my yams next ; but I'll sweat you for it, you rascals ; I'll make half of you jump overboard before you get through Endeavor Straits,'' . This threat was followed by an order to the clerk* to "stop, the yillains' grog and' give them but half a pound of yams to-morrow— l'll reduce them to iVo." Morrison, the boatswain's mate, the authority for this, also said that when Bligh was convinced he must go into the boat, he implored Christian to relent, saying, "I'll pawn my honor, I'll give you my bond. Christian, never to think of this if you'll desist," and spoke of the misery that might result to .his wife and children. Christian replied, iV-'No, Captain Bligh, if you had any honor, tilings had not comic to this ; and if you had any regard for your wife and family you should . have thought of them before, and not behaved so much like a villain." The bo3.tswain also made an effort to promote an amicable arrangement, but Christian replied, "It is too late, I have been m hell for this fortnight past, and am determined to bear it no longer ;, and you know, Cole, that I have been used like a dog all the voyage." From another account by Morrison, which was amply confirmed by other evidence, it appeared that Christian's design was as suddenly conceived as it was boldly carried out. Morrison affirms that Christian himself gave him the following explanation : — "Finding himself much hurt by the treatment he had reccivfrom Lieutenant Bligh, he had determined to quit the Bounty the previous evening, and had the boatswain, carpenter and two midshipmen (Stewart and Hayward) of his intention ; that by them he was supplied with part of a roasted pig, some nails, beads, and other articles of trade, which he put into a bag ; that he put this bag into the dew of Tinkler's hammock, where it was discovered by Tinkler later on, but the business was" smothered, and passed off without further notice. Christian said he had fastened some ..staves' to a plank, with which he intended to

MAKE HIS ESCAPE ; but finding he could not effect it between the first and second Watches, he lay down, about half-past three m the morning ; that when Stewart called him to relieve the deck at 4. o'clock he had just fallen asleep, and' was much put of prdei', upon observing which Stewart strenuously ad* vised him to abandon his project ; that as soon as he had taken charge •of the deck, he saw Ha.yward, the mate of the watch, lie down on the ■arm-chest to take, a nap, and finding that EPalle'tt, the other midshipman, did not make his appearance, he suddenly formed the resolution of.seizing the ship. Disclosing Iris . in-' itention to Matthew Quintal and Is-' aac Martin, both of whom had been flowed i)y Bligh, they called up Charles ChurohiU, who had also tasted the cat. and Matthew Thompson, both of whom readily joined m the plot. That Alexander Smith (alias John Adams), John Williams, and William McCoy evinced equal willingness, and went with Churchill to the armorer, of whom they ; obtained the keys of the arm-chest, under pretence of wanting a musket to fire at a shark then alongside ; that finding Hallctt asleep on the arm-Chest, . they roused and sent Mm on deck. Charles Norman, unconscious of their proceedings, had m the meantime awakeued Hay ward, and directed his attention to the shark, w&ose movements he was watching at the moment that Christian- and his confederates came up the forehatch after having placed arms m the hands of several men who were not aware of> their design. One man. Matthew Thompson, was left m charge of the chest, and- he served out arms to Tho-* mas Burkitt and Robert Lamb. Christian said he then proceeded to secure Bligh, as well as the master, gunner, and botanist." Christian m,ust have been m a desperate mood, indeed, when he was anxious to trust himself overboard on a solitary plank m a shark-infested ocean, m the sheer possibility of reaching; some lonely island where he might forget lv's misery. A man of so gigantic a soul deserved a better fate than to be

SHOT LIKE A DOG far away from his Kith ancl kindred. The mutineers, too, were ■tfiqs.tly young men m- the rnornini* of their lives, some being mere boys, and buoyant youth, having Visions of &i-. dent hixae always ahead, 'is' "-.always

the last to rebel, whether on land or sea. They were :—

Fletcher Christian, master's mate, 24.

Peter Heywood, midshipman, 17,Edward Young, midshipman, 22. George Stewart, midshipman, 23. James Morrison, boatswain's mate, 28.

Charles Churchill, master-at^arms, 30. • ■

William Brown-, gardener, 27. - John Mills, gunner's mate, 40.: Matthew Thompson, A.8., 40. John Stunner, A.8., 24. Richard Skinner, A.B!, 22. Thomas Burkitt, A.8.. 26.. ' John Millward, A.8., 22. Thomas Ellison, A.8., 17,. Michael Byrne, A.8., 28. Matthew Quintal. A.8., 21V William M.cCov. A.8., 25. Alexander Smith, alias John Adams, A.8., 22. John Williams, 'A\B., 25. Isaac Martin, A.8., 30. Henry Hillbrandt, cooper, 25. William Musprat, commander's steward, 30. Joseph Coleman, armorer, 40. Charles Norman, carpenter's mate, 26. «. Thomas Mclntosh, carpenter's crew, 28. ■. The 19 who were ORDERED INTO THE LAUNCH were :-~ William Bligh, commander. John Fryer, master. William Elphinstone, master's mate. - John Hallett, midshipman. Thomas Hayward, midshipman,, Robert Tinkler, boy. ;; William Peckover,. gunner.. William Cole, boatswain. William Purcell, carpenter.Thos. D, Ledward, surgeon's mate. < John Samuel, clerk and steward. David Nelson, botanist. Lawrence Lebogue, sailmaker. Peter Linklater, quartermaster. ' John Norton, quartermaster. George Simpson, quartermaster's mate, i Thomas Hall, ship's cook. John Smith, commander's cook.. , Robert Lamb, biitcher. ■ The boatload of 18 men, with ■ Bligh, thus cast adrift by the mutin- \ eers, made for the island of Tofoa, : about 30 miles distant. There they landed, endeavoring to obtain water and provision, but got a hostile reception from the natives, who lined the beach and threatened the castaiways, Wlien the stir which had been ; commenced by the niggers increased, | the voyagers rushed for the. boat, seeling which, the couple of hundred nai tives attacked them with stones, i which flew like a shower of hail- ; stones. All would probably have been

CUT OFF AND 'MASSACRED, had not one of the crew, John Norton, quartermaster, run up the beach for the purpose of releasing the painter, and by doing so fell a sacrifice m preserving the lives of his companions. In doing this, he was surrounded by the natives, who murdered him with their clubs, and afterwards beat him about the head, with stones. Norton had sailed as quartermaster with Bligh on a former voyage, and was a man whose character was above reproach. His" aged parent. ■whom, he supported out of his pay, did not Ion?; survive his untimely death, but when the intelligence of his fate was brought to England by Bligh, the lamp oi life of a brokenhearted widow went out. This particular John Norton, according; to the tradition of the natives, must have been a saint. In Mariner's "Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands," the author of which visited the scene of the murder 18 years afterwards, it is related that the islanders killed Norton on the beach, and dragged his body up to one of their malais, or lawns, and there left it exposed for two or three days before they buried it. The murder took place on May 1, 1759, and from that day till the time of Mariner's arrival, the natives protested no ..jrrass had grown on the line along which they had dragged the corpse, ito.v upon the spot where it had lain unburied. Such a tale as this induced Mariner to make an examination, and he found a bare line, as the islanders had stated, m a place where it would seem, there was no frequency , iof passers-by. At the termination of the track y/as seen a spot, extenduing transversely, about the length 'and breadth of a man. But the clcr» [ gy then, as now, didn't believe m i THE SANCTITY 'OF ANYONE CALLED NORTON. ■The Rev. T. 13. Murray. M.A., F.S.A., author of the book "Pit■eairn : Its People, 11 says :— "lt is not intended to give, much weight to this anecdote, there being many ways of explaining the seeming wonder. Those who related the* marvellous part of the story were of such a treacherous and deceitful race that ..Mariner provided himself with a pis;tol, as a defence against any violent .measures on , the part 'of the guide,, who accompanied him to the volcano on the summit of Tofoa, etc." Anyway, it was unfortunate for Norton that he remained loyal to the tyrant Bligh, instead of throwing m his lot with the oppressed crew of the Bounty, and for his mistake he yielded his life,. Probably it was not for love of their commander that the majority of the boat's crew elected to remain with Bligh, but rather the desire to see England and their relatives once again, instead of being compelled to spend a lonely existence m a semi-civilised country, as fugitives from naval law.