Mutineers of the "Bounty"

Author: James Morrison  | Date: 1870

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Lady Belcher London 1870

Mutiny on the Bounty

[1789]

I

In the afternoon of the 27th Mr. Bligh came up, and taking a turn about the quarter deck when he missed some of the cocoa nuts which were piled up between the guns, upon which he said that they were stolen and could not go without the knowledge of the officers, who were all called and declared they had not seen a man touch them. To which Mr. Bligh replied: "Then you must have taken them yourselves," and ordered Mr. Elphinstone to go and fetch every cocoa nut in the ship aft, which he did.

He then questioned every officer in turn concerning the number they had bought and coming to Mr. Christian asked him.

Mr. Christian answered: "I do not know, sir, but I hope you don’t think me so mean as to be guilty of stealing yours?"

Mr. Bligh replied: "Yes, you damned hound, I do. You must have stolen them from me or you could give a better account of them. 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. I’ll make half you jump overboard before you get through Endeavor Straits."

He then called Mr. Samuel and said: "Stop these villains’ grog and give them but half a pound of yams to-morrow, and if they steal them I’ll reduce them to a quarter."

The cocoa nuts were carried aft and he went below. The officers then got together and were heard to murmur much at such treatment, and it was talked among the men that the yams would be next seized as Capt. Bligh knew that they had purchased large quantities of them and they set about secreting as many as they could of their own.

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Chicago: James Morrison, Mutineers of the "Bounty" in History in the First Person: Eyewitnesses of Great Events: They Saw It Happen, ed. Louis Leo Snyder and Richard B. Morris (Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Co., 1951), Original Sources, accessed March 29, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=JDS3E3HZGLF6R1X.

MLA: Morrison, James. Mutineers of the "Bounty", in History in the First Person: Eyewitnesses of Great Events: They Saw It Happen, edited by Louis Leo Snyder and Richard B. Morris, Harrisburg, Pa., Stackpole Co., 1951, Original Sources. 29 Mar. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=JDS3E3HZGLF6R1X.

Harvard: Morrison, J, Mutineers of the "Bounty". cited in 1951, History in the First Person: Eyewitnesses of Great Events: They Saw It Happen, ed. , Stackpole Co., Harrisburg, Pa.. Original Sources, retrieved 29 March 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=JDS3E3HZGLF6R1X.