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suspected me, unhappily for me, to be a coadjutor in the mutiny; but I never, to my knowledge, whilst under his command, behaved myself in a manner unbecoming the station I occupied, nor so much as even entertained a thought derogatory to his honour, so as to give him the least grounds for entertaining an opinion of me so ungenerous and undeserved; for I flatter myself he cannor give a character of my conduct, whilst I was under his tuition, that could merit the slightest scrutiny. Oh! my dearest mother, I hope you have not so easily credited such an account of me; do but let me vindicate my conduct, and declare to you the true cause of my remaining in the ship, and you will then see how little I deserve censure, and how I have been injured by so gross an aspersion. I shall then give you a short and cursory account of what has happened to me since; but I am afraid to say a hundredth part of what I have got in store, for I am not allowed the use of writing materials, if known, so that this is done by stealth; but if it should ever come to your hands it will, I hope, have the desired effect of removing your uneasiness on my account, when I assure you, before the face of God, of my innocence of what is laid to my charge. How I came to remain on board was thus:

The morning the ship was taken, it being my watch below, happening to awake just after daylight, and looking out of my hammock, I saw a man sitting upon the arm-chest in the main hatchway,

with a drawn cutlas in his hand, the reason of which I could not divine; so I got out of bed and inquired of him what was the cause of it. He told me that Mr. Christian, assisted by some of the ship's company, had seized the captain and put him in confinement; had taken the command of the ship and meant to carry Bligh home a prisoner, in order to try him by court-martial, for his long tyrannical and oppressive conduct to his people. I was quite thunderstruck; and hurrying into my berth again, told one of my messmates, whom I awakened out of his sleep, what had happened. Then dressing myself, I went up the fore-hatchway, and saw what he had told me was but too true; and again I asked some of the people, who were under arms, what was going to be done with the captain, who was then on the larboard side of the quarter-deck, with his hands tied behind his back, and Mr. Christian alongside him with a pistol and drawn bayonet. I now heard a very different story, and that the captain was to be sent ashore to Tofoa in the launch, and that those who would not join Mr. Christian, might either accompany the captain, or would be taken in irons to Otaheite and left there. The relation of two stories so different, left me unable to judge which could be the true one; but seeing them hoisting the boats out, it seemed to prove the latter.

In this trying situation, young and inexperienced as I was, and without an adviser, (every person being as it were infatuated, and not knowing what

to do,) I remained for awhile a silent spectator of what was going on; and after revolving the matter in my mind, I determined to choose what I thought the lesser of two evils and stay by the ship; for I knew that those who went on shore, in the launch, would be put to death by the savage natives, whereas the Otaheitans being a humane and generous race, one might have a hope of being kindly received, and remain there until the arrival of some ship, which seemed, to silly me, the most consistent with reason and rectitude.

. While this resolution possessed my mind, at the same time lending my assistance to hoist out the boats, the hurry and confusion affairs were in, and thinking my intention just, I never thought of going to Mr. Bligh for advice; besides, what confirmed me in it was, my seeing two experienced officers, when ordered into the boat by Mr. Christian, desire his permission to remain in the ship, (one of whom, my own messmate, Mr. Hayward,) and I being assisting to clear the launch of yams, he asked me what I intended to do. I told him, to remain in the ship. Now this answer, I imagine, he has told Mr. Bligh I made to him; from which, together with my not speaking to him that morning, his suspicions of me have arisen, construing my conduct into what is foreign to my nature.

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Thus, my dearest mother, it was all owing to my youth and unadvised inexperience, but has been interpreted into villany and disregard of my coun

try's laws, the ill effects of which I at present, and still am to, labour under for some months longer. And now, after what I have asserted, I may still once more retrieve my injured reputation, be again reinstated in the affection and favour of the most tender of mothers, and be still considered as her ever dutiful son.

How it grieves me to think I must be so explicit when I have such a burthen to go on with! but necessity obliges me. However, to continue my relation :

'I was not undeceived in my erroneous decision till too late, which was after the captain was in the launch; for while I was talking to the master-atarms, one of the ringleaders in the affair, my other messmate whom I had left in his hammock in the berth, (Mr. Stewart,) came up to me, and asked me, if I was not going in the launch. I replied, Noupon which he told me not to think of such a thing as remaining behind, but take his advice and go down below with him to get a few necessary things, and make haste to go with him into the launch; adding that, by remaining in the ship, I should incur an equal share of guilt with the mutineers themselves; upon which he and the master-at-arms had some altercation about my messmate's intention of going into the boat. I reluctantly followed his advice-I say reluctantly, because I knew no better, and was foolish; and the boat swimming very deep in the water- the land being far distant-the thoughts

of being sacrificed by the natives-and the self-consciousness of my first intention being just-all these considerations almost staggered my resolution; however, I preferred my companion's judgment to my own, and we both jumped down the main-hatchway to prepare ourselves for the boat-but no sooner were we in the berth than the master-at-arms ordered the sentry to keep us both in the berth till he should receive orders to release us. We desired the masterat-arms to acquaint Mr. Bligh of our detention, which we had reason to think he never did, nor were we permitted to come on deck until the launch was a long way astern. I now, when too late, saw my error.

'At the latter end of May we got to an island to the southward of Taheité, called Toobouai, where they intended to make a settlement, but finding no stock there of any kind, they agreed to go to Taheité, and, after procuring hogs and fowls, to return to Toobouai and remain. So, on the 6th June, we arrived at Taheité, where I was in hopes I might find an opportunity of running away, and remaining on shore; but I could not effect it, as there was always too good a look-out kept to prevent any such steps being taken. And besides, they had all sworn that should any one make his escape, they would force the natives to restore him, and would then shoot him as an example to the rest; well knowing that any one by remaining there might be the means (should a ship arrive) of discovering their place of

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