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abode. Finding it therefore impracticable, I saw no other alternative but to rest as content as possible and return to Toobouai, and there wait till the masts of the Bounty should be taken out, and then take the boat, which might carry me to Taheité, and disable those remaining from pursuit.* But Providence so ordered it, that we had no occasion to try our fortune at such a hazard, for, upon returning there and remaining till the latter end of August, in which time a fort was almost built, but nothing could be effected; and as the natives could not be brought to friendly terms, and with whom we had many skirmishes, and narrow escapes from being cut off by them, and, what was still worse, internal broils and discontent,-these things determined part of the people to leave the island and go to Taheité, which was carried by a majority of votes.

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This being carried into execution on the 22d September, and having anchored in Matavai bay, the next morning my messmate (Mr. Stewart) and I went on shore, to the house of an old landed proprietor, our former friend; and being now set free from a lawless crew, determined to remain as much apart from them as possible, and wait patiently for the arrival of a ship. Fourteen more of the Bounty's people came likewise on. shore, and Mr. Christian

* Morrison mentions, in his Journal, a plan to this effect, contrived by Heywood, Stewart, and himself, but observes, "it was a foolish attempt, as, had we met with bad weather, our crazy boat would certainly have made us a coffin."

and eight men went away with the ship, but God knows whither. Whilst we remained here, we were treated by our kind and friendly natives with a generosity and humanity almost unparalleled, and such as we could hardly have expected from the most civilized people.

To be brief-having remained here till the latter end of March, 1791, on the 26th of that month his Majesty's ship Pandora arrived, and had scarcely anchored, when my messmate and I went on board and made ourselves known; and having learnt from one of the natives who had been off in a canoe, that our former messmate, Mr. Hayward, now promoted to the rank of lieutenant, was on board, we asked for him, supposing he might prove the assertions of our innocence. But he (like all worldlings when raised a little in life) received us very coolly, and pretended ignorance of our affairs; yet formerly he and I were bound in brotherly love and friendship. Appearances being so much against us, we were ordered to be put in irons, and looked upon-oh, infernal words !-as piratical villains. A rebuff so severe as this was, to a person unused to troubles, would, perhaps, have been insupportable; but to me, who had now been long inured to the frowns of fortune, and feeling myself supported by an inward consciousness of not deserving it, it was received with the greatest composure, and a full determination to bear it with patience; ascribing it to the corrective hand of an All-gracious Providence, and

fully convinced that adversity is the lot of man, sent to wean him from these transient scenes, and fix his hopes on joys more permanent, lest, by a too long round of good fortune, he should forget the frailty of his nature, and the existence of a Supreme Omnipotent Being.

'Had my confinement been my only misfortune, I would patiently have resigned myself to it. But one evil seldom comes unaccompanied. Alas! I was informed of the death of the most indulgent of fathers, which I naturally supposed to have been hastened by Mr. Bligh's ungenerous conduct. This thought made me truly wretched. I had certainly been overpowered by my grief had not Mr. Hayward again assured me, that he had paid the debt of nature before the news of the Bounty's fate arrived in England, and that he had the news by letter from my best-beloved Nessy, which made me somewhat easier, and I endeavoured to bear it as I ought. Yet I have still my fears on my dear mother's account, lest such an account of me, when added to her recent affliction, might overpower her spirits and constitution, and make her grief too poignant and burdensome for life. But may God of his infinite mercy have ordered otherwise! and that this may find you, and all my brothers and sisters, as well as I could wish, and have the desired effect of rooting in you a belief of my innocence, and eradicate your displeasure, the thought of which makes me most unhappy.

My sufferings, however, I have not power to describe; but though they are great, yet I thank God for enabling me to bear them without repining. I endeavour to qualify my affliction with these three considerations; first, my innocence not deserving them; secondly, that they cannot last long; and thirdly, that the change may be for the better. The first improves my hopes; the second my patience; and the third my courage. I am young in years, but old in what the world calls adversity; and it has had such an effect, as to make me consider it the most beneficial incident that could have occurred at my age. It has made me acquainted with three things which are little known, and as little believed by any but those who have felt their effects: first, the villany and censoriousness of mankind; secondly, the futility of all human hopes; and thirdly, the happiness of being content in whatever station it may please Providence to place me. In short, it has made me more of a philosopher than many years of a life spent in ease and pleasure would have done.

Should you receive this, do assure my muchrespected friend, Mr. Betham, of my innocence of the crime laid to my charge. His disinterested · kindness to me is deeply rooted in my mind. Make him acquainted with the reason of my remaining in the ship. Perhaps his assistance in interceding with his son-in-law, Mr. Bligh, in my behalf, might undeceive him in his groundless

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opinion of me, and prevent his proceeding to great lengths against me at my approaching trial. you should likewise apply to my uncle Pasley, and Mr. Heywood, of Plymouth, their timely aid might be the means of rescuing me from an ignominious lot.

As they will no doubt proceed to the greatest lengths against me, I being the only surviving officer, and they most inclined to believe a prior story, all that can be said to confute it will probably be looked upon as mere falsity and invention. Should that be my unhappy case, and they resolved upon my destruction as an example to futurity, may God enable me to bear my fate with the fortitude of a man, conscious that misfortune, not any misconduct, is the cause, and that the Almighty can attest my innocence. Yet why should I despond? I have, I hope, still a friend in that Providence which hath preserved me amidst many greater dangers, and upon whom alone I now depend for safety. God will always protect those who deserve it. These are the sole considerations which have enabled me to make myself easy and content under my past misfortunes-the relation of which I shall now continue.

'Twelve more of the people who were at Otaheite having delivered themselves up, there was a sort of prison built on the after-part of the quarterdeck, into which we were all put in close confinement, with both legs and both hands in irons, and

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