Volume I Part 19 (1/2)

Off the east coast of New Holland, the _Pandora_ ran on a reef, and was speedily a wreck. In an hour and a half after she struck, there were eight and a half feet of water in her hold, and in spite of continuous pumping and baling, it became evident that she was a doomed vessel. With all the efforts made to save the crew, thirty-one of the s.h.i.+p's company and four mutineers were lost with the vessel. Very little notice, indeed, seems to have been taken of the latter by the captain, who was afterwards accused of considerable inhumanity. ”Before the final catastrophe,” says the surgeon of the vessel, ”three of the _Bounty's_ people, Coleman, Norman, and M'Intosh, were now let out of irons, and sent to work at the pumps.

The others offered their a.s.sistance, and begged to be allowed a chance of saving their lives; instead of which, two additional sentinels were placed over them, with orders to shoot any who should attempt to get rid of their fetters. Seeing no prospect of escape, they betook themselves to prayer, and prepared to meet their fate, every one expecting that the s.h.i.+p would soon go to pieces, her rudder and part of the stern-post being already beaten away.” When the s.h.i.+p was actually sinking, it is stated that no notice was taken of the prisoners, although Captain Edwards was entreated by young Heywood, the mids.h.i.+pman, to have mercy on them, when he pa.s.sed over their prison to make his own escape, the s.h.i.+p then lying on her broadside with the larboard bow completely under water. Fortunately, the master-at-arms, either by accident, or probably design, when slipping from the roof of ”Pandora's Box” into the sea, let the keys unlocking the hand-cuffs and irons fall through the scuttle, and thus enabled them to commence their own liberation, in which they were a.s.sisted by one brave seaman, William Moulter, who said he would set them free or go to the bottom with them. He wrenched away, with great difficulty, the bars of the prison. Immediately after the s.h.i.+p went down, leaving nothing visible but the top-mast cross-trees.

More than half an hour elapsed before the survivors were all picked up by the boats. Amongst the drowned were Mr. Stewart, the mids.h.i.+pman, and three others of the _Bounty's_ people, the whole of whom perished with the manacles on their hands. Thirty-one of the s.h.i.+p's company were lost. The four boat-loads which escaped had scarcely any provisions on board, the allowance being two wine-gla.s.ses of water to each man, and a very small quant.i.ty of bread, calculated for sixteen days. Their voyage of 1,000 miles on the open ocean, and the sufferings endured, were similar to those experienced by Bligh's party, but not so severe. After staying at Coupang for about three weeks, they left on a Dutch East Indiaman, which conveyed them to Samarang, and subsequently Batavia, whence they proceeded to Europe.

After an exhaustive court-martial had been held on the ten prisoners brought home by Captain Edwards, three of the seamen were condemned and executed; Mr. Heywood, the mids.h.i.+pman, the boatswain's-mate, and the steward were sentenced to death, but afterwards pardoned; four others were tried and acquitted. It will be remembered that four others were drowned at the wreck.

Twenty years had rolled away, and the mutiny of the _Bounty_ was almost forgotten, when Captain Folger, of the American s.h.i.+p _Topaz_, reported to Sir Sydney Smith, at Valparaiso, that he had discovered the last of the survivors on Pitcairn Island. This fact was transmitted to the Admiralty, and received on May 14th, 1809, but the troublous times prevented any immediate investigation. In 1814, H.M.S. _Briton_, commanded by Sir Thomas Staines, and the _Tagus_, Captain Pipon, were cruising in the Pacific, when they fell in with the little known island of Pitcairn. He discovered not merely that it was inhabited, but afterwards, to his great astonishment, that every individual on the island spoke very good English.

The little village was composed of neat huts, embowered in luxuriant plantations. ”Presently they observed a few natives coming down a steep descent with their canoes on their shoulders, and in a few minutes perceived one of these little vessels das.h.i.+ng through a heavy surf, and paddling off towards the s.h.i.+ps; but their astonishment was extreme when, on coming alongside, they were hailed in the English language with 'Won't you heave us a rope now?'

”The first young man that sprang with extraordinary alacrity up the side and stood before them on the deck, said, in reply to the question, 'Who are you?' that his name was Thursday October Christian, son of the late Fletcher Christian, by an Otaheitan mother; that he was the first born on the island, and that he was so called because he was brought into the world on a Thursday in October. Singularly strange as all this was to Sir Thomas Staines and Captain Pipon, this youth soon satisfied them that he was none other than the person he represented himself to be, and that he was fully acquainted with the whole history of the _Bounty_; and, in short, the island before them was the retreat of the mutineers of that s.h.i.+p. Young Christian was, at this time, about twenty-four years of age, a fine tall youth, full six feet high, with dark, almost black hair, and a countenance open and extremely interesting. As he wore no clothes, except a piece of cloth round his loins, and a straw hat, ornamented with black c.o.c.k's feathers, his fine figure, and well-shaped muscular limbs, were displayed to great advantage, and attracted general admiration. * * * He told them that he was married to a woman much older than himself, one of those that had accompanied his father from Otaheite. His companion was a fine, handsome youth of seventeen or eighteen years of age, of the name of George Young, the son of Young, the mids.h.i.+pman.” In the cabin, when invited to refreshments, one of them astonished the captains by asking the blessing with much appearance of devotion, ”For what we are going to receive, the Lord make us truly thankful.” The only surviving Englishman of the crew was John Adams, and when the captains landed through the surf, with no worse result than a good wetting, the old man came down to meet them. Both he and his aged wife were at first considerably alarmed at seeing the king's uniform, but was rea.s.sured when he was told that they had no intention of disturbing him. Adams said that he had no great share in the mutiny, that he was sick at the time, and was afterwards compelled to take a musket. He even expressed his willingness to go to England, but this was strongly opposed by his daughter. ”All the women burst into tears, and the young men stood motionless and absorbed in grief; but on their being a.s.sured that he should on no account be molested, it is impossible,” says Pipon, ”to describe the universal joy that these poor people manifested.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: H.M.S. ”BRITON,” AT PITCAIRN ISLAND.]

When Christian had arrived at the island, he found no good anchorage, so he ran the _Bounty_ into a small creek against the cliff, in order to get out of her such articles as might be of use. Having stripped her, he set fire to the hull, so that afterwards she should not be seen by pa.s.sing vessels, and his retreat discovered. It is pretty clear that the misguided young man was never happy after the rash and mutinous step he had taken, and he became sullen, morose, and tyrannical to his companions. He was at length shot by an Otaheitan, and in a short time only two of the mutineers were left alive.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PITCAIRN ISLAND.]

The colony at this time comprised forty-six persons, mostly grown-up young people, all of prepossessing appearance. John Adams had made up for any share he may have had in the revolt, by instructing them in religious and moral principles. The girls were modest and bashful, with bright eyes, beautifully white teeth, and every indication of health. They carried baskets of fruit over such roads and down such precipices as were scarcely pa.s.sable by any creatures except goats, and over which we could scarcely scramble with the help of our hands. When Captain Beechey, in his well-known voyage of discovery on the _Blossom_, called there in 1825, he found Adams, then in his sixty-fifth year, dressed in a sailor's s.h.i.+rt and trousers, and with all a sailor's manners, doffing his hat and smoothing down his bald forehead whenever he was addressed by the officers of the _Blossom_. Many circ.u.mstances connected with the subsequent history of the happy little colony cannot be detailed here. Suffice it to say that it still thrives, and is one of the most model settlements of the whole world, although descended from a stock so bad. Of the nine who landed on Pitcairn's Island only two died a natural death. Of the original officers and crew of the _Bounty_ more than half perished in various untimely ways, the whole burden of guilt resting on Christian and his fellow-conspirators.

The mutiny just described sinks into insignificance before that which is about to be recounted, the greatest mutiny of English history-that of the Nore. At that one point no less than 40,000 men were concerned, while the disaffection spread to many other stations, some of them far abroad. There can be little doubt that prior to 1797, the year of the event, our sailors had laboured under many grievances, while the navy was full of ”pressed”

men, a portion of whom were sure to retain a thorough dislike to the service, although so many fought and died bravely for their country. Some of the grievances which the navy suffered were probably the result of careless and negligent legislation, rather than of deliberate injustice, but they were none the less galling on that account. The pay of the sailor had remained unchanged from the reign of Charles II., although the prices of the necessaries and common luxuries of life had greatly risen. His pension had also remained at a stationary rate; that of the soldier had been augmented. On the score of provisions he was worse off than an ordinary pauper. He was in the hands of the purser, whose usual t.i.tle at that time indicates his unpopularity: he was termed ”Nipcheese.” The provisions served were of the worst quality; fourteen instead of sixteen ounces went to the navy pound. The purser of those days was taken from an inferior cla.s.s of men, and often obtained his position by influence, rather than merit. He generally retired on a competency after a life of deliberate dishonesty towards the defenders of his country, who, had they received everything to which they were ent.i.tled, would not have been too well treated, and, as it was, were cheated and robbed, without scruple and without limit. The reader will recall the many naval novels, in which poor Jack's daily allowance of grog was curtailed by the purveyor's thumb being put in the pannikin: this was the least of the evils he suffered. In those war times the discipline of the service was specially rigid and severe, and most of this was doubtless necessary. Men were not readily obtained in sufficient numbers; consequently, when in harbour, leave ash.o.r.e was very constantly refused, for fear of desertions. These and a variety of other grievances, real or fancied, nearly upset the equilibrium of our entire navy. It is not too much to say that not merely England's naval supremacy was for a time in the greatest jeopardy through the disaffection of the men, but that our national existence, almost-and most certainly our existence as a first-cla.s.s power-was alarmingly threatened, the cause being nothing more nor less than a very general spirit of mutiny. To do the sailors justice, they sought at first to obtain fair play by all legitimate means in their power. It must be noted, also, that a large number of our best officers knew that there was very general discontent.

Furthermore, it was well known on sh.o.r.e that numerous secret societies opposed to monarchy, and incited by the example of the French Revolution, had been established. Here, again, the Government had made a fatal mistake. Members of these societies had been convicted in numbers, and sent to sea as a punishment. These men almost naturally became ringleaders and partakers in the mutiny, which would, however, have occurred sooner or later, under any circ.u.mstances. In the case of the mutiny at Spithead, about to be recounted, the sailors exhibited an organisation and an amount of information which might have been expected from ”sea-lawyers” rather than ordinary Jack Tars; while in the more serious rebellion of the Nore, the co-operation of other agents was established beyond doubt.

The first step taken by the men was perfectly legitimate, and had it been met in a proper spirit by the authorities, this history need never have been penned. At the end of February, 1797, the crews of four line-of-battle s.h.i.+ps at Spithead addressed separate pet.i.tions to Lord Howe, Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet, asking his kind interposition with the Admiralty, to obtain from them a relief of their grievances, so that they might at length be put on a similar footing to the army and militia, in respect both of their pay and of the provision they might be enabled to make for their wives and families. Lord Howe, being then in bad health, communicated the subject of their pet.i.tions to Lord Bridport and Sir Peter Parker, the port admiral, who, with a want of foresight and disregard of their country's interest which cannot be excused, returned answer that ”the pet.i.tions were the work of some evil-disposed person or persons,” and took no trouble to investigate the allegations contained in them. Lord Howe, therefore, did nothing; and the seamen, finding their applications for redress not only disregarded, but treated with contempt, determined to compel the authorities to give them that relief which they had before submissively asked.

In about six weeks they organised their plans with such secrecy that it was not till everything was arranged on a working basis that the first admiral, Lord Bridport, gained any knowledge of the conspiracy going on around him. He communicated his suspicions to the Lords of the Admiralty; and they, thinking a little active service would prove the best cure for what they simply regarded as a momentary agitation, sent down orders for the Channel Fleet to put to sea. The orders arrived at Portsmouth on April 15th, and in obedience to them Lord Bridport signalled to the fleet to make the necessary preparations. As might almost have been expected, it was the signal, likewise, for the outbreak of the mutiny. Not a sailor bestirred himself; not a rope was bent; but, as if by common consent, the crews of every vessel in the squadron manned the yards and rigging, and gave three cheers. They then proceeded to take the command of each s.h.i.+p from the officers, and appointed delegates from each vessel to conduct negotiations with the authorities of the Admiralty. No violence nor force was used. The first-lieutenant of the _London_, ordered by Admiral Colpoys, one of the best-hated officers of the service, shot one of the mutineers, but his death was not avenged. They again forwarded their pet.i.tion to the Admiralty, and its closing sentences showed their temperance, and argued strongly in favour of their cause. They desired ”to convince the nation at large that they knew where to cease to ask, as well as where to begin; and that they asked nothing but what was moderate, and might be granted without detriment to the nation or injury to the service.” The Admiralty authorities, seeing that with the great power in their hands they had acted peaceably, only abstaining from work, yielded all the concessions asked; and a full pardon was granted in the king's name to the fleet in general, and to the ringleaders in particular. In a word, the mutiny ended for the time being.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MUTINY AT PORTSMOUTH.]

It was resumed on May 7th. As Parliament had delayed in pa.s.sing the appropriations for the increase of pay and pensions, the crews rose _en ma.s.se_ and disarmed all their officers, although still abstaining from actual violence. Lord Howe, always a popular officer with the men, and their especial idol after his great victory of June 1st, 1794, was sent down by the Cabinet with full power to ratify all the concessions which had been made, and to do his best to convince the men that the Government had no desire of evading them. He completely mollified the men, and even succeeded in exacting an expression of regret and contrition for their outbreak. He a.s.sured them that their every grievance should be considered, and a free pardon, as before, given to all concerned. The men again returned to duty. The fleet at Plymouth, which had followed that of Portsmouth into the mutiny, did the same; and thus, in a month from the first outbreak, as far as these two great fleets were concerned, all disaffection, dissatisfaction, and discontent had pa.s.sed away, through the tact and judicious behaviour of Lord Howe. There can be no doubt that the tyranny of many of the officers had a vast deal to do with the outbreak.

In the list of officers whom the men considered obnoxious, and that Lord Howe agreed should be removed, there were over one hundred in one fleet of sixteen s.h.i.+ps.

Strange to say, the very same week in which the men of the Portsmouth fleet returned to their duty, acknowledging all their grievances to be removed, the fleet at the Nore arose in a violent state of mutiny, displaying very different attributes to those shown by the former. Forty thousand men, who had fought many a battle for king and country, and in steadfast reliance upon whose bravery the people rested every night in tranquillity, confident in their patriotism and loyalty, became irritated by ungrateful neglect on the one part, and by seditious advisers on the other, and turned the guns which they had so often fired in defence of the English flag against their own countrymen and their own homes.

Richard Parker, the chief ringleader at the Nore, was a thoroughly bad man in every respect, and one utterly unworthy the t.i.tle of a British sailor, of which, indeed, he had been more than once formally deprived. He was the son of an Exeter tradesman in a fair way of business, had received a good education, and was possessed of decided abilities. He was a remarkably bold and resolute man, or he would never have acquired the hold he had for a time over so many brave sailors. He was unmistakably

”The leader of the band he had undone, Who, born for better things, had madly set His life upon a _cast_,”

and until overtaken by justice, he ruled with absolute sway.

Parker had, eleven years previously, entered the navy as a mids.h.i.+pman on board the _Culloden_, from which vessel he had been discharged for gross misconduct. A little later, he obtained, however, a similar appointment on the _Leander_ frigate, and was again dismissed. We next find him pa.s.sing through several s.h.i.+ps in rotation, from which he was invariably dismissed, no captain allowing him to remain when his true character disclosed itself. It did not usually take long. At length he became mate of the _Resistance_, on which vessel, shortly after joining, he was brought to a court-martial and ”broke”-_i.e._, his commission taken away-and declared incapable of serving again as an officer. After serving a short time as a common sailor on board the _Hebe_, he was either invalided or discharged, for we find him residing in Scotland; and as he could no more keep out of trouble ash.o.r.e than he could afloat, he was soon in Edinburgh gaol for debt. But men were wanted for the navy, and he was eventually sent up to the fleet as one of the quota of men required from Perth district. He received the parochial bounty of 30 allowed to each man. He joined the _Sandwich_, the flag-s.h.i.+p of Admiral Buckner, Commander-in-Chief at the Nore. The best authorities believe him to have been employed as an emissary of the revolutionists, as, although he had only just been discharged from gaol, he had abundance of money. His good address and general abilities, combined with the liberality and conviviality he displayed, speedily obtained him an influence among his messmates, which he used to the worst purpose. He had scarcely joined the fleet when, aided by disaffected parties ash.o.r.e, he began his machinations, and speedily seduced the majority of the seamen from their duty. In some respects the men followed the example of those at Portsmouth, selecting delegates and forwarding pet.i.tions, but in other respects their conduct was disgracefully different. When mastery of the officers had been effected, Parker became, in effect, Lord High Admiral, and committed any number of excesses, even firing on those s.h.i.+ps which had not followed the movement.

Officers were flogged, and on board the flag-s.h.i.+p, the vessel on which Parker remained, many were half-drowned, as the following account, derived from an unimpeachable source,(127) will show. Their hammocks were fastened to their backs, with an 18-pounder bar-shot as a weight; their hands were tied together, likewise their feet. They were then made fast to a tackle suspended from a yard-arm, and hauled up almost to the block; at the word of command they were dropped suddenly in the sea, where they were allowed to remain a minute. They were again hoisted up, and the process repeated, until about every sign of life had fled. The unfortunate victims were then hoisted up by the heels; this was considerately done to get rid of the water from their stomachs. They were then put to bed in their wet hammocks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ADMIRAL DUNCAN ADDRESSING HIS CREW.]

On June 6th the mutinous fleet was joined by the _Agamemnon_, _Leopard_, _Ardent_, and _Iris_ men-of-war, and the _Ranger_ sloop, which vessels basely deserted from a squadron under Admiral Duncan, sent to blockade the Texel. Shortly after, a number of vessels of the line arrived at the mouth of the Thames, and still further augmented the ranks of the mutineers. By this means eleven vessels were added to the list. Duncan, gallant old salt as he was, when he found himself deserted by the greater part of his fleet, called his own s.h.i.+p's crew (the _Venerable_, 74) together, and addressed them in the following speech:-