Mutiny[edit]

Because the vessel was rated only as a cutter, Bounty had no commissioned officers other than
Bligh (who was then only a lieutenant), a very small crew, and no Royal Marines to provide
protection from hostile natives during stops or to enforce security on board ship. To allow longer
uninterrupted sleep, Bligh divided his crew into three watches instead of two, placing
his protégé Fletcher Christian—rated as a Master's Mate—in charge of one of the watches.
The mutiny, which took place on 28 April 1789 during the return voyage, was led by Christian
and supported by eighteen of the crew.[5] They had seized firearms during Christian's night watch
and surprised and bound Bligh in his cabin.

Account of arrival at Timor, 14 June 1789. Log of the Proceedings of His Majesty's Ship Bounty, 1789,
bound manuscript,Safe 1 / 47
Despite being in the majority, none of the loyalists put up a significant struggle once they saw
Bligh bound, and the ship was taken over without bloodshed. The mutineers provided Bligh and
eighteen loyal crewmen a 23-foot (7.0 m) launch (so heavily loaded that the gunwales were only
a few inches above the water). They were allowed four cutlasses, food and water for perhaps a
week, a quadrant and a compass, but no charts, or marine chronometer. The gunner William
Peckover, brought his pocket watch which was used to regulate time. [6] Most of these were
obtained by the clerk, Mr Samuel, who acted with great calm and resolution, despite threats from
the mutineers. The launch could not hold all the loyal crew members, so four were detained
on Bounty for their useful skills; they were later released in Tahiti.
Tahiti was upwind from Bligh's initial position, and was the obvious destination of the mutineers.
Many of the loyalists claimed to have heard the mutineers cry "Huzzah for Otaheite!"
as Bounty pulled away. Timor was the nearest European colonial outpost in the Dutch East
Indies (modern Indonesia), 3,618 nmi (6,701 km; 4,164 mi) away. Bligh and his crew first made
for Tofua, only a few leagues distant, to obtain supplies. However, they were attacked by hostile
natives and John Norton, a quartermaster, was killed. [7] Fleeing from Tofua, Bligh did not dare to
stop at the next islands to the west (the Fiji islands), as he had no weapons for defence and
expected hostile receptions. He did however keep a log entitled "Log of the Proceedings of His
Majesty's Ship Bounty Lieut. Wm Bligh Commander from Otaheite towards Jamaica" which he
used to record events from 5 April 1789 to 13 March 1790. [6] He also made use of a small
notebook to sketch a rough map of his discoveries.
Original illustration by S. Drée from French author Jules Verne's story "The Mutineers of the Bounty" (Les
Révoltés de la Bounty) (1879).
Bligh had confidence in his navigational skills, which he had perfected under the instruction
of Captain James Cook. His first responsibility was to bring his men to safety. Thus, he
undertook the seemingly impossible 3,618-nautical-mile (6,701 km; 4,164 mi) voyage to Timor,
the nearest European settlement. Bligh succeeded in reaching Timor after a 47-day voyage, the
only casualty being the crewman killed on Tofua. From 4 May until 29 May, when they reached
the Great Barrier Reef north of Australia, the 18 men lived on 1⁄12 pound (40 grams) of bread per
day. The weather was often stormy, and they were in constant fear of foundering due to the
boat's heavily laden condition. On 29 May they landed on a small island off the coast of Australia,
which they named Restoration Island, 29 May 1660 being the date of the restoration of the
English monarchy after the English Civil War. Over the next week or more they island-hopped
north along the Great Barrier reef—while Bligh, cartographer as always, sketched maps of the
coast. Early in June they passed through the Endeavour Strait and sailed again on the open sea
until they reached Coupang, a settlement on Timor, on 14 June 1789. [6] Several of the men who
survived this arduous voyage with him were so weak that they soon died of sickness, possibly
malaria, in the pestilential Dutch East Indies port of Batavia, the present-day Indonesian capital
of Jakarta, as they waited for transport to Britain.[8]