These adventurers were the first white men to set foot on the great group of the Fiji Islands, which Tasman and Cook had passed by. The exploit is sung to this day in one of the poems of the Fijian language which have handed down the traditions of the race from father to son. The little schooner was never seen again by the _Pandora_ after they parted at Tahiti to go their separate ways; but after many months the master’s mate, the bold midshipman, and the seven handy seamen who comprised the crew came sailing into the Dutch East Indies. The _Pandora_ ransacked the South Seas in vain for Fletcher Christian and his party, and turned homeward after nine months of cruising on this quest. Having cleared the coast of New Guinea, the frigate crashed into the Great Barrier Reef while trying to find a passage through, and foundered after eleven hours of endeavor to keep her afloat by pumping. The discipline was admirable, and in the ship’s dying flurry four boats were filled and sent away, besides some rafts and canoes. During those long hours, however, while the sailors were trying to save themselves and the frigate, the hapless mutineers were left in the “Pandora’s Box,” in leg-irons and manacles and utterly helpless. Three of them were finally allowed to work at the pumps, still wearing their chains, but Captain Edwards paid no heed to the prayers of the others, who foresaw they were to drown like rats in a trap. It was inhumanity almost beyond belief, for these prisoners could not have escaped if they had been released and allowed to swim for it with the rest of the crew. His own officers and men interceded and begged permission to knock the shackles off the mutineers before the ship went down, but Captain Edwards threatened to shoot the first man who interfered with his orders, and to kill any of the captives who attempted to free themselves. He was the type of officer who is blindly, densely zealous and regards the letter of the law as to be obeyed under all circumstances. The Admiralty had told him to bring these fugitives back to England in chains. This settled the matter for him. When the _Pandora_ was about to plunge under, a council of officers formally decided “that nothing more could be done for the preservation of His Majesty’s ship.” The command was then given to quit her before she carried the crew to the bottom, but even then two sentries of the Royal Marines guarded the scuttle of “Pandora’s Box” with instructions to shoot if the mutineers tried to smash their irons.