Vice-Admiral Lord Hood, _President_.
Capt. Sir Andrew Snape Hamond, Bart.,
" John Colpoys,
" Sir George Montagu,
" Sir Roger Curtis,
" John Bazeley,
" Sir Andrew Snape Douglas,
" John Thomas Duckworth,
" John Nicholson Inglefield,
" John Knight,
" Albemarle Bertie,
" Richard Goodwin Keats.
The charges set forth that Fletcher Christian, who was mate of the
_Bounty_, assisted by others of the inferior officers and men, armed
with muskets and bayonets, had violently and forcibly taken that ship
from her commander, Lieutenant Bligh; and that he, together with the
master, boatswain, gunner, and carpenter, and other persons (being
nineteen in number), were forced into the launch and cast adrift;--that
Captain Edwards, in the _Pandora_, was directed to proceed to Otaheite,
and other islands in the South Seas, and to use his best endeavours to
recover the said vessel, and to bring in confinement to England the said
Fletcher Christian and his associates, or as many of them as he might be
able to apprehend, in order that they might be brought to condign
punishment, &c. That Peter Heywood, James Morrison, Charles Norman,
Joseph Coleman, Thomas Ellison, Thomas M'Intosh, Thomas Burkitt, John
Millward, William Muspratt, and Michael Byrne, had been brought to
England, &c., and were now put on their trial.
_Mr. Fryer_, the master of the _Bounty_, being first sworn, deposed--
That he had the first watch; that between ten and eleven o'clock Mr.
Bligh came on deck, according to custom, and after a short conversation,
and having given his orders for the night, left the deck; that at twelve
he was relieved by the gunner, and retired, leaving all quiet; that at
dawn of day he was greatly alarmed by an unusual noise; and that, on
attempting to jump up, John Sumner and Matthew Quintal laid their hands
upon his breast and desired him to lie still, saying he was their
prisoner; that on expostulating with them, he was told, 'Hold your
tongue, or you are a dead man, but if you remain quiet there is none on
board will hurt a hair of your head'; he further deposes, that on
raising himself on the locker, he saw on the ladder, going upon deck,
Mr. Bligh in his shirt, with his hands tied behind him, and Christian
holding him by the cord; that the master-at-arms, Churchill, then came
to his cabin and took a brace of pistols and a hanger, saying, 'I will
take care of these, Mr. Fryer'; that he asked, on seeing Mr. Bligh
bound, what they were going to do with the captain; that Sumner replied,
'D---- n his eyes, put him into the boat, and let the see if he can live
upon three-fourths of a pound of yams a day'; that he remonstrated with
such conduct, but in vain. They said he must go in the small cutter.
'The small cutter!' Mr. Fryer exclaimed; 'why her bottom is almost out,
and very much eaten by the worms!' to which Sumner and Quintal both
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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