On being asked what he supposed Christian meant when he said he had been
in hell for a fortnight? he said, from the frequent quarrels that they
had, and the abuse he had received from Mr. Bligh, and that the day
before the mutiny Mr. Bligh had challenged all the young gentlemen and
people with stealing his cocoa-nuts.
_Mr. Cole_, the boatswain, deposes,--that he had the middle watch; was
awakened out of his sleep in the morning, and heard a man calling out to
the carpenter, that they had mutinied and taken the ship; that Christian
had the command, and that the captain was a prisoner on the
quarter-deck; that he went up the hatchway, having seen Mr. Heywood and
Mr. Young in the opposite berth; that coming on deck he saw the captain
with his hands tied behind him, and four sentinels standing over him,
two of which were Ellison and Burkitt, the prisoners; that he asked Mr.
Christian what he meant to do, and was answered by his ordering him to
hoist the boat out, and shook the bayonet, threatening him and damning
him if he did not take care; that when he found the captain was to be
sent out of the ship, he again went aft with the carpenter to ask for
the long-boat; that they asked three or four times before he granted it;
that he saw Mr. Peter Heywood, one of the prisoners, lending a hand to
get the fore-stayfall along, and when the boat was hooked on, spoke
something to him, but what it was does not know, as Christian was
threatening him at the time; that Heywood then went below, and does not
remember seeing him afterwards; that after the few things were got into
the boat, and most of the people in her, they were trying for the
carpenter's tool-chest, when Quintal said, 'D---- n them, if we let them
have these things they will build a vessel in a month'; but when all
were in the boat she was veered astern, when Coleman, Norman, and
M'Intosh, prisoners, were crying at the gangway, wishing to go in the
boat; and Byrne in the cutter alongside was also crying; that he advised
Mr. Bligh to cast off, as he feared they would fire into the boat.
_The Court_ asked if he had any reason to believe that any other of the
prisoners than those named were detained contrary to their inclinations?
Answer--'I believe Mr. Heywood was; I thought all along he was intending
to come away; he had no arms, and he assisted to get the boat out, and
then went below; I heard Churchill call out, 'Keep them below.' _The
Court_--'Do you think he meant Heywood?' 'I have no reason to think any
other.'
_Mr. Peckover_ the gunner's evidence is similar to that of Mr. Cole's,
and need not be detailed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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