1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: I'm Katie Lambert and I'm Sarah Dowdy. And most of 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: us know a little bit about our topic for today, 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:22,640 Speaker 1: the Mutiny on the Bounty, and we know there's this 6 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,360 Speaker 1: outraged group of sailors and the mutiny against their captain 7 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: and two amazing stories in sue. And the first is 8 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: that the mutineers, with a group of Tahitian women, end 9 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:37,559 Speaker 1: up establishing a colony on this remote Pacific island that 10 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: still exists today, the island and the colony obviously. And 11 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: then the other is that the cast off captain and 12 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: his loyalists navigate thousands of miles to safety and make 13 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: it all the way back to England eventually. But that's 14 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: about all most people know well, and our understanding of 15 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: the people involved isn't quite as good as our understanding 16 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: of the basics. And that's partly due to the misleading 17 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,400 Speaker 1: but entertaining film portrayals of the stories to leading men 18 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:11,120 Speaker 1: in film, Captain Bligh and our mutineer, Fletcher Christian. Yeah, 19 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: most of the films depict Bligh as this hard nosed 20 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:19,040 Speaker 1: bully and Christian is a dashing hero, but those depictions 21 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:23,680 Speaker 1: aren't necessarily correct in times movies lie. Yeah. It turns out, though, 22 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: that the films weren't the first to skew it that way, 23 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:31,039 Speaker 1: with with one as the hero and one as this 24 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 1: mean old captain, and the two men's respective reputations actually 25 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: started to grow shortly after the mutiny itself when some 26 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,400 Speaker 1: of the participants are brought back to England for justice 27 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: and try to skew the story and save their hides 28 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: by defaming your captain. And it's these interesting back stories 29 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: and others that continue centuries after the mutiny that made 30 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: our listener, Catherine in London suggests the topics. So we're 31 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: going to start our Shian alright, So the famous mutiny 32 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: happens in the Pacific Islands in seventeen eighty nine. But 33 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: before we get into that, we have to understand why 34 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: the ship was there in the first place. It wasn't 35 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: on your ordinary run of the mill mission. No, it 36 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: was a culinary mission. And to understand we have to 37 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: go back to seventeen sixty nine when Captain James Cook's ship, 38 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: the Endeavor, discovered the breadfruit in Tahiti and Joseph Banks, 39 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: a famous botanist, on board to Conne And several years 40 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 1: after this, England had a bit of a food crisis, 41 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: and it wasn't about feeding their own people, but about 42 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: feeding their slaves in Jamaica and the lesser Antilles. And 43 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: they were wondering, what can we feed all of these 44 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: people with that's cheap and easy to grow in the Caribbean. 45 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: And uh, part of the problem here was that they 46 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: didn't have the North American colonies anymore producing loads of 47 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: food and fish to to feed these big lave populations. 48 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: So botanist Banks suggested the bread fruit. But of course 49 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: that's in Tahiti, so someone would have to go there, 50 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: take saplings and cuttings and then attempt to propagate the 51 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: tree in the West Indies. And by seventy seven, at 52 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 1: very adamant, Banks finally convinced the king to sponsor this mission. 53 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: So who would they put in charge, Good old reliable 54 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: William Bly. And William Bly had been in the navy 55 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: for quite some time. He was born to a customs 56 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: officer in seventeen fifty four, probably in Plymouth, England, and 57 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: he joined the Royal Navy as a teen and rose 58 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: pretty fast under the service of Captain Cook, who we 59 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, and Bligh was even there when Cook was 60 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: bludgeoned to death by natives in what is now the 61 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: Hawaiian Islands, so that would be an unfortunate thing to witness, 62 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: but he also learned a lot from Cook, and after 63 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: returning to England and getting married and having kids, he 64 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: left the Royal Navy and became a commander of merchant ships, 65 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: which was a really good way to make a lot 66 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: of money and to have a bit of an easier 67 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: career than sailing all over the world for the Navy. Right, 68 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: but he came out of retirement to serve on this 69 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: bread fruit mission and his vessel would be the two 70 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: d and fifteen ton Bethia renamed the Bounty, and he 71 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,840 Speaker 1: accepted the mission. But it didn't turn out to be 72 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: the prestigious, well funded scientific expedition he hoped it would be. 73 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:32,919 Speaker 1: The ship was tiny, he didn't get the title of 74 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,360 Speaker 1: master and commander, and he didn't have the security and 75 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,880 Speaker 1: commissioned officers that should have come with that kind of trip. 76 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: But nevertheless, he's got a major trip underway, and one 77 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: of the first men he recruits is Fletcher Christian who's 78 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: served him well before and has connections to his family. However, Yeah, 79 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: so we have this really bizarre mission to get the 80 00:04:55,279 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: bread fruit. Not of particularly popular mission, but nevertheless. It 81 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: sets off December, after delays of weeks because of unsuitable weather, 82 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: so a bad start almost right away. But the ship 83 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: leaves from Spithead, England, and the plan is to go 84 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,599 Speaker 1: to Tahiti by way of South America, sailing around the 85 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: Cape Horn, and they near the cape by late March, 86 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 1: but the weather is so bad that they make a detour. 87 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 1: And this detour is just insane if you get the 88 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: more around the world. Yeah, if you get mad about 89 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: having to go a few blocks out of your way, 90 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: take note here. Their detour involves going around the Cape 91 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: of Good Hope, which is in Africa, obviously, and it 92 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,159 Speaker 1: takes until May for them to get there. They stop 93 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: at Cape Town, refit their ship, reload their supplies, and 94 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:51,599 Speaker 1: head on their way. And Blind may have been disappointed 95 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: with the initial expedition, but things are actually going well 96 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:58,480 Speaker 1: so far, especially considering their bad weather and the long delay. 97 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 1: The men are in good health or how been a 98 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: lot of injuries. He even loans money to Christian while 99 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: they're in Africa, which Bli was a little bit of 100 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: a tight wad, so that's really a big deal. And 101 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 1: from the Cape they headed to Tasmania, which is where 102 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: their troubles began. They have a man die after a 103 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 1: blood letting, and some of the other men become a 104 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: little insolent, but still they press on. They get to 105 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: Tahiti October, and when they arrive in Tahiti, the islanders 106 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: come pouring aboard the ship, and this is a relatively 107 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: happy time, perhaps one of the last truly happy times 108 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: on this mission. Bli has been to the islands before. 109 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 1: He really likes Tahiti. He gets along well with the 110 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: native people and he even calls Tahiti the paradise of 111 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: the world. And he also gets to work on his mission, 112 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: which is of course securing the bread fruit plants and 113 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: the trees. So he gets permission from the island chiefs 114 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: to transplant and builds a place to put the plants 115 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: and let them grow, and then hangs to type for 116 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: about five months to see if the plants take and 117 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: to wait out the rainy season. And his men don't 118 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: seem to mind Tahiti of course is gorgeous and they 119 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: like the native women, but not all of their tensions 120 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: smelt away. Three of the men go missing with arms 121 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: and ammo. They aren't found for three weeks. Bli gets grumpy, 122 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: of course, to find that his orders aren't carried out. 123 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: The men are lacks about important issues, um the spare sales, 124 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: rot and mildew for examp. Pretty major problems happening. Yeah, 125 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: that's a big deal. But finally, on April five, the 126 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: bounty is ready to leave with its one thousand, fifteen saplings. 127 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: So by the eleventh of April, the ship anchors at 128 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 1: the rather ironically named Friendly Islands. Because not long after 129 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: they leave their Bli and Christian begin to argue and 130 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: not friendly, No, it's not friendly. This is according to 131 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: a later account. But things get worse by the twenty 132 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: one and that's when Christian is hard to say, Sir, 133 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: your abuse is so bad that I cannot do my 134 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: duty with any pleasure. I've been in hell for weeks 135 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,679 Speaker 1: with you, and by April the two are fighting again. 136 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: Blige is disappointed that Christian let native men scare him, 137 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: and he's furious that the watch let a Native diver 138 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: make off with a small anchor, and that brings us 139 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 1: to our last straw, which was Blige's manhunt over stolen coconuts, 140 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: which sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I think you have to 141 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: consider these people being in such close quarters with each 142 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: other for so long and an already tense situation ready 143 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: to go home, stolen coconuts become a really big deal. 144 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: But Blithe specifically implicates Christian before imposing this ration on Yams, 145 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: and it just devastates Christian. Apparently he's seemed crying and 146 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: BLI it's not as big of a deal for him. 147 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,959 Speaker 1: He actually doesn't stay angry for long. He invites Christian 148 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: to dine with him that night. Christian uh doesn't get 149 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: over it so quickly, though, because pre dawn on April, 150 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: according to Bligh's account, Christian comes in with other men, 151 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: seizes him, ties him up and threatens to kill him, 152 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:12,079 Speaker 1: and they haul him naked except for a shirt, onto 153 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: the deck where he's placed on the launch vessel and 154 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: joined by eighteen others who were loyal to the captain, 155 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: and they're given some supplies roum about five days worth 156 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 1: of food, water, some tools, and a compass and four 157 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:29,319 Speaker 1: cutlass is tossed in at the last minute. Uh, three 158 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: people loyal to BLI are actually detained on board, and 159 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: that'll come into play later. But Bli is there trying 160 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: to reason with Christian at the last minute. Here he 161 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:41,680 Speaker 1: knows what's about to happen to him, and he knows 162 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,960 Speaker 1: that it most likely means death and death for the 163 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: men on this little skiff. He tries to remind Christian 164 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 1: that he's held his children back in England, that he's 165 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: been his mentor this whole time, and asks if this 166 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: is proper repayment for his kindness, and Christian says that 167 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: Captain Bly, that is the thing I am in hell. 168 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: I am in Hell. So Christian is pretty tortured by 169 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: this decision to mutiny against his captain. Other men at 170 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:15,560 Speaker 1: the trial substantiate this account, and it's possible that Christian 171 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: had considered slipping off the ship in a raft alone, 172 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: which would have been suicidal, but was talked into mutiny instead. 173 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: And while a movie might end there, our podcast will not. 174 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: So first we're going to catch up with the captain 175 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: post mutiny. Things look really bleak. This tiny boat, lots 176 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:37,200 Speaker 1: of guys, not much food, and they're sailing through mostly 177 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:42,560 Speaker 1: uncharted water. Certain death, yes, certainty death. It seems like um. 178 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: But even though Bligh isn't the best people person, maybe 179 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:51,439 Speaker 1: not the best captain for no managerial skills negotiating with folks, 180 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: he's a really great navigator. And from his tiny little 181 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: glimpses he's had of of charted waters that the waters 182 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 1: that actually are charted, he's able to navigate thousands of 183 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: miles back to safety. What he's done is is pretty fantastic, 184 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,200 Speaker 1: and they stop on a volcanic island, but when one 185 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: of them was killed by natives, Blies determined not to 186 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 1: stop again, so to tea more or death. As Sarah 187 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:20,840 Speaker 1: wrote in her outline, but the problem would be that 188 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: Teamore is about three thousand, six hundred miles away. And 189 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:27,080 Speaker 1: the other thing is everyone on the boat kind of 190 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: hates each other, which is going to be a running 191 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 1: theme for the rest of the podcast. They bicker and 192 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: argue with each other the whole way, and of course 193 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 1: they're starving too, so they have a lot of good 194 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: reasons to be on the grumpy side. Somewhat Miraculously, they 195 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:47,840 Speaker 1: reached Teamore June four nine, and the English Chronicle calls 196 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:51,560 Speaker 1: the navigation of his little skiff through so dangerous a sea, 197 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:55,600 Speaker 1: a matchless undertaking that seems beyond the verge of probability. 198 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,560 Speaker 1: And from there they go into Jakarta and eventually find 199 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: a ride all the way back to Gland, and Bligh 200 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,440 Speaker 1: is hailed as a hero and he writes a narrative 201 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 1: which is very popular, and he also gets a new job. 202 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:10,200 Speaker 1: Still with the bread fruit. You think you would be 203 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: breadfruit sick of bread fruit by this point, But um, 204 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: this time around, the mission is going to be different. 205 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: He's going to have lieutenants, he's going to have marines 206 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:23,120 Speaker 1: for security. I think the Royal Navy has realized that 207 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:28,680 Speaker 1: a mission of this size should have been managed better. 208 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 1: Oh and it's payback time. The Royal Navy also wants 209 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:35,200 Speaker 1: to hunt it down our mutineers, if there are any 210 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: mutineers left to find, which brings us to our next question, 211 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: what happened to the mutineers? So in the Navy commissions 212 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: Captain Edward Edwards and the Pandora to find the surviving 213 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: mutineers in the Pacific, and one of the Bligh skiff 214 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: survivors comes along to presumably to help identify the men 215 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 1: and to talk to them and probably bring out their 216 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: guilt a little too, if this is the guy you 217 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: tossed into a boat not too long ago. Face to 218 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 1: face encounter. When the ship arrives in Tahiti, three bounty 219 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 1: mutineers swim out to it. They're so ready to go home, 220 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 1: and they're arrested and chained, while the other men are 221 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: rounded up and put into the prison hut on deck, 222 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 1: which they called Pandora's Box, which is pretty clever, and 223 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 1: one of the survivors tells Edwards how the men got there, 224 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 1: and he pieces together more from the journals of the 225 00:13:26,679 --> 00:13:30,960 Speaker 1: captured men, but the basics are that hatred and jealousy 226 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: began immediately after the mutiny, with some men thinking that 227 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:37,960 Speaker 1: Christian favored his friends among the other mutineers. So the 228 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:41,720 Speaker 1: ship initially anchors on a tiny island south of Thiti, 229 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: and because they're pretty short on supplies, they head back 230 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 1: to Tahiti and load up on livestock as well as 231 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: a bunch of Tahitian people, women, men, boys, and one girl, 232 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,719 Speaker 1: and then head back to their tiny island and they 233 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 1: try to live there for about three months before the 234 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: in fighting again, with the more it gets insufferable and 235 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:07,479 Speaker 1: Christian agrees to take some of the men back to Tahiti, 236 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 1: and he takes sixteen of them back, implying that he'll 237 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 1: linger nearby the island on the ship for about a 238 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,560 Speaker 1: day or so before slipping off. That he doesn't doesn't happen. 239 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: He leaves in the middle of the night, essentially kidnapping 240 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: the women who were on board the ship. One even 241 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 1: jumps overboard and swims back from beyond the coral reef 242 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: when she realizes what's happening, and sadly, of the sixteen 243 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: left in Tahiti, two are murdered. So back to our 244 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: Captain Edwards. He keeps hunting for Christian and his band 245 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: of men, but he can't find them. He eventually gives 246 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: up and starts to head home, but runs his ship 247 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: aground on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Thirty one of his 248 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:51,119 Speaker 1: men drowned and four prisoners die, so only ten prisoners 249 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 1: make it back to England where they will be tried together, 250 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 1: and the prosecution rests on three points. These men didn't 251 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 1: try to stop the mutiny, they didn't get into the 252 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: launch with BLI, and they didn't try to get to 253 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: England after the mutiny, but hid instead, And there's still 254 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: more fighting among the defendants over who did what, because 255 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: obviously this is the time to implicate your fellows. He 256 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: was the guy with the weapon. It wasn't me. I 257 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 1: was dragged into the whole thing by Christian. You can imagine. 258 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: It goes on and on, and four of the men 259 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:27,800 Speaker 1: have letters from Bli declaring them innocent, so this court 260 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: martial for them is pretty much a formality. They'll be okay. 261 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: Three are virtually assured death because they had all been 262 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,320 Speaker 1: seen with arms. Everyone can agree that these three guys 263 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: were bearing arms, and three are kind of up in 264 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: the air, especially one named Peter Hayward, who is the 265 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: only officer charge, and he was only fifteen at the 266 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: time of the mutiny. He's from a really well connected 267 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: family though, and says that he's young and confused at 268 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 1: the time of the mutiny, that he had been sleeping 269 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: below decks so hadn't been able to react until it 270 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: was a bit too late, and he didn't want to 271 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 1: join the launch because it was so overloaded. But interestingly too, 272 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: it's his testimony that kind of helps build up the 273 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: legend of Bligh as a sadistic incompetent captain. Something that 274 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: will help hey would get off the hook. And he, 275 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 1: of course isn't there to defend his own name. He's 276 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: on bread Fruit Mission Part two, so that's the only 277 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 1: account that people are going by really. So ultimately one 278 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: of the prisoners gets off on a legal technicality, two 279 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:36,720 Speaker 1: are pardoned, including Hayward, and then three hang at Portsmouth 280 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: Harbor and their bodies are displayed for two hours in 281 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 1: the rain. Just a warning to other wood, message to you. 282 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: So Bli's second bread fruit mission is successful. He secures 283 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 1: two thousand one plants. He manages to get six hundred 284 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: and seventy eight of them to the West Indies and 285 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: there he delivers them at St. Vincent and Jamaica. And 286 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,960 Speaker 1: he was delayed air by the start of the French Revolution, 287 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:06,199 Speaker 1: but eventually returned and continues his up and down career. 288 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 1: Being gone for the trial was very unfortunate for his reputation, 289 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:14,120 Speaker 1: since a bit of a pamphlet war started not only 290 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: with Hayward's claims against his character, but Christian's brother, a 291 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: law professor at Cambridge, who interviews the crew members to 292 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,680 Speaker 1: show problems with the command. And that's where he gets 293 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:28,399 Speaker 1: his nickname the Bounty Bastard, which haunts him for the 294 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:31,520 Speaker 1: rest of his life. But catching up with Christian and 295 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: his men, what happens to them? Captain Edwards is never 296 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:38,880 Speaker 1: able to find them, presumably they're all dead. They don't 297 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 1: make it, But the second act of this story continues 298 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:47,000 Speaker 1: in eighteen ten, when the American ship Topaz and Captain 299 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: Folger find this Englishman Alexander Smith also known as John Adams, 300 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 1: on Pitcaren Island in the South Pacific. So what's he 301 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: doing here? He's claiming he's a bounty survivor. He tells 302 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:04,120 Speaker 1: how the group of mutineers, Tahitian women and male Tahitian 303 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:08,760 Speaker 1: servants landed there in and stripped and burned the bounty 304 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: to cover their tracks. In fighting, once again, it kills 305 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: off almost everyone, with Christian getting shot in the neck 306 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 1: with a pistol ball, although other rumors do have Christian 307 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:24,280 Speaker 1: escaping Pitcaren and returning to England probably unlikely. It seems 308 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: like infighting is our general trend here and we should 309 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: probably go and going at the pistol ball. But just 310 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 1: because most of the men have killed each other off 311 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:35,119 Speaker 1: doesn't mean that this island is devoid of a population. 312 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:37,760 Speaker 1: There has been a lot of repopulating going on at 313 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: the same time, and the island now has thirty five inhabitants, 314 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,760 Speaker 1: and Smith is their leader, and the first to be 315 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: born on the island is actually Christian's own son. And 316 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: so this new expedition finds a twenty year old Thursday 317 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: October Christian, the descendant of Fletcher, and a Tahitian woman, 318 00:18:57,800 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: a name we had a lot of fun with earlier 319 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:03,879 Speaker 1: to day. Some of the settlers eventually immigrate to Norfolk Island, 320 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,920 Speaker 1: east of Australia, and many of them still live there today. 321 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: But others still live on pit Karen, where they speak 322 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:13,320 Speaker 1: English and pitt Kern, a mix of Tahitian and eighteenth 323 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,439 Speaker 1: century English, which sounds pretty cool. And they trade with 324 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,439 Speaker 1: ships that come by or sell their stuff online. But 325 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: a few years ago they had a scandal when numerous 326 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:27,640 Speaker 1: men were arrested and charged with abusing underage girls. I'd 327 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,160 Speaker 1: read a big article in Vanity Fair about it, called 328 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,120 Speaker 1: Trouble in Paradise, which you can find online. Sarah read 329 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 1: some other accounts, yeah, and NPR story about the journalist 330 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:42,040 Speaker 1: Kathy Marks who had unearthed this whole history, which apparently 331 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:46,200 Speaker 1: stretched back for generations, at least three generations of abuse. 332 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:49,240 Speaker 1: That's just a side note for us. We're going to 333 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: go to the more popular game of what went wrong? 334 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,399 Speaker 1: So why was there this mutiny in the first place? 335 00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 1: That's the big popular question, and one myth to debunk 336 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 1: is that Bli and Christian had this secret, illicit relationship 337 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,439 Speaker 1: and that's why Christian just got so angry at Bligh 338 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:13,600 Speaker 1: and mutinied. He wasn't Hell. He wasn't Hell. Yeah, exactly. So. 339 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 1: The historian who first suggested this idea retracted it later 340 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,959 Speaker 1: after she reassessed the size of the ship and figured 341 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,679 Speaker 1: that there was no way you could have conducted a 342 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 1: secret affair aboard a vessels so small. And this mutiny 343 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,919 Speaker 1: also didn't happen because Bli was too strict. In his 344 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:34,880 Speaker 1: captain's log, he had noted that he hadn't punished anyone 345 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:38,200 Speaker 1: until several months in, and he also noted that he'd 346 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 1: hoped to complete the journey without it flogging, and those 347 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,159 Speaker 1: types of punishment weren't something that he relied on. That 348 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 1: was a sign of trouble for him. Yeah, he was 349 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:50,120 Speaker 1: really pretty light on corporal punishment as far as other 350 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 1: captains in the Pacific went. He's a pretty progressive captain. 351 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 1: According to Caroline Alexander, who is a historian. He has 352 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 1: written several articles in books on the subject, and she 353 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: said that especially in terms of food and sleep for 354 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 1: the men, he's extremely progressive. So it wasn't about that. 355 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:14,440 Speaker 1: It wasn't that he was this tyrannical, physically abusive captain, 356 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:17,159 Speaker 1: but he could have been verbally and personally abusive in 357 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: a way that really needled his men. So Alexander's biggest 358 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:24,520 Speaker 1: cause of the mutiny is Fletcher Christian himself, and she 359 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,280 Speaker 1: says that it wouldn't have happened without him, and that 360 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: it happened because of his own personal breakdown. So maybe 361 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,119 Speaker 1: we shouldn't look too to Blige for our problems, but 362 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 1: to Christian himself. So Sarah, was this mission for bread 363 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:40,800 Speaker 1: fruit all for not? Yeah, we have to catch up 364 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: with the bread fruit here, since it's the whole purpose 365 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:48,159 Speaker 1: for this story. The specimens that arrive in Jamaica are 366 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:52,199 Speaker 1: practically too late because it takes a while for this exotic, 367 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,919 Speaker 1: strange food to catch on, and by the time it 368 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:59,399 Speaker 1: finally does catch on, slavery has been abolished. By the 369 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:04,320 Speaker 1: British today, though it's actually a really popular food in Jamaica. 370 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:09,119 Speaker 1: And according to the Smithsonian, a mature tree produces two 371 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: hundred pounds of fruit a season, which is kind of insane. 372 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:18,160 Speaker 1: And it's filled with protein and calories and carbohydrates and nutrients. 373 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: And you can grill it and fry it and bake 374 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:24,280 Speaker 1: it and roast it. I mean, I feel like I'm 375 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,919 Speaker 1: talking about shrimp and forest. Ever, I was thinking the 376 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:28,960 Speaker 1: same thing. So if you'd like to send us a 377 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 1: breadfruit recipe, please do. And that brings us to the 378 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:35,680 Speaker 1: end of the mutiny and the bounty and our ideas 379 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: about who, well what is the cause of it, And 380 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 1: that brings us to Listener mail. Our first postcard for 381 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,399 Speaker 1: today is a picture of James Joyce in Paris and 382 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: nine and it's from Andrew in Raleigh, North Carolina, who 383 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: was actually a high school classmate of mine, so Go 384 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,399 Speaker 1: Harrison High School. And he said that he loved the 385 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 1: podcast although he discovered at it fairly recently, and that 386 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: it has been excellent company during his frequent drives to 387 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: South Carolina to visit his fiancee. So he asked us 388 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,439 Speaker 1: to do a podcast about America's Stonehenge, So thank you 389 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: for the suggestion, Andrew, and for getting back in touch. 390 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 1: We also got a postcard from Maddie who is studying 391 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:22,399 Speaker 1: abroad in Strasbourg, and she suggested that we do a 392 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: little bit of history on the city, especially the cathedral, 393 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:28,159 Speaker 1: and I think it mostly made Katie and I want 394 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,359 Speaker 1: to go check out one of the local Alsatian restaurants 395 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:35,240 Speaker 1: here in town, Kafe Alsace Indicator, which we both really love. 396 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,880 Speaker 1: And our last postcard of the day is a reproduction 397 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:42,800 Speaker 1: of Boston Common at Twilight, and it's a postcard from 398 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: Bostonian Sophia, who says she's a longtime devotee of the 399 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: podcast and especially loved our episode on the art heist 400 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,359 Speaker 1: at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which she says she 401 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,359 Speaker 1: passes every day on her way to work, and she 402 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: requests some more art history topics and then asked ps, 403 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,840 Speaker 1: is snail mail really the key to listener mail glory? 404 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,120 Speaker 1: And yes, yes it is. Although we've gotten so much 405 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 1: awesome snail mail postcards and letters and all kinds of 406 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,280 Speaker 1: things in the past few weeks, we can't read them 407 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: all anymore, and we wish we could show it all 408 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 1: to you, because we have some really gorgeous ones who 409 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,160 Speaker 1: are trying to figure out if we can scan them 410 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:23,639 Speaker 1: and somehow share them, but so far we haven't really 411 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:26,160 Speaker 1: come up with a good strategy for that. They're really 412 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,440 Speaker 1: pretty in our cubes though, Yes, thank you, we love them. 413 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:32,199 Speaker 1: If you'd like to send us email, we take that too. 414 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: At History Podcast at how stuff works dot com. We 415 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,679 Speaker 1: also have a Twitter feed which you should follow at 416 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 1: Misston History and a Facebook fan page at History Class Stuff. 417 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,119 Speaker 1: So look for us and stop by our homepage at 418 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:50,719 Speaker 1: www dot how stuff works dot com. For more on 419 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,480 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works 420 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:55,600 Speaker 1: dot com and be sure to check out this stuff 421 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:57,880 Speaker 1: you missed in History Class, blogged on the how stuff 422 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: works dot com home page. Bling bl