After four days ashore with the Natives gathering in increasing numbers and hardly any supplies to be found Bligh gives the order for you all to return to the boat and resume sailing westwards. As soon as the Natives see you are leaving they attack, they race to the shore and run through the water towards you armed with spears and axes. You are pushing off as fast as you can but one fast moving Native manages to grab a rope attached to the stern. You all quickly realize you can't escape as long as he is holding that rope.

You let someone else get off the boat

You remain on the boat and watch as stout Quartermaster John Norton jumps overboard, crosses to the Native holding the rope, dodges his spear and cuts him down with his cutlass. The dying Native releases the rope releasing your boat and enabling the oarsmen to row rapidly away from the shore. Norton turns to follow you but is knocked down by a Native with a rock and as he tries to rise he is beaten and stabbed to death. The rest of you escape by throwing spare garments of clothes into the sea, which pursuing Natives stop to pick up.

The month following your escape from Tofua is a difficult one for you. The weather is constantly cold, there are frequent storms and practically all of your time is spent either rowing or bailing out the boat. Sleep for more than a few hours at a time is impossible. You have nothing but tiny amounts of bread and water, your stomach shrinks massively and you are constantly thirsty. Life becomes blurred.

By the time you arrive at Restoration Island you can barely drag yourselves ashore. The island receives its name from Bligh after you all find fresh fruit and oysters which go a little way to restoring your strength. You find deserted Native campsites and after your previous experience you are not keen to make contact with them. After two days resting you sail on, reaching an island Bligh calls Sunday Island the next day where tensions again erupt.

Another Argument

On Sunday Island on the last day of May Bligh nearly faces another mutiny.

You and the Carpenter William Purcell spend the morning clam hunting and return to the boat that evening with your findings. Bligh orders you to hand the clams over and, considering them personal property, you both refuse.

"You ungrateful scoundrels!" Bligh exclaims. "If I had not brought you here you would all have perished!

"If it had not been for you we should not have been here," you reply angrily.

"You are scoundrels!" Bligh exclaims.

"I am not a scoundrel," Purcell replies coldly. "I am as good a man as you."

Bligh grabs a cutlass from the boat and Purcell does likewise.

"Mr Cole, arrest both of those men," Fryer calls out to the Boatswain.

"You will do no such thing," Bligh snaps.

"There are other methods in making people do as they are ordered without fighting them sir," you tell Bligh stepping between him and Purcell.

Bligh glares at you for a moment, apparently too angry to speak, and then abruptly throws his cutlass into the boat. Purcell does likewise and the next day you sail on to Coupang. Hardly anyone talks to Bligh more than is absolutely necessary, no one can stand him any longer. All of you are too sick, weak and tired and the monotonous waves roll you onwards steadily until finally, gloriously, you arrive at Coupang.

The little Dutch town huddled against the waves looks the sweetest place on earth as you all sail in, dock and disembark, feeling like kissing the ground. Bligh coldly orders Fryer and you to stay and guard the boat while he leads the rest ashore. You ignore him and join the others in receiving food and medical attention from the kind inhabitants of the colony.

Your troubles are a long way from over yet however.

You getting home

Coupang is a small settlement with no large vessels so Bligh arranges the purchase of a derelict 34-foot schooner he names HMS Resource and orders you all to work hard in making it seaworthy enough to sail on to the larger port of Batavia on the island of Java where you should be able to find a ship going back to England. Tensions remain with Bligh bickering frequently with Fryer, Purcell and now also Acting Surgeon Thomas Ledward, who accuses Bligh of eating more than his fair share of supplies.

Bligh responds by insisting that you all work hard so that you may get back to England sooner, despite your still generally weak state.

You work hard

You push yourself hard but it turns out to be a mistake, you soon contract a serious inflammatory fever, as does David Nelson the gentle but weak Botanist Bligh also brought with him on the Bounty. Both of you worsen, despite the best efforts of the Doctor and even Bligh's comments that "your generally good conduct and manly fortitude deserve special tribute to your memory" fail to raise your spirits.

You succumb to the sickness a short time before your companions sail to Batavia and safety.