The HMS Bounty set sail on a gloomy winter's day a few days before Christmas.
You like the little ship, which is just ninety feet long and fairly small at just over 200 tons for the 46 men she carries. She has three masts and sails extremely well however and you are quite content aboard her, despite the gloomy weather. She carries four small cannons for defense and a compliment of muskets and cutlasses as well as enough provisions for the voyage. The purpose of the voyage is to sail to Tahiti to pick up breadfruit and transport them to Jamaica to feed the slaves who work the plantations there. It should be an easy enough voyage.

If you are soon familiar with the ship but the crew are more difficult. You have joined them as an Able Seaman for what should be an easy voyage but there are far too many of men on the ship to remember all of their names. The one name you do remember is Lieutenant William Bligh, the ship's commander. He is a chubby, little man with very white skin, wispy fair hair and blue eyes looking for all the world like a little girl's porcelain doll. Bligh is supposed to be a superb navigator, having sailed under the famous Captain Cook, discoverer of Australia, on his last voyage, but he seems a bit excitable and a little difficult to take seriously.

Almost from the beginning the ship seems to hit bad luck. The weather in the Channel is awful and barely have you sailed out of port than you lose your grip while climbing the rigging. You are plunging towards the deck and almost certain doom when you manage to grab a rope tied between two sails, halting your fall with a heart-stopping judder. Days later a storm breaks the windows of Bligh's cabin, quickly flooding it with water.

As the year of 1788 and the voyage of the Bounty begins you hope that things will get better…

NOTE: PICK UP THE CREW LIST TO HELP YOU KEEP TRACK OF WHO IS WHO IN THIS STORY.

The Atlantic

After leaving the English Channel the weather does indeed improve and you stop off at the Canary Islands for a week. Spirits are high as you sail onto the southwest bound for Tahiti, an island which you have heard of but have no idea where it is. You gather Bligh intends to sail around Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America, to get there. The ship is sailing so well Bligh decides to promote a protégé of his called Fletcher Christian from Master's Mate to Acting Lieutenant, effectively making him Bligh's deputy.

Like everyone else on board the ship you like Christian. He is a cheerful and very likable young man, though a slightly sensitive soul who takes a solicitous interest in everyone's welfare. His promotion comes at the expense of the Sailing Master John Fryer, a professional man, whose strong, independent opinions seem to irritate Bligh. He takes Christian's promotion without a word but some of the crew are not so subtle.

Matthew Quintal is one of your fellow seamen, a young Cornishman and a natural-born trouble-maker, always looking for an opportunity to make a little mischief. One morning he is scrubbing the deck close to where Fryer is sighting the sun with a sextant and begins to mock Fryer about Christian's promotion, lightly at first and then more harshly when Fryer shows no response. Some of the other sailors standing nearby are exchanging glances and grinning.

You join Quintal in mocking Fryer

You join Quintal in ribbing Fryer about Christian being replaced over him. He takes it all with ill-tempered terse sentences but suddenly there is a bizarrely high-pitched cry from further up the deck, you glance up to see Bligh striding towards you.

"You infernal scoundrels!" he roars. "How dare you cowardly rascals show such insolence and contempt for Mr Fryer! Mr Fryer, how came you to permit such a thing to happen sir? Twenty-four lashes each to remind you men of the proper way of addressing your superiors! Master-at-Arms, fetch the lash! Quartermasters, prepare these men!"

Hardly before you know what is happening strong hands have seized you and Quintal, stripped the shirts from your backs and your are being roped to the mast. The Quartermasters stand behind you and on Bligh's orders begin to whip you mercilessly with the lash, which burns like a fire. Soon it is stripping flesh from your back and just as the agony is becoming unbearable the punishment is over.

"May that be a lesson to you all!" Bligh declares.

The Horn

After the lashing of Quintal you and the rest of your crew go about your duties quietly and you soon come upon Cape Horn in atrocious weather. For over four weeks Bligh tries to sail the Bounty into the face of a terrible wind, tacking into the face of a gale. You and several other sailors come down with fevers, brought on by constant exertion in freezing rain and tiredness, and finally Bligh admits defeat and turns the ship east.

You will sail to Tahiti east, around the southern tip of Africa instead. Despite the storm damage the Bounty makes good speed and arrives off Cape Town on the tip of South Africa after a month of sailing. Bligh steers the Bounty carefully into the busy harbor and you and another sailor called John Williams are sent to sound the depths with a lead line. You are both feeding the rope out when the lead snags on some rocks far below. Because the Bounty is still going pretty fast the rope starts sliding rapidly through your hands cutting them badly.

You hold on

You grimace and grasp the rope tight. Williams releases the rope and it drags you across the deck, slamming you painfully into the railing and you are nearly lost overboard but suddenly the lead comes free and you haul it up on the line. Williams, blowing on his burnt hands, only watches you when suddenly you hear a familiar high-pitched cry and look up to see Bligh striding towards you both.

"You incompetent mongrel!" he spits at Williams. "Why did you not help that man? Six lashes for neglect and dereliction of duty!"

The lash is fetched again, Williams is tied to the mast and the Quartermaster once more lays into him, drawing blood. Bligh doesn't even look at you, merely watches the punishment coldly until it is over and he returns to his cabin.

The Pacific

After making it safely into Cape Town the Bounty spends nearly a month resupplying and repairing storm damage, allowing you plenty of time to enjoy the delights of that port. You set sail again on the first day of July and the following month you arrive at Adventure Bay on the island of Tasmania to the south of Australia. You pause there again to re-supply and sail on again in September bound for Tahiti. Spirits are high on board as you near your destination.

Unfortunately, you and another sailor called James Valentine begin to develop a breathing problem, sometimes after exertion you find you have difficulty catching your breath. You and Valentine decide to see the Ship's Surgeon, a heavy-drinking red-faced fat man called Thomas Huggan, who seems rather surprised to be consulted on something medical. Huggan examines you both, wheezing the whole time, and when he has finished he wipes the sweat off his face and gulps down a glass of rum.

"Internal disorder of some kind," he tells you both. "Probably too much blood in your spleens. If you would let me open a vein I will bleed you both about a pint and this will relieve the pressure on your organs, you'll be up and down the rigging free as birds then."

You and Valentine exchange glances.

You agree to let the Surgeon bleed you

The Surgeon fetches a grimy scalpel, spits on it and rubs it with a dirty cloth to clean it and slices open veins in your arms. Blood immediately pours out like a high-power hose and Huggan looks rather alarmed. With difficulty he manages to secure bandages to both your arms and pronounces you good as new. You are both doubtful, particularly as the bleeding doesn't really stop but continues to ooze out of your cuts. Within days you have lost all feeling in your arm.

When you peel the bandage away you find the area around the wound has turned green and black. You and Valentine are soon both feeling faint and feverish, forced to remain in your hammocks as almost your entire arms turn black. It doesn't take you long to realize you are dying but there is nothing Huggan can do. Bligh learns of the situation, visits you both and rages at Huggan but your days are numbered.

You die two weeks before the Bounty reaches Tahiti, the first of that ill-fated crew to perish.

You are Dead

You have died too early in the story to even experience the Mutiny on the Bounty. Your only option is to return to the beginning of the story and try to live longer by making different choices. After the Mutiny on the Bounty if you die you may end the game and leave a comment.
Better Luck this time!

Back to the Beginning...

The HMS Bounty set sail on a gloomy winter's day a few days before Christmas.
You like the little ship, which is just ninety feet long and fairly small at just over 200 tons for the 46 men she carries. She has three masts and sails extremely well however and you are quite content aboard her, despite the gloomy weather. She carries four small cannons for defense and a compliment of muskets and cutlasses as well as enough provisions for the voyage. The purpose of the voyage is to sail to Tahiti to pick up breadfruit and transport them to Jamaica to feed the slaves who work the plantations there. It should be an easy enough voyage.

If you are soon familiar with the ship but the crew are more difficult. You have joined them as an Able Seaman for what should be an easy voyage but there are far too many of men on the ship to remember all of their names. The one name you do remember is Lieutenant William Bligh, the ship's commander. He is a chubby, little man with very white skin, wispy fair hair and blue eyes looking for all the world like a little girl's porcelain doll. Bligh is supposed to be a superb navigator, having sailed under the famous Captain Cook, discoverer of Australia, on his last voyage, but he seems a bit excitable and a little difficult to take seriously.

Almost from the beginning the ship seems to hit bad luck. The weather in the Channel is awful and barely have you sailed out of port than you lose your grip while climbing the rigging. You are plunging towards the deck and almost certain doom when you manage to grab a rope tied between two sails, halting your fall with a heart-stopping judder. Days later a storm breaks the windows of Bligh's cabin, quickly flooding it with water.

As the year of 1788 and the voyage of the Bounty begins you hope that things will get better…

NOTE: PICK UP THE CREW LIST TO HELP YOU KEEP TRACK OF WHO IS WHO IN THIS STORY.