Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-10-05


execution, read young Peter Haywood HIS Ma
jesty'S gracious pardon, the youth addressed MIN
in the following noble strain: =
Sir, when the sentence of the law was passed
upon me, received it, trust, as became man
and if it had been carried into execution, should
have met my fate, hope, in manner becoming
a Christian Your admonition cannot tall 10 make
lasting impression upon my mind. | receive
with gratitude my sovereign'S mercy, Tor which
my future life shall be faithfully devoted to his
service" ;.
And faithfully his future life redeemed his
pledge. He Immediately re-entered His MaJes-
tvs service, rose in it rapidly TO high station,
greatly distinguished himself and died in honour
able retirement in the year 1881 in his 5oth year
| His considerate and discriminating judges, after
weighing all the facts of the case, regarded HIM
as having been more unfortunate than criminal, !,
! from his youth, the coercion under which he had
laboured, and the absence ofany proof that he had
taken part in the outrage inflicted on his comman-
der, or his fellow-victimS His early mistortunes
saddened and sobered him for life he became the
idol of those who were placed either over or under
him: and it stands recorded Of him by one of our
naval annalists ''that his king and country never
had more faithful servant, nor the naval service
more worthy and respectable member
THE MISSING MUTINEERs.
1t seems difficult to assign adequate motives for
the mutiny of the Bounty, or at least to imagine
the ulterior objects of its perpetrators. fletcher
| Christian, the ringeader, was gentleman by
birth and education brother of Professor Christian,
the annotator of BiackstOne'S Commentaries, and
ChieeJustice Of Ely; while Mr.. Young, one Of
the mdshipmen who shared his desperate ven
| ti,n nf born pnuI0
such men have imagined would be their destiny (!
What, for Instance could they do with their king s
ship? What pleasure could they have in spend
! ing the rest of their lives among savages?
! 1t was twenty years before the slightest trace
of them could be detected but then their deplOra-
bic fate became known. 1t seems that as soon as
they had turned adrift their commander, Chris
tian sailed for an island 500 miles south OF Ota-
heite, Intending to land there but the Inhabitants
refusing TO allow them, they returned to Otahelte
Once more they went 10 the island in question,
were again repulsedby the natives, and once more
| repaired to Otaheite. 1t was now necessary for
them TO consider seriously how they were to dis
| pose of themselves All but nine resolved to set
| lie at Otaheite, Christian aud his eight compan-
ions resolving to try their fortunes elsewhere. 1t
so happened that he had found in the Bounty, a
mour its commanders books, copy Of Comman-
der Carteres's Voyage round the World; and a
mOnr his other discoveries, the author mentions a
very little island which he first saw on the 2nd
July 1857, in the South Pacific Ocean lit ap
peared," he said, like great rock rising out OF
the sea-" and was so high as to be visible at more
than fifteen leagues distance. lis
highest point nse zoos feet above the level OF the
sea, and in clear weather could be seen at forty
miles distance. As it was first seen by young
gentleman named Pitcairn, they gave 1t his name
s'Pitcairn's Island" and tried to land on it; bu,
the surf was raging so violently round 1t as to rem
der near approach impossible. 1t is at distance
of 1900. miles from Otaheite, and is in latitude
25o A. south, and in longitude 1900 8 west. II
is only four miles and half in circumference, a
mile and half Icing its greatest length. 1t is Of
volcanic origin, having been elevated from the bed
of the ocean by some tremendous convulSion cauS-
ed by the action of fire, which has given verti-
cal character and Jagged outline to the stony
mountains, and rendered the scenery wildly pic
turesque Iti covered with trees-the COCOA nut,
plantain, bread fruit, and banyan-and its climate
is favourable to the growth Of vegetables. There
are no venomous reptiles. There is only one
pint, called Bounty Bay, where access is posi-
BILE, aud that only in calm weather and even then
great care is requisite to avoid the breakers. There
! is scarcely any beach; and almost instantly on
! landing the visitor commences precipitous as
cent This was the desolate spot selected by the
mutineer aud his companions for their future resi-
! dence! They sailed in the Bounty; and when
it arrived there landed from it twenty eight souls
j viz. Christian, Mr. Young, a midshipman, and
seven seamen : and all these nine Englishmen had
\ married Otahetan women! who accompanied
them. There were also six Otaheitan men. three
| of them with wives and a child ten months old.
| Let the reader realise for moment the feelings OF
uentleman-of two gentlemen, married to sava-
ges doomed to spend the rest of their days on that
| forOrn spot ten thousand miles away from home,
where were their anxious families and friends, and
where also resided those who doubtless were send
inr forth scouts to scour the ocean in quest of the
guilty occupants of that island. and bring them
home to suffer just and ignomnous death!
Christian and his friends were not, however,
the first occupants the island, for they found ln-
dubitabe traces of ancient predecessors, savage
and idolatrous; hatchets; spear heads Of hard
stone; large stone bowl; carvings of the sun,
noon and stars, four images six feet in height ;
and number of skulls, buried, each having 4
pearl under it. The new -comers found no other
traces of man on the island; they were the only
living human occupants.
MURDERS.
Fearful times awaited the mutinoers and their
companions Christian retained for u while the
position and authority of head of the community
and his mind seems to have been occupied with
ef1rts to preserve order and peace, which were
hourly interrupted by his turbulent and savage
companions Much of his time, however, was
spent on spot on the top of a high rock, which
he called his lookout" whence he would anx-
lously survey the ocean, to see whether it bore a
long its bosom the coming avenger! What
thoughts must have been his on these occasions of
mouruiul soliude What would he then have
given to undo all that he had done
Shortly after their landing they broke up the
B1mtu, and so condemned themselves to perpet-
ual imprisonment in the island. There were san
culinary trays necessarily arising between the Eu-
rupeaus and the savages and at length the Ota-
hetan men entered into plot to destroy their Eu-
I ropean companions The wives OF the latter, how
ever, discovered it. and disclosed II to their hus-
bands on the eve of the projected massacre. The
result, however, may be anticipated. within a
years time, Christian and four OF his companions
were murdered by their Otahetan companions, AL
Of whom were in turn slain the same year! One
of them was killed with an axe by MIS- Young,
The midshipman's Oaheitan wife! As soon as
she had done this, she signalled her husband, and
he immediately shot the sole surviving Otaheltan!
In the year lI94, there were only four OF the En-
gilShmen alive, one of whom was Mr.. Young
and the five skulls of the murdered Engllshmen,
including Christian, were kept by the women OF
the place as trophies; and they were afterwards,
only with much difficulty, prevailed on to give
them up to be buried. One of the survivors was
unhappily acquainted with the art of dstilling
and having converted copper boiler from the
N ~,tr