Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1916-12-29

him had been c%nptivated by the easy
life IN Tahiti. On April IS they mu-
tinted, cast Bllgh and IS other men
adrift In the ships launch and sailed
back TO Tahiti. Bligh and his com
panlons reached the island Of Timor
on the fourteenth Of June, after sail
ing 1900 nautical miles In an open
boat and suffering dreadful privatiOns.
M%utineers Made Merry.
Meanwhile the m%utineers made mer-
ry for n while ut Tahiti, but Fletcher
Christian. their leader. fearing pursuit.
decided to seek a more secure refuge.
However. some Of the mutlneers re-
fused to follow him, 50 Christian. with
eight Of his shlpmates, six Tahitian
men and - Tahltlan women, sailed
for Pitcairn island. where they arrived
and settled In 1880. after burning the
Bounty. Christian was justified la an
ticipating pursuit. In time Tahiti was
visited by another British man-of-war
under Captain Edwards In search of
the mutlneers. Fourteen Of the six
teen who remained in Tahiti were cap
tured, and three of them were execut-
ed In September. 1892.
or Christian and his company nc
trace was discovered until 1893. when
Captain FOlger, an American skipper,
touched at Pitcairn island and found
their survivors and descendants liv-
ing there. In the meantime all of the
mutlneers except Alexander Smith. all
Of the THhitian men and several OF
the women had died Of disease or VIC
lence. After being informed of Cap
tain Folger's discovery, the British
government took no steps in the mat
ter until 1914. when in September, IL.
NJ. s.. Britain touched at the island and
found old Smith. or Adams. still alive,
commanding the respect and admira-
tion Of the whole little colony by his
exemplary conduct and fatherly care
of them.
The settlers there were visited
again by British ships In 1928 and
1880, and the later visitors confirmed
the testimony of the earlier as to
their exemplary conduct. In 1881
they deemed their populatiOn-only 81
too great for the island, and at their
request many were transported by the
British government to Tahiti. But,
shocked by the morals of their Tnhi-
tian relatives and friends. after a nine
months sojourn they returned to the
island at their own expense. In 1889
they %besought Captain Elliott of IL.
NJ. S. Fly, who visited them, to be
taken under the protection of the
British government because Of annoy
ances from the lawless crews of whal-
ers who occasionally visited them.
Taken over by British.
Captain Elliott accordingly took
possession of the island in the name
Of Queen Victoria, gave them n Union
Jack and recognized their self-elected
magistrate. They were frequently Wis
tied by English ships until 1855, when
again deeming their numbers too great
for the island. they petltiOned the
British government to grant them the
larger and more productive Norfolk
island, to which they were removed il
1856. In 1859, two families, number
ing II persons, returned to Pitcairn
island, and the present inhabitnnti
are descended from those.
An officer of the British ship Opal
which visited the island in 1879, wrote
as follows: I'VE just left a place o
great interest. ramely Pitcairn island
. After a 30-days' passage from San
: Francisco we sighted the island at
= n. m. on the 2nd of July and at tel
= o'clock anchored Off Bounty bay-thl
first time a man-of-war has anchored
there for about twenty years, 1t beinl
customary to steam off and on the is
n land while communicating with 1t.
n Immediately on our arrival" h
wrote, 'the islanders launched a boa
Y through the surf, and came Off with
quantity of fruit for us. The chic
magistrate, whose name is Mccoy
Y came on board, as did also some of tn
Youngs and Christians. l say advis
g eddy some of them, for 1t is very diff
a cult to find out who is who on tn
island, they all being Youngs, Chris
d lions, McCoys or Warrens, althoug
a fashion Is coming in vogue-owln
to the confusion caused by there be
e ing only about five names between 8
h persons-Of individuals nssumin
d names. Thus one Of the Christian
1. has taken the name Of Downes, an
5. is bringing up a family under tina
cognomen, while another has assume
the name of Selwyn. If this continue
into a few generations It will be har
II to trace their connection with the oril
I inal names Of the Bounty"
e