 Alexander suggests that throughout his later career Heywood suffered a sense of guilt over his pardon, knowing that he had "perjured himself" in saying that he was kept below and therefore prevented from joining Bligh. She believes that Pasley and Graham may have bribed William Cole to testify that Heywood had been held against his will, echoing Thomas Bond, Bligh's nephew, who had asserted in 1792 that "Heywood's friends have bribed through thick and thin to save him". John Adams, the last survivor of Christian's Bounty party that sailed to Pitcairn Island, was discovered in 1808. In 1825, interviewed by Captain Edward Belcher, Adams maintained that Heywood was on the gangway, not below, and "might have gone [in the open boat] if he pleased."
