there is a curious story. An English paper called _The
True Briton_ of September 13th, 1796, contained the following paragraph:--

"CHRISTIAN, CHIEF MUTINEER ON BOARD HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP 'BOUNTY.'

"This extraordinary nautical character has at length transmitted
to England an account of his conduct in his mutiny on board the
_Bounty_ and a detail also of his subsequent proceedings after he
obtained command of the ship, in which, after visiting Juan
Fernandez and various islands in South America, he was shipwrecked
in rescuing Don Henriques, major-general of the kingdom of Chili,
from a similar disaster, an event which, after many perilous
circumstances, led to his present lucrative establishment under
the Spanish Government in South America, for which [Sidenote: 1796]
he was about to sail when the last accounts were received from him.

"In his voyage, etc., which he has lately published at Cadiz, we
are candidly told by this enterprising mutineer that the revolt
which he headed on board His Majesty's ship _Bounty_ was not
ascribable to dislike of their commander, Captain Bligh, but to
the unconquerable passion which he and the major part of the
ship's crew entertained for the enjoyments which Otaheite still
held out to their voluptuous imaginations. 'It is but justice,'
says he, 'that I should acquit Captain Bligh, in the most
unequivocal manner, of having contributed in the smallest degree
to the promotion of our conspiracy by any harsh or ungentlemanlike
conduct on his part; so far from it, that few officers in the
service, I am persuaded, can in this respect be found superior to
him, or produce stronger claims upon the gratitude and attachment
of the men whom they are appointed to command. Our mutiny is
wholly to be ascribed to the strong predilection we had contracted
for living at Otaheite, where, exclusive of the happy disposition
of the inhabitants, the mildness of the climate, and the fertility
of the soil, we had formed certain connexions which banished the
remembrance of old England entirely from our breasts.'"

After describing the seizure and securing of Captain Bligh's person in his
cabin, Christian is made to thus conclude his account of the revolt:--

"During the whole of this transaction Captain Bligh exerted
himself to the utmost to reduce the people to a sense of their