ealth; ... the voyage was two
thirds completed, and the remaining part in a very promising way."--_A
Narrative of the Mutiny, etc._, by Lieut. W. Bligh, 1790, p. 9.]
[354] ["The women at Otaheite are handsome, mild, and cheerful in their
manners and conversation, possessed of great sensibility, and have
sufficient delicacy to make them admired and beloved. The chiefs were so
much attached to our people, that they rather encouraged their stay
among them than otherwise, and even made them promises of large
possessions. Under these and many other attendant circumstances equally
desirable, it is now, perhaps, not so much to be wondered at ... that a
set of sailors, most of them void of connections, should be led away,
especially when they imagined it in their power to fix themselves, in
the midst of plenty, ... on the finest island in the world, where they
need not labour, and where the allurements of dissipation are beyond
anything that can be conceived,"--_Ibid._, p. 10.]
[ez] _And all enjoy the exuberance of the wild_.--[MS. D. erased.]
[fa] {590} _Their formidable fleet the quick canoe_.--[MS. D. erased.]
[355] {591}["Just before sunrising Mr. Christian, with the
master-at-arms, gunner's mate, and Thomas Burkitt, seaman, came into my
cabin while I was asleep, and, seizing me, tied my hands with a cord
behind my back, and threatened me with instant death if I spoke or made
the least noise. I, however, called out so loud as to alarm every one;
but they had already secured the officers who were not of their party,
by placing sentinels at their doors. There were three men at my cabin
door, besides the four within; Christian had only a cutlass in his hand,
the others had muskets and bayonets. I was hauled out of bed, and forced
on deck in my shirt, suffering great pain from the tightness with which
they had tied my hands.... The boatswain was now ordered to hoist the
launch out. The boat being hoisted out, Mr. Hayward and Mr. Hallet,
midshipmen, were ordered into it; upon which I demanded the cause of
such an order, and endeavoured to persuade some one to a sense of duty;
but it was to no effect: 'Hold your tongue, sir, or you are dead this
instant,' was constantly repeated to me."--_A Narrative of the Mutiny,
etc._, by Lieut. W. Bligh, 1790, pp. 1, 2.]
[356] ["The boatswain, and seamen who were to go in the boat, were
allowed to collect twine, canvass, lines, sails, cordage, an
eight-and-twenty-gallon cask of water
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