“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 duty by haranguing and expostulating with them, which caused me to assume a degree of ferocity quite repugnant to my feelings, as I dreaded the effect which his remonstrances might produce.  Hence I several times threatened him with instant death unless he desisted; but my menaces were all in vain.  He continued to harangue us with so much manly eloquence, that I was fain to call in the dram-bottle to my aid, which I directed to be served round to my associates.  Thus heartened and encouraged, we went through the business, though, for my own part, I must acknowledge that I suffered more than words can express from the conflict of contending passions; but I had gone too far to recede; so, putting the best face on the business, I ordered the boat to be cut adrift, wore ship, and shaped our course back for Otaheite.”

In each of the books by Sir John Barrow and Lady Belcher there is the following paragraph, almost word for word:—­