It might have been supposed, that the terrible lesson Bligh had received would have taught him caution for the future; but it made little impression on his character. As commander of a ship of the line, his severity again provoked a mutiny; and when afterwards Governor of New South Wales, an insurrection was excited from the same excess of discipline.
To return from this digression to the history of the colonization of Pitcairn Island. The mutineers of the Bounty, after the success of their plot, unanimously elected Christian for their Captain, and sailed for Tahaiti. On their way thither, they passed the small hilly, well peopled island of Tabuai, seen in 1777 by Cook, and formed the resolution of settling there. With much difficulty they brought the ship into harbour, through numerous coral reefs. They were received in the most friendly manner by the natives, who only showed symptoms of uneasiness when they saw the new comers preparing to erect a fortress on a point of land near the harbour; even in this obnoxious undertaking, however, they assisted; but harmony was not of much longer continuance. The Europeans, confident in the superiority they derived from their weapons, soon became insolent, and especially irritated the islanders by the abduction of their women.
A sudden attack was made on Christian and his crew, who gained a height, where they defended themselves, and so effectually, that none of the party was killed, and but one man wounded; while the fire of their muskets produced great havoc among the savages. Though conquerors in this instance, they however found it advisable to quit Tabuai, and to sail once more for Tahaiti. During the voyage thither, a deep melancholy seized the mind of Christian; remorse, and dark forebodings of the future, haunted him incessantly; he shut himself up in his cabin, seldom appeared, and spoke but little.
When the Bounty again cast anchor before Tahaiti, the natives crowded to the shore, rejoicing in the speedy return of their friends, but were much surprised at missing the captain and a great part of the crew. Christian persuaded them that Captain Bligh and the other men had made a settlement on Tabuai, of which island the captain had become king, but that he himself, and those who accompanied him, preferred returning to Tahaiti, where among their kind friends, they wished to pass the remainder of their days. These innocent people gave implicit credence to his story, and heartily rejoiced in the prospect of their friends' continued residence among them. Christian's private intention, however, was to establish a colony on some unknown and uninhabited island, since it was easy to forsee, that the criminals would be first sought in Tahaiti, whenever the tidings of their proceedings should reach the English government. Being dissatisfied with some of his companions, or unable to obtain their concurrence in his views, he concerted his project with eight only of the crew, and under the strictest injunctions of secrecy. Thus arose a second conspiracy among the accomplices in guilt.
Christian and the parties to his new plot, found an opportunity of engaging the rest of the crew at a distance, while they weighed anchor and stood out to sea, with eight Tahaitians and ten women, whom they had enticed to accompany them. After a search of some weeks in those seas, they accidentally lighted upon Pitcairn Island, discovered by Carteret in the year 1767. Its extent is inconsiderable, but they found it uninhabited, and the soil fruitful, although high and rocky. Christian and his companions examined it closely, and, charmed with its luxuriant vegetation, resolved here to conceal themselves for ever from the world, hoping by this means to escape the punishment they so well merited.
All their endeavours to discover a harbour capable of admitting the Bounty, proving fruitless, they determined to place themselves under the lee of the island, save the cargo, and then destroy the ship, lest its appearance might betray them to vessels passing by.
This resolution was carried into effect, the cargo was brought quickly ashore, and the ship burnt.
At first the colony suffered from a scarcity of provisions, as the island produced neither bread-fruit nor cocoa-trees; they, however, contented themselves with a temporary subsistence on roots and fish, relying for the future improvement of their supplies on the trees destined for the West Indies, and other plants brought from Tahaiti; which had all been landed uninjured, and immediately planted. Time indeed was required before the bread-fruit and cocoa-trees would bear, but some sweet potatoes, yams, taro-roots, and others, yielded in the following year an ample harvest.
Unanimity and concord appeared firmly established among the colonists, who, by common consent, elected Christian as their head. Pretty little huts, and diligently cultivated fields of taro, yam, and potatoes, soon adorned the wilderness. After the lapse of three years, Christian became the father of a son, whom he named Friday Fletcher October Christian; but the infant's birth made its father a widower. Strongly inclined to a second marriage, and all the women being already provided with husbands, he seduced a wife from one of the Tahaitians, who, incensed at this outrage, watched an opportunity when Christian was at work on his plantation, attacked, and murdered him. Intelligence of this deed spreading quickly through the colony, produced instant retribution from the musket of an Englishman.