THE MUTINY


That,--Captain Bligh,--that is the thing;--I am in hell!--I am
in hell!--FLETCHER CHRISTIAN.

--Horror and doubt distract
His troubled thoughts, and from the bottom stir
The hell within him; for within him hell
He brings, and round about him, nor from hell
One step no more than from himself can fly
By change of place; now conscience wakes despair
That slumber'd, wakes the bitter memory
Of what he was, what is, and what must be
Worse; of worse deeds worse sufferings must ensue.


'In the morning of the 28th April, the north-westernmost of the Friendly
Islands, called Tofoa, bearing north-east, I was steering to the
westward with a ship in most perfect order, all my plants in a most
flourishing condition, all my men and officers in good health, and in
short, everything to flatter and insure my most sanguine expectations.
On leaving the deck I gave directions for the course to be steered
during the night. The master had the first watch; the gunner, the middle
watch; and Mr. Christian, the morning watch. This was the turn of duty
for the night.

'Just before sun-rising on Tuesday the 28th, while I was yet asleep,
Mr. Christian, officer of the watch, Charles Churchill, ship's corporal,