Sex, moonshine and breadfruit. The whole truth about the mutiny on the Bounty ship. The history of the mutinous "Bounty": how it was (20 photos) Bounty magazines for sale, unassembled wreck of the ship

In 1787, a three-masted merchant ship rolled off the stocks in Deptford. Bounty ship. A little time passed and the British fleet became interested in this ship. As a result, the ship came under the influence of England, which paid 1,950 pounds sterling for it.

On December 23, 1787, the ship left Pordsmouth under the command of Lieutenant William Bligh, who had once sailed with Cook during his third expedition. But the captain’s current goals were to get breadfruit seedlings (about 1000 pieces), for which he had to sail to Tahiti. Joseph Banks, consultant to the Royal botanical garden, suggested to the authorities that breadfruit would be an ideal cheap food for the black slaves who worked on the English sugar cane plantations. Also during the expedition it was necessary to correct maps of local places and study a couple of islands in Polynesia.

From the very beginning, the voyage did not go according to the planned scenario: for several weeks the ship was in a storm near Cape Horn, then, due to a headwind, it was necessary to set a new course, which passed through Indian Ocean. And only 10 months later (October 26, 1788) after sailing from Britain, the ship saw the shores of Tahiti. As expected, the team set foot on land in a bad mood, but not only because the voyage turned out to be very difficult. The captain was a man of harsh temper, and there were more than one cases when he punished and beat people for the most minor offenses.

For half a year, the ship's crew prepared seedlings for long-term transportation. During this time, people got used to the abundance of fruits, fascinating nature and attractive Tahitian women. My heart ached just from the thought that soon they would have to return to the ship again. And so it happened: April 4, 1789 Bounty ship said goodbye to the shores of the island.

History of the mutiny on the Bounty

A plan was developed for caring for trees during the voyage, one of the strict points of which stated that the seedlings needed large number fresh water. Over time, the team's dissatisfaction with the fact that the plants were being looked after better than they were began to grow. This fact and another mockery of the captain against one of the lieutenants provoked riot on the Bounty, held on April 28. The team equipped the boat, put the captain and 18 crew members in it, who were afraid of the gallows, and sent them on a free voyage. And the ship headed again to Tahiti.

Nevertheless, people understood that the punitive sword of British justice would not be long in coming. Therefore, it was decided to leave the island and look for something where the English fleet would not find them. Preference was given to the island of Tabuai, where the sailors began building a settlement. But things did not work out on the island; clashes with the natives constantly arose, which is why the decision was made to return back to Tahiti. 16 crew members decided to stay in Tahiti forever, and the remaining eight Englishmen and eighteen Tahitians went back to sea on the Bounty. This saved them, because the British, after a little time, finally found the rebels remaining on the island.

The Bounty anchored off Pitcairn Island for the last time. It seemed the place was ideal: fertile land, suitable climate, secrecy. And yet it was not possible to build a colony; the British quarreled with the Tahitian men over women and began to fight with each other. In the end, White won, but there were only 4 left. Two of them later died due to alcohol addiction.

In 1808, Pitcairn Island was discovered by the fishing vessel Topaz. They noticed that the island was inhabited by inhabitants of an unusual race. As it turned out later, these were the children of Alexander Smith, one of the rebels on the “romantic” ship. Smith himself, it turned out, was a priest on the island and taught literacy.

Basic data of sailing transport Bounty ship:

• Displacement - 215 tons;
• Length - 27.7 m;
• Width - 7.4 m;
• Speed ​​- 8 knots;
• Armament: Guns – 4
• Falconet - 8;

On the night of April 28, 1789, sailors on a British sailing ship near the island of Tahiti rebelled, put the captain and his supporters in a boat and then sailed towards a bright future: they saw it in the form of hot lovers and juicy tropical fruits. The ending of this event was quite interesting, and the history of the revolution itself is beach resort gained enormous popularity in England. Subsequently, the story of the “Bounty” formed the basis of several books, films were made in the 20th century, and a coconut-flavored chocolate bar in a wrapper with views of palm trees and the sea was also clearly released in the wake of the popularity of an incident that was ordinary at that time.

Breadfruit. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Love, dancing and the fatal coconut

It all started not entirely romantic. The Bounty sailed to Tahiti for breadfruit seedlings. Not in the sense that loaves and loaves grow on it: it’s just such a plant with hefty green fruits (now in Asia they call it “jackfruit”). Seedlings were required for a prosaic reason: for Caribbean Islands They urgently looked for cheap and satisfying food for the slaves massively imported from Africa. The sailing ship set sail on December 23, 1787. Captain William Bligh chose the most long route, although he stocked up a fair amount of provisions: in order for the sailors and officers to move more (to avoid problems with joints), he forced them... to dance on the deck. “He’s a sick guy,” the team whispered. “We’ve been sailing for so many months, and here he’s throwing balls in the middle of the sea.” Only almost a year later, on October 26, 1788, the Bounty appeared off the coast of Tahiti. Bligh (who had already visited there earlier) knew the essence of the island's corruption, so he gave gifts to the leaders, and they allowed them to set up a camp on land to search for breadfruit seedlings. True, naive William did not take into account that the English, exhausted from their long voyage, would take up more interesting things. As you know, Tahiti is hot, and local ladies walked around with bare breasts, or even completely naked: this sight had an effect comparable to a stroke on the cold inhabitants of Europe. Of course, hot romances immediately broke out, as a result of which Bly's first assistant Fletcher Christian and another 17 “tourists” needed urgent treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. “You should look for breadfruit like you frolic with girls,” Bligh cried, but no one listened to the authorities. The captain acted extremely unaesthetically: he ordered the sailors to be flogged. Then three people stole a boat and fled with their mistresses. Finally, about 1,000 breadfruit seedlings were delivered to the Bounty and Bligh decided to sail back. On April 5, 1789, the sailing ship departed for the open sea. The team was angry and upset. Of course: straight from the arms of the gentle islanders, swim along the waves into the unknown. No one cared about breadfruit anymore. The sailors wanted to stay on the paradise island and eat pineapples for the rest of their lives. On April 27, Bligh accused Christian of allegedly stealing a coconut from his personal supplies, and punished the entire crew for the theft. People went crazy. According to British laws, a riot on a ship was punishable by hanging, and not only the rioters, but also the “spectators” were hanged: those who simply stood nearby and made no attempt to interfere. This did not stop those who wanted to organize a “ship revolution”.

William Bligh in 1792, after the events on the Bounty. Photo: wikipedia.org

War, beauties and strife

During the night, Fletcher Christian and other rebels seized the weapons, tying up the captain. William Bligh and the opponents of the mutiny (18 more people) were put into a tiny boat without maps or a compass, but with a supply of food and water for a week. Surprisingly, Bly, together with his supporters, managed to swim 6,701 kilometers (!) in 47 days, since he knew the road by heart. This coconut lover had a phenomenal memory, otherwise the overcrowded longboat would not have gotten anywhere. Once on the island of Timor, Bligh informed the British authorities about the mutiny on the Bounty. Interestingly, the captain then returned to London and subsequently went a second time (this is stubbornness) for breadfruit seedlings (in 1791-1793). Bly brought them to the Caribbean, where the plant has since been grown very successfully, providing the islands with food. In 1817, Bligh died, and a breadfruit was depicted on the tombstone at the Cap's grave. But the fate of the rebels from the captured Bounty turned out to be much more amusing. They sailed to the island of Tubuai and tried to establish a colony there, but the local natives did not appreciate such tourism and attacked the invaders. The British did no better, taking daughters and wives from the islanders on the principle “my gun shoots better than your spear, so I’m right.” Up to a hundred residents of Tubuai were killed in the clashes. The rebels soon got tired of the war. They thought of quietly having fun with half-naked beauties and eating bananas and pineapples, and not of fighting. So sixteen people soon sailed off to live on the island of their dreams: Tahiti. The rebel leader Christian refused to follow them, saying something in the style of a Soviet cartoon: “Tahiti-Tahiti, they feed us well here too.” The nine remaining "fighters", eleven Polynesian girls and six Polynesian men (as servants) landed on Pitcairn Island. What happened next is known from the words of only one person. Can he be trusted? Don't know.

Pigs, death and a huge harem

In 1808 (18 years later), the American ship Topaz landed on the shores of Pitcairn and found the last rebel from the Bounty there. John Adams, who lived surrounded by his 8 wives and raised 25 children of various ages. According to Adams' account, the number of colonists was greatly reduced due to the woman question. Two islanders in the colony soon died, and the British quietly appropriated the Polynesians' spouses. In 1793, native servants rebelled and killed five sailors, including the leader of the rebellion, Fletcher Christian: the ex-first mate was hacked to death with an ax while he was working in the field (planting the ill-fated breadfruit tree). The surviving whites fled to live on one part of the island, the Polynesians - on the other. However, it soon became clear: the British treat ladies much better than the Tahitians. The widows frankly missed the Europeans. A year later, Polynesian women killed all (!) of their native husbands in their sleep and returned to the inhabitants of Foggy Albion. They began to live and live, until the sailor Quintal suddenly discovered that moonshine could be distilled from one plant, and began to drink alcohol like a horse. The guy soon got drunk to the point of delirium tremens, often ran around with a gun and threatened to shoot the colonists. Three Englishmen conspired and killed the alcoholic Quintal. Another sailor - McCoy- he began to joyfully drink the remaining unattended supplies of moonshine, went to swim drunk and naturally drowned. The third rebel - Young- died of asthma. The de facto king of Pitcairn and the husband of all women was the last rebel: John Adams. In short, it ended up looking like something out of a thriller. Agatha Christie“Ten Little Indians”: there were nine Englishmen, but one survived. The Americans told John: the majority of the Bounty rebels returned back, won the case against Captain Bligh in court, were given amnesty, and he could sail with them to London without fear of the gallows. Adams flatly refused, remained to live on the island and died in 1829.

In 1838, tiny Pitcairn was declared a British colony, and remains its only “overseas territory” in the Pacific. In 1886, the entire population converted to Adventism (thanks to a fanatical preacher who sailed from overseas) and there they slaughtered pigs brought from Tahiti, because among Adventists pigs have the status of “unclean animals.” Pitcairn (with a population of 49 people) now has its own currency, the “Pitcairn dollar”, which is minted exclusively for numismatists, and a postage stamp: it is also printed only for philatelists. 80 percent of the island’s income comes from tourism, fortunately people from neighboring countries willingly come here for one day: to buy a souvenir and swim in the sea. In general, here is a direct illustration of what hot island girls and coconut theft can lead to. It's especially a pity fallen victim religion of pigs, but no one took them into account when romanticizing the story of the Bounty.

Magazine series Sailboat "Bounty" – Build a model of the famous rebel ship. Eaglemoss Publishing (Gee Fabbri).

The Bounty ship is one of the most famous ships in the history of the navy. He was sent to fetch breadfruit seedlings, but the crew rebelled, put the captain in a boat and left him to his fate, while she fled to paradise island. The Bounty was originally a coal carrier that was converted to transport plants from Tahiti to the Caribbean. New living decks and cabins were built on the ship, and the main cabin was converted into a greenhouse.

Every detail of this legendary vessel has been meticulously reproduced by specialists, so you can become the owner of the most accurate Bounty models.

Bounty ship model

Build this superb wooden Bounty ship model with simple instructions. You are given a unique opportunity to assemble a scale model of an 18th century sailing ship. It was created on the basis of original drawings, is distinguished by maximum similarity to the original and great accuracy - such accuracy is typical only for museum exhibits! The assembly steps are broken down into simple steps, and with each issue of the Bounty Sailboat magazine you will receive new parts for your model.

Every detail of this ship has been painstakingly reproduced by a team of specialists based on British Admiralty drawings prepared in 1787 when the sailing ship was commissioned.

Model characteristics

Scale: 1:45
Length: 915 mm
Height: 720 mm
Width: 345 mm
Materials: wood, canvas, metal

Remarkable quality and incredible precision. Every detail, every centimeter of this famous vessel was meticulously reproduced by a team of specialists.

• Equipment – ​​Hatches, boats and other items are recreated with maximum accuracy.
• Sails – Canvas sails are sewn exactly like the sails of a real ship.
• Tackle – Miniature ropes tied exactly where needed.
• Interior – Thanks to the open side of the ship, you can see its internal workings.

Magazine

IN magazine Sailboat "Bounty" you will find detailed step by step instructions for model assembly and amazing story Bounty and first boats.

• Assembly Instructions – Clear, easy to understand step-by-step instructions.
• History of the Bounty – Discover the amazing history of the Bounty ship.
• Conquering the Seas – Learn about famous ships that made history.
• Dossier - People who changed the history of navigation.
• Sailing - All the most important facts and figures.
• Innovation – The focus is on new equipment, technology, etc.
• Nota Bene – Details about a specific place, part or vessel.
• Types of ships - Points related to ships and navigation.

Release schedule
No. 1 – Parts for assembly (bow false keel, frame #2, bow lower deck port side, planks, anchors, sandpaper, glue) – 12/28/2011
No. 2 – Parts for assembly (frame #1, frame #3, bow of the lower deck starboard side, slats) – 01/19/2012
No. 3 – Parts for assembly (frame #4, bow cabin bulkheads, planks, slats)

How many issues

Total planned 120 issues.

Recommended Price:
first issue - 49 rubles.
second issue - 99 rubles.
from the third issue - 199 rubles.
Frequency: weekly (starting from the 4th issue).

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The story of one riot

"Bounty" (eng. Bounty - generosity)- a small three-masted ship that became famous thanks to only one voyage.

The ship was built for trading purposes in 1784 at a shipyard in English city Kingston upon Halle (Hulle) and bore the name “Bethia”. It was ninety feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and displaced 215 tons. In 1787 it was bought by the Admiralty for £1,950. The ship was rebuilt and renamed "Bounty". In the process of reconstruction the bottom "Bounty" sheathed with copper sheets, the sides above the waterline were painted blue with two yellow stripes, the masts, yards, topmasts and bowsprit became brown. The figurehead depicted an Amazon. The ship was armed with four cannons - it was prepared for a long and responsible voyage.

The start of the voyage was planned for the end of November, but only on December 23, 1787, a ship with a crew of 43 people set off from Portsmouth to Tahiti to pick up breadfruit seedlings to subsequently deliver them to Jamaica (Antilles). It was believed that breadfruit would be eaten by slaves on the sugar cane plantations of the West Indies, which would be much cheaper than feeding them regular grain bread. The author of the project for breeding breadfruit in Jamaica was the famous British biologist Joseph Banks, who took part in James Cook's voyages in the Pacific Ocean. "My ship "Bounty" will be a real floating garden,” said Banks. It was planned to take on board the ship about a thousand breadfruit seedlings in flower pots; the Bounty’s flat bottom and fairly large carrying capacity helped protect the valuable cargo during the voyage from the reefs, of which there were a great many off the coast of the West Indies.

The ship reached the shores of Tahiti almost a year later - October 26, 1788. And after another six months, on April 4, 1789, he set off from Tahiti to the shores of Jamaica. The ship was commanded by Captain William Bligh. According to the testimony of contemporaries, he was often rude to the crew, did not disdain corporal punishment, in addition, poor-quality provisions were purchased on the ship during the voyage, and the crew members experienced a noticeable lack of fresh water, while the transported plants were watered abundantly and often. All this provoked a mutiny on the ship; on April 28, 1789, near the island of Tofua, a riot led by Fletcher Christian took place on board the ship. Captain "Bounty" and the 18 crew members loyal to him were put out to sea on a seven-meter longboat with a small supply of food and water and sent to all four directions.

Captain Bligh and his companions spent almost seven weeks at sea, during which time the small longboat covered 6,700 kilometers (more than three thousand nautical miles). Despite all the hardships and hardships, Bligh and his team were surprisingly lucky: during all their travels they lost only one person - midshipman John Norton, who was killed by the inhabitants of Tofua Island, where the exiles wanted to replenish their supplies of provisions. After all the wanderings, the longboat landed on the island of Timor, and from there Lieutenant Bligh and his supporters returned to Great Britain. On March 15, 1790, the English Admiralty learned about what had happened on "Bounty" mutiny.

And myself "Bounty" and the remaining 25 crew members went back to Tahiti, where some of the mutineers remained permanently. But the main conspirators understood that one day the British government would catch up with them, and they would have to answer for their actions in court. Therefore, the most determined and desperate went to the Bounty to look for an island where no one could overtake them.

Fourteen of the sixteen crew members remaining in Tahiti were arrested in 1791 when they were discovered by the British ship Pandora, specially sent to search for the missing man. "Bounty". On the way to England, the Pandora was shipwrecked in the Enterprise Strait, resulting in the death of 35 sailors of the Pandora and four crew members of the Bounty. Arriving in England, the surviving rebels were put on trial, three were sentenced to death by hanging on the yards of the ship Brustvik.

Meanwhile on board "Bounty" nine former crew members (Fletcher Christian, John Adams, William McCoy, Isaac Martin, John Mills, Matthew Quintal, John Williams, Edward Young, William Brown) went to seek their fortune in the ocean, as well as eighteen inhabitants of the island of Tahiti: six men, eleven women and one child. The fugitives also took several types of domestic animals and seeds of various plants on the voyage.

The island they decided to settle on is called Pitcairn. This small island (area 4.6 sq. km.) in the southeastern part Pacific Ocean was discovered by the English sloop Swallow in 1762 and named after the sailor who first noticed it. On January 23, 1790, rebels from "Bounty" and their Tahitian companions became the first inhabitants of this island, organizing a colony. Everything that could be used in the household was removed from the ship, right down to the planks, after which the ship, which lived a very short life, was burned and scuttled.

But life on the island turned out to be difficult, in addition to the fact that the settlers had to arrange their life from scratch, plow the land, build houses, soon disagreements began between them, which arose mainly because of women, as well as because of the status of slaves of Tahitian men. Quarrels gradually developed into bloody feuds, as a result of which four years after landing on the island, only four English men remained alive, three of whom also subsequently died (one was killed, one died from asthma and one was poisoned by alcohol). And the community, consisting only of women and children who had been born by that time, began to be ruled by a single man, John Adams, who called himself Alexander Smith. Largely thanks to him, the colony survived, overcoming all difficulties. Adams became the children's father, teacher and ruler of the island.

Ten years later, in 1808, the English frigate Topaz arrived at the island to replenish its supply of seal skins and discovered a community there. In 1814, 2 English frigates arrived on the island to investigate the story that happened on the Bounty. Having seen the community and met Alexander Smith, the judges were very impressed and forgave the last of the rebels. Gradually, the population of Pitcairn Island grew and already in 1856, some of the islanders moved to Norfolk Island, and later the descendants of the first settlers of Pitcairn settled throughout all the islands of Oceania. About seventy people now live on Pitcairn Island. The island has its own flag and anthem, but belongs to Great Britain. The islanders receive their main income from the export of postage stamps commemorating the mutiny on "Bounty".

Events that happened on "Bounty", are known all over the world. Memory of the sailors who once rebelled against violence and gave life small island, is still alive today.

Hundreds of books and tens of hundreds of articles are devoted to the history of the ship and its crew. The mutiny on the famous sailing ship was most fully studied by the Swedish scientist Bengt Danielsson, who in the mid-twentieth century wrote the book “On the Bounty in the South Seas.”

In addition to him, Jules Verne, Mark Twain, J. G. Byron, Jack London and many others wrote about the Bounty.

In 1916, the first film was made in Australia, dedicated to the events on "Bounty". In 1935, an American film about a sailing ship starring Clark Gibble was released. In 1962, a new film about "Bounty", where the famous Marlon Brando played the main role. And twenty years later, in 1984, another film “Bounty” with Mel Gibson was released in the USA. Replicas of the Bounty ship, built for the 1962 and 1984 films, survive to this day and are located in Massachusetts, USA, and Sydney, Australia, respectively. The American replica of the Bounty, built according to drawings from the archives of the British Admiralty, was until recently one of the oldest replicas sailing ships in the world. Due to the fact that during the filming of the film, it was necessary to install bulky cameras on board the ship, its size differs from the original by about a third. In 2003, the documentary film “Survivors of the Bounty” was shot in France.

All that's left for us is legendary sailing ship– this is the Bible and the steering wheel. The Bible is kept in London historical museum, and the helm is in the Fiji Museum.

October 29, 2012, caught in Hurricane Sandy, an American replica of the famous sailing ship sank off the coast of New Carolina (USA). 14 crew members were evacuated, the ship's captain died.

On November 28, the Discovery Channel launched the show “Mutiny,” in which nine people set off into the Pacific Ocean on a wooden longboat to repeat the feat of Captain William Bligh and his crew. Why the mutiny, why the longboat, and what kind of voyage did Captain Bligh make? And what does “Bounty” have to do with it, which most associate only with delicious chocolate bars that are eaten on the paradise islands? Let's find out. And brands will help us with this, as always.

Captain Bligh and the sailing ship "Bounty" are generally quite a popular topic in philately. I’m unlikely to be able to cover all the diversity in one post, but I’ll show you the most interesting brands, including those from my collection. And especially many stamps on this topic were issued by the tiny British colony of Pitcairn Island. Above is Bly’s first appearance on stamps and this was precisely the first issue of stamps for Pitcairn, published in 1940. We will now also find out why this is so.

Behind the breadfruit

In the second half of the 18th century, after the loss of the North American colonies, the British crown was faced with a serious problem of supplying food to the Caribbean colonies. There was simply nothing to feed the slaves on the sugar cane plantations; the import of products from Europe sharply worsened the economy of sugar production. And then the British remembered the breadfruit tree found on the islands of Oceania, the fruits of which were an inexhaustible source of cheap carbohydrates. And on the initiative of the President of the Royal Scientific Society, Joseph Banks, in February 1778, it was decided to organize an expedition to collect breadfruit seedlings.

Here are more breadfruits on a Tongan stamp:

33-year-old Lieutenant William Bligh, an experienced sailor who had already been to Oceania with James Cook during his time, was appointed head of the expedition. According to rumors, it was Bligh who was responsible for Cook’s death, opening fire and finally angering the natives.

A small merchant sailing ship, Bethia, was chosen for the expedition, renamed Bounty. The ship was built in 1787 at the Betford shipyards. The ship was three-masted, with a displacement of 215 tons. Armament - 14 guns.

At the end of 1787, the Bounty headed for Tahiti. It was originally planned to go around South America, pass through the Drake Passage, go out into the Pacific Ocean and so reach Tahiti. But strong storms thwarted the plans and after a month of unsuccessful attempts, Bligh heads east. And so, past Africa through the Indian Ocean, after 10 months, the Bounty finally reaches Tahiti. Several islands were discovered along the way. Including famous islands Bounty, named after the ship. The islands are located approximately 650 kilometers southeast of New Zealand and, contrary to advertising, the climate there is quite harsh, in the warmest months the temperature barely rises above 11 degrees and the islands are inhabited not by beauties in bikinis, but by penguins and seals.

Bligh also discovered Aitutaki Atoll, part of the Cook Archipelago. They like to issue stamps on Aitutaki for this reason. The Bounty Islands do not issue stamps, the penguins cannot prepare documents for joining the Universal Postal Union, and people do not live on the islands.

In Tahiti

Due to delays in travel, the expedition arrived in Tahiti at the wrong time to dig up seedlings. We had to wait another 6 months for the sprouts to get stronger and be able to endure the long journey to the Caribbean. Bligh sent the team ashore. And here we must remember that at that time, mostly all rabble served in the navy, usually forcibly herded onto ships. Inhuman working and living conditions, crappy water and food, beatings and tyranny of commanders. And here is a paradise island, food, beautiful and accessible women. The sailors lived the life of white masters that they could not even dream of before.

The situation is perfectly illustrated by a stamp from French Polynesia:

On April 4, 1789, the Bounty, loaded with almost 10 thousand breadfruit seedlings, sailed from Tahiti. After six months of wonderful life on the island, the return to the ship, of course, did not make the sailors happy. Three escaped immediately, but were found and flogged. Bly's harshness, the lack of water, which was saved for watering the seedlings, and, most importantly, the memories of six months of paradise tore the roof off the sailors. On April 28, a group of conspirators led by first mate Fletcher Christian broke into Bligh's cabin and arrested him.

Not far from the island of Tonga, Blay and 18 other sailors loyal to him were put into a longboat and released in all four directions. They only had a few rusty sabers as weapons. This is how artist Robert Dodd depicted this disturbing moment:

The painting served as the basis for the design of the French Polynesia block issued for the 1989 philatelic exhibition in Paris:

That same year, the same subject was used to issue a block of Tonga stamps:

Well, earlier, in 1967, for stamps from the same Pitcairn:

The exiles went to the nearest land - to Fiji, where, however, on one of the islands of the archipelago they were met quite unfriendly, one of the sailors was killed. But, apparently, in Fiji they don’t like to remember this, and a stamp in memory of Bligh was issued with a neutral inscription about exploring the islands. Although Bligh and his companions had no time for research at that time.

Without trying to go anywhere else, Bligh and his now 17 companions rushed east. The only navigational tools he had were a watch and a cultist. After 3,618 miles (6,701 km) and 47 days, Bligh reached the Portuguese colony on Timor without losing a single man. It was a real miracle. On a small overcrowded longboat, the length of which barely exceeded 7 meters, without supplies, water, surrounded by hostile cannibal natives... Unfortunately, not everyone returned to England. Several sailors died from tropical diseases in the port of Batavia while waiting for passing transport.

Image of the longboat on the Fiji stamp:

The fate of William Bly

Bligh himself returned to London in March 1790. He was tried - after all, he lost His Majesty's ship, but was acquitted. William Bligh's further career was no less bright - he served as a captain, fought under Nelson, and served as governor in Australia. But life seems to have taught him nothing. His character remained as bad as before. The Navy even gave him the nickname “that Bounty bastard.” He survived two more mutinies - in 1797 while serving in the navy and the Rum Riot while governor of Australia in 1808. Then Bligh forbade the payment of wages to local workers in rum and even confiscated a moonshine still from local bootleggers. For which he was deposed and actually spent 2 years under arrest.

And yes, he did get breadfruit seedlings during his campaign in 1791-93. Breadfruit has since been successfully grown in the Caribbean and is an important part of the local food crop. Here, for example, is a St. Vincent stamp dedicated to the successful delivery of seedlings to the island by Captain Bligh. The stamp no longer depicts the Bounty, but another sailing ship, the Providence.

Here's another cute stamp that was issued in St. Vincent in 1994:

Bligh died in London on December 6, 1817. A monument in the shape of a breadfruit was erected on his grave. The obituaries did not mention the fact of the mutiny on the Bounty.

The fate of the rebels and Pitcairn Island

The rebels, led by Fletcher Christian, returned to Tahiti. But it was impossible to stay there, since the first place to look for them would have been here, and after the mutiny they had only one way - to the yard. Taking supplies from Tahiti, Fletcher attempted to establish a colony on neighboring island Tubuai, but was received coldly local population, which for some reason was not so friendly. After pushing around for three months on Tabuai, the gang returned to Tahiti. 16 team members decided to stay here, hoping for chance. Fletcher and 8 other people, having loaded a new supply of food onto the Bounty, as well as 12 Tahitian women and 6 Tahitians, set off to travel across the expanses of the Pacific Ocean in search of a quiet place. Finally appeared on their horizon desert island Pitcairn. The island itself was discovered in 1767 by the navigator Philip Carteret, who, however, made a mistake by as much as 350 km when he mapped the island. Therefore, the punitive expedition aimed at searching for the rebels did not find them.

The moment when the rebels discovered the island on a stamp from Pitcairn's first issue of 1940. Most likely there were no breadfruit seedlings on the ship; trees were already growing on Pitcairn.

And they decided to burn the Bounty. The bay where the ship was burned is now named after him, and at the bottom you can see stones from the ballast. This moment is captured on the Norfolk stamp:

Since then, Pitcairn has celebrated the so-called “Bounty Day,” when local youth from among the descendants of the rebels build a model of the ship and burn it at sea. There is even a series of Pitcairn stamps dedicated to this action:

The fate of those remaining in Tahiti was unenviable. They were found and sent to England for trial, and four died en route. Of the 10 surviving mutineers, four were acquitted thanks to Bligh's testimony (these were the people who did not have enough space on the longboat and had to stay on the Bounty). Two more were convicted of non-resistance to the rebellion, although they did not directly participate in it. Another was convicted, but not sentenced to death. Three were sentenced to the gallows.