Byron's poem of "The Island" is, of course, founded on the _Bounty_
mutiny, but the poet has used his licence to such an extent that the poem,
which, by the way, some of the poet's admirers say is one of his worst,
has no resemblance to the facts. In 1884 Judge McFarland, of the New South
Wales District Court, wrote a book on the mutiny, and this work, for the
reason that it was published in a remote part of the world, is little
known; yet it is probably the best book on the subject. The Judge marshals
his facts with judicial ability, and he sums up in such a manner the
causes leading to the mutiny, that if Bligh were on trial before him we
are afraid the jury would convict that officer without leaving the box.
A critic whose opinion is entitled to the greatest weight, having read the
manuscript of this and the next chapter before it went to press,
considered that, although we had written of Bligh's harshness to his men
as proved, we had not specifically alluded to the proof. For this reason,
and because the story of the _Bounty_ mutiny, like every event that
happened in the South Seas a hundred years ago, is interwoven with the
early history of Australia, we propose to retell the story shortly. And
since it seems that Bligh's tyrannical character is still a fact not taken
for granted by everyone, we will endeavour, not to justify the mutiny, but
to show that, by all the rules of evidence, Bligh's behaviour to his
ship's company is proved to have been of the aggravating character alleged
by his shipmates, and that the _Bounty_ was not, as Bligh represented her
to be, what is called by sailors "a happy ship.
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