No longer is Norfolk Island
governed in patriarchal fashion. It has been handed over by the Imperial
Government for administration by the colony of New South Wales, and in a
few years longer all that will remain of its _Bounty_ story will be the
names of Christian, Young, McCoy, Quintall, and the rest of them--still
names which indicate the "best families" of the island.
To this day it is a mystery exactly how and when Christian met his death.
The sole survivor of the mutineers, Smith (_alias_ Adams), when
questioned, went into details regarding the desperate quarrels of his
comrades, and how they came by violent deaths; but whether his memory,
owing to old age, had failed him, or he had something to conceal, it is
impossible now to say. However, he gave versions of Christian's death
which differed materially. The generally accepted one is that he was shot
by one of the Tahitians while working in the garden, but the exact place
of his burial has never been revealed.
In this connection there is a curious story. An English paper called _The
True Briton_ of September 13th, 1796, contained the following paragraph:--
"CHRISTIAN, CHIEF MUTINEER ON BOARD HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP 'BOUNTY.'
"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.
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