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Show Bounty Sails Again The British warship Bounty is the scene of the most famous mutiny in history. The story of the Bounty is familiar famil-iar to readers of fact and fiction. The motion picture version did not tell the entire story. The Bounty sailed from England in 1787, with a crew of 46 commanded command-ed by Capt. William Bligh, to transport breadfruit trees from Tahiti Ta-hiti to the West Indies, where the fruit would ultimately provide a cheap food for plantation slaves. After Aft-er 10 months' voyage thp ship reached Tahiti, remained there six months collecting cargo. Bligh then set out for Tonga, but the crew grumbled at leaving the easy life of Tahiti and the captain adopted stern disciplinary measures. meas-ures. Discontent flared into mutiny on April 28, 1789, under the leadership leader-ship of Fletcher Christian, 24-year-old mate. Bligh and 18 loyal seamen sea-men were set adrift. Christian and the other mutineers returned to Tahiti. Fearing English law, nine of the mutinous crew fled with 19 natives to Pitcairn island, burned the Bounty, and were not heard of again for 19 years. |