Biography - Pandora Home Peter Heywood Biography - Aftermath
Revised May 28 2021
"I call that God to witness before whose awful tribunal I must one day appear, that I was entirely ignorant of the mutiny, which happened on board his Majesty's ship Bounty, previous to its perpetration on the morning of the 28th of April, 1789, or any circumstances relative to it.
"On the preceding evening, Monday, at eight o'clock, I went upon deck, and kept the first watch, with Mr. John Fryer, the master, who ordered me to keep the look-out upon the forecastle; and I remained theire till past twelve o'clock, when I was relieved by Mr. Edward Young, a Midshipman, upon which I went down below into my berth, situated on the larboard side of the main hatchway, and slept in my hammock till about an hour after day-light, (perhaps it might have been earlier, I cannot positively tell) when I awoke, and laying my cheek upon the side of my hammock, chanced to look into the hatchway, where I saw Mathew Thompson, seaman, sitting upon an arm-chest, which was there secured with a drawn cutlass in his hand; as I knew him to be a man who had kept the middle watch, with Mr. William Peckover, the gunner, I was struck with surprise at a sight so unusual. Unable to conjecture the reason of his being there at so early an hour, I immediately got out of bed, went to the side of the berth, and asked him what he was doing there? Upon which he replied, 'that Mr. Fletcher Christian had taken the ship from the Captain, whom he had confined upon deck, and was going to carry him home as a prisoner; and that they should have more provisions and better usage than before.' Mr. Elphinstone, one of the Master's Mates, who was lying awake in his hammock, which hung at the outside of the opposite berth, likewise heard what this man said to me. I immediately dressed myself, and went up the fore hatchway: having got upon the booms at the larboard side, I walked aft as far as the quarter of the boat, and saw the Captain standing on the larboard side of the quarter-deck, a little before the binnacle, in his shirt, with his hands tied behind him, and Mr. Christian standing on the right side of him, with a drawn bayonet in his hand, and a small pistol in his pocket. He (Mr. Christian) was giving orders to Mr. Cole, the boatswain, to hoist the large cutter out, the small one having been got out some time before. Upon this, I came a little farther forward, and crossing over to the other side, saw Mr. Christian beckon to Mr. Thomas Hayward, who, with Mr. John Hallet, was standing on the quarter-deck, between the two 4-pounders; he said to him, 'Get yourself ready to go in the boat, Sir.' Mr. Hayward made answer, 'Why? Mr. Christian, what harm did I ever do you that you should be so hard on me? I hope you won't insist upon it.' Mr. Christian repeated the same order to him, and to Mr. Hallet, who seemed to be in tears, and answered, 'I hope not, Sir.' Hearing this and being afraid that if I came in his sight he might give me similar orders, which I feared very much, because I had just before asked one of the men, whom I saw with a musket in his hand, why they were getting the boats out? and he answered, 'that the Captain, with some individuals, were to be sent on shore at Tofoa, in the launch; and he believed that all the rest who were not of Mr. Christian's party, might either accompany them, or remain on board and be carried to Otaheite, where they would be left among the natives as the ship was going there, to procure refreshments and stock, to take to some unknown island, in order to form a settlement.' Hearing this, I was so perplexed and astonished, that I knew not what to do or think; but sat down on the gunwale of the ship, on the starboard side, just under the fore shrouds, and weighed the difference of those two dreadful alternatives in my mind. I considered that the Indians at Tofoa, being of the same stock as those at Annamooka, appeared to me to be a very savage sort of people when unawed by the sight of fire-arms, and from whom nought but death could be expected, in order to facilitate their obtaining possession of the boat, and whatever she might contain of most value to them; thinking also, that their natural ferocity might be sharpened and increased to revenge by the treatment some of the chiefs of Annamooka had received on board the ship, two days before, when we left that island, as they had been confined on board, in order to make them produce a grapnel which had been stolen; the news of which, I made no doubt, had by this time reached Tofoa; and besides, I considered that a small boat, deeply laden with a number of men and provisions for their sustenance, would be a very precarious and forlorn hope to trust life to, in sailing across so vast an expanse of ocean as lay between that island and the nearest civilized port: that in pursuing this plan, death appeared to me inevitable in the most horrid and dreadful form of starvation. On the other hand, I knew the natives of Otaheite, from the experience I had had of them during a stay of twenty-three weeks on shore there, to be remarkably friendly and hospitable to strangers; and by their kind assistance and benevolence, I had some hopes, if I could get there, that my life might be preserved till a ship arrived from England, which I doubted not would be the case if the Bounty's absence greatly exceeded the limited time for her return to Europe. This appeared to me the only course by which I could ever expect to revisit my native country, or even to preserve my life. Thus, self-preservation, that first law of nature, was the sole motive that induced me to resolve upon the latter alternative. Having sat on the gunwale till the large cutter was over the side, I saw some of the people clearing the launch of the yams which had been stowed in her, among whom was Mr. Thomas Hayward; I went into her to assist, at the desire of Mr. Cole, the boatswain; and after being there a short time, Mr. Hayward asked me what I intended to do in the present situation of affairs? I answered, 'To remain in the ship;' and said, 'do you imagine I would voluntarily throw my life away?' Upon which he replied, "Aye, I wish I might have that liberty granted me, but Christian has ordered me to get into the boat.' I then told him my reasons for wishing to remain in the ship, which I have just now fully explained: I likewise told the same to George Simpson, who was a man that I regarded, as he had washed for me, and had taken great pains to instruct me in several parts of practical seamanship: he was present in the launch at the time when I was talking with Mr. Hayward, and must have heard all that passed betwixt us.
"I next saw Mr. Fryer, the Master, who I understood had been confined in his cabin, but was recently permitted to come on the quarter-deck, step towards Mr. Christian on the larboard side: I was then sitting upon the fore part of the booms, on the starboard side of 'no man's land,' and though I could not hear what he said to Mr. Christian upon his first coming up, yet a little while after I could distinctly hear him say these words: 'Why, Mr. Christian, you had better let me stay in the ship, for you certainly will not know what to do with her.' I did not hear what answer Christian made, but Mr. Fryer was soon after forced down into his cabin again. The Master being now the third officer, besides Mr. Samuel, the Captain's Clerk, who had asked permission to remain in the ship, or at least upon receiving orders to go in the boat had shewn such reluctance as made it appear they secretly wished it might be otherwise; and knowing them all to have had long experience in the naval service, I am assured myself that their desire to remain was not improper; and it served to convince me, that in our present situation, my intentions to do so were likewise blameless. I was confirmed in this opinion by Mr. Bligh's telling several of the men who were endeavouring to follow him into the launch, 'For God's sake, my lads, don't any more of you come into the boat; I'll do you justice if ever I should get home.* Thus he prevented them, and they remained in the ship.
* This the reader will observe was a repetition of the promise he had made previous to his being forced into the launch.
"Perhaps it may be asked, why I did not go to Captain Bligh, and tell him that I intended to remain in the ship, and my reasons for it, as some others did?—To which, with the utmost integrity of heart, the true dictates of which I now express, I can answer, that being but young, not then sixteen years of age, and sent out under the immediate care and protection of Captain Bligh, it being my first voyage to sea, it occurred to me he would have thought me too inexperienced to judge for myself in an affair of such moment, and have ordered me to accompany him, which I certainly would have done if he had sent to me to do so, notwithstanding the idea I was so strongly impressed with, that a miserable and untimely end would have been the consequence, which I firmly believed, at that time, must inevitably have been the fate of all those who went in the launch. Thus circumstanced, therefore, and being convinced that it was only compulsion, which caused some of the officers to go in the boat, and not any wish of their own that had influenced them; I thought it would be something like an act of suicide on my part to go in voluntarily, by being in some measure accessary and consenting to my own death, which I supposed must have taken place if I had gone, either from the savage fury of the natives on shore, or from the dangers that awaited the launch from so long a voyage as she must have made to arrive at the nearest civilized settlement.
"Though I did not request any of the persons to whom I communicated my intentions of remaining in the ship to inform Captain Bligh of my determination, yet it is natural to suppose, that some one or other of them, if asked by him concerning me, when in the boat, would have told him my reasons for remaining behind*.
* It is probable that some of those persons informed Lieutenant Bligh of Mr. Heywood's determination, without stating the reasons he had assigned.
"I do most solemnly declare, that, during the whole time I was upon deck, I was in nowise accessory to, or aiding in any respect whatever in the most trivial act tending to mutiny, or mutinous proceedings, either in word or deed, nor in any shape advise or encourage any other person whatsoever so to do—but, on the contrary, it was my most ardent wish that some of those officers who were upon deck would make some endeavour to retake the ship, which if any of them had attempted, I certainly would with the greatest satisfaction, and all the alacrity in my power, have followed their example; yet, I must candidly confess, that as I saw persons so much older and more experienced than myself, quite backward in taking such measures, it made me entertain too mean an opinion of my own abilities, being a mere boy in comparison with them, to have had the presumption to think that any step I could take singly, young as I was, could have had the least shadow of success; although, at the same time, I did hope that my feeble endeavours to assist, when added to their knowledge and experience, if put in force, would have had some effect. I therefore waited in hope and silent expectation, that through their means affairs might have taken a different turn, without shewing any outward appearance of what I so ardently wished; but the boat quitted the ship without any such exertions being made.
"When nearly all the officers and men who went away had got into the launch along-side, and as I was standing upon the booms on the starboard side, abreast of the main hatchway, Charles Churchill, the master-at-arms, came up to me, with a bayonet and cartouch-box buckled round his waist, and a small pistol, (the same which I had before seen sticking out of Christian's pocket) in his hand, and said to me, 'What are you going to do?' I answered what I thought leaned to the side of rectitude, and added, 'I think I shall remain in the ship.' Just then Mr. George Stewart came towards me, and asking the same question, I gave him a similar answer. But he said, 'Don't think of it; for if you stay, you'll incur an equal portion of guilt with the mutineers, though you've no hand in the mutiny—come down to the berth with me; let us get two or three necessaries, and go in the launch with the Captain.' Churchill then turned to him, and said, 'Why, Mr. Stewart, I thought you had been a man of more spirit:' to whom he replied, 'yes, Churchill, but I won't bite off my nose to be revenged upon my face.' I knowing Mr. Stewart to be an experienced naval officer, was at once persuaded by him; yet I had some doubts of his knowledge when I called to mind the wishes of the other officers, (so similar to my own, to remain in the ship) who ought likewise to know as well; I was, therefore, in the most painful dilemma. However, taking his advice, I jumped down the hatchway with him, but no sooner had we got into our berth, than Churchill called down to Matthew Thompson, the sentry over the arm-chest, saying, 'Don't let either of them come out of the berth till I give you orders.' Mr. Stewart having taken his pocket book out of his chest, attempted to leave the berth; but Thompson pointed a pistol towards his breast, saying, 'Don't you hear the orders I have just received, you had better stay where you are.' Mr. Stewart then hailed Churchill, and said, 'If you won't let us go, I desire you'll inform the Captain that we are detained by force.' To which he replied, 'Aye, aye, I'll take care of that.' I remained in the berth till Churchill told Thompson to let me come upon deck, but the launch was then far astern.*"
* Mr. Stewart was no sooner released than he demanded of Christian the reason of his detention; upon which the latter denied having given any directions to that effect, and his assertion was corroborated by Churchill, who declared that he had kept both him and Mr. Heywood below, knowing it was their intention to go away with Bligh; "in which case," added he, "what would become of us if any thing should happen to you; who is there but yourself and them to depend upon in navigating the ship?"
Mr. Heywood, in the succeeding portion of his defence, gives a brief account of his sufferings in consequence of the rash and unjustifiable conduct of Mr. Christian; after which, and describing in the most pathetic manner his anxiety for the safety of those who had been so inhumanly turned adrift, he proceeds as follows
"Immediately on the arrival of the Pandora, I voluntarily, and without any reluctance or hesitation, resigned myself to Captain Edwards, who confined me as a prisoner in irons, until the ship was lost in Endeavour Straits, on the 29th Aug. 1791, when I had a very narrow escape of going down with her in fetters. We were upwards of a fortnight in the boats before we reached Coupang, during which time we suffered much from hunger and thirst, and encountered innumerable perils and dangers. We sailed from thence on the 5th of October, and arrived at Batavia about a month afterwards. It is well known by what means we have arrived since in England.
"I have now concluded my most melancholy narrative, the truth of which I do most solemnly attest; and after hearing the relation of the distressed situation I was placed in, and all the motives which induced me to remain in the ship, if a candid and impartial hearer should be able to distinguish the least criminality, I can then advance nothing further in my own defence, but must, with the most profound respect and humility, throw myself upon the mercy of the honourable Gentlemen of which this tribunal of earthly justice is composed; trusting, that in pity and commiseration to my youth, the short period I have been in the service, and the many hardships and dangers I have undergone, during a grievous confinement of nearly eighteen months, they will impute the whole to my ignorance and inexperience, and will be inclined to shew an instance of merciful clemency to their most submissive, and truly unfortunate PRISONER."
Biography - Pandora Home Peter Heywood Biography - Aftermath