Editing William Bligh (section)

===Mutiny===
[[File:Mutiny HMS Bounty.jpg|thumb|The [[Mutiny on the Bounty|mutineers]] turning Lt Bligh and some of the officers and crew adrift from His Majesty's Ship {{HMS|Bounty||6}}. By [[Robert Dodd (artist)|Robert Dodd]]]]
Because the vessel was rated only as a [[Cutter (boat)|cutter]], ''Bounty'' had no commissioned officers other than Bligh (who was then only a lieutenant), a very small crew, and no [[Royal Marines]] to provide protection from hostile natives during stops or to enforce security on board ship. To allow longer uninterrupted sleep, Bligh divided his crew into three watches instead of two, placing his ''protégé'' [[Fletcher Christian]]—rated as a [[Master's Mate]]—in charge of one of the watches. The [[Mutiny on the Bounty|mutiny]], which took place on 28 April 1789 during the return voyage, was led by Christian and supported by eighteen of the crew.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mutiny of the Bounty|url=http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/terra_australis/mutiny.html|work=Discover Collections|publisher=State Library of NSW|access-date=12 December 2013}}</ref> They had seized firearms during Christian's night watch and surprised and bound Bligh in his cabin.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

[[File:Wr Bligh Journal fl3156809 a286171.jpg|thumb|upright=1.18|Account of arrival at Timor, 14 June 1789. Log of the Proceedings of His Majesty's Ship ''Bounty'', 1789.]] Despite being in the majority, none of the loyalists put up a significant struggle once they saw Bligh bound, and the ship was taken over without bloodshed. The mutineers provided Bligh and eighteen loyal crewmen a {{convert|23|ft|0|adj=mid}} [[Launch (boat)|launch]] (so heavily loaded that the [[gunwale]]s were only a few inches above the water). They were allowed four [[cutlass]]es, food and water for perhaps a week, a [[Quadrant (instrument)|quadrant]] and a compass, but no charts, or [[marine chronometer]]. The gunner, [[William Peckover]], brought his pocket watch, which was used to regulate time.<ref name="Bligh"/> Most of these instruments were obtained by the clerk, Mr Samuel, who acted with great calm and resolution, despite threats from the mutineers. The launch could not hold all the loyal crew members, so four were detained on ''Bounty'' for their useful skills; they were later released in Tahiti.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Tahiti was upwind from Bligh's initial position, and was the obvious destination of the mutineers. Many of the loyalists claimed to have heard the mutineers cry "Huzzah for Otaheite!" as ''Bounty'' pulled away. [[Timor]] was the nearest European colonial outpost in the [[Dutch East Indies]] (modern Indonesia), {{convert|3618|nmi|abbr=on}} away. Bligh and his crew first made for Tofua, only a few leagues distant, to obtain supplies. However, they were attacked by hostile natives and John Norton, a quartermaster, was killed.<ref>"The Bounty" by Caroline Alexander.</ref> Fleeing from Tofua, Bligh did not dare to stop at the next islands to the west (the [[Fiji]] islands), as he had only a pair of cutlasses for defence and expected hostile receptions. He did however keep a log entitled "Log of the Proceedings of His Majesty's Ship Bounty Lieut. Wm Bligh Commander from Otaheite towards Jamaica" which he used to record events from 5 April 1789 to 13 March 1790.<ref name="Bligh">{{cite archive|first= William|last=Bligh|item = [http://archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110339148 Log of the Proceedings of His Majestys Ship Bounty Lieut. Wm Bligh Commander from Otaheite towards Jamaica, signed `Wm Bligh'] |type =Bound Manuscript |date = 13 March 1790 |series = William Bligh – Papers relating to HMS Bounty, 1787–1794|file = Safe 1 / 47|box= Item 2|collection = William Bligh – Papers |repository = [https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/ State Library of New South Wales] |institution =State Library of NSW |location =NSW, Au |ref=none}}</ref> He also made use of a small notebook to sketch a rough map of his discoveries.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

[[File:Mutineers of the Bounty by Jules Verne, illustration by Leon Bennett.jpg|thumb|upright=1.18|Original illustration by S. Drée from French author [[Jules Verne]]'s story ''[[The Mutineers of the Bounty]]'' (Les Révoltés de la Bounty) (1879).]]Bligh had confidence in his navigational skills, which he had perfected under the instruction of [[Captain James Cook]]. His first responsibility was to bring his men to safety. Thus, he undertook the seemingly impossible {{convert|3618|nmi|adj=on}} voyage to Timor, the nearest European settlement. Bligh succeeded in reaching Timor after a 47-day voyage, the only casualty being the crewman killed on Tofua.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bounty's Launch |url=https://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/bounty/launch.shtml |website=Pacific Union College |access-date=17 April 2023}}</ref> From 4 May until 29 May, when they reached the [[Great Barrier Reef]] north of Australia, the 18 men lived on {{convert|1/12|lb|g|abbr=off|-1}} of bread per day. The weather was often stormy, and they were in constant fear of foundering due to the boat's heavily laden condition. On 29 May they landed on a small island off the coast of Australia, which they named [[Restoration Island]], 29 May 1660 being the date of the restoration of the English monarchy after the [[English Civil War]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Queensland Places – Restoration |url=https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/queensland-places-restoration |website=State Library of Queensland |date=6 November 2015 |access-date=17 April 2023}}</ref> Strains were showing within the party; following a heated disagreement with Purcell, Bligh grabbed a cutlass and challenged the carpenter to fight. Fryer told Cole to arrest their captain but backed down after Bligh threatened to kill him if he interfered. Fryer later said Bligh "was as tyrannical in his temper in the boat as in the ship." Over the next week or more they island-hopped north along the Great Barrier reef—while Bligh, cartographer as always, sketched maps of the coast. Early in June they passed through the [[Endeavour Strait]] and sailed again on the open sea until they reached [[Kupang|Coupang]], a settlement on Timor, on 14 June 1789.<ref name="Bligh"/> Despite the hardships he and his men had endured, upon reaching Kupang Bligh maintained his stubborn adherence to Navy protocol, insisting that a makeshift Union Jack be made up and hoisted and that Fryer remain aboard the launch to guard her.<ref>[https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2023/03/what-really-happened-after-the-mutiny-on-the-bounty/ ''WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AFTER THE MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY?"''], {{smallcaps|Today I Found Out Blog}} (3 April 2024). Rubber erasers have been in use since approximately 1770. See {{smallcaps|Joseph Priestley, A Familiar Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Perspective}} xv n. (1769).</ref> Three of the men who survived this arduous voyage with him were so weak that they soon died of sickness, possibly malaria, in the pestilential [[Dutch East Indies]] port of [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]], the present-day Indonesian capital of Jakarta, as they waited for transport to Britain.{{sfn|Toohey|2000}} Two others died on the way to England.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}