Editing Tahiti (section)

==== Mutineers of the ''Bounty'' ====
{{Main|Mutiny on the Bounty}}

[[File:Thomas Gosse, Transplanting of the bread-fruit trees from Otaheite, 1796, UMKC.jpg|thumb|left|[[William Bligh]] overseeing the transplantation of [[breadfruit]] trees from Tahiti]]

On 26 October 1788, {{HMS|Bounty}}, under the command of Captain [[William Bligh]], landed in Tahiti with the mission of carrying Tahitian [[breadfruit]] trees ([[Tahitian language|Tahitian]]: ''{{okina}}uru'') to the [[Caribbean]]. Sir [[Joseph Banks]], the botanist from [[James Cook]]'s first expedition, had concluded that this plant would be ideal to feed the African slaves working in the Caribbean plantations at very little cost. The crew remained in Tahiti for about five months, the time needed to transplant the seedlings of the trees. Three weeks after leaving Tahiti, on 28 April 1789, the crew mutinied on the initiative of [[Fletcher Christian]]. The mutineers seized the ship and set the captain and most of those members of the crew who remained loyal to him adrift in a ship's boat. A group of mutineers then went back to settle in Tahiti, after which the Bounty, under Christian, sailed to [[Pitcairn Island]].

Although various explorers had refused to get involved in tribal conflicts, the mutineers from the ''Bounty'' offered their services as mercenaries and furnished arms to the family which became the [[Pōmare Dynasty]]. The chief [[Pōmare I|Tū]] knew how to use their presence in the harbours favoured by sailors to his advantage. As a result of his alliance with the mutineers, he succeeded in considerably increasing his supremacy over the island of Tahiti.

In about 1790, the ambitious chief Tū took the title of king and gave himself the name ''Pōmare''. Captain Bligh explains that this name was a homage to his eldest daughter Teri{{okina}}inavahoroa, who had died of [[tuberculosis]], "an illness that made her cough (''mare'') a lot, especially at night (''pō'')". Thus he became [[Pōmare I]], founding the Pōmare Dynasty and his lineage would be the first to unify Tahiti from 1788 to 1791. He and his descendants founded and expanded Tahitian influence to all of the lands that now constitute modern French Polynesia.

In 1791, {{HMS|Pandora|1779|6}} under Captain [[Edward Edwards (Royal Navy officer)|Edward Edwards]] called at Tahiti and took custody of fourteen of the mutineers. Four were drowned in the sinking of ''Pandora'' on her homeward voyage, three were hanged, four were acquitted, and three were pardoned.