Mutiny on the Bounty and Pitcairn Island Quiz

Answer: To obtain breadfruit seedlings

The Bounty was sent to Tahiti to obtain breadfruit seedlings. The plants were to be transported to the West Indies and planted to provide food for slaves there. (The ship is also referred to as HMAV Bounty - His Majesty's Armed Vessel)

Answer: They were captured and sent back to England to face trial

Although a great effort was made by the British government to find the mutineers, the men who left Tahiti with Fletcher Christian were able to escape detection. The crew members that remained in Tahiti met a different fate. They were captured by the crew of HMS Pandora, who had been sent to find them. They were then returned to face British justice. Three of the men were hanged and the rest exonerated.
Fletcher Christian was a Senior Warrant Officer, a Master's Mate in the British Navy. He had also been a good friend of William Bligh.

Answer: He was able to reach land safely and eventually returned to England

By all accounts, Bligh was a remarkable sailor and navigator. Upon being set adrift, he piloted the open launch (with 19 men in a 23 foot boat) to Tofua, in Tonga, about 30 nautical miles away. (One of the men was lost in Tofua, stoned to death by natives.) Bligh then set off for Timor. with just a sextant and a pocket watch to guide him, no compass or maps. Bligh navigated the voyage by memory. They made the trip in 48 days, a distance of 3,618 nautical miles. All the remaining men survived the journey. Many historians speak of Bligh's accomplishment with great admiration.
When Bligh returned to England in 1790, there was a court martial for the loss of his vessel, and he was "honorably acquitted". Bligh would later publish accounts of his adventure, the first of hundreds of books, articles and movies written about the mutiny on the Bounty.
Bligh has been portrayed as a cruel tyrant who mistreated his men. This seems to be an exaggeration, according to the ample information available on the Internet.

Answer: True

When the Bounty returned to Tahiti, Fletcher and his loyalists took aboard 6 Tahitian men and 12 Tahitian women (though this number varies according to the account, anywhere from 11 to 14), and set sail for Pitcairn Island. Pitcairn Island had been discovered earlier in the century and appeared on British maps of the South Pacific, although the maps were off somewhat.
There were problems between the Polynesian men and the mutineers from the beginning, problems with the affections of the women and with the distribution of land. In September 1793, five members of the Bounty crew, including Fletcher Christian, and all twelve Polynesian men, died violently in a fight between them. Of the men, by 1800 only Able Seaman John Adams remained, along with nine Tahitian women and several children.
The ship, HMS Bounty, was stripped bare and burned by Fletcher Christian and the men on January 23, 1790. Some remains of the ship are still partly visible in Bounty Bay, the tiny docking place on the island.

Answer: Just under 50

The population has been at a bit less than 50 men, women and children for several years, with not much chance of a big influx of people. The Pitcairn Islands have been an overseas territory of the United Kingdom since 1838. The Pitcairns are comprised of four tiny islands in the South Pacific Ocean: Ducie Island, Henderson Island, Oeno Island and Pitcairn, and only Pitcairn is inhabited. Pitcairn is the most remote inhabited island in the world.

Answer: All of these

Pitcairn is well-known for its honey, flavored by the tropical flowers on the island. Pitcairn honey can be ordered over the Internet. Pitcairn Island postage stamps have also been a source of income since 1940, and are favorites among stamp collectors.

The islanders also cultivate fruits and vegetables. Fishing is a way of life on Pitcairn, and the islanders are expert fishermen. The women weave baskets, which are sold or bartered to ships that stop offshore. A major problem is the island's geography.

There is no harbor, and trade must be made by using longboats to go out to the ships. Education on Pitcairn is free, paid for by New Zealand. The few children on the island attend school there until age 15. After that they must go to New Zealand to continue their education, again paid for by New Zealand.

There are no taxes on the island. Though the island is extremely isolated, the Pitcairners seem to live well. Many people have all-terrain vehicles, television, and every home has access to the Internet.

Answer: False

They are almost all Seventh Day Adventists. After the deaths of most of the men on the island, mutineer John Adams began to use the ship's bible as a guide to a new way of life. The islanders accepted Christianity, and when Adventist missionaries came to the island in the 1890s, the islanders became converts to that religion. In 1808, John Adams was granted an amnesty for his part in the mutiny. The capital of the island is called Adamstown in his honor.

Answer: English and Pitkern

Pitkern (Pitcairnese) is a combination of eighteenth century English and elements of Tahitian. Pitkern is the first language of the islanders and is taught along with English in school there.
For example, in Pitkern "Foot yawly come yah?" means "Why did you come here?" "I gwen down Farder's morla." is "I'm going down to Father's place tomorrow."

Answer: rape

The men on Pitcairn Island were accused of raping young girls, many as young as twelve or even younger. As the story came out, it was learned that twelve was considered a suitable age for girls to be "broken in", as the practice is referred to by the Islanders. Even taking into consideration the different customs of French Polynesia, the allegations were taken very seriously. Several men, including descendants of Fletcher Christian, were finally convicted of rape and are serving terms in a jail on the island.

A jail had to be constructed there specifically for the purpose of holding the accused men. Eventually, four of the accused men were convicted of several sex offenses, and were given prison sentences of from two to six years. Two of the convicted men are direct descendants of Fletcher Christian.

Answer: Longboats pick up visitors from ship

There is no airstrip, helipad, or dock on Pitcairn that can accommodate large ships. The nearest airport is 330 miles distant. The only way to go ashore is via a small inlet called Bounty Bay. Visitors have to wait on board their cruise ship, freighter or yacht until someone from the Island arrives in a longboat or small diesel-powered boat to fetch them.

The visitor must climb down a rope ladder into the small boat, which can be very difficult even when the sea is calm. The Pitcairners are skilled at bringing the boats back to shore-few people are able to maneuver a longboat through the surf as the islanders do.