The Works of Lord Byron Volume V Part 149

With, though a hostile hand, to close his eye.

A limb was broken, and he drooped along The crag, as doth a falcon reft of young.[fu]

The sound revived him, or appeared to wake Some pa.s.sion which a weakly gesture spake: 330 He beckoned to the foremost, who drew nigh, But, as they neared, he reared his weapon high-- His last ball had been aimed, but from his breast He tore the topmost b.u.t.ton from his vest,[408][fv]

Down the tube dashed it--levelled--fired, and smiled As his foe fell; then, like a serpent, coiled His wounded, weary form, to where the steep Looked desperate as himself along the deep; Cast one glance back, and clenched his hand, and shook His last rage 'gainst the earth which he forsook; 340 Then plunged: the rock below received like gla.s.s His body crushed into one gory ma.s.s, With scarce a shred to tell of human form, Or fragment for the sea-bird or the worm; A fair-haired scalp, besmeared with blood and weeds, Yet reeked, the remnant of himself and deeds; Some splinters of his weapons (to the last, As long as hand could hold, he held them fast) Yet glittered, but at distance--hurled away To rust beneath the dew and dashing spray. 350 The rest was nothing--save a life mis-spent, And soul--but who shall answer where it went?

'Tis ours to bear, not judge the dead; and they Who doom to h.e.l.l, themselves are on the way, Unless these bullies of eternal pains Are pardoned their bad hearts for their worse brains.

XIII.

The deed was over! All were gone or ta'en, The fugitive, the captive, or the slain.

Chained on the deck, where once, a gallant crew, They stood with honour, were the wretched few 360 Survivors of the skirmish on the isle; But the last rock left no surviving spoil.

Cold lay they where they fell, and weltering, While o'er them flapped the sea-birds' dewy wing, Now wheeling nearer from the neighbouring surge, And screaming high their harsh and hungry dirge: But calm and careless heaved the wave below, Eternal with unsympathetic flow; Far o'er its face the Dolphins sported on, And sprung the flying fish against the sun, 370 Till its dried wing relapsed from its brief height, To gather moisture for another flight.

XIV.

'Twas morn; and Neuha, who by dawn of day Swam smoothly forth to catch the rising ray, And watch if aught approached the amphibious lair Where lay her lover, saw a sail in air: It flapped, it filled, and to the growing gale Bent its broad arch: her breath began to fail With fluttering fear, her heart beat thick and high, While yet a doubt sprung where its course might lie. 380 But no! it came not; fast and far away The shadow lessened as it cleared the bay.

She gazed, and flung the sea-foam from her eyes, To watch as for a rainbow in the skies.

On the horizon verged the distant deck, Diminished, dwindled to a very speck-- Then vanished. All was Ocean, all was Joy!

Down plunged she through the cave to rouse her boy; Told all she had seen, and all she hoped, and all That happy love could augur or recall; 390 Sprung forth again, with Torquil following free His bounding Nereid over the broad sea; Swam round the rock, to where a shallow cleft Hid the canoe that Neuha there had left Drifting along the tide, without an oar, That eve the strangers chased them from the sh.o.r.e; But when these vanished, she pursued her prow, Regained, and urged to where they found it now: Nor ever did more love and joy embark, Than now were wafted in that slender ark. 400

XV.

Again their own sh.o.r.e rises on the view, No more polluted with a hostile hue; No sullen ship lay bristling o'er the foam, A floating dungeon:--all was Hope and Home!

A thousand Proas darted o'er the bay, With sounding sh.e.l.ls, and heralded their way; The chiefs came down, around the people poured, And welcomed Torquil as a son restored; The women thronged, embracing and embraced By Neuha, asking where they had been chased, 410 And how escaped? The tale was told; and then One acclamation rent the sky again; And from that hour a new tradition gave Their sanctuary the name of "Neuha's Cave."

A hundred fires, far flickering from the height,[fw]

Blazed o'er the general revel of the night, The feast in honour of the guest, returned To Peace and Pleasure, perilously earned; A night succeeded by such happy days As only the yet infant world displays.[fx] 420

J. 10^th^ 1823.

FOOTNOTES:

[ex] {587} ----_and made before the breeze her way_.--[MS. D. erased.]

[ey] ----_their doubtful shimmer from the deep_.--[MS. D. erased]

[352] [William Bligh, the son of Cornish parents, was born September 9 1754 (? 1753). He served under Cook in his second voyage in the _Resolution_, 1772-75, as sailing-master; and, in 1782, fought under Lord Howe at Gibraltar. He married a daughter of William Betham, first collector of customs in the Isle of Man, and hence his connection with Fletcher Christian, who belonged to a Manx family, and the midshipman Peter Hayward, who was the son of a Deemster. He was appointed to the _Bounty_ in December, 1787, and in 1791 to the _Providence_, which was despatched to the Society Islands to obtain a fresh cargo of bread-fruit trees in place of those which were thrown overboard by the mutineers. He commanded the _Glatton_ at Copenhagen, May 21, 1801, and on that and other occasions served with distinction. He was made Governor of New South Wales in 1805, but was forcibly deposed in an insurrection headed by Major Johnston, January, 1808. He was kept in prison till 1810, but on his return to England his administration of his office was approved, and Johnston was cashiered. He was advanced to the rank of Vice-Admiral of the Blue in 1814, and died, December 7, 1817.

In his _Narrative_ Bligh describes the mutiny as "a close-planned act of villainy," and attributes the conspiracy not to his own harshness, or to disloyalty provoked by "real or imaginary grievances," but to the contrast of life on board ship, "in ever climbing up the climbing wave,"

with the unearned luxuries of Tahiti, "the allurements of dissipation ... the female connections," which the sailors had left behind. Besides his own apology, there are the sworn statements of the two midshipmen, Hayward and Hallet, and others, which Bligh published in answer to a pamphlet which Edward Christian, afterwards Chief Justice of Ely, wrote in defence of his brother Fletcher. The evidence against Bligh is contained in the MS. journal of the boatswain's mate, James Morrison, which was saved, as by a miracle, from the wreck of the _Pandora_, and is quoted by Sir John Barrow, Lady Belcher, and other authorities. There is, too, the testimony of John Adams (Alexander Smith), as recorded by Captain Beachey, and, as additional proof of indifference and tyrannical behaviour, there are Bligh's own letters to Peter Hayward's mother and uncle (March 26, April 2, 1790), and W. C. Wentworth's account of his administration as Governor of New South Wales (see _A Statistical Description_, etc., 1819, p. 166). It cannot be gainsaid that Bligh was a man of integrity and worth, and that he was upheld and esteemed by the Admiralty. Morrison's Journal, though in parts corroborated by Bligh's MS. Journal, is not altogether convincing, and the testimony of John Adams in his old age counts for little. But according to his own supporters he "d.a.m.ned" his men though not the officers, and his own _Narrative_, as well as Morrison's Journal, proves that he was suspicious, and that he underrated and misunderstood the character and worth of his subordinates. He was responsible for the prolonged sojourn at Tahiti, and he should have remembered that time and distance are powerful solvents, and that between Portsmouth Hard and the untracked waters of the Pacific, "all Arcadia" had intervened. He was a man of imperfect sympathies, wanting in tact and fineness, but in the hour of need he behaved like a hero, and saved himself and others by submission to duty and strenuous self-control. Moreover, he "helped England" not once or twice, "in the brave days of old." (See _A_ _Narrative, etc._, 1790; _The Naval History of Great Britain_, by E. P. Brenton, 1823, i.

96, _sq._; _Royal Naval Biography_, by John Marshall, 1823-35, ii. pp.

747, _sq._; _Mutineers of the Bounty_, by Lady Belcher, 1870, p. 8; _Dictionary of National Biography_, art. "Bligh.")]

[353] {589}["A few hours before, my situation had been peculiarly flattering. I had a ship in the most perfect order, and well stored with every necessary, both for service and health; ... the voyage was two thirds completed, and the remaining part in a very promising way."--_A Narrative of the Mutiny, etc._, by Lieut. W. Bligh, 1790, p. 9.]

[354] ["The women at Otaheite are handsome, mild, and cheerful in their manners and conversation, possessed of great sensibility, and have sufficient delicacy to make them admired and beloved. The chiefs were so much attached to our people, that they rather encouraged their stay among them than otherwise, and even made them promises of large possessions. Under these and many other attendant circ.u.mstances equally desirable, it is now, perhaps, not so much to be wondered at ... that a set of sailors, most of them void of connections, should be led away, especially when they imagined it in their power to fix themselves, in the midst of plenty, ... on the finest island in the world, where they need not labour, and where the allurements of dissipation are beyond anything that can be conceived,"--_Ibid._, p. 10.]

[ez] _And all enjoy the exuberance of the wild_.--[MS. D. erased.]

[fa] {590} _Their formidable fleet the quick canoe_.--[MS. D. erased.]

[355] {591}["Just before sunrising Mr. Christian, with the master-at-arms, gunner's mate, and Thomas Burkitt, seaman, came into my cabin while I was asleep, and, seizing me, tied my hands with a cord behind my back, and threatened me with instant death if I spoke or made the least noise. I, however, called out so loud as to alarm every one; but they had already secured the officers who were not of their party, by placing sentinels at their doors. There were three men at my cabin door, besides the four within; Christian had only a cutla.s.s in his hand, the others had muskets and bayonets. I was hauled out of bed, and forced on deck in my shirt, suffering great pain from the tightness with which they had tied my hands.... The boatswain was now ordered to hoist the launch out. The boat being hoisted out, Mr. Hayward and Mr. Hallet, midshipmen, were ordered into it; upon which I demanded the cause of such an order, and endeavoured to persuade some one to a sense of duty; but it was to no effect: 'Hold your tongue, sir, or you are dead this instant,' was constantly repeated to me."--_A Narrative of the Mutiny, etc._, by Lieut. W. Bligh, 1790, pp. 1, 2.]

[356] ["The boatswain, and seamen who were to go in the boat, were allowed to collect twine, canva.s.s, lines, sails, cordage, an eight-and-twenty-gallon cask of water, and the carpenter to take his tool-chest. Mr. Samuel got one hundred and fifty pounds of bread with a small quant.i.ty of rum and wine ... also a quadrant and compa.s.s."--_Ibid._, p. 3.]

[357] {592}["The mutineers now hurried those they meant to get rid of into the boat, ... Christian directed a dram to be served to each of his own crew."--_A Narrative, etc._, 1790, p. 3.]

[fb]

_And lull it in his followers--"Ho! the dram"_ _Rebellions sacrament, and paschal lamb_.

(_A broken metaphor of flesh for wine_ _But Catholics know the exchange is none of mine_.--[MS. D. erased.]

_And raise it in his followers--Ho! the bowl_ _That sure Nepenthe for the wavering_ [_soul_].--[MS. D. erased.]

[358] [It was Johnson, not Burke, who upheld the claims of brandy.--"He was persuaded," says Boswell, "to drink one gla.s.s of it [claret]. He shook his head, and said, 'Poor stuff!--No, Sir, claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero (smiling) must drink brandy.'"--Boswell's _Life of Johnson_, 1848, p. 627.]

[359] ["While the ship ... was in sight she steered to the W.N.W., but I considered this only a feint; for when we were sent away, 'Huzza for Otaheite!' was frequently heard among the mutineers."--_A Narrative, etc._, 1790, pp. 4-8. This statement is questioned by Sir John Barrow (_The Eventful History, etc._, 1831, p. 91), on the grounds that the mutiny was the result of a sudden determination on the part of Christian, and that liberty, and not the delights of Tahiti, was the object which the mutineers had in view.]

[360] {593}[A variant of Pope's lines--

"For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight, His can't be wrong, whose life is in the right."

_Essay on Man_, iii. 305, 306.]

[361] ["Isaac Martin, one of the guard over me, I saw, had an inclination to a.s.sist me; and as he fed me with shaddock (my lips being quite parched with my endeavours to bring about a change), we explained our wishes to each other by our looks; but this being observed, Martin was instantly removed from me."--_A Narrative, etc._, 1790, p. 4.]

[362] {594}["Christian ... then ... said, 'Come, Captain Bligh, your officers and men are now in the boat; and you must go with them; if you attempt to make the least resistance you will instantly be put to death;' and without any farther ceremony, holding me by the cord that tied my hands, with a tribe of armed ruffians about me, I was forced over the side, where they untied my hands. Being in the boat, we were veered astern by a rope. A few pieces of pork were thrown to me and some clothes.... After having undergone a great deal of ridicule, and being kept for some time to make sport for these unfeeling wretches, we were at length cast adrift in the open ocean.... When they were forcing me out of the ship, I asked him [Christian] if this treatment was a proper return for the many instances he had received of my friendship? He appeared disturbed at the question, and answered, with much emotion, 'That,--Captain Bligh,--that is the thing;--I am in h.e.l.l--I am in h.e.l.l.'"--_A Narrative, etc._, 1790, pp. 4-8.

Bligh's testimony on this point does not correspond with Morrison's journal, or with the evidence of the master, John Fryer, given at the court-martial, September 12, 1792. According to Morrison, when the boatswain tried to pacify Christian, he replied, "It is too late, I have been in h.e.l.l for this fortnight past, and am determined to bear it no longer." The master's version is that he appealed to Christian, and that Christian exclaimed, "Hold your tongue, sir, I have been in h.e.l.l for weeks past; Captain Bligh has brought all this on himself." Bligh seems to have flattered himself that in the act of mutiny Christian was seized with remorse, but it is clear that the wish was father to the thought.

Moreover, on being questioned, Fryer, who was a supporter of the captain, explained that Christian referred to quarrels, to abuse in general, and more particularly to a recent accusation of stealing cocoa-nuts. (See _The Eventful History_, etc., 1831, pp. 84, 208, 209.)]

[363] {595}[Byron must mean "antarctic." "Arctic" is used figuratively for "cold," but not as a synonym for "polar."]

[fc] _Now swelled now sighed along_----.--[MS. D. erased.]

[364] ["At dawn of day some of my people seemed half dead; our appearances were horrible; and I could look no way, but I caught the eye of some one in distress."--_A Narrative, etc._, p. 37. Later on, p. 80, when the launch reached Timor, he speaks of the crew as "so many spectres, whose ghastly countenances, if the cause had been unknown, would have excited terror rather than pity."]

[365] [Bligh dwells on the misery caused to the luckless crew by drenching rains and by hunger, but says that no one suffered from thirst.]

[fd] {596} _Nor yet unpitied. Vengeance had her own_.--[MS. D. erased.]

[fe] ----_the undisputed root_.--[MS. D. erased.]

[366] The now celebrated bread fruit, to transplant which Captain Bligh's expedition was undertaken.

[The bread-fruit (_Autocarpus incisa_) was discovered by Dampier, in 1688. "Cook says that its taste is insipid, with a slight sweetness, somewhat resembling that of the crumb of wheaten bread mixed with a Jerusalem artichoke."--_The Eventful History, etc._, 1831, p. 43.]

[367] [See _Letters from Mr. Fletcher Christian_ (_pseud_.), 1796, pp. 48, 49.]