Nantucket and Pitcairn: An Islander Unravels an Island Mystery Half a World Away by Edouard A. Stackpole, Historian , Nantucket Historical Society In the National Maritime Museum, in Greenwich, a suburb of London, is a remarkable timepiece, an early ship's chronometer made in 1771 by Larcum Kendall for Captain James Cook. Chronometers were essential to the most workable ways of determining longitude, the position of a ship east or west of Greenwich . Rare and valuable, these very accurate timepieces were not likely to be thrown away. But this one survived by rather unusual means. After Captain Cook's death it was given to another outstanding navigator, Captain William Bligh, captain of HMS Bounty when the famous mutiny occurred. The mutineers did not let Captain Bligh sail away in his longboat with this instrument-they kept it for themselves. And eighteen years Later, Alexander Smith, the Last survivor of the Bounty mutineers, gave it to a voyager from an island on the other side of the world, Nantucket. Here is how that exchange took place . Probabl y no other true story of the South Pacific has commanded the continued interest of readers more than that of HMS Bounty and the mutineers who settled on Pitcairn in the year 1790. Hav ing seized the ship, and set Captain Bligh and eightee n of the fai th fu l hands adrift in a launch, Fletcher Christian and his band of mutineers returned to Tahiti . They then sailed into those areas of the Pacific less frequented by ships and eventuall y reached lonely Pitcairn Island , where they landed and destroyed the ship by fire . It was not until February in 1808, nearly two decades later, that the story of what had happened to the Bounty came to light , and this was the completely accidental result of a vis it to Pitcairn by Captain Mayhew Folger of Nantucket, master of the ship Topaz, a sealing vessel from Boston. Captain Folger, reaching Valparaiso a few weeks later, reported his finding the descendants of the mutineers (and one surviving mutineer) on Pitcairn. The news reached the British Admiralty by a fri gate which returned to England some months later. Whe n Captain Fol ger lowered hi s boat from the side of th e Topaz o n Februa ry 6 , 1808, and began his trip to the shores of Pitcairn Island , he had no th o ug ht of th e Bounty and the mutin y . The isla nd had been di scovered many years before by Capta in Carteret of HM S Swallow , and named for the yo ung midshipman who had first sighted it. Be ing far removed from th e travelled lanes of me rc ha nt ships, uninhabited and difficult of approach for a landin g, it had been mo re 16
that after putting Captain Bligh in the long boat and sending her adrift their commander-Christi an- proceeded to Otaheite , where all the mutineers chose to stop, except Christian himself and seven others. They all took wives at Otaheite and six men as servants, and proceeded to Pitcairn Island , where they landed all their goods and Chattels, ran the Bounty o n shore , and broke her up , whi ch took place as near as he could recollect in 1790 .
Captain Mayhew Folger. Photo courtesy the Na111ucket Historical Society.
or less ignored by the few vessels who saw it. The Bounty, under Chri sti an , had sailed from Tahiti with eight mutineers , six Tahitian me n and twe lve Tahitian women , a nd upon reach ing Pitca irn the ship was drive n as hore and burned, leaving the people on sho re to whatever the fates decreed . Captai n May hew Fo lger's discovery of the colo ny on Pitcairn is recorded in hi s own words in the log of the Topa z: Sat. Feb 6 , 1808-First part lig ht airs at East. Steering S 1/2S by compass. At 1/2 past 1 p.m . saw land bearing SW by W 1/2 W. Steered fo r the la nd with a light breeze at East. the said land being Pitcairn Island , di scovered in 1767 by Captain Carte ret. At 2 a. m ., the Isle bore South 2 leag ues di stant; lay off and looked for seals. On approaching the shore saw a smoke on the land , at whi ch I was very much surpri sed, it being represented by Captain Carteret as be ing destitute of inhab itants. On approaching sti ll nearer the land , I discovered a boat paddling near me wi th 3 me n in he r. On approachin g he r, they hailed in the E ngli sh lang uage, asked who was Captain o f th e ship , and offered me a couple of cocoanuts which th ey had brought off as a present, and requested I would land , the re be ing as they said a white man on shore. I went o n shore a nd found the re an E ng lishman by the name of Alexa nder S mith , the only pe rson out of nine th at escaped on board of the ship Bounty, Captain Bligh , under the command of that arch mutineer, Christian. Smith informed me
T he aftermath of th e arrival o f the gro up on Pitcairn was reco unted to Captain Fo lger by S mith- the six native servants attac kin g the abusive and do mineering mutineer band and killing all but S mith , who was bad ly wounded. The nat ive women later joined with Smith and put all th e nati ve men to death , leaving Smi th the o nl y survivin g man. Smith became the Commander-in-Chief of Pitca irn . He became a teacher as we ll , instructin g the c hildre n of the mutineers in the Engli sh lang uage and customs . The visit of Captain Folger to Pitca irn had an inte restin g sequel. While on the Island he was presented by Smith with th e Bounty's chronometer and compass. Captain Folger cleaned the chron ometer and had it o nce aga in in working order, but whe n the Topaz put in at Juan Fernandez Island to refresh th e crew , the Spani sh garri son on the shore seized the American vessel, and among other thin gs stole the chrono me ter. Several months later, th e Bounty' s timepiece was purchased at Concepc ion , Chi le, by an o ld Spaniard named Casti llo , who kept it until hi s death . In May 1840, it was placed in the hands of a watchmaker in Valpara iso by Captain Herbert of HMS Calliope, who had somehow acq uired it. Upon examination he found on the bac k frame the inscripti o n: " Larcum Kend all , Londo n , 177 1. " It was later identified as the chronometer made originall y for Captain Cook, and then presented to Captain Bligh for hi s voyage o n th e Bounty. Today, the chronometer is in the collecti o n of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich . Upon hi s arriva l at Valparai so, Captain Fo lger gave hi s acco unt of hi s visit to Pitca irn a nd re peated the information give n him by Alexander Smith to th e commande r o f th e Briti sh fri gate in th at harbor. Thi s information was carri ed back to th e Ad mi ra lty in London . Captain Folger brought the Bounty's compass back w ith him to Nantucket. Severa l years later , despite the recent outbreak o f the War of 18 12, he gave the compass SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87