Edward Edwards, R.N. Before she had anchored, Coleman was the first to present himself on board, and was nearly drowned in the attempt, the canoe having been upset, and he with difficulty rescued. Stewart and Peter Heywood followed in a large double canoe, and gave themselves up to Captain Edwards, informing him who they were; but, without further inquiry, he ordered them to be taken below and placed in irons, together with three others, who had successively arrived, and were all manacled.

Meanwhile, Morrison, Ellison, and Norman were in the schooner proceeding round the island, and the hapless prisoners could only indicate the direction their companions had taken. The launch was then manned and armed, with orders to search for these men, and for the others resident in the interior of the island. The pilot, being a friend of Morrison's, sent people forward to warn him of the arrival of the Pandora, and that the launch was dispatched in pursuit of him and his companions, and to secure the schooner. When the messenger reached the party, the Resolution was lying at anchor in a small bay. Without delay or hesitation, the three left her, took a canoe which conveyed them a considerable distance, and, to expedite their movements, landed and walked fourteen miles across the country to the harbor where the launch was anchored, which they reached at four o'clock in the morning. They found Lieutenant Corner,* the second lieutenant of the Pandora, in command, and gave themselves up to him. He received them courteously, but placed them under guard; at the same time ordering refreshments, which they much needed. In a few hours the pinnace of the Pandora, also armed, joined the launch, and Lieutenant

* This officer was always kind to the prisoners, and through life Captain Heywood continued on friendly terms with him. In after years Mr. Corner became Superintendent of Marine Police at Malta.

Corner placed the three prisoners in charge of the third lieutenant to convey them on board, while he in the launch proceeded to seize the schooner and the remainder of the people, who were at the other side of the island. The prisoners found themselves in charge of their former shipmate Hayward, one of the midshipmen of the Bounty, who had been promoted to the rank of third lieutenant of the Pandora. He took little notice of them, beyond inquiring about the Bounty, and who had remained in her; informing them how Stewart, Heywood and their companions had been received on board, and the treatment they also might expect. As a preparation, he ordered fetters to be put on their ankles in order to prevent escape.

It was with difficulty that, with such obstacles, they mounted the side of the ship, and on gaining the deck Captain Edwards ordered them instantly below, to be heavily chained, like their unfortunate shipmates. Sentinels were placed over them, with orders to shoot the first man who should speak, especially should they address each other in the Tahitian language, or speak to the natives who crowded on board. They had plenty of provisions, and as their friends on shore were allowed to supply them daily with fresh cocoa-nuts, they did not care for the forbidden luxury of grog. The unfortunate prisoners remained between decks several days, and some dirty hammocks were supplied to them to lie upon, but these being full of vermin, they requested they might be removed, as they preferred the bare deck. They were also unable to make use of the changes of linen ordered for them by the captain, their irons being clinched so tight that it was impossible for them to rise or use their arms. Although the heat between decks was excessive, yet that situation was preferable to the kind of poop or round-house which they had heard was preparing on the quarter-deck for their re

ception. The boards of this prison were so roughly put together as scarcely to shelter them from the heat of the sun, or from the rain, which frequently fell in torrents.

On the 9th of April the schooner Resolution reached the ship, and brought on board the remaining six prisoners, transferring them to the dreaded "Pandora's box," through the scuttle at the top, about eighteen inches square. This "box" was fastened by bolts through the combings of a hatchway. There were two scuttles of nine inches square in the bulk-head of the box, to admit air to the prisoners. The scuttles or apertures were also secured against escape by iron gratings, and even the stern-ports of the ship were barred inside and out. The length of this "box" was eleven feet at the deck, and the width eighteen feet at the bulk-head.* In this contracted space fourteen prisoners were confined; two sentries were placed on the top of it, and a midshipman paced up and down across the bulkhead. No one was allowed to hold any communication with the prisoners except the master-at-arms, and he only on the subject of their provisions. Their condition in this dreadful confinement became daily more pitiable, owing to the extreme heat, and Morrison quaintly records "that their prison-house was only washed out once a week, they

"Peter Heywood, while there a prisoner, and suffering the most cruel hardships from his treatment on board H.M.S. Pandora, composed the following lines--the results of experience:

"Lest I should bend beneath this weighty load,
And ne'er enjoy thy promised blest abode,
Attend, thou Hope, on me, and be my guide,
Thro' all my sorrows, walking by my side:
Keep in my eyes that distant happy spot
Where sweet content shall be my future lot,
Tree from ambition or desire of gain,
Living in peace, exempt from mental pain;
My food, the fruits with my own culture grown,
'The world forgetting, by the world unknown :'
There tasting pleasure void of care's alloy,
Crowning afflictions past with present joy!

"March, 1791.

PETER HEYWOOD."

were washed with it; and this was the only ablution allowed them!" Such was a picture of the treatment of prisoners by the British Royal Navy, in the year 1791! Each officer of the ship, as he was relieved from his watch of this prison, examined the state of the shackles, and M'Intosh's limbs being slight, he contrived to liberate one leg at night, which was a great relief. This circumstance being reported to Captain Edwards, the first lieutenant, Mr. Larkin, was instructed to make a general inspection of the irons. The leg-irons were immediately reduced in size to fit close, and, writes Morrison, "Mr. Larkin in trying the handcuffs, placed his foot against our breasts, and hauling them over our hands with all his strength, in several cases took off the skin with them. All that could be hauled off in this manner were reduced, and fitted so close there was no possibility of turning the hand in them. When our wrists began to swell, he told us the handcuffs were not intended to fit like gloves."

Sickness soon appeared among the prisoners, and their limbs became galled from the tightness of their irons. One or two of the greatest sufferers were released from their handcuffs, but their legs were still kept fastened to the two iron bars which ran across the deck.

During the whole period of their stay at Tahiti, the ship was daily surrounded by canoes, not only with supplies, but with the numerous friends of the prisoners, full of sorrow and lamentations for their misfortunes. Few were allowed to come on board to see them, but among the few was the young girl Stewart had married, and named Peggy. She came with her infant in her arms, and, seeing her husband lying on the deck among the others heavily ironed, her grief knew no bounds; even the hard-hearted captain and his lieutenant were touched by her sorrow, and she was admitted into the prison-house. With reit

erated cries, she clung to Stewart, and the scene becoming too painful, it was necessary to remove her by force. Stewart was so completely unnerved by this interview, that he entreated she might not be allowed to see him again. Poor Peggy, however, was not to be deterred from remaining on the beach, where she could, at all events, see the vessel, from the earliest dawn to midnight. Her father and friends were seen endeavoring to persuade her to take food and rest, but in vain; she was daily at her post, and within a few weeks after the departure of the Pandora, the broken-hearted girl sank into an early grave, leaving her infant to the care of her sister, who took a mother's interest in the welfare of the little orphan.*

The necessary supply of water and provisions being completed, and the Resolution fitted with sails, Captain Edwards ordered a midshipman and four men on board to navigate her, with instructions to keep the Pandora in sight. On the 19th of May, 1791, they sailed from Tahiti, and stood to the north-west, with the intention of prosecuting a strict search among the islands for the remainder of the Bounty's crew, in which service the little schooner proved most useful, as her small draught of water enabled her to lie close to the extensive reefs.

As they approached Chatham Island, the schooner was missed, and, although the Pandora cruised about for several days in search of her, she could nowhere be seen, and was given up for lost. (This seemed a second disaster, as previously the jolly-boat had been blown from the land when going off to her, and a midshipman and four men on board never heard of again.) The Pandora, having cruised about the different groups of islands for three

* In after years this account was brought to England by the missionaries, by whom the little girl had been educated.