Mutiny on the Bounty Page #11

The bare facts alone will not indict Bligh.

It's the privilege of every captain to decide

when an emergency warrants

the reduction of water rations.

Who can deny there was an emergency?

The Bounty carried breadfruit.

Vital to the economic life

of the British Empire.

Do you suppose it'll be acceptable

that Bligh should return

after a two-year voyage

with his ship laden with dead plants?

Better than with dead men, sir.

You're forgetting

the traditional answer, Mills.

Mission comes first

and lives of men second.

Well, it's all the one to us now.

Let them make Captain Bligh

King of China if they want to.

We can forget him, thank God.

And I move we start forgetting him

right now.

Bligh guilty, or Bligh not guilty,

it makes no difference

to our lovely little island.

And if it did, we could write out papers

telling our side of the story,

seal them in bottles

and send them floating on the sea.

Hey, that's a thought.

One of them might even bob along

and reach England ahead of Bligh.

That'd put a spike in his coffin.

We can make certain

that his coffin is spiked.

What do you mean, sir?

By returning to England ourselves.

- Well, what the holy hell for?

- You're not serious, Mr. Christian.

It's a joke he'll be after having, that's all.

- Well, it was a joke to spoil me dinner.

- Hold it, hold it.

Mr. Christian is meaning what he says,

I'm afraid.

- Yes, I am, Mills.

- Then I've got a better idea, sir.

Why don't we hang each other

from the yardarms in the morning?

- It'll save us a trip!

- Yes.

Listen to me for one moment,

gentlemen, please.

I put it to you

that we shall never find contentment

on this island.

Sir, it sounds

like you've gone out of your mind.

There's no chance for people like us

to go back to England,

give Bligh a bad name

and walk free men ourselves.

And anyone who thinks otherwise

hasn't got the sense that God gave geese!

You're right, Mills.

We may all very well be hanged.

But decency is worth fighting for.

You can't live without it.

And hiding here, shivering like convicts,

when we've a just case

to present to the courts,

is just another way of dying.

And a far less bearable one.

I didn't know until this moment,

what the rightful course to pursue was.

But I know it now.

Will you trust me?

Look, supposing Bligh's

been picked up already.

Supposing he's been tried and acquitted

by the time we get there.

Let it be so.

Our court martial

will be Bligh's court martial over again.

Our jeopardy

will be Bligh's' jeopardy as well.

And our acquittal will be Bligh's defeat.

It'll mean no more Captain William Bligh

or any like him in His Majesty's service.

We need only persuade the British people

of something they already know,

that inhumanity is its poorest servant.

Gentlemen, I beg you.

Help me to carry that word

back to England.

That's a big thought for people like us.

Do you mind

if we take the night to talk about it?

Certainly.

Mills, Quintal, Birkett, Minarii, quickly!

Our ship's afire.

Hurry, for God's sake, everyone!

She's afire! Come quickly!

Mills, Quintal, Birkett!

Come on!

Get the boat in the water.

Madatafao, as soon as we get aboard

you and Tamas slip the anchor.

Brown, you and Minarii will hoist the sail.

When she begins to make headway,

we'll sink her on the shallows.

Ned, you and I will go below

and open the sea c*cks.

She can be refloated

if we can save the hull.

- We're fast on a rock.

- Right through the hull.

- Have you got the sextant, Ned?

- What?

- Have you got the sextant?

- No.

- You can't go now. It's too late, Fletcher.

- We'll never leave here without it.

- Fletcher, you can't go down!

- Abandon ship!

The cutter's heading back.

They've given up.

Careful now.

Find something to cover him.

Minarii, go to my tent.

You'll find a chest.

In it is a medicine case, bring it quickly.

And bring a lamp or a torch,

we shall need light.

Oh, my God. My God.

There's some laudanum

in the medicine case.

It'll stop his pain within a few minutes.

He'll need it, if he regains consciousness.

Here, Ned, spread it gently.

Easy.

I gave him all the laudanum there was.

He'll feel nothing

as soon as he assimilates it.

We must cut away

what's left of his clothing.

Oh, look at that.

Oh, my God.

- It's us done that to him.

- Get away from here.

Get away from here or I'll cut your throats,

you murdering scum.

- Ned! Ned, stop!

- I'll kill you.

No. On my life I gave him bad for good.

I never done that to anybody

in my life before.

- What's happened, Brown?

- We're on the beach, Mr. Christian.

There was an accident.

You've been burned and you must lie still.

- Was I hurt badly?

- Not too bad. You're going to be all right.

But it's important

that you stay as still as possible.

The Bounty?

- It's hopeless.

- It's gone.

- The sextant, did we... Have we lost it?

- No, I have it here, Mr. Christian.

You must hide it, Brown. Hide it, quickly.

So, it was your work, the burning.

Was it? You filth.

I have no want in me to harm you.

For the love of God, believe

I regret what has happened to you.

We all do.

But each man has to follow his own belief,

no matter what.

You've said this many times

after the mutiny.

Well, I did what I thought I had to do.

I burned the Bounty for the good of all.

It wasn't in bad faith. It was just bad luck.

For the good of all, Mills?

Yes, sir.

But why did you have to burn the Bounty?

You had no reason to fear me.

We were afraid, Mr. Christian.

We were afraid you were going

to take us to London by force.

Oh, God.

We're sick

and sorry for what's happened to you.

We'll never forget what you've done for us.

It's all right, Mills. It wasn't your fault.

Bligh left his mark on all of us.

Goodbye, Mr. Christian.

May God have mercy on you.

Am I dying, Brown?

Yes, Mr. Christian.

What a useless way to die.

It's not useless, Fletcher. I swear it.

Maybe we'll get to London or maybe not.

The Blighs will lose.

We'll tell our story somehow, to someone.

It only needs one of us to survive.

Never mind, Maimiti.

We haven't much time.

Please...

Please know that

I loved you

more than I knew.

And if I'd only

had time to...

To...

English

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