''Pitcairn's Island'' is the third installment in the fictional trilogy by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall about the mutiny aboard HMS ''Bounty''. It is preceded by '' Mutiny on the "Bounty"'' and '' Men Against the Sea''. The novel first appeared in ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'' (from 22 September 1934 through 3 November 1934) then was published in 1934 by

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

. Chapters I–XV are told in the third person, and Chapters XVI–XXI are told in the first person by

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

. The epilogue that follows is in the third person.

Synopsis

After two unsuccessful attempts to settle on the island of

Tubuai Tubuai or Tupuai is the main island of the Austral Island group, located south of Tahiti. In addition to Tubuai, the group of islands include Rimatara, Rurutu, Raivavae, Rapa and the uninhabited Îles Maria. They are part of the Austral Isla ...

, the ''Bounty'' mutineers returned to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

where they parted company.

Fletcher Christian Fletcher Christian (25 September 1764 – 20 September 1793) was master's mate on board HMS ''Bounty'' during Lieutenant William Bligh's voyage to Tahiti during 1787–1789 for breadfruit plants. In the mutiny on the ''Bounty'', Christian se ...

and eight of his men, together with eighteen Polynesians, sailed from Tahiti in September 1789, and for a period of eighteen years nothing was heard of them. Then, in 1808, the American sailing vessel ''Topaz'' discovered a thriving community of mixed blood on Pitcairn Island under the rule of "Alexander Smith" (the assumed name of

, the only survivor of the fifteen men who had landed there so long before).

External links

* * Preface to '' The Bounty Trilogy'' by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
Pitcairn's Island
Project Gutenberg 1934 American novels Little, Brown and Company books Novels about HMS Bounty Novels set in Tahiti Novels about alcoholism Collaborative novels {{Pitcairn-stub