Adamstown, Pitcairn Islands the capital is called "The Hill of Difficulty". The history of the Pitcairn Islands begins with the colonization of the islands by Polynesians in the 11th century. The Polynesians established a culture that flourished for four centuries and then vanished. Pitcairn was settled again in 1790 by a group of British mutineers on HMS "Bounty" and Tahitians. The settlement is located on the central-north side of the island of Pitcairn, facing the Pacific Ocean and close to the Bounty Bay, the only seaport of the island. Adamstown has a tropical rainforest climate under the Köppen climate classification system. The hamlet
Mutiny on the Bounty first port of call. Christian therefore headed "Bounty" towards the small island of Tubuai, some south of Tahiti. Tubuai had been discovered and roughly charted by Cook; except for a single small channel, it was entirely surrounded by a coral reef and could, Christian surmised, be easily defended against any attack from the sea. "Bounty" arrived at Tubuai on 28 May 1789. The reception from the native population was hostile; when a flotilla of war canoes headed for the ship, Christian used a four-pounder gun to repel the attackers. At least a dozen warriors were killed, and the rest scattered.