Pitcairn's Island (novel) settle on the island of Tubuai, the "Bounty" mutineers returned to Tahiti where they parted company. Fletcher Christian 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 John Adams, the only survivor of the fifteen men who had landed there so long before). Pitcairn's Island (novel) Pitcairn's Island is the third installment in the
HMS Bounty to and including the names of every seaman on board, something which larger ships in the rating system only occasionally were capable of due to crews in the hundreds whereas the "Bounty" carried fewer than fifty personnel. Bligh's original log remained intact throughout his ordeal and was used as a major piece of evidence in his own trial for the loss of the "Bounty" as well as the subsequent trial of captured mutineers. The original log is presently maintained at a museum in New South Wales with available transcripts in both print and electronic format. In the 18th century Royal