Norfolk Island after 1847, and the last convicts were removed to Tasmania in May 1855. The island was abandoned because transportation from the United Kingdom to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) had ceased in 1853, to be replaced by penal servitude in the UK. The next settlement began on 8 June 1856, as the descendants of Tahitians and the HMS "Bounty" mutineers, including those of Fletcher Christian were resettled from the Pitcairn Islands, which had become too small for their growing population. On 3 May 1856, 193 people had left Pitcairn Islands aboard the "Morayshire". On 8 June 194 people arrived, a baby
Mutiny on the Bounty Undeterred, Christian and an armed party surveyed the island, and decided it would be suitable for their purposes. However, to create a permanent settlement, they needed compliant native labour and women. The most likely source for these was Tahiti, to which "Bounty" returned on 6 June. To ensure the co-operation of the Tahiti chiefs, Christian concocted a story that he, Bligh, and Captain Cook were founding a new settlement at Aitutaki. Cook's name ensured generous gifts of livestock and other goods and, on 16 June, the well-provisioned "Bounty" sailed back to Tubuai. On board were nearly 30 Tahitian men and