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 his authority was slipping. He called a meeting to discuss future plans and offered a free vote. Eight remained loyal to Christian, the hard core of the active mutineers, but sixteen wished to return to Tahiti and take their chances there. Christian accepted this decision; after depositing the majority at Tahiti, he would "run before the wind, and ... land upon the first island the ship drives. After what I have done I cannot remain at Tahiti". When "Bounty" returned to Tahiti, on 22 September, the welcome was much less effusive than previously. The Tahitians had learned from the crew