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
Raine Island and waters of the Wuthathi people, who shared their interests in the area with the Erubam Le (Darnley Island), the Ugarem Le (Stephen Island) and Meriam Le ( Murray Island) Torres Strait Islanders During the 1890s the island was mined for guano. The waters around the island were treacherous for early European navigators. More than thirty shipwrecks can be found off the coast of the island including HMS "Pandora", a vessel that in 1791 was involved in the capture of a group of mutineers from the HMS "Bounty". As a consequence, the beacon was built by convict labour in 1844,