Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse In November 1790, Captain Edward Edwards—in command of HMS "Pandora"—had sailed from England with orders to comb the Pacific for the mutineers of HMS "Bounty". In March of the following year, "Pandora" arrived at Tahiti and picked up 14 "Bounty" men who had stayed on that island. Although some of the 14 had not joined the mutiny, all were imprisoned and shackled in a cramped "cage" built on the deck, which the men grimly nicknamed "Pandora's Box". "Pandora" then left Tahiti in search of "Bounty" and the leader of the mutiny, Fletcher Christian. Captain Edwards' search for the remaining mutineers
HMS Bounty Christian was found to be unresponsive and pronounced dead at Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, NC. A second "Bounty" replica, named HMAV "Bounty", was built in New Zealand in 1979 and used in the 1984 film "The Bounty". The hull is constructed of welded steel oversheathed with timber. For many years she served the tourist excursion market from Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia, before being sold to HKR International Limited in October 2007. She is now a tourist attraction (also used for charter, excursions and sail training) based in Discovery Bay, on Lantau Island in Hong Kong, and has an additional