One of Edwards' main detractors was Commodore Sir Thomas Pasley, uncle of convicted mutineer Peter Heywood, whose measured tone in one of his letters to Heywood leaves no doubt about his disapproval of 'that fellow' Edwards; he was especially critical of the prisoners' confinement in 'Pandora's Box'. Pasley omits to mention how he would have handled the situation had command been his. Presumably he might have occasionally let the prisoners out of their captivity location; thus, midshipmen Stewart and Heywood might have been allowed to spend some time walking the quarterdeck, as Peter Heywood was permitted to do after his transhipment to HMS "Gorgon" in Cape Town during the last stage of his voyage home. Much was made of this by Heywood's friends and defenders during his court martial, as if to underscore their plea that Edwards' conduct towards the prisoners had been excessively harsh and that Heywood had already suffered disproportionately and therefore had, in fact, already been punished.