Chasing the Bounty

<p> Popular films about the <I>Bounty</I> mutiny only scratch the surface. This rebellion on a British vessel in 1789 sparked the voyages of H.M.S. <I>Pandora</I>--dispatched to track down the mutineers and return them to England for court-martial--and the <I>Matavy</I> a schooner built by the mutineers in Tahiti.</p><p> This is the first book to include eyewitness accounts from five men who endured these voyages. Presented in overlapping chronological order are the first publication of a narrative by a member of <I>Matavy</I>'s crew who vividly describes a desperate struggle to survive with meager provisions among islands filled with hostile natives. A previously unpublished poem by an anonymous sailor on <I>Pandora</I> recounts the ship's sinking the survivors' tortuous journey to the Dutch East Indies and their return to England. The captain's unedited statement on the loss of <I>Pandora</I> is included and appendices summarize the <I>Bounty</I> and <I>Pandora</I> courts-martial and the later history of each narrator.</p>