Post #60466 by Rattiki on Mon, Nov 17, 2003 6:02 PM

On 2003-11-13 19:33, tikifish wrote:
Now that I think about it more, the place where I read the info exonerating Bligh was from a Captain Cook biography. I guess, like much in life, there is no black and white answer, and the truth lies somewhere inbetween. Interesting to note though, when people rediscovered Fletcher Christians paradise many yoears later, they found most of the original mutineers dead - they had fought each other over women and killed most all of the men.

Another interesting tidbit in the Cook book was that when they reached one of the south seas islands (can't remember which), thinking they were the first to get there, and had their way with the 'unspoiled' women, many of them got the clap. Turns out the Spanish had been there first, and left a little parting gift.

purple jade is absolutely correct! There is a Discovery channel program around about Pitcarin Island and what happened with a couple of guys digging around for evidence.

Also Capt Cook was the first one that made it out and BACK. The last bit being VERY important. Living in Key West, an island that became the richest city in the USA per capita during the 19th century because of our reefs, I know the meaning of run a ground! :lol: The Hawaiians even were familiar with metal when Cook got there (though the had no metalergy knowledge). They felt this may have been due to previous visits from Spaniards or Portuguese vessels or just the flotsam and jetsum washing up on shore from their reckage. Those guys had been running around the Pacific for years! The Philippines had even been administered directly from Mexico, NOT Spain since the 16th century (Cook didn't get out there until the late 18th century), and there was a lot of traversing between the two, hence Acapulco.

[ Edited by: Rattiki on 2003-11-17 18:07 ]