enever they move in coral
waters. On August 25th he discovered the Murray Islands, and, after
spending the day in a vain attempt to force a passage through them, he
followed the reef southward for two days without finding a passage. This
must have brought him very near the latitude of Bligh's passage. On the
morning of August 28th Lieut. Corner was sent to examine what appeared to
be a channel, and an hour before dark he signalled that he had found a
passage large enough for the ship. The night fell before the boat could
get back, and this induced Edwards, who had already lost one boat's crew
and his tender, to lie much closer to the reef than was prudent. The
current did the rest. About seven the ship struck heavily, and, bumping
over the reef, tore her planking so that, despite eleven hours incessant
pumping, she foundered shortly after daylight. Eighty-nine of the ship's
company and ten of the mutineers were picked up by the boats and landed
on a sand cay four miles distant, and thirty-one sailors, and four
mutineers (who went down in manacles) were drowned.

Having read the different versions of this affair both for and against
Edwards, I think it is proved that, besides treating his prisoners with
inhumanity, he disregarded the orders of the Admiralty. His attitude
towards the prisoners was always consistent. We learn from Corner that he
allowed Coleman, Norman and Mackintosh to work at the pumps, but that
when the others implored him to let them out of irons he placed two
additional sentries over them, and threatened to shoot the first man who
attempted to liberate himself. Every allowance must be made for the fear
that in the disordered state of the ship, they might have made an attempt
to escape, but during the eleven hours in which the water was gaining
upon the pumps there was ample time to provide for their security. That
so many were saved was due, not to him, but to a boatswain's mate, who
risked his own life to liberate them. Lieut. Corner, who would not have
been likely to err on the side of hostility to Edwards, gives his
evidence against him in this particular. But whether he is to be believed
or not, the fact that four of the prisoners went down in irons is
impossible to extenuate.

Edwards dismisses the boat voyage in very few words, though, in fact, it
was a remarkable achievement to take four overloaded boats from the
Barrier Reef to Timor without the loss of a single man. He made the coast
of Quee