been equal to that of two men? (for if I had
been in her, and the poor fellow, Norton, had not been
murdered at Tofoa, she would have been encumbered with our
additional weight), and if it be true that she was saved by
those means, which the captain says she was, it must follow
that if Norton and myself had been in her (to say nothing of
Coleman, M'Intosh, Norman, and Byrne, who, 'tis confessed,
were desirous of leaving the ship), she must either have gone
down with us, or, to prevent it, we must have lightened her of
the provisions and other necessary articles, and thereby have
perished for want--dreadful alternative!

'A choice of deaths to those who are certain of dying may be a
matter of indifference; but where, on one hand, death appears
inevitable, and the means of salvation present themselves on
the other, however imprudent it might be to resort to those
means in any other less trying situation, I think (and hope
even at my present time of life) that I shall not be suspected
of a want of courage for saying, few men would hesitate to
embrace the latter.

'Such, then, was exactly my situation on board the _Bounty_;
to be starved to death, or drowned, appeared to be inevitable
if I went in the boat; and surely it is not to be wondered at,
if, at the age of sixteen years, with no one to advise with,
and so ignorant of the discipline of the service (having never
been at sea before) as not to know or even suppose it was
possible that what I should determine upon might afterwards be
alleged against me as a crime--I say, under such
circumstances, in so trying a situation, can it be wondered
at, if I suffered the preservation of my life to be the first,
and to supersede every other, consideration.

'Besides, through the medium of the master, the captain had
directed the rest of the officers to remain on board, in hopes
of retaking the ship. Such is the master's assertion, and such
the report on board, and as it accorded with my own wishes for
the preservation of my life, I felt myself doubly justified in
staying on board, not only as it appeared to be safer than
going in the boat, but from a consideration also of being in
the way to be useful in assisting to accomplish so desirable a
wish of the captain.

'Let it not--for G