recommendation to mercy. Assure yourselves (I have it from Mr. Graham's
own mouth), that Peter's honour is and will be as secure as his own;
that every professional man, as well as every man of sense, of whatever
denomination, does and will esteem him highly; that my dear uncle Pasley
(who was in town the night before my arrival) is delighted with his
worth; and that, in short, we shall at length be happy.'

From this time a daily correspondence passed between Peter Heywood and
his sister Nessy, the latter indulging hope, even to a certainty, that
she will not be deceived,--the other preaching up patience and
resignation, with a full reliance on his innocence and integrity. 'Cheer
up then,' says he, 'my dear Nessy; cherish _your hope_, and I will
exercise _my patience_.' Indeed so perfectly calm was this young man
under his dreadful calamity, that in a very few days after condemnation
his brother says, 'While I write this, Peter is sitting by me making an
Otaheitan vocabulary, and so happy and intent upon it, that I have
scarcely an opportunity of saying a word to him; he is in excellent
spirits, and I am convinced they are better and better every day.'

This vocabulary is a very extraordinary performance; it consists of one
hundred full-written folio pages, the words alphabetically arranged, and
all the syllables accented. It appears, from a passage in the _Voyage of
the Duff_, that a copy of this vocabulary was of great use to the
missionaries who were first sent to Otaheite in this ship.

During the delay which took place in carrying the sentence into
execution, Commodore Pasley, Mr. Graham, and others, were indefatigable
in their inquiries and exertions to ascertain what progress had been
made in bringing to a happy issue the recommendation to the fountain of
mercy: not less so was Nessy Heywood: from Mr. Graham she learnt what
this excellent man considered to be the principal parts of the evidence
that led to the conviction of her unhappy brother, which, having
understood to be the following, she transmitted to her brother:--

_First_. That he assisted in hoisting out the launch.

_Second_. That he was seen by the carpenter resting his hand upon a
cutlass.

_Third_. That on being called to by Lieutenant Bligh, he laughed.

_Fourth_. That he remained in the _Bounty_ instead of accompanying
Bligh in the launch.

On these points of the evidence, Mr. Heywood made the following
comments, which he sent from Ports