Both Hough and Alexander, in their Bounty…
April 1789 CE
The journal of James Morrison, the boatswain's mate, supports this.
The events that follow, Hough suggests, are determined in the three weeks following the departure, when Bligh's anger and intolerance reach paranoid proportions.
Christian is a particular target, always seeming to bear the brunt of the captain's rages.
Unaware of the effects of his behavior on his officers and crew, Bligh will forget these displays instantly and attempt to resume normal conversation.
On April 22, 1789, Bounty arrives at Nomuka, in the Friendly Islands (now called Tonga), intending to pick up wood, water, and further supplies on the final scheduled stop before the Endeavour Strait.
Bligh had visited the island with Cook, and knows that the inhabitants can behave unpredictably.
He puts Christian in charge of the watering party and equips him with muskets, but at the same time orders that the arms should be left in the boat, not carried ashore.
Christian's party is harassed and threatened continually but are unable to retaliate, having been denied the use of arms.
He returns to the ship with his task incomplete, and is cursed by Bligh as "a damned cowardly rascal".
Further disorder ashore results in the thefts of a small anchor and an adze, for which Bligh further berates Fryer and Christian.
In an attempt to recover the missing property, Bligh briefly detains the island's chieftains on the ship, but to no avail.
When he finally gives the order to sail, neither the anchor nor the adze has been restored.