Читать книгу Mutiny on the Bounty. Historical Novel онлайн

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Bligh listened with interest to Courtney’s words, and nodded approvingly. “Struck his captain, eh?” he remarked. “By God! He deserved all he got, and more! No laws are more just than those governing the conduct of men at sea.”

“Is there any need of such cruelty?” I asked, unable to keep silent. “Why did they not hang the poor fellow and have done with it?”

“Poor fellow?” Captain Courtney turned to me with eyebrows raised. “You have much to learn, my lad. A year or two at sea will harden him, eh, Bligh?”

“I’ll see to that,” said the Captain of the Bounty. “No, Mr. Byam, you must waste no sympathy on rascals of that stripe.”

“And remember,” put in Courtney, with a manner of friendly admonishment, “remember, as Mr. Bligh says, that no laws are more just than those governing the conduct of men at sea. Not only just, but necessary; discipline must be preserved, on a merchantman as well as on a man-of-war, and mutiny and piracy suppressed.”

“Yes,” said Bligh, “our sea law is stern, but it has the authority of centuries. And it has grown more humane with time,” he continued, not without a trace of regret. “Keel-hauling has been abolished, save among the French, and a captain no longer has the right to condemn and put to death one of his crew.”