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Fryer: Yes, upon several occasions.

The Court: Did he appear to be disturbed, or nervous, or anxious in mind?

Fryer: Not in the least.

I felt deeply grateful to Fryer, not only for the matter of his testimony concerning myself, but even more for the manner of it. It must have been plain to all the Court that he considered me innocent.

Morrison asked: “Did you observe any part of my conduct, particularly on that day, which would lead you to believe that I was one of the mutineers?”

Fryer: I did not.

The other prisoners questioned him in turn, and poor Burkitt only made his case appear even worse than it had before, for Fryer was obliged to repeat and enlarge upon the details of Burkitt’s activity as one of the mutineers.

The master then withdrew and Mr. Cole, the boatswain, was called to the stand. His testimony necessarily covered much the same ground; but while this was true in the case of each of the witnesses, there were important points of difference in their evidence. Each man had witnessed events from different parts of the ship, and their interpretation of what they saw, as well as their recollection of it after so long an interval of time, varied considerably.