Читать книгу Men Against the Sea – Book Set. The Greatest Maritime Adventure Novels: The Bounty Trilogy, Lost Island, The Hurricane, Botany Bay, The Far Lands, Tales of the South Seas… онлайн
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Morrison asked: “You say that you saw me armed at the taffrail. Can you declare, positively, before God and this Court, that it was I and no other person whom you saw under arms?”
Hallet: I have declared it.
Morrison: You have sworn that I did jeeringly say, “Tell my friends, if they inquire for me, that I am somewhere in the South Sea.” To whom did I address this sneering message?
Hallet: I did not remark that it was addressed to anyone in particular.
Morrison: Do you remember that I did, personally, assist you to haul one of your chests up the main hatchway, and whether or not I was armed then?
Hallet: The circumstances concerning the chest I do not remember. I have before said that I did not see you under arms till after the launch had been veered astern.
The witness withdrew, and John Smith, who had been Captain Bligh’s servant, was called. He was the last witness, and the only one of the Bounty’s seamen who gave evidence. In fact, there were only three of the able seamen of the Bounty’s company, John Smith, Thomas Hall, and Robert Lamb, who had not been of Christian’s party; and of these both Lamb and Hall were dead. Smith’s evidence was not of importance to any of us who were before the Court. He testified that, at Christian’s orders, he had served out rum to all those under arms; also that he had gone to Captain Bligh’s cabin to fetch up his clothes and other articles which were put into the launch.