The Far Land

200 Years of Murder, Mania and Mutiny in the South Pacific

By Brandon Prosser

Published by Icon Books (Allen and Unwin)

ISBN 9781785789366

Travel writer Brandon Prosser’s book, The Far Land is a fascinating and far more than interesting reading as we find out the real story about the mutineers and their lives after casting Captain Bligh adrift.

He explains how the myths and how the movies and previously written books and reports have created a glossy Hollywood view as opposed to the reality.

In 1808, an American merchant ship per chance came across what was then an uncharted island in the South Pacific and unwittingly solved probably the biggest nautical mystery at that time. It must have been an incredible mystery as to what happened to and where the band of mutineers, now fugitives were, after seizing control of the ship, The Bounty with their Tahitian companions.

It can be quite daunting at times as we read how the educated men, including Fletcher Christian had reached their absolute limit of the way in which Captain Bligh spoke in such derogatory ways and showed little mercy to men under his command on The Bounty.

In this well-researched work which including spending several months on Pitcairn Island with some of the forty-eight descendants of the mutineers we get an in depth view of their legacy and how it continues with these and with recent generations.

You will read how the crew enjoyed life in Tahiti with the local population of all social stratas, including a Tahitian princess and her entourage and about the culture during the era of the late 1700s.

Their relationships between the Tahitians and the mutineers became permanent and they freely sailed with the mutineers to Pitcairn Island. However, when things go wrong and all is not rosy in paradise things really become interesting and cruel. Deceit, competitiveness, murder of both fellow mutineers and dogs for no other reason than their barking was annoying one of mutineers, become common place. Some of these murders are described quite graphically and frankly made me squirm in my seat - I am squeamish!

Alhough this is a vivid historical and personal narrative, The Far Land goes in-depth into the infamous mutiny on the Bounty, one that has not been shared before and is a fascinating glimpse into life on the fringes of civilisation.

This well-written book and the author’s impressions of today’s descendants is certainly worth reading. Some of this is rather eye opening.considering this is a country of a mere forty-eight people, where the generator that is used to supply electricity is turned off each night to save fuel.

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