Confusion spread on the deck of the Royal Navy ship as the leader of the rebels tied up the captain behind the mast. Threats and cursing filled the warm, night air. Guns from the weapons chest had been passed into the hands of the twenty rebel seamen who were taking over the ship. They ordered their mates over the side of the ship and into a small, 23-foot boat. Those poor men grabbed clothes and some food before being hurried into an open boat for what turned out to be forty-seven days on the open seas before being rescued. Finally, the captain, still in his nightshirt, was also set adrift with the men in the open boat. Forgotten and left behind below deck were 1,015 breadfruit plants and the treasure of the ship in a chest.
The voyage had seemed like such a good idea. Growers in the West Indies had been hoping for years for a better source of food for their workers. Explorers had brought back reports from the island of Tahiti of the delicious breadfruit and how it tasted very much like bread. The climates in the two tropical places seemed similar, and so the British government had chosen to send a specially equipped naval vessel to carry the breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies. They loaded the ship with food, water, more than forty volunteers, a chest of weapons and another chest with papers and an unappreciated treasure.
It looked like an excellent plan to the rebels onboard the ship. They would go back to the soft, sand beaches, gentle breezes, delicious tropical fruits and many friends. But there was to be no such peace for them. They tried to find an island where the Royal Navy wouldn’t find them. Landing on one, they were attacked by the islanders. They tried another island and built a fort, but many islanders were killed in battles before the rebels abandoned their fort and sailed away, taking some of the island women with them. Finally the rebels divided up, and a small group of them sailed to a far-off and uninhabited island. The secret of the peace they were looking for lay buried in the treasure chest below deck, while cannons, guns and swords remained in their hands.
On reaching their distant island, they fought their way through dangerous surf and landed at the bottom of a very steep hill. Trip after trip, they dragged everything of value off the ship. They carried big loads on their backs and dragged heavy chests up that steep hill. Then they burned the ship so no one would discover their hideout, and the rebels began turning their island into the “paradise of peace” they had hoped for. It was a beautiful, tropical island, swept by pleasant breezes, having good fruit trees and fertile soil. What could possibly go wrong?
Only one thing could really go wrong; they had brought with them an awful disease—sin. Those seeds of sin took root and grew. “When lust [begins], it [brings] forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, [brings] forth death” (James 1:1515Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (James 1:15)). It didn’t take long for the jealousy, drunkenness and fighting to break out, and before too many years had passed, there were only two of the rebels still alive.
One of the men taught the other to read with one of the few books they had. It was the “treasure” from the chest—God’s Word, the Bible. Alexander Smith read it eagerly and began to share its teaching with the women and children still alive. It seems that most of them turned to Christ as their Saviour. “Faith [comes] by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:1717So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)).
One day a passing ship discovered the small group of people. After that their story was gradually collected by passing ships’ captains and shared with the outside world.
The breadfruit eventually made its way to the West Indies on another ship, but it wasn’t appreciated. People there didn’t like the flavor, and it didn’t become popular. However, the Bible did! The Tahitian settlers and the descendants from the H.M.S. Bounty, captained by William Bligh who settled Pitcairn Island, valued and honored God’s Word. You can see a symbol of the Bounty’s Bible on their flag to this day—the symbol of “the Word of God, which [lives] and [abides] forever” (1 Peter 1:2323Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (1 Peter 1:23)).
What a treasure that book is! We come to know the Saviour in its pages and to value Him more each day. What a marvelous privilege to have Him speak to us every morning and throughout the day from its pages. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:44And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. (Luke 4:4)).
ML-06/01/2008