Ducie island is really small but its history is linked to one the biggest riots ever.

Ducie Island is an 3.9sq km unhabited atol in the Pitcairn Islands, which belong to the United Kingdom in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There are four islets: Acadia, Pandora, Edwards and ______________. The island was discovered in 1606, and was named “La Encarnación”. In 1791, it was rediscovered by Captain Edwards, of Great Britain, who commanded the ship “Pandora” while he was looking for the HMS Bounty men.

In 1789, the English ship HS Bounty sailed to Tahiti in order to get breadfruit they would cultivate in the Caribbean islands to feed the slaves. Lieutenant William Bligh, commander of the Bounty, started acting in a rebel way, imposing harsher punishments to the crew. That made Fletcher Christian, Bligh’s best friend, organize a riot, even though he was aware that could be punished with hanging.

Christian abandoned Bligh and 18 men in the middle of the sea and took charge of the HMS Bounty and went back to Tahiti, where he dropped some sailors. Then, he went on to search a hidden place where they couldn’t be found.

Meanwhile, Captain Bligh crossed 3,600 miles until Coupang, in the Western Timor, from where he headed back to England.

In 1790, nine of the mean aboard Bounty, along with women and native Tahitians, disembarked in Pitcairn and put fire on the Bounty. They then decided to live off agriculte and fishing, and the small community went through great tension. Drinking, killing, diseases and other issues took the like of most of Tahiti’s men.Two of them – John Adams and Ned Young – used the Bible of the ship and established a new and peaceful society.

They remained hidden for 18 years when an American vessel (Topaz), arrived in the island. Only one man was alive – John Adams, who lived in the street with 11 women and 23 children. He and the others were given amnesty.

In order to punish the men of the Bounty, The British Admiralty, in 1790, send HMS Pandora to hunt Christian Fletcher and his crew. There were 160 men aboard, and they sailed towards Tahiti, where 14 men remained. They under the command of Captain Edwards, who was very cruel. The prisoners were put in wooden cages on the deck. The sun was harsh on then, the space was restrict and the hygiene conditions were terrible, making the “Pandora’s box” the perfect name.

By searching the other men, they stopped by Ducie Island, close to Pitcairn, where the men were. But they never found Fletcher and his crew. In August 1791, the ship was stranded in the Great Barrier Reef, in Australia. It sank in few hours with 4 sailors.

The rest was taken to Timor smaller boats. On September 13, Edwards arrived in Coupang and then proceeded to the United Kingdom. The men went to trial, and 3 of them were condemned to the gallows.