Had they committed mutiny and murder, or only
justifiable homicide? They felt that the point was a very important
one to them--a matter of life and death--and they stood in a
group near the tiller to discuss the difficulty, speaking low, while
the cook was shivering in the forecastle, trying to ease the pain.
The conclusion of the seamen was, that they had done what was right,
both in law and conscience. They had thrown Blogg overboard to
prevent him from murdering the cook, and also for their own safety.
After they had done their duty by seizing him, he would have killed
them if he could. He was a drunken sweep. He was an outlaw, and the
law would not protect him. Anybody could kill an outlaw without fear
of consequences, so they had heard. But still there was some doubt
about it, and there was nobody there to put the case for the captain.
The law was, at that time, a terrible thing, especially in Van
Diemen's Land, under Colonel Arthur. He governed by the gallows, to
make everything orderly and peaceable, and men were peaceable enough
after they were hanged.
So Secker and his mates decided that, although they had done nothing
but what was right in throwing Blogg over the side, it would be
extremely imprudent to trust their innocence to the uncertainty of
the law and to the impartiality of Colonel Arthur.
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