As I write this, on the desk beside me is a photograph of Charles Christian, seventh generation descendent of Fletcher Christian, leader of the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789. The photo was taken on Pitcairn Island by my niece, Eliza, during a recent voyage around the world.

You have heard, of course, of the mutiny on the Bounty. Everyone has. Have you ever wondered whether that ordeal was fact or fiction? Have you ever heard of Pitcairn Island?

Pitcairn is a tiny South Pacific isle, one by two miles, in the middle of nowhere. It lies 3,300 miles from New Zealand and 4,000 miles from Chile. It has 50 residents. There are almost no other human settlements for over a thousand miles in any direction. It has no airport. It is approachable only by sea and there is no scheduled maritime service. The health...

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