The coast of Chile lies 2,300 miles to the east, Tahiti 2,500 miles to the northwest, and the nearest island, with a total population of 54 people, is tiny Pitcairn island, 1,400 miles to the west.

While some of the mutineers were left on Tahiti, Christian and eight other mutineers found refuge on Pitcairn, and they brought six Polynesian men and 12 women with them. The island's capital ...