Shelley had a complex personality susceptible to depressive episodes which have been invoked to explain his suicide by shipwreck. Yet the concatenation of circumstances was enough to sink the Don Juan without that: a sudden squall; the absence of an experienced seaman; and the boat's design. Though less dramatic than conventional depictions of Shelley's death, it would be closer to the truth to say that, in foul weather, on a vessel so ill made, Shelley, Williams, and Vivian had little chance of survival. Knowing it was a matter of time before someone would draw that most obvious of conclusions, Daniel Roberts and Edward Trelawny rewrote history to portray themselves as concerned onlookers whose warnings were disregarded, and those who perished as reckless, self-endangering daredevils. Count John Taaffe then jumped on the bandwagon, claiming access to eyewitness testimony.