Voyage to the South Sea, A (1 of 91)
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A VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH SEA
BY WILLIAM BLIGH
A VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH SEA,UNDERTAKEN BY COMMAND OF HIS MAJESTY,
FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONVEYING THE BREAD-FRUIT TREE TO THE WEST INDIES,
IN HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP THE BOUNTY, COMMANDED BY LIEUTENANT WILLIAM BLIGH.
INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE MUTINY ON BOARD THE SAID SHIP,
AND THE SUBSEQUENT VOYAGE OF PART OF THE CREW, IN THE SHIP'S BOAT,
FROM TOFOA, ONE OF THE FRIENDLY ISLANDS,
TO TIMOR, A DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN THE EAST INDIES.
THE WHOLE ILLUSTRATED WITH CHARTS, ETC.
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PUBLISHED BY PERMISSION OF THE
LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY.
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LONDON:
PRINTED FOR GEORGE NICOL, BOOKSELLER TO HIS MAJESTY, PALL-MALL.
1792.
...
ADVERTISEMENT.
At the time I published the Narrative of the Mutiny on Board the Bounty it was my intention that the preceding part of the Voyage should be contained in a separate account. This method I have since been induced to alter. The reason of the Narrative appearing first was for the purpose of communicating early information concerning an event which had attracted the public notice: and, being drawn up in a hasty manner, it required many corrections. Some circumstances likewise were omitted; and the notation of time used in the Narrative being according to sea reckoning, in which the days begin and end at noon, must have produced a degree of obscurity and confusion to readers accustomed only to the civil mode. And this would have increased as the remainder of the voyage, on account of the numerous shore occurrences at Otaheite and elsewhere, could not, with clearness and propriety, have been related in any other than the usual manner of reckoning.
Besides remedying these inconveniencies I have thought a fuller account of our passage from Timor to Europe than that contained in the Narrative would not be unacceptable. These reasons, with the manifest convenience of comprising the whole Voyage in one continued narrative, in preference to letting it appear in disjointed accounts will, it is hoped, be allowed a sufficient excuse for having varied from the original intention. Nevertheless for the accommodation of the purchasers of the Narrative already published those who desire it will be supplied with the other parts of the Voyage separate; i.e. the part previous to the mutiny and the additional account after leaving Timor.
CHAPTER 1.
Plan of the Expedition. Outfit and Occurrences to the time of leaving England. Description of the Breadfruit.
1787.
The King having been graciously pleased to comply with a request from the merchants and planters interested in his Majesty's West India possessions that the breadfruit tree might be introduced into those islands, a vessel proper for the undertaking was bought and taken into dock at Deptford to be provided with the necessary fixtures and preparations for executing the object of the voyage. These were completed according to a plan of my much honoured friend, Sir Joseph Banks, which in the event proved the most advantageous that could have been adopted for the intended purpose.
August 16.
The ship was named the Bounty: I was appointed to command her on the 16th of August 1787. Her burthen was nearly two hundred and fifteen tons; her extreme length on deck ninety feet ten inches; extreme breadth twenty-four feet three inches; and height in the hold under the beams at the main hatchway ten feet three inches. In the cockpit were the cabins of the surgeon, gunner, botanist, and clerk, with a steward-room and storerooms. The between decks was divided in the following manner: the great cabin was appropriated for the preservation of the plants and extended as far forward as the after hatchway. It had two large skylights, and on each side three scuttles for air, and was fitted with a false floor cut full of holes to contain the garden-pots in which the plants were to be brought home. The deck was covered with lead, and at the foremost corners of the cabin were fixed pipes to carry off the water that drained from the plants into tubs placed below to save it for future use.
I had a small cabin on one side to sleep in, adjoining to the great cabin, and a place near the middle of the ship to eat in. The bulk-head of this apartment was at the after-part of the main hatchway, and on each side of it were the berths of the mates and midshipmen; between these berths the arm-chest was placed. The cabin of the master, in which was always kept the key of the arms, was opposite to mine. This particular description of the interior parts of the ship is rendered necessary by the event of the expedition.
The ship was masted according to the proportion of the navy; but on my application the masts were shortened, as I thought them too much for her, considering the nature of the voyage.
September 3.
On the 3rd of September the ship came out of dock; but the carpenters and joiners remained on board much longer, as they had a great deal of work to finish.
The next material alteration made in the fitting out was lessening the quantity of iron and other ballast. I gave directions that only nineteen tons of iron should be taken on board instead of the customary proportion which was forty-five tons. The stores and provisions I judged would be fully sufficient to answer the purpose of the remainder; for I am of opinion that many of the misfortunes which attend ships in heavy storms of wind are occasioned by too much dead weight in their bottoms.
