Introduction by William Bligh

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.

William Bligh, 1792

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.

The establishment of men and officers for the ship were as follows:

1 Lieutenant to command.

1 Master.

1 Boatswain.

1 Gunner.

1 Carpenter.

1 Surgeon.

2 Master’s Mates.

2 Midshipmen.

2 Quartermasters.

1 Quartermaster’s Mate.

1 Boatswain’s Mate.

1 Gunner’s Mate.

1 Carpenter’s Mate.

1 Carpenter’s Crew.

1 Sailmaker.

1 Armourer.

1 Corporal.

1 Clerk and Steward.

23 Able Seamen.

Total crew—44.

Two skilful and careful men were appointed, at Sir Joseph Banks’s recommendation, to have the management of the plants intended to be brought home: the one, David Nelson, who had been on similar employment in Captain Cook’s last voyage; the other, William Brown, as an assistant to him. With these two our whole number amounted to forty-six.

It was proposed that our route to the Society Islands should be round Cape Horn; and the greatest dispatch became necessary as the season was already far advanced: but the shipwrights not being able to complete their work by the time the ship was ready in other respects, our sailing was unavoidably retarded.

October. Thursday 4.

However by the 4th of October the pilot came on board to take us down the river.

Tuesday 9.

On the 9th we fell down to Long Reach where we received our gunner’s stores and guns, four four-pounders and ten swivels.

The ship was stored and victualled for eighteen months. In addition to the customary allowance of provisions we were supplied with sourkraut, portable soup, essence of malt, dried malt, and a proportion of barley and wheat in lieu of oatmeal. I was likewise furnished with a quantity of ironwork and trinkets to serve in our intercourse with the natives in the South Seas: and from the board of Longitude I received a timekeeper, made by Mr. Kendal.

Monday 15.

On the 15th I received orders to proceed to Spithead.

November. Sunday 4.

But the winds and weather were so unfavourable that we did not arrive there till the 4th of November. On the 24th I received from Lord Hood, who commanded at Spithead, my final orders. The wind, which for several days before had been favourable, was now turned directly against us.

Wednesday 28.

On the 28th the ship’s company received two months pay in advance, and on the following morning we worked out to St. Helen’s, where we were obliged to anchor.

1787. December. Sunday 23.

We made different unsuccessful attempts to get down Channel, but contrary winds and bad weather constantly forced us back to St. Helen’s, or Spithead, until Sunday the 23rd of December when we sailed with a fair wind.

During our stay at Spithead, the rate of the timepiece was several times examined by Mr. Bailey’s observations at the Portsmouth observatory. On the 19th of December, the last time of its being examined on shore, it was 1 minute 52 seconds, 5 too fast for meantime, and then losing at the rate of 1 second, 1 per day; and at this rate I estimate its going when we sailed.

The object of all the former voyages to the South Seas undertaken by the command of his present majesty, has been the advancement of science and the increase of knowledge. This voyage may be reckoned the first the intention of which has been to derive benefit from those distant discoveries. For the more fully comprehending the nature and plan of the expedition, and that the reader may be possessed of every information necessary for entering on the following sheets, I shall here lay before him a copy of the instructions I received from the admiralty, and likewise a short description of the breadfruit.

By The Commissioners For Executing The Office Of Lord High Admiral Of Great Britain And Ireland, Etc.

Whereas the king, upon a representation from the merchants and planters interested in his Majesty’s West India possessions that the introduction of the breadfruit tree into the islands of those seas, to constitute an article of food, would be of very essential benefit to the inhabitants, hath, in order to promote the interests of so respectable a body of his subjects (especially in an instance which promises general advantage) thought fit that measures should be taken for the procuring some of those trees, and conveying them to the said West India islands: And whereas the vessel under your command hath, in consequence thereof, been stored and victualled for that service, and fitted with proper conveniences and necessaries for the preservation of as many of the said trees as, from her size, can be taken on board her; and you have been directed to receive on board her the two gardeners named in the margin, David Nelson, and William Brown, who, from their knowledge of trees and plants, have been hired for the purpose of selecting such as shall appear to be of a proper species and size:

You are, therefore, in pursuance of his majesty’s pleasure, signified to us by Lord Sydney, one of his principal secretaries of state, hereby required and directed to put to sea in the vessel you command, the first favourable opportunity of wind and weather, and proceed with her, as expeditiously as possible, round Cape Horn, to the Society Islands, situate in the Southern ocean, in the latitude of about eighteen degrees south, and longitude of about two hundred and ten degrees east from Greenwich, where, according to the accounts given by the late Captain Cook, and persons who accompanied him during his voyages, the breadfruit tree is to be found in the most luxuriant state.

Having arrived at the above-mentioned islands, and taken on board as many trees and plants as may be thought necessary (the better to enable you to do which, you have already been furnished with such articles of merchandise and trinkets as it is supposed will be wanted to satisfy the natives) you are to proceed from thence through Endeavour Straits (which separate New Holland from New Guinea) to Prince’s Island in the Straits of Sunda, or, if it should happen to be more convenient, to pass on the eastern side of Java to some port on the north side of that island, where any breadfruit trees which may have been injured, or have died, may be replaced by mangosteens, duriens, jacks, nancas, lanfas, and other fine fruit trees of that quarter, as well as the rice plant which grows upon dry land; all of which species (or such of them as shall be judged most eligible) you are to purchase on the best terms you can from the inhabitants of that island with the ducats with which you have also been furnished for that purpose; taking care however, if the rice plants above-mentioned cannot be procured at Java, to touch at Prince’s Island for them, where they are regularly cultivated.

From Prince’s Island, or the Island of Java, you are to proceed round the Cape of Good Hope to the West Indies (calling on your way thither at any places which may be thought necessary) and deposit one half of such of the above-mentioned trees and plants as may be then alive at his majesty’s botanical garden at St. Vincent, for the benefit of the Windward Islands, and then go on to Jamaica: and, having delivered the remainder to Mr. East, or such person or persons as may be authorised by the governor and council of that island to receive them, refreshed your people, and received on board such provisions and stores as may be necessary for the voyage, make the best of your way back to England; repairing to Spithead, and sending to our secretary an account of your arrival and proceedings.

And whereas you will receive herewith a copy of the instructions which have been given to the above-mentioned gardeners for their guidance, as well as in procuring the said trees and plants, and the management of them after they shall be put on board, as for bringing to England a small sample of each species, and such others as may be prepared by the superintendent of the botanical garden at St. Vincent’s, and by the said Mr. East, or others, for his majesty’s garden at Kew; you are hereby required and directed to afford, and to give directions to your officers and company to afford, the said gardeners every possible aid and assistance, not only in the collecting of the said trees and plants at the places before mentioned, but for their preservation during their conveyance to the places of their destination.

Given under our hands the 20th November 1787.

Howe, Charles Brett, Rd. Hopkins, J. Leveson Gower.

To Lieutenant William Bligh, commanding his majesty’s armed vessel the Bounty at Spithead.

By command of their Lordships,

P. Stephens.