APPENDIX A. Sir, CAPTAIN BLIGH AND THE BOUNTY. CAPTAIN BLIGH TO SECRETARY STEPHENS. Bounty, at Tenarif, Jan'y 9th, 1788. 1788 9 Jan. I request you will be pleased to inform the Lords Commis- The Bounty sioners of the Admiralty that I arrived here on the 6th instant to at Teneriffe. take in wines for the ship's company, which will be completed this day, and some damages done to my boats in a heavy gale of wind on the 27th Dec'r, and also the ship being repair'd. I shall sail to-morrow and proceed on my voyage with the utmost dispatch, according to their Lordships' directions. I have, &c., Sir, WM. BLIGH. CAPTAIN BLIGH TO SECRETARY STEPHENS. Bounty, Cape of Good Hope, False Bay, May 24th, 1788. 24 May. Cape of You will please to acquaint the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that, after experiencing the worst of weather for Good Hope. thirty days between the latd. of 58° 00′ So. and 61° 00′ by constant gales of wind from S.W. to N. W. off Cape Horn, I have been Cape Horn under the absolute necessity of bearing away for this place, as I route impracticable. found it totally impracticable to get round the land and make the passage to Otaheite, agreeable to their Lordships' first orders. I hope their Lordships will observe that it was not possible to make more of the season than I have done. I left Spithead on the 23d of December; Tenariff on the 10th Jan'y; doubled Staten Land on the 23d of March, from which time the weather was exceedingly tempestuous, particularly the last three weeks, when the snow-storms became so violent we were scarce ever doing better Violent than lying to and drifting before the wind. In this situation my people at last began to be affected with severe rheumatisms, and I had three accidents from the violent motion of the ship-two men fell and dislocated their shoulders, and one broke a rib. began to be leaky, but in all other respects as good a vessel as storms. The ship The ship leaky. 1789 24 May. The route altered. Refitting. 20 June. The Bounty under repair. 28 June. Ready for sea. could possibly be; this increased our labour, and seeing no prospect of success, I conceived it would be hazarding the object of the voyage, and my conduct reprehensible under the discretionary orders I was honored with, to persist any longer, as I had not a moment's time to spare to proceed and refit at the Cape of Good Hope, and to be in time to pass the intricate parts of the voyage and to secure a completion of it. From these considerations I bore away on the 22d of April, repassed Staten Land on the 23d, and, without ever being in any port from the time of leaving Tenariff, I arrived here this day, with every man and officer in as good health as when they left England, notwithstanding for these last three months we have never been able to have our hatches open for six hours together. I shall refit with the utmost despatch, and proceed on the voyage by New Holland and New Zeland. I have informed their Lordships by letter of this date of my proceedings by a Dutch ship; and an opportunity offering by a French packett, Havre de Grace, I thought it my duty to take that conveyance also [to] send a duplicate of my first letter. Sir, I have, &c., WM. BLIGH. CAPTAIN BLIGH TO SECRETARY STEPHENS. Bounty, in False Bay, Cape of Good Hope, June 20th, 1788. This is the third letter since my arrival at this port that I have transmitted to you of my proceedings hitherto in the voyage*; the former ones were fully on the cause of my coming here. I therefore beg you will acquaint the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that his Majesty's ship under my command requiring much caulking and refiting has rendered it not practicable, consistent with the good of the service, for me to sail before the 26th instant, when I shall proceed on my voyage to Otaheite. As the conveyance of letters from this to England in foreign ships is very uncertain, it may not be improper (having had no other opportunity) to acquaint their Lordships that the reason of my bearing away for this place is occasion'd by my meeting with very tempestuous weather off Cape Horn, where I remain'd thirty days endeavouring to perform my passage that way. I left it on the 22d of April, and arrived here the 24th May. I have, &c., WM. BLIGH. CAPTAIN BLIGH TO SECRETARY STEPHENS. Bounty, in False Bay, Cape of Good Hope, Sir, * One of these letters, apparently written between 24th May and 20th June, is absent. under my command, and shall sail and execute their Lordships' Sir, WM. BLIGH. THE MUTINY OF THE BOUNTY. CAPTAIN BLIGH TO SECRETARY STEPHENS.* 1789 28 June. 18 Aug. taken by I am now unfortunately to request of you to acquaint the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that his Majesty's armed vessel Bounty, under my command, was taken from me by some The Bounty of the inferior officers and men on the 28th April, 1789, in the mutineers. following manner :-A little before sunrise, Fletcher Christian, who was mate of the ship and officer of the watch, with the ship's corporal, came into my cabbin while I was asleep, and seizing me, secured. tied my hands with a cord, assisted by others, who were also Bligh seized. in the cabbin, all armed with musquets and bayonets. I was now threatened with instant death if I spoke a word. I, however, called for assistance, and awakened every one; but the officers, who were in their cabbins, were secured by centinels at their The officers doors so that no one could come to me. The arms were all secured, and I was forced on deck in my shirt, with my hands tyed, and secured by a guard abaft the mizen mast, during which the mutineers expressed much joy that they would soon again see Otaheite. ordered to be silent. I now demanded of Christian the cause of such a violent act, but no other answer was given but, "Hold your tongue, sir, or Bligh you are dead this instant," and holding me by the cord which tied my hands, he as often threatened to stab me in the breast with a bayonet he held in his right hand. I, however, did my utmost to rally the disaffected villains to a sense of their duty, but to no effect. The boatswain was ordered to hoist the launch out, and while I was kept under a guard, with Christian at their, head, abaft the mizen mast, the officers and men not concerned in Officers and the mutiny were ordered into the boat. This being done, I was into the told by Christian, "Sir, your officers and men are now in the launch. boat, and you must go with them," and with the guard they * A brief account is here given of the seizure of the Bounty by mutineers, and the boat voyage from Tofoa to Timor. Captain Bligh sent a fuller account from Batavia, 15th October, 1789, beginning with the arrival of the Bounty at the Cape of Good Hope on the outward voyage, 24th May, 1788. Post, pp. 693-704. The account forwarded by Bligh to Sir Joseph Banks was enclosed in a letter dated Batavia, 13th October. It explains the mission upon which the Bounty was sent, gives an account of the voyage from the beginning, and describes the mutiny and the subsequent adventures of Captain Bligh and the loyal portion of the crew. Ante, pp. 268-278. men ordered 1789 18 Aug. Off Tofoa. No arms allowed. carried me accross the deck, with the bayonets presented on I was at this time 10 leagues to the S.W. of Tofoa, the N.W. most of the Friendly Islands, having left Otaheite the 4th April, with 1,015 fine bread-fruit plants, and many fruit kinds, in all 774 pots, 39 tubs, and 24 boxes. These plants were now in a very flourishing order. I anchored at Annamocha, 24th April, and left it on the 26th. The boatswain and carpenter, with some others while the boat was alongside, collected several necessary things and water, and with some difficulty a compass and quadrant was got; but arms of no kind, or any maps or drawings, of which I had many very valuable ones. The boat was very deep and much lumber'd, and in this conProvisions. dition we were cast adrift, with about 28 gallons of water, 150 lbs. of bread, 30 lbs. pork, 6 quarts rum, and 6 bottles of wine. Attack by natives of Tofoa. Quartermaster Norton killed. not to be trusted. The day was calm, attended with light breezes, and I got to Tofoa by 7 o'clock in the evening, but found no place to land, the shore being so steep and rocky. On the 30th I found landing in a cove on the N.W. part of the island, and here I remained in search of supplies untill 2nd May, when the natives discovering we had no firearms they made an attack on us with clubs and stones, in the course of which I had the misfortune to loose a very worthy man, Jno. Norton, quarter-master, and most of us hurt more or less. Our getting into our boat was no security, for they followed us in cannoes loaded with stones, which they threw with much force and exactness. Happily night saved the rest of us. I had determined to go to Amsterdam in search of Paulehow, the king; but taking this transaction as a real sample of their natural dispositions, there was little hope to expect much from The natives them; for I considered their good behaviour hitherto owing to a dread of our firearms, which now knowing us to have none would not be the case, and that supposing our lives were in safety our boat and every thing would be taken from us, and thereby I should never be able to return. I was also earnestly sollicited by all hands to take them towards home, and when I told them no hopes of releif remained for us but what I might find at New Holland, untill I came to Timor, a distance of 1,200 leagues, they all agreed to live on one ounce of bread a day and a jill of water. I, therefore, after recommending this promise for ever to their memory, bore away for New Holland and Timor, across a sea but little known, and in a small boat, deep loaded with 18 souls, without a single map of any kind, and nothing but my own Bound for Timor. |