1 86 



clopedie Methodique" (3 : 208). Moreover, in the Transactions of 

 the Society of Arts (20 : 313. 1 802), there is a record of an intro- 

 duction of the seeded fruit from Martinique into Tobago, and the 

 statement is further made that the seeded fruits in the possession 

 of the French were the result of an importation from the Isle of 

 France in 1792. 



Beginning with the year of Captain Cook's death (i779) the 

 "Society instituted at London for the Encouragement of Arts, 

 Manufactures, and Commerce," offered a yearly prize for the suc- 

 cessful introduction of the breadfruit " into the islands of the West 

 Indies, subject to the Crown of Great Britain." This premium re- 

 peated year after year sustained the popular interest first aroused 

 by the writings of the Pacific navigators, and this, together with 

 the demand for the fruit among the West Indian planters themselves, 

 caused the English Crown in 1 787 to dispatch Captain Wm. Bligh 

 in the Bounty to attempt the introduction of the fruit into the 

 Western world. The interesting history of this voyage is known 

 to most every one ; the delightful stay at Tahiti in the land of 

 summer and plenty proved to be too tempting for Bligh's crew, a 

 mutiny resulting shortly after their departure from the romantic 

 island. Bligh with eighteen companions was cast a drift in an 

 open boat, poorly provisioned and ©quipped, near the island of 

 Tofoa in the Tonga group. Meeting with a hostile reception from 

 the natives of that island, they were obliged to steer for the dis- 

 tant East Indies, fearing to land on the Oceanic islands on account 

 of their defenseless condition. After one of the most remarkable 

 open-boat voyages in the history of navigation they reached Timor, 

 and as Bligh remarks — 



"It appeared scarcely credible to ourselves that, in an open boat 

 and so poorly provided, we should have been able to reach the 

 coast of Timor in forty-one days after leaving Tofoa, having in 

 that time run, by our log, a distance of 3.6 1 8 miles ; and that, not- 

 withstanding our extreme distress, no one should have perished in 

 the voyage." 



The mutineers sailed back to Tahita and from thence some of 

 the Englishmen, accompanied by Tahitian natives, migrated to 

 Pitcairn's Island, where, after the death of all but one of the 

 Europeans, under the leadership of the reformed mutineer one of 

 the most ideal communities in the world was developed. 



Nothing daunted by the misfortune of their first attempt, the 

 English Government, stimulated by Sir Joseph Banks, President of 

 the Royal Academy, and one of the naturalists of CaptainCook'sfirst 

 voyage, sent Bligh in 1792 to make another attempt. This time all 

 went well, and in 1792 approximately 700 plants were divided 

 among the islands of St. Helena, St. Vincent, and Jamaica, the two 

 last mentioned receiving the lion's share, while a number were taken 

 to the Kew Gardens for hot-house growth. 



The estimate put upon the fruit by those concerned in its intro- 

 duction is well shown by the following quotation : 



