OCEANIA WOOD 383 



For me the chief attraction of this subject lies in the fact that 

 we have sailed relatively near the scene of the greatest breadfruit 

 story in all history. In 1772 William Bligh, then only 18 years 

 of age, accompanied Captain Cook on his second expedition to the 

 South Seas (1772-1774) as sailing master of the Resolution. The 

 young man was greatly interested in the New World that was in 

 this way opened up to him, and made a particular study of the 

 Polynesian flora and fauna. When the expedition reached Otaheite 

 (Tahiti) Bligh became acquainted with the wonderful breadfruit, 

 and talked and wrote so much about it that his fellow officers nick- 

 named him "Breadfruit Bligh." At the end of 1787 he was sent 

 to Polynesia in command of H. M. S. Boxm.ty to gather breadfruit 

 and other plants for cultivation in the West Indies. The expedition 

 gained Otaheite in the spring of 1788. What happened shortly 

 afterwards is told by Lieutenant Bligh in a small volume entitled 

 " The Mutiny on Board Bounty:'' "We sailed from Otaheite April 4, 

 1788, having on board 1,015 fine breadfruit plants, besides many 

 other valuable fruits of that countiy which we had been collecting 

 for three and twenty weeks, and which were in the highest state 

 of perfection." Two weeks later he was seized in his cabin by the 

 ship's master of arms and two others of the crew, pinioned and 

 threatened with death if he made resistance. The crew also seized 

 most of the other officers and gained control of the ship. The 

 captain and 17 others were forced into the ship's longboat, 25 

 mutineers remaining on board. Lieutenant Bligh and the 17, 

 touching at several islands by the way, finally reached Batavia and 

 eventually England. The mutineers sailed the Bounty to Tahiti, 

 Avhere most of them elected to remain. Six of these were later ap- 

 prehended, taken to England, placed on trial and three were exe- 

 cuted. Meantime, in 1790, Fletcher Christian, the leader of the 

 mutiny, 8 other Englishmen, 6 Polynesian men, and 12 Poly- 

 nesian women embarked on board the Bounty and, after cruising 

 about the Paumotus, took possession of Pitcairn, on the out- 

 skirts of that archipelago. This island is a mountainous, volcanic 

 uplift area about 2 square miles, with several fertile valleys. Here 

 this curious colony, having burned the Bounty^ seems to have dis- 

 appeared from the sight and knowledge of man. By the year 1800 

 all but one Englishman — Alexander Smith, who assumed the name 

 of John Adams — had died. He appears to have been one of the 

 few colonists to preserve a sense of responsibility, as he gained the 

 respect of the natives and induced them to bring up their children 

 in at least a semicivilized fashion. It was not until 1808 that the 

 lost colony was discovered by an American vessel, the Topaze. 

 Later other ships touched at Pitcairn and brought news of the 



