10 NOTES ON CAPTAIX 1{M(;Ii's VISITS Ti) TASMANIA, 



A calm on the third of September prevented the Bonntif 

 sailing:, but on the following day, with the aid of a fresh nor'- 

 westerly breeze, the anchor was weighed, and the ship en- 

 tered upon the last stage of her voyage to Tahiti, which wa.-. 

 reached on the twenty-sixth of October, 1788. 



THE VOYAGE OF THE PROVIDENCE AND THE 

 ASSISTANT, 1791-1793. 



Upon Bligh's return to England after the sensational 

 mutiny of the Bounty, he was proclaimed a hero, and war. 

 soon given command of a second expedition, in order to trans- 

 plant the bread fruit to the West Indies. Two vessels were 

 this time placed at his disposal. The first was the ProvUlence, 

 a three-deck ship of 420 tons, and having a keel length of 

 98 feet, which had only been launched at Blackwall on the 

 23rd of April, 1791. Her complement was 134 men, and 

 armament twelve guns and fourteen swivels. 



The Assistant was a brig of 110 tons, and a keel length 

 of 51 feet. Her complement was 27 men, and armament four 

 four-pounders and eight swivels. 



It is of interest to note that Matthew Flinders, who later 

 was to play such a prominent part in Australian exploration, 

 was a midshipman on the Providence. The two botanists 

 selected for the expedition were James Wiles and Christopher 

 Smith. 



The Providence and Assistant left England on the third 

 of August, 1791, and reached Teneriffe a fortnight later, 

 where they stayed until the sixth of September. On the third 

 of October the Equator was crossed, and Table Bay entered 

 on the sixth of November. Sailing from the Cape on the 

 twenty-third of Dtcember, the ships passed the Isle of St. 

 Paul on the eighteenth of the following month, and on the 

 eighth of February, 1792, sighted Tasmania. Leaving here 

 on the twenty-fourth of February, Tahiti was reached on the 

 ninth of April. Here they stayed until the twentieth of July, 

 on which date the return voyage was commenced. After 

 touching at Fiji, making his way by skilful navigation 

 through Torres Straits, Bligh once more reached Coupang 

 (Timor), on the second of October. 



The Cape was rounded in November, and Christmas was 

 spent at St. Helena. On the twenty-third of January, 1793, 

 the ships arrived at Jamaica, and Bligh's task of transporting 

 the bread fruit from the South Seas to the West Indies had 

 been successfully accomplished. 



