AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



275 



till they were in possession of one thousand and fifteen live 

 plants, secured in seven hundred and seventy-four pots, 

 thirty-nine tubs, and twenty-four boxes. To complete this 

 cargo took them till the 3d of April, 17S9; and Bligh sailed 

 on the fourth, passing from Otaheite through the groupe of 

 islands, and bidding adieu to the natives, with whom he and 

 his crew had been on most friendly terms during their stay. 



Hitherto there had been no perils to contend with but 

 those of the sea; but when four and twenty days had elaps- 

 ed, and they were of course, far from land, a new scene 

 took place, which frustrated for a time the bounty of the 

 government and the skill of the commander. Under the 

 cloak of fidelity, a mutiny had been forming of a very de- 

 termined and extensive nature; and so well had the muti- 

 neers disguised their intention, that not one but those who 

 were in the plot had the slightest suspicion of it. 



The known bravery of Lieutenant Bligh made the muti- 

 neers afraid to attack him awake ; and so, on the morning 

 of the 2Sth of April, he was seized while asleep in his bed, 

 by a band of armed traitors, and hurried upon deck in his 

 shirt; and, on coming there, he found the master, the gun- 

 ner, one of the master's mates, and Nelson the botanist, 

 who had been with him under Cook, confined in the fore 

 hatchway, and guarded by sentinels. The launch was 

 hoisted; and such individuals as the mutineers did not like, 

 were ordered to quit the ship, and forced if they refused 

 or hesitated. Eighteen individuals out of the forty-six re- 

 mained true to the commander ; and one of them, Mr. 

 Samuel, the clerk, contrived to save Mr. Bligh's commission 

 and journals; but he failed in attempting to procure Bligh's 

 surveys, dravvings, and remarks during fifteen years, which 

 were exceedingly valuable, and the time-keeper. Four of 

 the men, who kept their allegiance, were detained by the 

 mutineers contrary to their wishes. The cause of this sin- 

 gular mutiny, for which none of the usual motives could very 

 well account, could not with certainty be known; but it was 

 generally supposed that the instigator was Mr. Christian, 

 one of the master's mates. Bligh himself says, in his most 

 interesting account of this voyage and mutiny, "It will 

 naturally be asked what could be the cause of this revolt? 

 In answer, I can only conjecture that the mutineers had 

 flattered themselves with the hope of a happier life among 

 the Otaheitans than they could possibly enjoy in England." 



Thus, after they had made certain of the successful termi- 

 nation of an enterprise which was looked upon with a great 

 deal of interest, both in a scientific and economical point of 

 view, Bligh was disappointed — and he and his faithful as- 

 sociates were sent adrift upon the wide ocean, in an open 

 boat, with only an hundred and fifty pounds of bread, a few 

 pieces of pork, a little wine and rum, a quadrant and com- 

 pass, and a few other implements of navigation. But they 



were undaunted, and they were skilful; and though they 

 had hard weather to contend with, they reached Tofoa, 

 one of the Friendly Islands. But as the people there were 

 as treacherous, though not quite so successful in their 

 treachery, as their former shipmates, they again put to sea, 

 and stood for New Holland, which they reached in' safety; 

 rested for a little, and got a supply of provisions. From 

 New Holland they again sailed in the direction of the 

 Eastern Archipelago ; and, after suffering the greatest 

 fatigue, being exposed to the full action and vicissitudes of 

 the elements, and forced for some time to bear famine, 

 they reached the Dutch settlement of Coupang, in the isl- 

 and of Timor, without the loss of one individual by disease; 

 though they had traversed at least five thousand miles of sea. 

 Nay, so ardent was Bligh as a seaman, that, amid all those 

 perils, he was occupied in making some very valuable ob- 

 servations. 



The Dutch governor of Coupang showed them every at- 

 tention; and, from the care that was taken of them, twelve 

 were enabled to return to England. Though the adventure 

 had failed, every body was disposed to bestow all praise on 

 the adventurer; and he was promoted to the rank of cap- 

 tain, and appointed to the command of his Majesty's ship 

 Providence, in order to repeat the voyage. 



The Providence, with the Assistant, a small ship in com- 

 pany, sailed on the 3d of August, 1791. His instructions 

 were to procure the bread-fruit trees for the West Indies, 

 and, on his return, to examine the passage between the north 

 of New Holland and New Guinea — which, in his former 

 voyage in the Bounty, he had been the first to navigate. 



On the 9th of April, 1792, they reached Otaheite; and, 

 by the 17th of July, they were ready to leave the island, 

 having on board twelve hundred and eighty-one tubs and 

 pots of plants, all in the finest condition. There was no 

 mutiny on this voyage; but the passage between New Hol- 

 land and New Guinea was dangerous; and it was the 2d of 

 October before the captain reached his old friends at Cou- 

 pang. He remained there for a week, replacing with plants 

 from that island those that had died on the voyage; and 

 then he came to the Atlantic by the Cape of Good Hope, 

 which he contrived to pass so closely as never to have a 

 lower temperature than sixty-one degrees of Fahrenheit. 



On the 17th of September, he anchored at St. Helena, 

 collected there a number of trees, and among others the 

 akee ; and, leaving twenty-three bread-fruits, and some 

 other valuable plants, he sailed, and reached St. Vincent on 

 the 23d of January, 1793 — where he left, with Dr. Ander- 

 son, the superintendent of the Botanical Garden, three 

 hundred and thirty three bread-fruit trees,' and two hundred 

 and eleven fruit trees of other kinds, receiving at the same 

 time nearly five hundred tropical plants for the Botanical 



