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, 1789; andBligh 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 28th of April, fie 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. Thq 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, drawings, 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 
