THE VOYAGE. 17 
of this fruit anywhere Ibut here. The natives 
told us that there is plenty of this fruit growing 
on the rest of the Ladrone Islands ; and I did 
never hear of it anywhere else." 
The Ship Bounty, of 215 tons burden, left 
Spithead on the 23d of December, 1787, carrying 
forty-six persons, including the commander, and 
a botanist, and gardener. They started with a 
fresh breeze, easterly, which moderated on the 
25th, so that they were able to keep their Christ- 
mas with cheerfulness ; but it increased to such 
a heavy gale by the 27th, that the vessel suffered 
damage ; a sea which she shipped having broken 
some of the planks of the boats, and an azimuth 
compass. It also wetted and injured a few bags 
of bread in the cabin, which, when the weather 
improved, were got up, and dried. The voyage 
was attended with many circumstances of diffi- 
culty and danger. The few hours of respite from 
the hard westerly winds that blew, were, accord- 
ing to a fine expression in Lord Anson's voyage, 
" like the elements drawing breath, to return 
upon them with redoubled violence." 
During the voyage, Bligh lost an able seaman, 
James Valentine. This man's case appears to 
have been cruelly mismanaged by the surgeon, 
who was an indolent and intemperate man. 
Valentine had been one of the most robust people 
on board, but, for some slight indisposition, was 
bled. Some time afterwards, the arm in which 
he had been bled became painful and inflamed. 
The inflammation increased, with a hollow 
cough, and extreme difficulty of breathing, till 
his death. 
