18 AKRIVAL AT OTAHEITE. 
The simple and homely manner in which 
Bligh relates the events of his voyage, and the 
difficulties through which he passed, is one of 
the chief charms of his narrative. Having tried 
in vain, in a tempestuous ocean, to go by Cape 
Horn, he took his course towards the island of 
Tristan d'Acunha, and at last made a passage 
round the Cape of Good Hope. The original 
instructions from the Admiralty were that he 
should proceed round Cape Horn ; but owing to 
the advanced season of the year, he had applied 
for, and obtained, discretional orders to go round 
the Cape to Otaheite. Of this permission he 
availed himself. Having visited Cape Town, 
and afterwards Van Diemen's Land, and passed 
near New Zealand, the ship at length arrived at 
Otaheite, anchoring in Matavai Bay at 10 in the 
forenoon of the 26th of October, 1788. 
The voyagers, forty-five in number, were 
received with kindness by the natives, who asked 
after Captain Cook, whom they called Toote, 
and inquired about Sir Joseph Banks, and others 
who had visited them some years before. But 
their first inquiries of the voyagers were, if they 
were Tyos, which signifies, friends ; and whether 
they came from Pretanie, (Britain,) or from 
Lima. Having become satisfied on these two 
important points, they instantly crowded the 
deck in such numbers, that Bligh could scarcely 
find his own people. 
He had prepared and written down certain 
rules to be observed by all his men for facilitat- 
ing a trade for provisions, and establishing a good 
understanding with the natives. Amongst other 
