2 3 S A H T O C 
cocoa-nut oil, makes a very firong bird-lime. In captain 
Cook’s voyage it is obferved, that the bread-fruit tree is 
about the iize of a middling oak; its leaves are frequently 
a foot and half long, oblong, deeply (inuated like thole 
of the fig-tree, which they refemble in confidence and 
colour, and in exuding a milky juice when broken. The 
fruit is the fize and fiiape of a child’s head, and the fur- 
face is reticulated not much unlike a truffle : it is covered 
with a thin fkin, and has a core about as big as the han¬ 
dle of a fmall knife ; the eatable part lies between the 
fkin and the core ; it is as white as fnow, and fomewhat 
of the confidence of new bread. It mud be roaded before 
it is eaten, being fird divided into three or four parts : its 
tade is infipid, with a flight fweetnefs, fomewhat refem- 
bling that of the crumb of wheaten bread mixed with Je- 
rufalem artichoke. This fruit not being in feafon at all 
♦imes of the year, there is a method of fupplying this 
defeat, by reducing it to a four pade, called mahie ; and 
befides this, cocoa-nuts, bananas, plantains, and a'great 
I’ariety of other fruits, come in aid to it. This tree is ufe- 
ful not only for food, but alfo for clothing; for the bark 
is dripped off the fuckers, and formed into a kind of cloth. 
To procure the fruit for food cods the inhabitants no 
trouble or labour but climbing a tree, which though it 
fhould not indeed fnoot up fpontaneoully, yet, as captain 
Cook obferves, if a man plants ten trees in his life-time, 
lie will as completely fulfil his duty to his own and future 
generations, as the native of our Ids temperate climate 
can do by ploughing in the cold winter, and reaping in 
the fummer’s heat, as often as thefe feafons return; even 
if, after he has procured bread for his prefent houlehold, 
lie fhould convert a furplus into money, and lay it up tor 
bis children. But, where the trees are once introduced in 
a favourable foil and climate. To far from being obliged to 
renew them by planting, it feems probable that the inha¬ 
bitants will rather be under the neceffity of preventing their 
progrefs; for young trees fpring abundantly from the 
roots of the old ones, which run along near the furface : 
accordingly they never plant the bread-fruit tree at Ota¬ 
heite. The principal varieties of this tree are that in 
which the fruit is deditute of feeds, and that in which 
they are found. The latter may be confidered as the tree 
in a wild date ; and the want of feeds is probably owing 
to cultivation : as in the barberry, and the little grape of 
Zant, which we commonly call currants, 'i he natives of 
Otaheite reckon at lead eight varieties of that without 
dones, didering in the form of the leaf and fruit. One of 
thefe they name uru or eoron ; this has a globular, fmooth, 
even, fruit, and is the mod common. A fecond, named 
maira, has an oval fmooth fruit, with the leaves more 
deeply cut. A third, called patea, has the fruit oblong 
and rugged, as it were fcaly. A fourth, tatarra, has an 
oval fruit, with mammillary germs muricatcd by the per¬ 
manent dyle. Probably by extending the culture to dif- 
tant countries, we (hall hereafter find the varieties much 
increafed. The parts of friuftification in thofe trees which 
bear fruit without dones are faid to be defective. The 
ament never expands; the dyles are likewife deficient. In 
the other variety, the fruit contains a conliderable quantity 
of feeds, almod as large aschefnuts, oblong, fomewhat an¬ 
gular, produced into a point at each end, feparated by fe- 
veral little membranes or coats, formed by the abortion 
of fome of the germs : they are attached to a flefhy. and 
very conliderable placenta, which occupies the centre. 
They are farinaceous, like the chefnut, and are eaten in 
fome places by the favage inhabitants, either boiled or 
roaded in embers. It will eafily be fuppofed that this 
fruit, abounding lefs in pulp, and being both more fibrous 
and lefs juicy than that which has no feeds, mud be much 
inferior, as an article of food : and accordingly, before the 
difcovery of the South-Sea iflands, the bread-fruit had not 
acquired that degree of reputation which it is now found 
to deferve. It has beeYi long known in many parts of the 
Had Indies ; but not being wanted there for food, and 
confequently not having received any degree of cultiva- 
A R P U S. 
tion, it has continued nearly in its natural date, without 
receiving that improvement from the care of men which, 
probably neceffity at fird urged them to exercife. Ac¬ 
cordingly captain Cook remarked the great inferiority of 
the foccum, which he found at Batavia, to the eoroo of the 
South-Sea iflands. This mod ufeful tree is didributed 
very extenfively over the Ead-Indian continent and idands, 
as well as the innumerable idands of the South Seas, It 
was found by Dampier, as already mentioned, in the La- 
drone iflands. It is a native of Amboyna, Banda, and 
others of the Molucca iflands ; of Java, and others of 
the Maldivy iflands; of Timor, Balega, and Madura; of 
Prince’s ifland, &c. Mo'nf. Sonnerat conveyed fome of 
the trees from the ifland of Luyon to the tfle of France. 
Monf. Poivre naturalized them both there and in the ifle 
of Bourbon : and they are cultivated both in Malabar and 
Coromandel. In the South Seas both varieties are dill 
found in the Marian iflands, in the New Hebrides and 
Friendly iflands; but mod abundantly in the Society, Mar- 
queza, and Sandwich, iflands. In Otaheite, however, and 
fome others, the evident fuperiority of the feedleis variety 
for food has caufed the other to be neglected, and ac¬ 
cordingly there it is almod or altogether worn out. Cap¬ 
tain King informs us, that in the Sandwich iflands thefe 
trees are planted, and flourifli with great luxuriance on 
fifing grounds ; that they are not indeed in fuch abund¬ 
ance, but that they produce double the quantity of fruit 
which they do on the rich plains of Otaheite; that the 
trees are nearly of the fame height, but that the branches 
begin to flrike out from the trunk much lower, and with 
greater luxuriance ; and that the climate of thefe iflands 
differs very little from that of the Wed-Indian idands 
which lie in the fame latitude ; or on the whole, perhaps, 
may be rather more temperate. It was this reflection, 
probably, which fil'd fuggeded the idea of conveying this 
mod ufeful tree to our iflands in the Wed Indies. How¬ 
ever that may be, on the 23d of December, 1787, his 
majedy’s fhip the Bounty failed for the South Seas, under 
the command of lieutenant William Bligh, for this pur- 
pofe : the preparations for executing the objedt of the 
voyage being completed according to a plan given by Sir 
Jofeph Banks. The fatal mutiny which prevented the 
accomplifhment of this benevolent purpofe, and fubjeCled 
the commander and his friends to the mod unheard-of 
hardfhips, is well known. His majefly however, not dis¬ 
couraged by the unfortunate event of this voyage, and, 
fully iinprefled with the importance of fecuring fo valua¬ 
ble an article of food as bread-fruit to our Wed-Indian 
iflands, determined in the year 1791 to employ another 
fhip on this bufinefs ; and, in order to fecure the fuccefs 
of the voyage as much as poffible, it was thought proper 
that two veffels fhould proceed together on this fervice. 
Accordingly a fliip of 400 tons, named the Providence, was 
engaged for the purpofe, manned with 100 officers, fea- 
men, and marines, and the command of her given to Mr. 
Bligh, who on his return had been made a pod-captain ; 
and a fmall tender, called the Alfidant, commanded by 
lieutenant Nath. Portlock, with twenty-feven officers, fea- 
men, and marines, was engaged to accompany her: Sir 
Jofeph Banks, as in the former voyage, direCled the equip¬ 
ment of the fliip for this particular purpofe ; and captain 
Bligh, piqued by his former ill fuccefs, exerted all his 
(kill and zeal in the fervice. Two fkilful gardeners were 
appointed to fuperiutend the trees and plants, from their 
tranfplantation at Otaheite to their delivery at Jamaica ; 
and captain Bligh fet fail on the 2d of Augufl, 1791. Fie 
arrived at Tenerirte on the 28th 5 at St. Jago on the 13th 
of September; and at the Cape of Good Hope on the 6th 
of November. He failed from thence on the 19th of De¬ 
cember ; arrived at Adventure’s bay on the 9th of Fe¬ 
bruary, 1792, and at Otaheite on the 8th or 9th of April. 
The bufinefs of procuring and embarking the bread-fruit 
trees, &c. took up three months and nine days, though 
the natives of Otaheite gave all poffible affiflance to cap¬ 
tain Bligh and the gardeners. They failed on the j8th or 
3 19th 
