A Narrative of the Mutiny, on Board His Majesty's Ship Bounty

In December, 1787, HMS Bounty, under the command of Captain William Bligh, sailed from England to the South Pacific with a crew of 46 men. The purpose of the voyage was to collect breadfruit seedlings from Tahiti and transport them to the Caribbean. The Bounty arrived in Tahiti in October, 1788, and remained there for five months. After a number of delays the ship departed with its cargo in April, 1789. Many of the crew had been unwilling to leave Tahiti and several weeks later Fletcher Christian led a mutiny against his commander. After seizing control of the Bounty the mutineers forced Bligh and 18 loyal crewmen into the ship’s 23 foot launch and cast them adrift. On an open, overloaded boat with limited supplies of food and water, and no compass or charts, Bligh and his men stood little chance of survival. Bligh, however, was a determined and resourceful man, and an excellent navigator, and he managed to guide the launch due west some 3700 miles to the safety of Kupang in the Dutch East Indies. The journey of Bligh and his small party of loyal seamen in the open boat to Kupang is as interesting and entertaining as it is incredible. Bligh’s blow-by-blow account of the journey, furthermore, is tremendously exciting and moving and makes for an enthralling and inspirational read.