A Voyage to the South Sea, for the Purpose of Conveying the Bread-fruit Tree to the West Indies
In His Majesty's Ship the Bounty, Commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh

Published in 1790 and 1792, the two works reissued here together tell the story of seafaring history's most infamous mutiny.

William Bligh (Author)

9781108057714, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 March 2013

408 pages, 4 b/w illus. 4 maps
29.7 x 21 x 2.1 cm, 0.97 kg

During the voyage of HMS Bounty from Tahiti to bring the breadfruit plant to the West Indies, Fletcher Christian led what became the most infamous mutiny in seafaring history. Perhaps better known today through Hollywood depictions, the story of the events surrounding the date of 28 April 1789 is told here by William Bligh (1754–1817), the ship's commander. This reissue includes as an appendix Bligh's first narrative of the mutiny, published in haste in 1790 with the intention of following it with a separate account of the events leading up to the mutiny. The main text comprises the revised, fuller version he published instead in 1792, citing 'the manifest convenience' of having everything in one continuous narrative. The reasons behind the mutiny remain to this day a subject of debate. Undeniable, however, is that Bligh's is a remarkable tale of seamanship and survival.

1. Plan of the expedition
2. Departure from England
3. Passage towards the Cape of Good Hope, and search after Tristan da Cunha
4. Passage towards Van Diemen's Land
5. Rocky islands discovered
6. Account of an English ship lately sailed from Otaheite
7. A theft committed
8. Expedition to Tettaha after a heifer
9. A walk into the country, bread-fruit plants collected
10. The ship's cable cut in the night
11. Arrival of an Arreoy woman from Tethuroa
12. At the island Huaheine
13. A mutiny in the ship
14. Proceed in the launch to the island Tofoa
15. Passage towards New Holland
16. Progress to the northward, along the coast of New Holland
17. Passage from New Holland to the island Timor
18. At Coupang
19. From Timor to Batavia
20. Occurrences at Batavia, and passage thence to England.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]