Miraculously Bligh managed to return to England after an incredible voyage documented in the Voyage of the Bounty Launch. He was later chosen to lead a second expedition to pursue the original intention of the ill-fated Bounty voyage, and on the 6th July 1791 he once again set sail for the South Seas in HMS Providence. To overcome the problems encountered on the first voyage, the Admiralty furnished Bligh with a complement of marines and a tender, the Assistant, commanded by Nathaniel Portlock. This second mission was a complete success, and by the time the Providence weighed anchor at Tahiti she had 2126 breadfruit, 472 other plants and 36 'Curiosity plants' on board.
Besides achieving the singular purpose of his mission, Bligh later delivered some 1283 plants, including varieties of Apple, Pear, Orange, Yam and Mango, to the Royal Gardens at Kew where some may be seen thriving to this day. All are well documented in his Log. He was at last to receive the medal and premium awarded by the Society of Arts. It was also during this second voyage that Bligh collected a remarkable amount of new and supplementary knowledge about the Fiji archipelago, and charted the Torres Straits.
The interesting part about this ship's log is that in it Bligh describes in flowing words his encounters with the natives and provides news of Fletcher Christian and the mutineers as it is transmitted to him. 'Men were heaped together in such numbers armed with spears 12 or 14 feet long or more, have a tremendous appearance, they nevertheless do very little mischief to each other for they seldom come to a serious charge, but content themselves by slinging stones by which means some men are maimed and sometimes killed.'
This edition is limited to 500 numbered copies handbound in half leather and buckram with gilt tooling and sprinkled page edges. This is a huge book of 956 pages incorporating Bligh's wonderfully descriptive handwritten log and a wealth of newly written material. The facsimile reproduction of Bligh's log is made from the original held in the Public Record Office, Kew.
ISBN: 0 904351 01 7
Price: £475/ $795 plus shipping
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For ten years the reward went unclaimed until Sir Joseph Banks persuaded the Crown to send a ship to the Pacific to transplant the breadfruit from Tahiti to the West Indies in order to introduce it as a staple food. On the 23rd of December 1787 the Bounty commanded by William Bligh set sail to undertake this mission. With the Great Cabin fitted-up to carry 629 flower pots the crew soon realised that this was to be no ordinary voyage.
