A voyage to the South Sea : $b Undertaken by command of His Majesty 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; including an account of the mutiny on board the said ship and the subsequent voyage of part of the crew in the ship's boat from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch settlement in the East IndiesBligh, William
History
A voyage to the South Sea : $b Undertaken by command of His Majesty 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; including an account of the mutiny on board the said ship and the subsequent voyage of part of the crew in the ship's boat from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch settlement in the East Indies
Bligh, William
Bounty (Ship); Bounty Mutiny, 1789; Oceania -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800; Voyages and travels
I imagine these to be the islands called Feejee as their extent,
direction, and distance from the Friendly Islands answers to the
description given of them by those Islanders. Heavy rain came on at four
o'clock, when every person did their utmost to catch some water, and we
increased our stock to 34 gallons, besides quenching our thirst for the
first time since we had been at sea; but an attendant consequence made us
pass the night very miserably for, being extremely wet and having no dry
things to shift or cover us, we experienced cold and shiverings scarce to
be conceived. Most fortunately for us the forenoon turned out fair and we
stripped and dried our clothes. The allowance I issued today was an ounce
and a half of pork, a teaspoonful of rum, half a pint of coconut milk,
and an ounce of bread. The rum though so small in quantity was of the
greatest service. A fishing-line was generally towing from the stern of
the boat but though we saw great numbers of fish we could never catch
one.
At noon I observed in latitude 16 degrees 4 minutes south and found we
had made a course from yesterday noon north 62 degrees west distance 62
miles; longitude by account from Tofoa 7 degrees 42 minutes west.
The land passed yesterday and the day before is a group of islands, 14 or
16 in number, lying between the latitude of 16 degrees 26 minutes south
and 17 degrees 57 minutes south, and in longitude by my account 4 degrees
47 minutes to 7 degrees 17 minutes west from Tofoa. Three of these
islands are very large, having from 30 to 40 leagues of sea-coast.
In the afternoon we cleaned out the boat and it employed us till sunset
to get everything dry and in order. Hitherto I had issued the allowance
by guess, but I now made a pair of scales with two coconut shells and,
having accidentally some pistol-balls in the boat, 25 of which weighed
one pound or 16 ounces, I adopted one,* as the proportion of weight that
each person should receive of bread at the times I served it. I also
amused all hands with describing the situation of New Guinea and New
Holland, and gave them every information in my power that in case any
accident happened to me those who survived might have some idea of what
they were about, and be able to find their way to Timor, which at present
they knew nothing of more than the name and some not even that. At night
I served a quarter of a pint of water and half an ounce of bread for
supper.
(*Footnote. It weighed 272 grains.)
Saturday 9.
In the morning a quarter of a pint of coconut milk and some of the
decayed bread was served for breakfast, and for dinner I divided the meat
of four coconuts with the remainder of the rotten bread, which was only
eatable by such distressed people.
At noon I observed the latitude to be 15 degrees 47 minutes south; course
since yesterday north 75 degrees west distance 64 miles; longitude made
by account 8 degrees 45 minutes west.
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