They arrived at the Cape late in May, and stopped there for thirty-eight days, refitting, replenishing provisions, and refreshing the worn-out crew. On October 26th they anchored in Matavai Bay, Otaheite, and the natives immediately came out to the ship in great numbers. Tinah, the chief of the district, on hearing of the arrival of the _Bounty_, sent a small pig and a young plantain tree, as a token of friendship, and the ship was liberally supplied with provisions. Handsome presents were made to Tinah, and he was told that they had been sent to him, on account of the kindness of the people to Captain Cook during his visit. “Will you not, Tinah,” said Bligh, “send something to King George in return?” “Yes,” he replied, “I will send him anything I have,” and then enumerated the different articles in his power, among which he mentioned the bread-fruit. This was exactly what Bligh wished, and he was told that the bread-fruit trees were what King George would greatly like, and the chief promised that a large number should be placed on board. The importance of the bread-fruit to these people cannot be over-stated. That old navigator, Dampier, had well described it a hundred years before. “The bread-fruit, as we call it, grows on a large tree, as big and high as our largest apple-trees; it hath a spreading head, full of branches and dark leaves. The fruit grows on the boughs like apples; it is as big as a penny loaf when wheat is at five shillings the bushel; it is of a round shape, and hath a thick, tough rind; when the fruit is ripe, it is yellow and soft, and the taste is sweet and pleasant. The natives of Guam use it for bread. They gather it, when full grown, while it is green and hard; then they bake it in an oven, which scorcheth the rind and makes it black, but they scrape off the outside black crust, and there remains a tender, thin crust; and the inside is soft, tender, and white.” The fruit lasts in season eight months. During Lord Anson’s two months’ stay at Tinian, no ship’s bread was consumed, the officers and men all preferring the bread-fruit. Byron speaks of these South Sea Islands, where labour is the merest play work, the earth affording nearly spontaneously all that the natives need, as “The happy shores without a law, * * * * * * * Where all partake the earth without dispute, And bread itself is gathered as a fruit; Where none contest the fields, the woods, the streams, The gold-less age, where gold disturbs no dreams.”