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Captain Bligh's Second Voyage to the South Sea

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Captain Bligh's Second Voyage to the South Sea By Ida Lee Captain Bligh's Second Voyage To The South Sea CHAPTER I. THE SHIPS LEAVE ENGLAND. On Wednesday, August 3rd, 1791, Captain Bligh left England for the second time in search of the breadfruit. The "Providence" and the "Assistant" sailed from Spithead in fine weather, the wind being fair and the sea calm. As they passed down the Channel the Portland Lights were visible on the 4th, and on the following day the land about the Start. Here an English frigate standing after them proved to be H.M.S. "Winchelsea" bound for Plymouth, and those on board the "Providence" and "Assistant" sent off their last shore letters by the King's ship. A strange sail was sighted on the 9th which soon afterwards hoisted Dutch colours, and on the loth a Swedish brig passed them on her way from Alicante to Gothenburg. Black clouds hung above the horizon throughout the next day threatening a storm which burst over the ships on the 12th, with thunder and very vivid lightning. When it had abated a spell of fine weather set in and good progress was made by both vessels. Another ship was seen on the 15th, and after the "Providence" had fired a gun to bring her to, was found to be a Portuguese schooner making for Cork. On this day "to encourage the people to be alert in executing their duty and to keep them in good health," Captain Bligh ordered them "to keep three watches, but the master himself to keep none so as to be ready for all calls". Four strange sail were in sight on the morning of the 18th, although none came within hail, and land birds were following Bligh's ships; one like a woodcock tried to reach the "Assistant," but fell into the water only a few yards from the brig. The wind on the 19th freshened into a strong gale with heavy rain which drenched the "Providence" so much that fires were kept alight at night fore and aft, and an officer and seaman of each watch told off to attend to and dry the saturated clothes. This practice was continued throughout the voyage, in wet and damp weather, and helped to keep the men in good health. On Monday, August 22nd, amid a little excitement, the effects of Mr. William Day, midshipman, who had failed to join his ship before she left Spithead, were sold at the mast, his non-appearance having caused the captain much annoyance. At this time the distance between the two ships had greatly increased, and Captain Bligh tells us that he "bore down to the 'Assistant'" in order to prevent a separation. Thick heavy weather set in on the 23rd, and the sea ran high until the 26th, when the "Providence" spoke the "Redbridge," whaler, bound to the Southern Fishery. She had left Southampton on the loth, and her master, John Kelly, being very ill, Captain Bligh sent Mr. Harwood, surgeon of the "Providence," on board his ship to prescribe for him. Early in the morning of August 27th the Island of Teneriffe was sighted. The land appeared "high in the clouds above our heads. It was only at times we could see the Pic which was covered as well as all the country round with a prodigious thick haze. At noon by my bearings I found I was on a meridian with St. Francis' Church." A fair wind towards evening induced Captain Bligh to try and gain his anchorage, but he had no sooner got within reach of it than the breeze dropped and the high land becalmed the ships. At the same moment a blast of hot wind blew towards them from the shore which "seemed as though it had passed through a furnace and caused those on board great discomfort". The ships were compelled to put out to sea for the night, but they steered in- shore in the morning and were towed by the boats safely to an anchorage. A Spanish packet and several merchantmen were lying there. As soon as he had anchored, Captain Bligh sent an officer to call upon the Governor and to obtain supplies of wine, water, and fresh beef from the Agent. The Governor was absent among the islands, and the commandant "neither received nor returned any salute". During the stay of the vessels in the port Captain Bligh was seized with a severe attack of fever, which so weakened him that he was obliged to place Mr. Portlock in charge of the "Providence," while Mr. Bond replaced the latter in command of the "Assistant". On September 2nd the two ships made sail from Teneriffe, Bligh continuing very ill. At 6 p.m. on the 10th the west end of Bonavista was just in sight, and Luton rock an hour later: on September 11th they entered Porto Praya, St. Iago, where they anchored. Here an American schooner from Boston, and the "Industry," whaler, were lying in port.* Captain Bligh writes of Porto Praya in his journal: "My illness seemed to increase on our anchoring at Porto Praya; a more miserable and burnt up and inhospitable place I never beheld; the shore is low and barren: the interior part mountainous, without a single spot of verdure to delight the eye or invite the stranger to land. The wind came in hot blasts from the shore, and I saw so little advantage to be gained by my stay here that I should have weighed instantly if the surgeon had not recommended me to send on shore to procure fruit...This was done...only a few oranges were obtained, and Mr. Tobin found the place very sickly." Mr. Tobin and Mr. Pearce, Lieutenants of Marines, while on shore tried to find a house where Captain Bligh could spend a few days comfortably to enable him to combat the severity of the fever, but the reports were so unfavourable, and the complaint was also raging so violently in the place, where "six or seven people die daily," that the ships, after spending only one night there, put to sea again on Monday, September 12th. As they were leaving the harbour the bower anchor of the "Providence" was unfortunately lost. Not until the 15th, "when the air was remarkably cool for our situation," did Captain Bligh feel somewhat better. The log records, however, that he was often "distracted with headache" and suffered occasionally from a return of the fever for a much longer period. Two strange sail were seen to the southward on the 21st, and next day the "Providence" spoke one of them. She hoisted her colours, and was seen to be a French brig thirty days out from Havre and bound for the River Gambia. She remained in sight of Bligh's ships for two days, and dispatches from Captain Bligh to the Admiralty were sent home by her. On the 23rd "a prodigious number of porpoises were seen darkening from the S.E. They were two miles ahead when we first saw them and extended from two points on the lee bow to two points on the weather." Shortly afterwards one of the quartermasters, an old southern whaler, harpooned two of them, but to the disappointment of the sailors both broke their hold and got away. On October 3rd the ships crossed the line. Captain Bligh had by then greatly improved in health, and we read that on Sunday, October 9th, he was once more able to perform Divine Service on board the "Providence". At this time a flight of "curious birds resembling seagulls" were following the course of the ships, and towards the end of October frigate birds, storm petrels, albatrosses, and white and brown boobies were frequently seen, and the appearance of each species is separately noted in Bligh's log-book. A little earlier in the month two large albatrosses had hovered for some time around the ship, when suddenly one of them flew on board, and seizing a large hook, broke it, a surprising feat even for an albatross. Nothing occurred to disturb the harmony of the ships' passage to the Cape until October 30th, when John Letby, quartermaster, refused to carry out the orders of Mr. Impey (mate of the hold), and then knocked down F. Barber, the boatswain's mate, who had been told to send him to duty. For this bad conduct Letby was punished with thirty lashes. November came in with frequent squalls, and for some days the ships encountered rough weather. On the 5th, being then on the parallel of Cape Town, the course was altered and they steered a point to the southward. On the following day the Sugar Loaf Hill was sighted in the south-east, and at noon the Lion's Rump was 7 leagues distant. Late in the afternoon of November 6th the "Providence" and the "Assistant" entered Table Bay and anchored 1 mile off-shore. Six Dutch Indiamen, two English whalers, and a French brigantine were found riding there. CHAPTER II. THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. An officer was sent to wait on the Governor, and shortly afterwards a message came from the Lieutenant-Governor requesting that salutes should be exchanged in the morning, and next day, accordingly, the two ships saluted the Fort with thirteen guns, which courtesy was returned with the same number. Captain Bligh then went to call upon Mr. Rhenius, the Lieutenant-Governor, who, in the absence of the Governor, Mr. Van De Graaf, in Europe, was invested with the command.
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