Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
captain's cabin on HMS
Providence
. The solid line on the chart zigzags about the islands,
showing where the ship followed a glimpse of land when the cloud and rain lifted. Bligh -
whose signature appears under the chart title - only recorded what he saw for himself or what
was reported to him as seen from the top of the mast head. This gives the chart an unfinished
effect. Despite his desire to complete a full survey, this was never to be. 'If I had had a Month
to spare I would have completed it myself ', he remarks in his ship's log.
It was not just the weather that was against Bligh; time, too, was not in his favour. His
main task was to transport breadfruit plants from Tahiti, where they grew plentifully, to feed
the burgeoning colonies in the West Indies. His log shows that several thousand plants were
put on board in July 1792. Bligh was evidently still visiting the plants daily by mid August,
when this chart was drawn, as he notes that they were 'in charming order'. To keep them like
that, he would need to deliver them to their destination as soon as possible, through a diffi-
cult route and 'a contrary Monsoon'. Although the survey remained incomplete, the botanical
mission proved thoroughly successful, as he lost only a few hundred plants.
This episode was part of a long naval career for Bligh. He had learnt much about making
good surveys from Captain Cook on board the
Resolution
in his youth, which he in turn
passed on to Matthew Flinders, a young midshipman on this voyage of the
Providence
who
would later become the first man to circumnavigate Australia. Bligh served with credit under
Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, for which he drew a plan held by the archives.
Whatever history's verdict might be on Bligh as a naval officer, he was a superb navigator
and chart maker.
