A Voyage to the South Sea by William Bligh

Page 1 of 127

Produced by Sue Asscher and Col Choat.

A VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH SEA

BY WILLIAM BLIGH.

VOYAGE

TO THE SOUTH SEA,

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.

THE WHOLE ILLUSTRATED WITH CHARTS, ETC.

...

PUBLISHED BY PERMISSION OF THE

LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY.

...

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR GEORGE NICOL, BOOKSELLER TO HIS MAJESTY, PALL-MALL.

1792.

...

ADVERTISEMENT.

At the time I published the Narrative of the Mutiny on Board the Bounty it was my intention that the preceding part of the Voyage should be contained in a separate account. This method I have since been induced to alter. The reason of the Narrative appearing first was for the purpose of communicating early information concerning an event which had attracted the public notice: and, being drawn up in a hasty manner, it required many corrections. Some circumstances likewise were omitted; and the notation of time used in the Narrative being according to sea reckoning, in which the days begin and end at noon, must have produced a degree of obscurity and confusion to readers accustomed only to the civil mode. And this would have increased as the remainder of the voyage, on account of the numerous shore occurrences at Otaheite and elsewhere, could not, with clearness and propriety, have been related in any other than the usual manner of reckoning.

Besides remedying these inconveniencies I have thought a fuller account of our passage from Timor to Europe than that contained in the Narrative would not be unacceptable. These reasons, with the manifest convenience of comprising the whole Voyage in one continued narrative, in preference to letting it appear in disjointed accounts will, it is hoped, be allowed a sufficient excuse for having varied from the original intention. Nevertheless for the accommodation of the purchasers of the Narrative already published those who desire it will be supplied with the other parts of the Voyage separate; i.e. the part previous to the mutiny and the additional account after leaving Timor.

Prev - Next >>

Share this book

Table of contents (by pages)