NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Peter Fogg
Date: 2004 Sep 17, 05:46 +1000
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From Zorbec Legras
William Bligh is the only captain that could captain a rotten, smaller
vessel that barely fits all eighteen of his men, fight off hostile natives
(fidjians) and sailed 3618 N. miles back to civilization.
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They had the great misfortune to arrive at their first island, still in
shock from the mutiny, on a Friday night. The natives were restless. That's
just my little joke, and perhaps it’s a poor one, as Bligh lost there the
only member of his crew to die between the
The other tragedy, for Bligh this time, is that when earlier they were
threading their way through the Great Barrier Reef, and resting on its islands,
they ran away each time Australian aborigines showed an interest in them. They
were weak and felt vulnerable, and mindful of the earlier incident, but
possibly had little to fear. At the same time the koories were sheltering
escaped convicts and shipwreck victims all along the coast. Nobody, as far as I
know, has ever accused them of being cannibals. Poor eating Bligh's lot would
have made anyway. Because this part of the world (the Pacific in general) was
so little known, and of so much interest in Europe at the time, Bligh could
have made his reputation, and produced something of far more value than the
silly breadfruit that were never of much use to anyone, if he had just tarried
for a while with the locals. And fattened and rested himself and his crew,
which was what they needed most. Back in
But I agree with you that it was an amazing feat in a tiny overcrowded
boat, with little navigational resources. I’ve seen a replica.
Incidentally, the boats traditionally used on Pitcairn are similar.
From Zorbec Legras
He also managed to keep his mens spirits up when the times were really
tough. He even gave away part of his rations to keep his men healthy.
Captain William Blight brought in this breadfruit tree in 1793 to
A fine navigator and a good
Commander who sails once with bandits.
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They were lucky enough to have rotten weather a lot of the time, in
that little boat. Starved, cold, wet, frightened, but alive. Bligh kept them
all to minimal rations, although the men cried piteously for more. If the
weather had been better they would surely have been dead well before
Later on Bligh was appointed Governor of the colony of