ABSTRACT
The Bounty, a vessel of 215 tons with a crew of 44 commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh, left Spithead on 23 December 1787 for the South Seas. It was not a large ship: 90 by 23 feet. Its accommodation was restricted by having to make room for its return cargo of breadfruit plants and botanical specimens. Breadfruit was proposed for use as cheap food for the slaves who worked the West Indies sugar trade. Bligh was the only commissioned officer on board, and Bounty did not carry the usual body of marines to police the ship. Some of the crew might well have had a high opinion of their own seamanship, as Christian and two others had sailed with Bligh before, and two had been with Bligh on voyages with Cook. The value of the Bounty story was early recognised by film-makers. In 1933 Charles Chauvel directed a documentary-like version, In the Wake of the Bounty.
