i, where they
remained till July 19th. There was no disturbance this time, and the
relations between Bligh and his crew were not embarrassed by the
indulgent kindness of the islanders. Their hospitality was not deficient,
but a wary vigilance was exercised.

At Tahiti Bligh found the major part of the crew of a whaler, the
Matilda, which had been wrecked about six days' sail from the island.
Some of the men accepted passages on the Providence and the Assistant;
some preferred to remain with the natives; one or two had already
departed in one of the lost ship's boats to make their way to Sydney.* (*
This incident is reported in the Star, a London newspaper, March 2nd,
1793.) Two male Tahitians were persuaded to accompany the expedition,
with a view to their exhibition before the Royal Society, in England,
when at length, laden with 600 breadfruit trees, it sailed for the West
Indies.

The route followed from the Friendly Islands to the Caribbean Sea was not
via Cape Horn (since that cold and stormy passage would have destroyed
every plant), but back across the Pacific, through Torres Strait to
Timor, thence across the Indian Ocean and round the Cape of Good Hope.
St. Helena was reached on December 17, and Bligh brought his ships safely
to Kingston, St. Vincent's, on January 13th 1793. Three hundred
breadfruit trees were landed at that island, and a like number taken to
Jamaica. The plants were in excellent condition, some of them eleven feet
high, with leaves 36 inches long. The gardener in charge reported to Sir
Joseph Banks that the success of the transplantations "exceeded the most
sanguine expectation." The sugar planters were delighted, and voted Bligh
500 pounds for his services.* (* Southey, History of the West Indies,
1827 3 61.) To accentuate the contrast between the successful second
expedition and the lamentable voyage of the Bounty, it is notable that
only one case of sickness occurred on the way, and that from Kingston it
was reported that "the healthy appearance of every person belonging to
the expedition is remarkable."* (* Annual Register 1793 page 6.)

But though nothing in the nature of a mutiny marred the voyage, Flinders'
journal shows that Bligh's harshness occasioned discontent. There was a
shortness of water on the run from the Pacific to the West Indies, and as
the breadfruit plants had to be watered, and their safe carriage was the
main object of the voyage, the men had to suffer. Flinders and