Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-11-03


in length and three and Il half foct beam
IN the centre, well put together, shaped
like i ci gar or elongated cask, but brought
to Il point at each end. The timbers and
plank were not sawed but hewed, and
kept firmly in place by twenty-one stout
IRON hoops, which cncirclcd the hull ut
certain intervals. The hull was entirely
closed except in the centre, where there
was IN eliptical hole about five feet long
IN which one person could sit and manage
the boat or lie down and sleep, and by
closing a hatch be sheltered from the wind
and the waves, similar to the kayaks of
the EsqulmauN. In this boat or canoe a
man named Alexander GoOdcnough wish
ING to 90 to san Francisco, took Il fancy
to make the journey by sea and alone in
this boat. He fitted it with 4 mast and Il
couple of sails, lashed Il pair of oars to the
deck, slowed away i'll the cavity I: great
coat and blanket, some provisions and wa
ter, and boldly started on his expedition.
During portion of the voyage he was
out of sight Of land, but rs regards safety,
comfort ana other good qualities the boat
equalcd his expectations. IIemct with no
very heavy weather and reached San Fran
! cisco in good order and condition in twenty
three days, having sailed Il distance of
between seven and eight hundred miles.
The most extraordinary and eventful pas
sage in IN open boat recorded in nautical
annals, is undoubtedly that of Captain
Bligh of the Bounty, who kept Il complete
journal of all the occurances, which was
subsequently published. His narrative is
rcplctc with interest and is doubtless IA
milar to many who are present. \ brief
sketch, however,, of the principal incident
lao, ,.f
ncction.
! Captain Bliyh sailed from England in
December. l,1S1, in the British sloop-of-war
Bounty. on Il voyage to the Society islands
in the Pacific to obtain plants of the bread
/ fruit tree TO be taken to the islands in the
West Indies belonging to Great Britain.
On his way to Cape Horn he stopped few
days At Tcncrit1c; and proceeding onward
after very long passage, he arrived off
Terra del Fueyo with his crew much de
! bilitatcd, anu many sick of scurvy. Find
ing the winds terrific and adverse, with
little OF no prospect of wcathcring the
Cape, on the sd of April he pat away for
the Cape of Good Hope, and lay for sey-
cral weeks ut anchor in st. SImOns Bay.
! Here the crew were refreshed and the ship
relittcd and repaired. He sailed from st
Simon Bay on the lst of July, 1888, and
after stopping some days ut Adventure
Bay, in Van Diem,n'> Land, arrived at
Otaheitc on the 10Th of September. after
4 passage of over nine months BY the
aid of the natives the cargo. after Il stay of
| more than -iN months. WAS Completed and
the Bounty WIS GOT ready for Se;,,and sail
ed for Jamaica on the ith of April, l1S9.
with competent officers and :; fine crew.
and with every prospect of making pros
! porous voyage.
On the 9th of April. when the Bounty
WAS south of Tutoa, one of the Friendly
/ Islands, 4 large portion of the ships com
pany, headed by Fletcher Christian, an Of
ticer. mutinicd and took possession of the
! ship. The launch was hoi>ted out, a guam
! titv of provisions and water put on board,
! and Captain BIigh and the officers. and a
portion of the men who refused TO Join in
the mutiny, We're compelled to embark in
the boat and take care of themselves. Sail
WAS then made on the Bounty, which pro
ceeded on her way back to Otaheite, where
the mutincers We're wrrmly welcomed by
! the friendly natives.
! Captain Bligh with his ciyltt,cn compan-
ions, now found himself in 1 pcrilous sit
uation in the midst of the Pacific Ocean,
far distant from any land not inhabited by
hostile sava-cs. in an open boat twenty
/ three feet in length and seven feet beam.
and >cuntily supplied with provisions and
water. But CAPTAIN BlI1h was a man of
nerve. and Ut once decided To make the
best use of his sails and oars, and proceed
rs rapidly Us possible in 4 westerly dircc-
ton, until he should reach some Christian
settlement. He was then about eighteen
hundred miles to the eastward of New
| Holland. He made his arrangements ac-
cor(lingly, divided his boats crew into
watches, and made proper regulations for
economzinG his provisions and water.
spoke words of encouragement to his men
and onward his little vessel sped.
After suffering almost Incredible hard
ships and encounterin- many perils from
storms and the frrocious natives of groups
of islands through which he passed. hav-
| nr sometimes been chased and hard
pressed hy war canoes. he ut length on the
18th Of May, thirty days after he lost
sight of the Bounty, made the land of
New Holland, passed in safety the Bar
ricr reef that extends along the coast,
and landed inside on an uninhablted island.
| Here the crew, weak and exhausted by
privatiuns. were refreshed by OYSTERS bcr-
ries and fruits, ana found means with n
! burning glass of making a fire to cook
their food for the first time after leaving
the Bounty. After resting II couple of
days they resumed their voyage, steering
along the coast to the north, fearing to
| hold intercourse with the natives. whose
fcrocitv and cruelty were we'll known
On the 3d of June they founded Cape
/ York, the northcrnmost point of New lIol-
land passed through the Torres Straits,
and again entered the open sea, and kept
on to the eastward until after running
eight or nine hundred miles further, on
the lth of June they made the island of
/ Tumor. south of the Molucca island, and
was soon anchored in the Dutch settlement
ut Coupang Bay.
Capt. Blight thus, in forty-onc days af-
ter leaving the meridian of Iofoa island
in an open boat crowded with men, ex
posed to attacks from savages and all the
| dangers of ocean, accomplished 4 distance,
! by log, of over three thousand miles.
When the boats crew reached the shore
they We're gazed upon with horror and
compassion by the inhabitants. They
were Liring men, but in the last stages of
exhaustion, hardly able to stand. mere
skin and bone. their limbs full of sores,
their countenances sallow and ghlstly.
1t is needless to say they were treated
with great kindness and hospitality.
! They all remained two months at Coi-
pang before they gained strength enough
TO depart. OF the nineteen who embark
cd in the launch when it left the Bounty
one was killed during contest with the
savages and eighteen landed at Coupang.
Six of these, Worn down by their incrcdi-
Bile suf1crings, died on the island of Timor,
and twelve, including Captain Bligh, got
safely back to England.
But the incidents to which | have allud-
ed illustrating the comparative safety with
which the sea may be navigated even in
rough weather by men endowed with reso-
luton and skill in vessels of the smallest
size and fal construction, are cast alto
gether into the shade bya voyage which
) was voluntarily made in the year 1887,
three hundred and thrty-ei ght years ago,
: when an enterprising individual in deck
ed hoat sixteen and 4 half feet in length.