Our route from Tahiti to Valparaiso (courtsey of Silversea Cruises)
Our final trip of 2022 is fast approaching. Yet another trip booked pre-Covid and shelved for a couple of years. As can be seen from the route map above, it is an exploration cruise from Tahiti, French Polynesia across to Valparaiso, Chile, visiting the many islands that are situated inbetween. Our friends in Australia, Eric and Diane, alerted us to this trip and we could not miss the opportunity to visit such a remote British Overseas Territory, the Pitcairn Islands, which were the main thrust of our interest in this trip.
I am sure that many of you will have read the books and seen the films about the Mutiny on the Bounty which happened in 1789. The reason I mention this is because some of the mutineers and some Polynesian men and women hid on the Pitcairn Islands (Adamstown) and remained undiscovered from 1790 until 1808.
For those unaware of the story of the mutiny on the HMS Bounty, it was captained by Lieutenant William Bligh and was engaged in transporting breadfruit from Tahiti to the British colonies in the West Indies. The expedition, which left England in October 1787, was promoted by the Royal Society and its president Joseph Banks who believed that bread fruit would grow in the West Indies and be a cheap food for the slaves in the sugar plantations. After sailing around Cape Horn and into the South Pacific Ocean, the mission was to pick up bread fruit in Tahiti and take it to the West Indies via the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans.
The crew consisted of 46 men, 44 Royal Navy seamen and two civilian botanists. This included a 23 year old Fletcher Christian, Master’s mate, who came from a wealthy Cumberland family descended from Isle of Man gentry. He had twice voyaged with Bligh to the West Indies and served on the Bounty without pay as one of the “young gentlemen”.
Bligh enforced strict discipline on the ship and when men stepped out of line, punishment was dealt out. There were clashes between Bligh and his officers on the trip down to Tahiti so when they reached Tahiti, the 5 months stay to collect bread fruit must have been a relief for Captain and crew. It seems that many men were not happy to leave the attractions of Tahiti, particularly the promiscious women, as they had enjoyed their time there. It seems that Fletcher Christian’s mood was not generally good and it did not help when, back at sea, Bligh accused him of stealing coconut from Bligh’s personal supply.
A mutiny ensued on 28 April 1789 and Bligh and some of his loyalists were cast off in the ship’s largest open boat. Bligh and his loyalists finally made it back to England in March 1790. The mutineers returned to Tahiti and some stayed there but Fletcher Christian and 8 others mutineers, along with 20 Polynesians (6 men and 14 women) left finally arriving in the Pitcairn Islands.
There is a lot more to the Mutiny on the Bounty, a true story, which is well worth reading as the above is only a very short precis. I would not suggest watching a Hollywood film on the Mutiny as Hollywood tends not to let the truth get in the way of a good storyline.
The above story tweaked our interest in this trip but I am sure there will be much else to report on as we visit French Polynesian and the Chilean Islands on our way across to Valparasio. We have visited Easter Island before so it will be interesting to go back and see what may have changed in the last 22 years.
Copyright: Words John Cruse 2022