...And These Of Cart. Bligh?

By Robert Langdon

THE accompanying article by Mr. F. B. Holloway has set me wondering about the whereabouts of several other relics of the Bounty drama. These are the bowl, cup, bullet weight and compass which Captain Bligh used during his famous open boat voyage from Tofua (Tonga) to Timor after the mutiny in 1789.

In July, 1936, PIM reported that the relics were in the possession of one of Bligh’s great-grandsons, Dr. E. S.

Nutting, of Inglewood, near New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Dr. Nutting was also reported to have a collection of sketches by Captain Bligh which had been “artistically and minutely drawn”.

The bowl, cup and bullet were described and depicted more than 100 years ago in the Rev. T. B. Murray’s book Pitcairn: The Island, The People and the Pastor.

Murray borrowed them on one occasion from Bligh’s family to illustrate a lecture, and had a drawing specially made of them for his book. This drawing is reproduced here.

Bligh used the bowl, which was made from a coconut shell, for eating his meals in the open boat. Written in ink near the top are the words: “The cup I eat my miserable allowance out of”. The words: “W. Bligh, April, 1789” were cut with a knife under the string.

The cup is made from an animal’s horn and is about two inches deep. It holds quarter of a pint. Round it, Bligh wrote in ink: “Allowance of water 3 times a day”.

The bullet is set in a small hasp-shaped metal plate.

After Bligh returned to England, he used to wear it suspended by a ribbon round his neck. Above the bullet are the words: “This bullet, 1/25 of a lb., was the allowance of bread which supported 18 men for 48 days, served to each person three times a day”.

On the other side are the words: “Under the com mand of Captain Will. Bligh, from the 28th April, 1789, to the 14th June, following.”

Murray said that, in addition to the bowl, cup and bullet, Bligh’s family also had in their possession the log book which Bligh kept during the open boat voyage.

No mention was made of this in PlM’s report in July, 1936, but the report did state that Dr. Nutting also owned the compass which Bligh used to steer the 3,618 miles from Tofua to Timor.

Perhaps some PIM reader knows where all these Bligh relics are now.