Says Bligh, "I thereupon gave him a good beating. On another occasion one
of the men went so far as to tell me, with a mutinous look, that he was as
good a man as myself. It was not possible for me to judge where this would
end if not stopped in time; therefore, to prevent such disputes in future,
I determined either to preserve my command or die in the attempt, and
seizing a cutlass, I ordered him to take hold of another and defend
himself. On this he called out that I was going to kill him, and made
concessions. I did not allow this to interfere with the harmony of the
boat's crew, and everything soon became quiet."
On the evening of June 3rd, the twenty-third day from leaving Tofoa, they
left the coast of Australia on the north-western side, and stood away for
Timor, where they arrived nine days later, and were received with the
greatest kindness by the Dutch officials and merchants. Their journey of
about 3620 miles had taken forty-two days. One man had lost his life by
the attack of savages, and Nelson, the botanist, [Sidenote: 1790-1791]
Elphinstone, a master's mate, two seamen, and the acting surgeon, were
attacked by the Batavian fever and died. Bligh and the remainder of his
men secured passages home, and arrived in England in March, 1790.
In the summer of 1791 he was promoted commander, given the command of the
_Providence_, with an armed tender, the _Assistance_, and sent to carry
out the breadfruit transplantation idea, which he satisfactorily
accomplished.
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