John Toohey: Captain Bligh's Portable Nightmare

By HUGH LARACY*

Some formidable competition not withstanding, credit for the most outstanding display of seamanship in Pacific maritime history belongs to William Bligh.

In 1789, following the mutiny on the Bounty, Bligh sailed an open boat with a dispirited and sometimes hostile crew of 17 men nearly 7000km from Tonga to Timor in seven weeks. In that confined space they endured hunger, thirst and foul weather. It was an extraordinary feat of navigation and leadership.

Immediately after the mutiny Bligh had headed for the nearby island of Tofoa. However, a clash with the people there, who killed one sailor and wounded others, forced him to turn for the closest known European settlement, the Dutch trading post of Kupang. Fletcher Christian had never expected Bligh to survive. Bligh never doubted that he would.

In contrast to the story of the mutiny, that of the passage to Timor is less well known than it deserves to be. Toohey's lively account is, therefore, to be welcomed, despite occasional novelish touches, such as manufactured dialogue and inventive description. Such literary embellishments cannot detract from the inherent drama of the story.

Central to it all is the character of Bligh. The portable nightmare of the title was his determination not to be beaten by anyone or anything. Not only had he been blamed for contributing to the death of Captain Cook in 1779 by antagonising Hawaiians, but the credit for charting Cook's third voyage had been stolen from him.

Consequently, he would survive to secure retribution for the mutineers and to fulfil his ambitions for the successful naval career that he envisioned. W.E. Henley's words could have been his:

Under the bludgeonings of chance,

My head is bloody but unbowed.

And there were more bludgeonings to come.

The Bligh of Charles Laughton, Trevor Howard and Anthony Hopkins is a more interesting character than the Christian of Clark Gable, Marlon Brando and Mel Gibson. This book helps explain why.

Duffy and Snellgrove

$24.95

* Hugh Laracy is an associate professor of Pacific history at the University of Auckland.