Caring for Living Plants on Sailing Ships in Captain William Bligh’s Late 18th-Century Breadfruit Expeditions

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "New Avenues in the Study of Plant Remains from Historical Sites" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The collection and study of plant and animal specimens by European explorers and naturalists was a cultural phenomenon spearheaded by the creation of the first scientific societies in the 17th century. The challenges of the safe transportation of live plants across the world on wooden ships was addressed by amateur naturalists and professionals alike in theoretical instructional papers. While informative, these writings do not address how such endeavours were carried out in practice. Historical accounts from the two voyages of Captain William Bligh to transport breadfruit from its native Tahiti to the British colonies of the West Indies, first in 1787 and again in 1791, provide such insight. Despite the resources and attentions poured into the Crown-sanctioned breadfruit voyages, the challenges faced by Bligh and his men attest to the difficulties of any undertaking involving the transportation of living plants across the world’s oceans in the age of sail.  

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• New Avenues in the Study of Plant Remains from Historical Sites   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology