FUN FIJI FACTS 9

MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY

One of the first Europeans to set eyes on the Fijian islands was a Dutch navigator by the name of Abel Tasman. He spotted the island of Vanua Levu, and a few other islands, in 1643. One of the more well-known South Pacific explorers, British Capt. James Cook, visited one of the southernmost islands, Vatoa, in 1774. But probably one of the most infamous European explorers to these islands would be Capt. William Bligh of the HMS Bounty.

After the mutiny on the Bounty in April 1789, Bligh, and those crew members loyal to him, sailed their longboat through Fiji on their way to Indonesia. They sailed past the island of Ovalau and through the waters between Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. As they neared the Yasawas, Fijian druas (war canoes) gave chase, but with the determination of self-preservation and the luck of squall, Bligh and his crew were able to escape to the open ocean. For a brief time Fiji became known as the Bligh Islands, and the passage between the two large islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu is still called Bligh Water.

Fiji’s island neighbors, the Tongans, warned European explorers that Fiji was inhabited by ferocious cannibals. Further, reports by Bligh and other explorers of the abundance of reefs among these islands gave rise to a dangerous reputation for Fiji, limiting the influx of Europeans into this region until the sandalwood rush between 1804 and 1813.

Frommer's Fun Fact: Recovering the Bounty's Rudder

"Sunk at Pitcairn Island by the mutineers in 1789, HMS Bounty remained in its watery grave until it was discovered by a National Geographic expedition in the 1950s.  The Bounty's rudder is now on display at the Fiji Museum in Suva."

Our word for the day:
English                         Fijian (pronunciation)
You’re Welcome           Siga Na Lega (sing-ah nah leng-ah)