Author(s): William Bligh; Viscount Robert Stewart Castlereagh (As told to); Joseph Banks (As told to)

History

The arrest of Governor William Bligh by officers of the New South Wales Corps in January 1808 was one of the most extraordinary events in Australia's early history. Confined to Government House by the rebels, Bligh was unable to get word of his arrest to England for three months, until one of his supporters smuggled a letter aboard a ship leaving Sydney. Bligh's version of events was to be challenged repeatedly, but his account, brimming with anger and outrage, remains an important historical document.