, a vessel
proper for the undertaking was bought and taken into dock at Deptford to
be provided with the necessary fixtures and preparations for executing
the object of the voyage. These were completed according to a plan of my
much honoured friend, Sir Joseph Banks, which in the event proved the
most advantageous that could have been adopted for the intended purpose.

August 16.

The ship was named the Bounty: I was appointed to command her on the 16th
of August 1787. Her burthen was nearly two hundred and fifteen tons; her
extreme length on deck ninety feet ten inches; extreme breadth
twenty-four feet three inches; and height in the hold under the beams at
the main hatchway ten feet three inches. In the cockpit were the cabins
of the surgeon, gunner, botanist, and clerk, with a steward-room and
storerooms. The between decks was divided in the following manner: the
great cabin was appropriated for the preservation of the plants and
extended as far forward as the after hatchway. It had two large
skylights, and on each side three scuttles for air, and was fitted with a
false floor cut full of holes to contain the garden-pots in which the
plants were to be brought home. The deck was covered with lead, and at
the foremost corners of the cabin were fixed pipes to carry off the water
that drained from the plants into tubs placed below to save it for future
use. I had a small cabin on one side to sleep in, adjoining to the great
cabin, and a place near the middle of the ship to eat in. The bulk-head
of this apartment was at the after-part of the main hatchway, and on each
side of it were the berths of the mates and midshipmen; between these
berths the arm-chest was placed. The cabin of the master, in which was
always kept the key of the arms, was opposite to mine. This particular
description of the interior parts of the ship is rendered necessary by
the event of the expedition.

The ship was masted according to the proportion of the navy; but on my
application the masts were shortened, as I thought them too much for her,
considering the nature of the voyage.

September 3.

On the 3rd of September the ship came out of dock; but the carpenters and
joiners remained on board much longer, as they had a great deal of work
to finish.

The next material alteration made in the fitting out was lessening the
quantity of iron and other ballast. I gave directions that only nineteen
tons of iron should be taken on board instead of t