Few can fail to be fascinated and moved by the Bounty's extraordinary voyage and the tragic mutinee. HMS Bounty had been in Matavai Bay since October 1788. Helped by the Tahitians, members of the crew had been growing breadfruit plants, the plan being to transport the living plants to the West Indies in order to create a new food supply for the native population. At Christmas, storms forced Captain Bligh to find a new anchorage at Oparre Bay for the final maturing of the plants. The moment depicted in the painting is when the ship was preparing to leave the bay in April 1789, some three weeks before Bligh and seventeen 'loyalists' were cast adrift. The vessel is now filled with over one thousand breadfruit plants and stores for the long voyage to the West Indies and home. The Tahitians have come out to bid farewell amidst what Bligh described as "a vast excess of grief" and to exchange gifts for the last time. The moment was both emotional and chaotic since some of the crew had formed strong liasons with the natives and were virtually families. We see HMS Bounty hove-to with her mainmast sail backed to prevent her getting under way and just before raising anchor. Two boats will take up position to tow the vessel out of the bay. The Tahitians' chief Tynah's last words were "Yowrah no t'Etna tee eveerah", May God bless and protect you for ever and ever. Even so Tynah would hardly have envisioned that two hundred years hence the story of Bligh and the Bounty would still have so much potency.