Illustration of Breadfruit from Cook’s First Voyage

Engraving of a breadfruit branch with the fruit. Published in Hawkesworth's 'An account of the voyages undertaken by the order of His present Majesty for making discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere'. The plate only has a plate number, so the title, as above, comes from the index.

While on Tahiti in 1769 Sir Joseph Banks saw the value of breadfruit as a cheap, high-energy food source for slaves in the British colonies in the West Indies. . His promotion of this idea led to William Bligh's ill-fated voyage to transport 1015 breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies on the Bounty in 1787.