Mutiny on the Bounty Again 重現《叛艦喋血記》

By Nick Bryant, Sydney

媒體英語會帶大家一起學習BBC撰稿人在報道世界大事時常用到的單詞和短語。

Background:四名水手在1789年后的今天，正在南太平洋上重現當年由威廉·布萊斯船長領航的邦蒂號7000公里漂流航程。他們這次遠征使用的是長25英尺，帶有兩個小帆的開敞甲板船。此次航行他們計劃從湯加王國出發，在7周之內到達帝汶島。這幾名船員同時也在努力重現當年威廉·布萊斯船長所面對的種種狀況。

Memorialised in two Hollywood films as well as novels and poems, the mutiny on the Bounty unfolded in 1789 when William Bligh, the captain of a British Royal Navy ship was cast adrift in the South Pacific by his rebellious crew.

Accompanied by 18 men, Bligh managed to sail from near Tonga to West Timor in a voyage that lasted almost 50 days.

He survived on catching fish and drinking rain water.

Now a crew of four sailors is trying to recreate that epic 7,000-km voyage in their own open-top sailing boat.

From Tonga they'll head west to Fiji, Vanuatu and Restoration Island before sailing north to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, then through the Torres Strait to west Timor.

To add to the authenticity of the voyage the adventurers are trying to get close to the provisions which Captain Bligh had on board - ship biscuits, pork, over 100 litres of water and six bottles of wine.

Like Bligh, they won't be using any modern-day navigational equipment such as charts, a compass or lights.

The main difference is that their boat is only about half the size of Bligh's vessel and their biggest fear is the danger of capsizing.