Lifuka

Tofua is where the mutiny on the Bounty occurred in 1789; this active volcanic island lies approximately 40 nautical miles west of Lifuka.

The Captain Bligh voyage stands as the longest known successful passage ever recorded in an open boat without modern navigational aids.

In 1806 the natives off the northwest coast attacked the British privateer and whaler, slaughtering the majority of the crew.

One of the few survivors of the attack, William Mariner, was befriended by the King and spent the next four years in the Kingdom before being allowed to return to England.

A chance meeting with the author John Martin upon his return resulted in a collaboration that eventually documented the experiences of Mariner in the book An account of the natives of the Tongan Islands, a now highly respected anthropological study of early civilisation in the Kingdom of Tonga.