William Bligh at the Museum of Garden History

The Bounty and its crew set sail from Spithead on 23 December 1787 to collect breadfruit plants from the West Indies to provide cheaper, better food for slaves. The exhibition describes Bligh's life and the Bounty's journey with a brief collection of artifacts taken from the time period. Also included are modern tributes to Bligh and his voyage, including the 1984 film The Bounty with Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson.

The centerpiece of this exhibition, though, is unique, to say the least. It is a computer-generated simulation of the ship's travels that is projected onto a panoramic screen. Created by David Cotterrell, the nine-hour project Latitude, even with its wonderful soundtrack, is basically boring. Excepting this part of the exhibition, Dead Reckoning is interesting, informative, and worth a twenty-minute walk through.

The exhibition runs until 1 April 2005 at the Museum of Garden History on Lambeth Palace Road.