Tahiti on 11 October, Raiatea on 2 November, and Borabora on 7 December. On 26 October 1788, , under the command of Captain William Bligh, landed in Tahiti with the mission of carrying Tahitian breadfruit trees (Tahitian: "uru") to the Caribbean. Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist from James Cook's first expedition, had concluded that this plant would be ideal to feed the African slaves working in the Caribbean plantations at very little cost. The crew remained in Tahiti for about five months, the time needed to transplant the seedlings of the trees. Three weeks after leaving Tahiti, on 28 April 1789,
Tahiti rail on Latham's account. In 1844 the German naturalist Hinrich Lichtenstein published J.R. Forster's account of the discoveries made during the journey, including his description of the Tahiti rail. J.R. Forster indicated that the Tahiti rail was called "Oomnaa" or "Eboonàa" on Tahiti and neighbouring islands, and "Oomèia-Keteòw" on Tonga, though he specified only Tahiti and nearby islands as being part of its range. "Tevea" also appears to have been one of the common names for the bird. In 1967 the American ornithologist James Greenway wrote that the bird was said by Polynesians to have also existed on the island of