DESPATCH OP MR. LONEY. 343 



up, ami filled a large dish : had it been practicable to have kept them, 

 wider such favourable circumstances, for three weeks longer, I think 

 they would have repaid the attention bestowed upon them. 



6. Turnip radishes were also tried in a small box, covered with 

 glass, but, from the length of time they took to corne up, the result 

 could not be considered satisfactory : the short duration of suitable 

 weather would, under the most favourable circumstances, render it im- 

 practicable for the root to acquire a size fit for use ; but occasionally, in 

 warm seasons, the tops might be raised to a sufficient size to be valu- 

 able as a vegetable. 



7. The boxes used in the winter for the growth of mustard and cress 

 were now employed more successfully ; the same description of soil 

 was used, mustard and cress seed sown, and the boxes placed, some 

 under the glass covering of the main hatchway, the skylight of the 

 gun-room, the glass binnacle covers, and others under panes of glass ; 

 and by being carefully tended, and watered with water slightly warm, 

 plentiful crops of mustard and cress, in its natural colour and equal to 

 any raised in England, were procured and issued to the travelling par- 

 ties after their return from the spring search. The total quantity thus 

 grown was about 25 Ibs. 



S. The seed supplied to the ship was mustard, 20 Ibs.; cress, 

 28 Ibs.; and 13 Ibs. of each still remain. 



I have the honour to be, 



Sir, 



Tom- most obedient, humble servant, 

 JAMES LEWIS, 



Clerk in charge. 



CAPTAIN SIR EDWARD BELCHER, Kt, C.B., 



Her Majesty's Ship ' Amshtance? and Commanding 

 Arctic Searching Squadron. 



On the 6th of July I began to feel uneasy at the state 

 of the outer ice; and, fearful that our return parties might 

 be too weak to handle their boats in the rough ice, I de- 

 spatched Mr. Loney with a cutter and eight men, with 

 instructions to touch at Cape Sir John Franklin, Barrow 

 Island, and Cape Lady Franklin, on the southern shore, 



