196 



THE VOYAGE. ^TAT. 22. 



Admiral Stokes, Mr. King, Mr, Usborne, and Mr. Ha- 

 mond, all speak of their friendship with him in the same warm- 

 hearted way. 



Of the life on board and on shore his letters give some 

 idea. Captain Fitz-Roy was a strict officer, and made him- 

 self thoroughly respected both by officers and men. The 

 occasional severity of his manner was borne with because 

 every one on board knew that his first thought was his 

 duty, and that he would sacrifice anything to the real welfare 

 of the ship. My father writes, July 1834, " We all jog on 

 very well together, there is no quarrelling on board, which is 

 something to say. The Captain keeps all smooth by rowing 

 every one in turn." The best proof that Fitz-Roy was valued 

 as a commander is given by the fact that many * of the crew 

 had sailed with him in the Beagle s former voyage, and there 

 were a few officers as well as seamen and marines, who had 

 served in the Adventure or Beagle during the whole of that 

 expedition. 



My father speaks of the officers as a fine determined set 

 of men, and especially of Wickham, the first lieutenant, as a 

 '' glorious fellow." The latter being responsible for the 

 smartness and appearance of the ship strongly objected to 

 his littering the decks, and spoke of specimens as " d — d 

 beastly devilment," and used to add, " If I were skipper, I 

 would soon have you and all your d — d mess out of the 

 place." 



A sort of halo of sanctity was given to my father by the 

 fact of his dining in the Captain's cabin, so that the midship- 

 men used at first to call him " Sir," a formality, however, 

 which did not prevent his becoming fast friends with the 

 younger officers. He wrote about the year 1 861 or 1862 to 

 Mr. P. G. King, M. L. C, Sydney, who, as before stated, was 

 a midshipman on board the Beagle : — " The remembrance of 

 old days, when we used to sit and talk on the booms of the 

 Beagle y will always, to the day of my death, make me glad to 



* 'Voyage of the Adventure and Beagle^ vol. ii. p. 21, 



