PREPARATIONS. 



than the commandant, Lieutenant-Colonel Mac- 

 dougall, of the 79th regiment, and the officers 

 of the garrison, as well as the principal inha- 

 bitants of the town, waited upon us, and vied 

 with each other in administering to our comforts, 

 and rendering as agreeable as possible the short 

 time which remained to us for the enjoyment 

 of civilised society. 



I availed myself of this interval to ascer- 

 tain the rates of the chronometers with the 

 nicest precision, and to make a set of observ- 

 ations for the dip and magnetic intensity, with 

 Dollond's and Hansteen's needles ; which oper- 

 ations, with the numerous arrangements neces- 

 sary for completing our outfit, fully occupied 

 Mr. King and myself until our departure. 



Neither was I without a foretaste of the 

 anxiety inseparable from the service on which I 

 had embarked. A refractory spirit had of late 

 been manifested by two of my three men, who 

 even threatened to proceed no farther ; for 

 no better reason than a sudden and wayward 

 apprehension of a journey, which the strong 

 expression of public sympathy had taught them 

 to regard as beset with more than ordinary 

 perils. However, by convincing them of the 

 disgrace which would attend a desertion, and 

 then despatching them at once, through the 

 means of Mr. Keith, to a distant post of the 



