1870 RUDDER DAMA(JKI>. 185 



As the rudder pendants had necessarily been re- 

 moved when the ship was amongst the iee, it was with 

 no little difficulty that temporary ones were improvised ; 

 but by their means, and with careful attention to the 

 trim of the sails, the ' Alert ' crossed the Atlantic. 



On the 16th we fell in with the 'Pandora,' the 

 only vessel met with during the voyage. The three 

 ships kept company for two days, but on the night of 

 the 19 th we lost sight of each other during a strong 

 gale. 



On the 20th, in the middle of a very heavy storm, 

 with the sea a mass of driving foam, the rudder pendants 

 carried away ; fortunately we were hove- to on the 

 starboard tack. Before evening we succeeded in se- 

 curing another pair, and during a lull in the wind bore 

 up. 



Expecting Captains Stephenson and Allen Young 

 to be ahead, we made as much sail as possible ; but it 

 appeared afterwards that they also had been obliged 

 to heave-to owing to the violence of the wind. 



Not wishing to proceed up the English Channel 

 under sail with a defective rudder, and the wind having 

 driven us considerably to the northward, the ' Alert ' 

 entered Valentia Harbour on the 27th of October; 

 the ' Discovery ' arriving at Queenstown on the 29th. 

 After shifting the rudder, the ' Alert ' proceeded to 

 Queenstown, and the two ships having again joined 

 company, entered Portsmouth Harbour on the 2nd of 

 November ; the ' Pandora ' arriving at Falmouth on 

 the previous day. 



I will not here dwell on the warm and hearty 

 reception which the officers and men received from all 



