296 THE VOYAGE OF THE ' DISCOVERY ' [April 



with the well-remembered outline of the Bankes Peninsula 

 before us. 



At daybreak on Good Friday, April i, we were off the 

 Heads of Lyttelton Harbour, and before noon we were safely 

 berthed alongside the jetty from which we had sailed with 

 such hearty good wishes more than two years before. 



I have found my pen inadequate to describe many an 

 incident in this narrative, but perhaps I never realised its 

 inadequacy so completely as when I set about to picture the 

 warmth of the welcome which we received on our arrival in 

 New Zealand. Those who have been patient enough to follow 

 the course of this story will remember the kindness with 

 which our small party of adventurers were treated before our 

 departure for the South, and how each visit of the relief ship 

 brought us not only welcome news from the Old Country, but 

 greetings and presents from this newer land. It is little 

 wonder, therefore, that as we entered Lyttelton Heads after 

 so long an absence, each one of us felt that we were returning 

 to what was very nearly our home — to a place where we 

 should find rest and peace after our wanderings, and to people 

 who would greet us with sympathetic friendship. And all this 

 we found in fullest measure ; New Zealand welcomed us as 

 its own, and showered on us a wealth of hospitality and 

 kindness which assuredly we can never forget, however diffi- 

 cult we may have found it to express our thanks. In these 

 delightful conditions, with everything that could make for 

 perfect rest and comfort, we abode for two full months before 

 we set out on our last long voyage ; and even though that 

 voyage was to carry us to our homeland, there was many a sad 

 heart when for the last time we steamed out of Lyttelton 

 Harbour and waved our farewells to those who had taken so 

 deep an interest in our fortunes. 



June 8 found us at sea again. The ' Morning ' sailed with 

 us, but soon parted company ; the ' Terra Nova ' had left more 

 than a fortnight earlier. We did not sight land again until 

 July 6, when we first saw the mountains of Tierra del Fuego. 

 Meanwhile, however, our voyage had not been without interest, 



