ex MEMOIR 



mirrors, plenty of air and no heat from the funnels which spoil 

 the great dining-room. I saw a whole library of books on the 

 walls when here last, and this made me less anxious to provide 

 light literature ; but alas, to-day, I find that they are every 

 one bibles or prayer-books. Now one cannot read many hundred 

 bibles. . . . As for the motion of the ship it is not very much, but 

 'twill suffice. Thomson shook hands and wished me well. I do 

 like Thomson. . . . Tell Austin that the Great Eastern has six 

 masts and four funnels. When I get back I will make a little 

 model of her for all the chicks and pay out cotton reels. . . . 

 Here we are at 4.20 at Brest. We leave probably to-morrow 

 morning. 



' July 12. Great Eastern. Here as I write we run our last 

 course for the buoy at the St. Pierre shore end. It blows and 

 lightens, and our good ship rolls, and buoys are hard to find ; 

 but we must soon now finish our work, and then this letter will 

 start for home. . ... Yesterday we were mournfully groping 

 our way through the wet grey fog, not at all sure where we 

 were, with one consort lost and the other faintly answering the 

 roar of our great whistle through the mist. As to the ship 

 which was to meet us, and pioneer us up the deep channel, we 

 did not know if we should come within twenty miles of her ; 

 when suddenly up went the fog, out came the sun and there, 

 straight ahead was the Win. Cory our pioneer, and a little 

 dancing boat, the Gulnare sending signals of welcome with 

 many-coloured flags. Since then we have been steaming in a 

 grand procession ; but now at 2 A.M. the fog has fallen, and the 

 great roaring whistle calls up the distant answering notes all 

 around us. Shall we, or shall we not find the buoy ? 



1 July 13. All yesterday we lay in the damp dripping fog, 

 with whistles all round and guns firing so that we might not 

 bump up against one another. This little delay has let us get 

 our reports into tolerable order. We are now at 7 o'clock getting 

 the cable end again, with the main cable buoy close to us.' 



A telegram of July 20 : 'I have received your four welcome 

 letters. The Americans are charming people.' 



