10 MEET THE ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. [1843. 



We certainly ought to have reached the Cape on the 

 18th, and were only 200 miles distant from it on that 

 day ; I would therefore strongly advise keeping to the 

 southward of 36 S, until near enough to the Cape to 

 haul sharp in. Had we preserved southing instead of 

 shaping our course to meet a suspected gale from the 

 N.W., we should have reached the Cape easily. A good 

 collection of well-recorded " Naval Passages ", for each 

 month in the year, would be highly valuable for the vici- 

 nity of the Cape. About six P.M., after experiencing two 

 very heavy squalls, which caused the ' Samarang ' to heel 

 very much and to ship a great deal of water, we reached 

 our anchorage in Simon's Bay in company with H.M.S. 

 Thunderbolt', Capt. Broke. We found here H.M.S. 

 ' Southampton,' Capt. C. Eden, bearing the Flag of Rear- 

 Admiral the Hon. Josceline Percy, C.B ; ' Acorn ', Capt. 

 Adams ; ' Lilly ', Capt. Baker, ; ' Erebus ' and ' Terror' , 

 Capt. Sir James Clarke Ross and Crozier. 



The Admiral being absent at Cape Town, I was happy 

 to join my good friends Ross and Crozier, and the night 

 was far advanced before half our interchange of questions 

 was expended ; had the former not given me hopes of 

 further detention, it is probable that we should not have 

 parted until his anchor was at his bows, and that sullen 

 monitor, the fore-top-sail, at his mast head. 



After completing our observations to secure the time, 

 I moved off to Cape Town, to pay my respects to the 

 Governor, Sir George Napier, and Admiral Percy; I 

 passed a very agreeable evening at the house of the 

 former, where the Admiral and his family were staying, 

 and afterwards visited the Observatory. On the day 



