1876 RUDDER DAMAGED. 185 



As the rudder pendants had necessarily been re- 

 moved when the ship was amongst the ice, 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 19th 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 



