1 i' AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



as before, he stopped me again as we met in a 

 casual way, and describing the service on which 

 the Rattlesnake was likely to be employed, said 

 that Captain Owen Stanley, who was to command 

 the ship, had asked him to recommend an assistant 

 surgeon who knew something of science ; would 

 I like that? Of course I jumped at the offer. 

 " Very well, I give you leave ; go to London at 

 once and see Captain Stanley." I went, saw my 

 future commander, who was very civil to me, and 

 promised to ask that I should be appointed to 

 his ship, as in due time I was. It is a singular 

 thing that, during the few months of my stay at 

 Haslar, I had among my messmates two future 

 Directors-General of the Medical Service of the 

 Navy (Sir Alexander Armstrong and Sir John 

 Watt-Reid), with the present President of the 

 College of Physicians and my kindest of doctors, 

 Sir Andrew Clark. 



Life on board Her Majesty's ships in those 

 days was a very different affair from what it 

 is now, and ours was exceptionally rough, as 

 we were often many months without receiving 

 lettrrs or seeing any civilised people but ourselves. 

 In exchange, we had the interest of being about the 

 last voyagers, I suppose, to whom it could be pos- 

 sible to meet with people who knew notlii 



:ins as we did on the south Coast of N. \\ 

 Guinea and <>f making acquaintance with a 



y of interesting savage and semi-civilised 



