NEW SOUTH WALES. 291 



all classes ; and a great many inquiries made respecting our accom- 

 modations, &c. All seemed disappointed at not being able to see the 

 same complete outfits in our vessels as they had seen described in the 

 published accounts of those of the English expedition commanded 

 by Captain James Ross. They inquired whether we had compart- 

 ments in our ships to prevent us from sinking ; how we intended to 

 keep ourselves warm 1 What kind of antiscorbutic we were to use ? 

 and where were our great ice-saws ? To all of these questions I was 

 obliged to answer, to their great apparent surprise, that we had none, 

 and to agree with them that we were unwise to attempt such service 

 in ordinary cruising vessels ; but we had been ordered to go, and that 

 was enough ! and go we should. This want of preparation certainly 

 did not add to the character for wisdom of our government, with 

 this community ; but they saw us all cheerful, young, and healthy, 

 and gave us the character, that I found our countrymen generally 

 bear, of recklessness of life and limb. The tender Flying-Fish 

 excited their astonishment more than the ships, from her smallness 

 and peculiar rig ; and, altogether, as a gentleman told me, most of 

 our visiters considered us doomed to be frozen to death. I did not 

 anticipate such a fate, although I must confess I felt the chances 

 were much against us, in case we were compelled to winter within 

 the Antarctic. From every calculation, we could not stow quite 

 twelve months' provision, even upon short allowance ; our fuel was 

 inadequate to last us more than seven months, and the means of pro- 

 tecting ourselves in the ships for winter quarters, were any thing but 

 sufficient. My mind naturally suffered a great deal of anxiety on all 

 these points, and I felt myself not a little depressed by it, particularly 

 when I considered the state of the Peacock. The carpenter of that 

 ship, shortly after our arrival at Sydney, had reported to her com- 

 mander, Captain Hudson, that the whole of her upper works were 

 rotten, and required a survey. The vessel was quietly examined 

 into without holding one, and her state was found even worse than 

 represented. I had many long consultations with Captain Hudson, 

 and found it was impossible to put upon her the necessary repairs, 

 without her giving up the southern cruise. We made up our minds 

 that it was absolutely necessary for the credit of the Expedition and 

 the country for her to perform it; for we were well satisfied that 

 improper imputations, and motives, would be ascribed to us, if she 

 did not, and was detained undergoing repairs, in a state of inactivity, 



