480 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 



was 77°. We were seven hours in crossing it, and found, as in our 

 first passage, that the inner edge was the warmest. During the 

 next half hour after leaving the Gulf Stream, the surface temperature 

 fell twelve degrees, and so continued until we got on soundings, 

 when it rose again some three or four degrees. The morning of 

 the 9th was foggy, which rather tried our patience, but by firing 

 guns we attracted the attention of the pilot-boats, and on the fog 

 clearing away a little, discovered one close to us. A pilot now 

 boarded and took charge of the ship, and next day at noon anchored 

 us off Sandy Hook, where a steamer came alongside soon afterwards, 

 and took us in tow. After stopping half an hour at the quarantine 

 ground, to receive the visit of the health officer, we held our course 

 towards the city of New York. 



Before I left the Vincennes off the Battery, the crew were called 

 to muster, when I expressed to them my thanks for the manner in 

 which they had conducted themselves during the cruise, and stated 

 the confident belief entertained by me, that they would receive from 

 the government such rewards as the successful performance of the 

 cruise, and their long and perilous services, entitled them to. A 

 national salute was then fired, and my pennant hauled down; the 

 command of the ship being given to Captain Hudson, who proceeded 

 with her to the navy-yard. As soon as she was safely moored, all the 

 men who could be spared were allowed to go on shore, with their 

 bags and hammocks. A happier set of fellows than they were is not 

 often to be met with ; being relieved from their long confinement on 

 shipboard, and the severe discipline of a man-of-war. 



Those who have perused this full narrative of the events of the 

 Expedition, I confidently believe, will absolve me from all the charges 

 so industriously circulated against me, relative to the manner in which 

 I had conducted the Expedition ; at the same time they will see what 

 meed of honour or reward is justly due to the officers and crews 

 who faithfully served out the cruise. All of the former, and many 

 of the latter, are still to be found on the rolls of the navy, and to 

 them, I trust that the applause of a grateful country has been only 

 delayed, not wholly lost. 



The Porpoise and Oregon had, in the mean time, proceeded to Rio 

 Janeiro, where they executed their instructions, and having obtained 

 the necessary supplies, sailed for the United States. After leaving 

 the equator, their route differed but little from that pursued by the 

 Vincennes. 



