240 



RETURN TO PORT GAXLANT. 



June 1829. 



but the water is never very cold (42° to 44°). f q) In the after- 

 noon we saw the Beagle'*s mast-heads, and soon afterwards 

 arrived on board, and enjoyed the happiness of finding all 

 hands well, and every thing ready for farther progress. Lieu- 

 tenant Kempe had turned the few hours of light, each day 

 afforded, to the best acccount. Those who have had the care of 

 ships in remote places, will know my feelings at finding all as it 

 should be, after a long absence, in a country little known. Not 

 a man had been ill ; and the weather had been very tolerable 

 compared with what was expected. There was less snow on 

 the mountains than when I left Port Gallant early in May. 

 One thing only disappointed me, — the Adelaide had not 

 arrived. It was past the time appointed for her, but she might 

 have found much more to do than was expected, or might have 

 been obliged to return by the Magdalen, instead of coming 

 through the Barbara Channel. 



" During my absence, two sealing vessels had been at Port 

 Gallant, on their way through the Strait. From one (an Ame- 

 rican), which arrived on the 7th of May from Staten Land, 

 information was received that the Adventure had not been 

 there. The Chanticleer had remained some time, but had 

 sailed for the Cape of Good Hope. The master of the Ame- 

 rican had a brother staying with a boat's crew in Staten Land, 

 during the whole of April, who would probably have seen the 

 Adventure, had she called. The other was Mr. Cutler's vessel, 

 the Uxor, bound to the United States ; he had been through 

 a channel which leads from the Gulf of Trinidad to Cape 

 Tamar, and spoke well of it ; but could give no drawing, nor 

 precise information ; having passed through rapidly. 



" Lieutenant Kempe had been at the summit of the Moun- 

 tain de la Cruz, and left a memorial. No rare animals had 

 been seen, nor any new birds. Small fish were still caught with 

 hook and line, but very few with the seine. 



" I never was fully aware of the comfort of a bed until this 



{q) At the western entrance of the Strait the water is said to be gene- 

 rally a few deg:rees warmer than at the eastern. — R. F. 



