46 A NOVICE IN THE ANDAMANS 



The Investigator was away among the islands 

 when we reached Port Blair, and it was not until her 

 return on the 24th November that I made the 

 acquaintance of her officers, and took stock of the 

 little department assigned to my charge on board. 



The officer in command of the survey at that 

 time was Captain Alfred Carpenter, R.N., D.S.O., 

 whose special knowledge of deep-sea hydrography 

 had been drawn from the fountain-head of the Chal- 

 lenger during her now historic voyage. 



The ''first" was Lieutenant E.C.H. Helby, R.N., 

 whose term of service with the Indian Marine Survey 

 was then, unfortunately, drawing to an end. 



Among other shipmates to whom I was then 

 introduced were Lieutenants E. J. Beaumont, G. L. 

 Mathias, and W. B. Huddleston, all of whom, though 

 at first, like true British sailors, inclined to regard as a 

 curiosity a man who had deliberately given up a shore- 

 going billet to come to sea, soon became fast friends 

 and supporters of the surgeon-naturalist's department. 



Nor must I forget to mention Engineers C. Fuller 

 and F. S. Lamb, the latter of whom, like that emblem 

 of his craft the great steam-hammer which can 

 moderate its strength so as to crack a nut without 

 hurting the kernel, could mend you a microscope with 

 as much ease and dexterity as he could control his 

 engines ; and Mr Peterson, the gunner, who presided 

 over the dredging-gear. 



