CHARLES WILKES 
227 
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 visitors 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 protecting 
ourselves in the ships for winter quarters, were anything 
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. . . . 
“ We made up our minds that it was absolutely neces- 
sary for the credit of the Expedition and the country for 
her to perform it; for we were well satisfied that im- 
proper imputations and motives would be ascribed to 
us if she did not, and was detained undergoing repairs, 
in a state of inactivity, during the season for operations 
in the high southern latitudes. The necessity I felt of 
subjecting so many lives in so unworthy a ship, caused 
me great anxiety during the whole cruise.” 
On December 26th, 1839, the day decided upon before 
leaving home, the squadron sailed from Sydney. On 
January 2nd, 1840, the little Flying Fish was lost sight 
of in a fog and the opinion was general in the other 
vessels that she had shared the fate that befell the Sea 
