THE EREBUS AND TERROR 325 
the flagship of the South African squadron H. M. S. 
Winchester. For the third time they had come back 
after a long and trying sojourn in the Antarctic ice with- 
out a single name on the sick list. Although no one 
was actually disabled on board, the three years of cease- 
less work and wearing anxiety had told heavily on the 
officers. They were not the sort of men to complain, 
and after a brief stay to refit the ships they sailed again 
on April 30th, homeward bound. The voyage was in- 
terrupted at St. Helena, Ascension and Rio de Janeiro 
to complete the magnetic observations at those stations. 
On the homeward voyage another attempt to sound in 
very deep water was made in latitude 15 0 3' S. and longi- 
tude 23 0 14' W. The day was nearly calm, the water 
quite smooth, and 4600 fathoms of line were run out 
without finding bottom. Subsequent soundings in that 
part of the ocean make it appear unlikely that the depth 
is nearly so great, and it seems probable that the line 
continued to be drawn off the reel by currents after the 
lead had reached the bottom. 
It was not until September 2nd that the English coast 
was at length sighted, and rarely if ever before did two 
men-of-war return to port after so long a commission. 
On September 23rd, 1843, when the ships were paid off at 
Woolwich, it was more than four years and five months 
since they had commissioned at Chatham. 
Ross was received with the welcome that so unique and 
successful an expedition deserved. He received the 
honour of knighthood, the gold medals of several 
societies, of which that presented by the Paris Geo- 
graphical Society perhaps gratified him most, and as the 
best reward it was currently reported and even announced 
in responsible papers that he was destined for the com- 
