COiTCLUSIOK 
WK COMMENCE OUR HOMEWARD-BOUND VOYAGE AND ARE STOPrED BT A 
NORTHEAST GALE, AFTER WHICH A WESTERLY HURRICANE COMES TO OUR 
ASSISTANCE AND FRIGHTENS THE “OLD JOHN” INTO UNUSUAL ACTIVITY 
— WK ARE ATTACKED BY THE SCURVY, ARRIVE AT SAN FRANCISCO, AND 
HEAR VARIOUS KINDS OF NEWS — THE LAST OF THE “OLD JOHN,” AND 
AN IDEA OF THE RESULTS OF THE CRUISE. 
It was now the 15th of September, 1855 ; and, as we 
steamed back into the Okotsk Sea, we rubbed our bands 
and felt as only men can feel who have a bard cruise in 
their rear and the sight of their native land and the joys 
of home in their front. Our work was over, and we were at 
length bound for the longed-for haven of San Francisco. 
W e had been a year witliout even letters from our rela- 
tives, — wanderers along the shores of strange and 
unfrequented lands. 
\V”e had accomplished a vast deal of work during this 
time, — particularly toward the latter part of it. Bad 
charts had been corrected without number, the data for 
new ones obtained, and our continuous line of deep-sea 
and other soundings followed us from ocean to ocean 
like the endless trail of the luminous circle whose broad 
% 
and starry breast meets the upw'ard gaze from every 
longitude. We did what I suppose no vessel ever did 
before : — we sounded around the w^orld. 
And now, as we were commencing our homeward- 
bound voyage, with something over a month*s provision 
in the ship, with only enough wood and coal in the 
495 
