n nor the stern, steel-clad as they were, succeeded in looking
warlike.

On the 5th of February, 1860, this strange vessel was launched in
the midst of an immense concourse of spectators, and the trial trip
was perfectly successful. But if the brig was neither a man-of-war,
a merchant vessel, nor a pleasure yacht--for a pleasure trip is not
made with six years' provisions in the hold--what was it? Was it a
vessel destined for another Franklin expedition? It could not be,
because in 1859, the preceding year, Captain McClintock had returned
from the Arctic seas, bringing the certain proof of the loss of the
unfortunate expedition. Was the _Forward_ going to attempt the famous
North-West passage? What would be the use? Captain McClure had
discovered it in 1853, and his lieutenant, Creswell, was the first
who had the honour of rounding the American continent from Behring's
Straits to Davis's Straits. Still it was certain to competent judges
that the _Forward_ was prepared to face the ice regions. Was it going
to the South Pole, farther than the whaler Weddell or Captain James
Ross? But, if so, what for?

The day after the brig was floated her engine was sent from Hawthorn's
foundry at Newcastle. It was of a hundred and twenty horse-power,
with oscillating cylinders, taking up little room; its power was
considerable for a hundred-and-seventy-ton brig, with so much sail,
too, and of such fleetness. Her trial trips had left no doubt on that
subject, and even the boatswain, Johnson, had thought right to express
his opinion to Clifton's friend--

"When the _Forward_ uses her engine and sails at the same time, her
sails will make her go the quickest."

Clifton's friend did not understand him, but he thought anything
possible of a ship commanded by a dog. After the engine was installed
on board, the stowage of provisions began. This was no slight work,
for the vessel was to carry enough for six years. They consisted of
dry and salted meat, smoked fish, biscuit, and flour; mountains of
tea and coffee were thrown down the shafts in perfect avalanches.
Richard Shandon presided over the management of this precious cargo
like a man who knows what he is about; all was stowed away, ticketed,
and numbered in perfect order; a very large provision of the Indian
preparation called pemmican, which contains many nutritive elements
in a small volume, was also embarked. The nature of the provisions
left no doubt about the length of the crui