give way to a bolder man."

"But, Mr. Johnson," continued the sailor, for the want of something
better to say, "at least you know the captain?"

"The captain is Richard Shandon till another comes."

Richard Shandon, in his secret heart, hoped that the command would
remain with him, and that at the last moment he should receive precise
instructions as to the destination of the _Forward_. He did all he
could to spread the report in his conversations with his officers,
or when following the construction of the brig as it grew in the
Birkenhead dockyard, looking like the ribs of a whale turned upside
down. Shandon and Johnson kept strictly to their instructions
touching the health of the sailors who were to form the crew; they
all looked hale and hearty, and had enough heat in their bodies to
suffice for the engine of the _Forward_; their supple limbs, their
clear and florid complexions were fit to react against the action
of intense cold. They were confident and resolute men, energetically
and solidly constituted. Of course they were not all equally vigorous;
Shandon had even hesitated about taking some of them, such as the
sailors Gripper and Garry, and the harpooner Simpson, because they
looked rather thin; but, on the whole, their build was good; they
were a warm-hearted lot, and their engagement was signed.

All the crew belonged to the same sect of the Protestant religion;
during these long campaigns prayer in common and the reading of the
Bible have a good influence over the men and sustain them in the hour
of discouragement; it was therefore important that they should be
all of the same way of thinking. Shandon knew by experience the utility
of these practices, and their influence on the mind of the crew; they
are always employed on board ships that are intended to winter in
the Polar Seas. The crew once got together, Shandon and his two
officers set about the provisions; they strictly followed the
instructions of the captain; these instructions were clear, precise,
and detailed, and the least articles were put down with their quality
and quantity. Thanks to the cheques at the commander's disposition,
every article was paid for at once with a discount of 8 per cent,
which Richard carefully placed to the credit of K. Z.

Crew, provisions, and cargo were ready by January, 1860; the _Forward_
began to look shipshape, and Shandon went daily to Birkenhead. On
the morning of the 23rd of January he was, as usual, on b