in 1850. The place in
which the remains were afterwards discovered had been revealed to him in
a dream; and but for the refusal of his superior officer to proceed he
would have reached the spot. In the year 1854 Captain Snow was sent out
by the Patagonian Missionary Society to the place where the unfortunate
Allen Gardiner had been starved to death. His crew consisted entirely of
'godly' sailors, who, he says, showed their principles by finding
religious reasons for disobeying his orders. Finally Captain Snow was
dismissed by an agent of the Society, and, as he maintained, illegally.
He published an account of his explorations in Tierra del Fuego, which
Fitzjames reviewed enthusiastically. It was long, he said, since he had
seen a 'heartier, more genuine, nobler book'; he was tempted to think
that Captain Marryat and Kingsley had 'put their heads together to
produce a sort of missionary "Peter Simple."' This led to a long
correspondence with Captain Snow, who was trying to enforce his claims
against the Missionary Society. Fitzjames strongly advised him against
legal proceedings, which would, he thought, be fruitless, although
Captain Snow had a strong moral claim upon the Society. Captain Snow,
however, was not easy to advise, and Fitzjames, thinking him
ill-treated, obtained help from several friends and subscribed himself
to the Captain's support. After long negotiations the case finally came
into court in December 1859, when Fitzjames consented to appear as the
Captain's counsel, although he had foreseen the unsuccessful result. He
continued to do what he could for the sufferer, to whose honourable,
though injudicious conduct he bears a strong testimony, and long
afterwards (1879) obtained for him a pension of 40_l._ from the Civil
List, which is, I fear, Captain Snow's only support in his old age.[74]

In August 1859 Fitzjames was made recorder of Newark. The place, which
he held till he went to India in 1869, was worth only 40_l._ a year; but
was, as he said, a 'feather in his cap,' and a proof of his having
gained a certain footing upon his circuit. It gave him his first
experience as a judge, and I may mention a little incident of one of his
earliest appearances in that character. He had to sentence a criminal to
penal servitude, when the man's wife began to scream; he was touched by
her grief, and left a small sum with the mayor to be given to her
without mention of his name. The place was, it seems, practicall