current ceases near the equator, might, by running away to the
eastward in them, shorten the passage to either Ascension or St. Helena.)

(**Footnote. I have already mentioned that the Beagle was fitted with Mr.
Snow Harris's lightning conductors; the fact mentioned in the text is
ample proof that they do not weaken even the smallest spars.)

(***Footnote. It is in justice due to say, that the boats were chiefly
built by Mr. Johns, of Plymouth Dockyard.)

TAKE LEAVE OF THE BEAGLE.

After giving the men their certificates, I loitered a short time to
indulge in those feelings that naturally arose on taking a final leave of
the poor old Beagle at the same place where I first joined her in 1825.
Many events have occurred since my first trip to sea in her: I have seen
her under every variety of circumstances, placed in peculiar situations
and fearful positions, from nearly the antarctic to the tropic, cooled by
the frigid clime of the extreme of South America, or parched by the heats
of North Australia; under every vicissitude, from the grave to the gay, I
have struggled along with her; and after wandering together for eighteen
years, a fact unprecedented in the service, I naturally parted from her
with regret. Her movements, latterly, have been anxiously watched, and
the chances are that her ribs will separate, and that she will perish in
the river* where she was first put together. She has made herself as
notorious as during the war did her namesake, that reaped golden opinions
from her success in prize-making; while my old friend has extensively
contributed to our geographical knowledge.

(*Footnote. The Beagle, now employed in the Preventive Service, is moored
in Crouch Creek, near South End.)

THE SURVEYING SERVICE. CONCLUSION.

There was only one drawback to the pleasure I experienced on arriving in
England--namely, that Lieutenant G. Gore did not obtain his promotion,
but was compelled to seek it by a second voyage to the North Pole. All
the mates were, in the course of a short time, promoted, and the ship's
company received the favour of having half of their slop bill deducted,
an indulgence which the Lords of the Admiralty, from the kindest and most
considerate motives, have in some instances bestowed upon the crews of
surveying vessels, on their return from distant voyages. This boon,
however, in some instances, operates unfairly. In the first place, it
often happens, in spite of the strictest surveillance, t