Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/288

254 bowsprit, and a further supply of provisions and stores, should any opportunity present itself of sending them to us; but that otherwise we could do quite well upon our present resources, as I was unwilling to hazard the present healthy condition of our crew by taking them into a warm climate, until we had completed our work in the southern regions. I also sent by the Arrow all the specimens of natural history which had been collected during the voyage, which I have since learnt were conveyed from Rio to England in her Majesty's ship Acteon, Captain Robert Russell, and safely deposited in the British Museum.

The pier and storehouse being finished by the middle of May, the Erebus was completely cleared out; and, after a careful examination of the ground, she was hove up as far as we could get her at the top of high water, on the morning of the 25th, and the carpenters of both ships, and as many hands as could be of any assistance to them, were set to work to repair the damages she had sustained during the late arduous season's navigation amongst the ice.

On the 24th of May, being the anniversary of the birth of our most gracious Queen, a royal salute was fired from a temporary battery we had constructed on the beach, on which the guns and howitzers of both ships had been mounted for the occasion, and our people enjoyed an additional allowance of provisions and grog in honour of the day.