rvices* and professional
character of my late captain, yet in common with many others, I cannot
refrain from adding my humble testimony to his worth, by recording my
deep sense of many personal favours, and the assistance which was always
liberally rendered me during my natural history investigations throughout
the voyage, whenever the more important objects of the survey permitted.

(*Footnote. See O'Byrne's Naval Biographical Dictionary page 1109.)

By this unfortunate event all previous arrangements regarding our future
proceedings were anulled. It had been intended by Captain Stanley to
return to England by way of Singapore and the Cape of Good Hope, adding
to the charts of the Inner Passage as we went along the east coast of
Australia, and making a careful survey of the Strait of Alass, between
the islands of Lombock and Sumbawa. Captain the Honourable Henry Keppel
of H.M.S. Meander, as senior naval officer present, having appointed
Lieutenant Yule to the vacancy in the command of the Rattlesnake, with
orders to proceed direct to England, we left Sydney for that purpose on
May 2nd. The Bramble was left behind in the colony, and in addition to
her former crew, the limited accommodations of our ship were still
further crowded with the greater number of the Port Essington marines,
some invalids, and other passengers, making up the number on board to
upwards of 230 persons.

A course was steered to pass to the northward of New Zealand without
calling there, but shortly after leaving Sydney some defects in the ship
were found out, which rendered it necessary to put into the nearest port,
as the principal one, causing a leak in the after gunroom, could not be
repaired at sea. It was also considered expedient to get rid of the Asp
in order to lessen the straining of the ship during the prospective
passage round Cape Horn, which so much top weight was considered
materially to increase. On May 14th the land about Cape Maria Van Diemen
and the North Cape of New Zealand was in sight at daylight, appearing
high and mountainous, with steep maritime cliffs. On our passage across
from Australia we had seen few seabirds, but now albatrosses of three or
four species were very numerous, together with a few petrels, chiefly
Procellaria cookii. Next morning we found ourselves to leeward of Cape
Brett, having experienced a southerly current during the night of two
knots an hour; it took us the whole day to work up into the Bay of
Isl