off from the Barrier Reefs to the eastward, in
order to explore the safety of the sea intervening between them
and Louisiade and New Guinea, you will have occasion to approach
these shores, in which case you must constantly be on your guard
against the treacherous disposition of their inhabitants. All
barter for refreshments must be conducted under the eye of an
officer, and every pains be taken to avoid giving any just cause
of offence to their prejudices, especially with respect to their
women."

The second warning concerned grave international matters. European
politics were in the unsettled condition which, after the illusive
international courtesies of the Great Exhibition of 1851, ended in the
Crimean War, and it was feared that in the event of hostilities
breaking out, the zeal of the officers for their country might tempt
them to transcend their peaceful occupation. The instructions with
regard to this ran as follows:

"In the event of this country being involved in hostilities
during your absence, you will take care never to be surprised;
but you are to refrain from any act of aggression towards the
vessels or settlements of any nation with which we may be at war,
as expeditions employed on behalf of discovery and science have
always been considered by all civilised communities as acting
under a general safeguard."

The great scientific expeditions sent out in recent times by the
governments of Britain, Germany, and the United States, were fitted
with every convenience for the staff of naturalists, and the luxuries
and comforts of civilisation attended them round the world. The late
Professor Mosely, for instance, who was a naturalist on the English
_Challenger_ expedition, told the present writer of a pleasant way in
which a peculiarity of the deep sea was made to pay toll to the
comfort of those on board ship. The great ocean depths all over the
world, under the burning skies of the tropics, or below the arctic
ice-fields, are extremely cold, the water at the bottom always being
only a few degrees above freezing point. When the dredge brought up a
sample of the abysmal mud at a convenient time, it was used to ice the
wine for the officers' mess. There was, however, no cooled champagne
for Huxley.

"Life on board Her Majesty's ships in those days," he writes,
"was a very different affair from what it is now, and ours was