Chap. IX.]
XX
255
1842
May.
May.
All the repairs and caulking below the water line of the Erebus being completed by the evening of the 26th, she was hauled off at high water, and moored at a convenient distance from the pier. The next few days were occupied in thoroughly cleansing and ventilating the holds, whilst a strict and careful survey of all the remaining stores and provisions was being made by officers appointed to that duty; their reshipment was commenced on the 1st of June, and finished by the 7th.
Precisely similar operations were commenced upon the Terror; she was laid on the ground for examination and repair on the 22nd, and hove off June 22.again on the 25th.
In the evening of the 23rd a man-of-war was seen beating up Berkeley Sound, and on her anchoring, late at night, outside the narrows, I sent an officer on board, in case of her wanting the assistance of a pilot into the harbour. On his return, he informed me it was her Majesty's ship Carysfort, commanded by the Right Honourable Lord George Paulet, having on board a bowsprit, and a large supply of provisions and stores sent to us by Commodore Purvis, and also a quantity of private stock for which we had written to a merchant at Rio, and which must have been sent to us, at great expense, in a hired vessel, but for the kindness of Lord George Paulet in taking charge of them for us, notwithstanding the great bulk and the inconvenience attending their stowage in a vessel already deeply laden and encumbered with the