Mr Paterson had no difficulty in recognising me, though it was so many years since we had last met; and if my features had changed, my knowledge of the localities and people about the home he had left would have removed all doubts as to my identity. He was very kind to me during my stay in Tasmania, and as he was in flourishing circumstances, having done well in commerce since he had settled here, he willingly advanced me money to acquit my debt to Captain Wurst, provide for my personal expenses in Hobart Town, and pay my passage back to England.
It was not long before the steamer in connection with the packet-line from Melbourne to England, by way of the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, in which I had engaged a berth, steamed out of the beautiful estuary of the River Derwent.
I need not dwell on the incidents of my voyage home, which was as prosperous and uneventful as it generally is in the well-appointed vessels of the ubiquitous P. and O. Company. As soon as I got to Southampton I telegraphed to my father, and followed my message as fast as the rail could carry me.
On arriving at my father's house in Norfolk, I was received with every demonstration of heartfelt affection. Nothing having been heard of the vessel in which I sailed, it was generally supposed that she had been lost with all souls on board. All despaired of ever seeing or hearing from me again, except my mother, who would not consent to wear mourning, but persisted in hoping against hope, though latterly she had been, less confident in asserting that I would surely turn up again.
When my account of the loss of the Precursor became public, it was curious to see how those who had been the most eager advocates of the principles on
