The term-day observations and absolute determinations were completed by the 4th of September, and being desirous to obtain a series of experiments in the vicinity of Cape Horn, strictly comparative with those arranged to be made at Port Louis in our absence, and similar to those we had made during the preceding winters, in situations favourable for comparison with the Van Diemen's Land observatory, preparations were made for the departure of the ships.
Before leaving Port Louis, however, I must notice some changes that became necessary, consequent upon the loss we were about to sustain in the services of the senior lieutenant of the Terror. Mr. McMurdo, who had distinguished himself by his zeal, activity, and skill on all occasions, had, during the whole period of our voyage, suffered frequently from a constitutional malady, which had now become so greatly aggravated by the arduous duties of his position, in a climate admitting of no repose, that the medical officers of the Expedition concurred, in their report to me, that it was essential, not only for the restoration of his health, but for the preservation of his life, that he should not again encounter the severities of an Antarctic navigation,
