pecuniary outlay came upon myself." After
all, in consequence of the newness to practical
life displayed by all hands, "I admitted—
I could acknowledge—I knew the necessity
of prayer and supplication; but I felt
that this might be practised with as great
fervour and sincerity in proper places, and at
suitable seasons, as at frequent set times and
occasions, no matter what the business. My
ship must be well equipped, cautiously
trimmed, carefully stowed, and duly
provisioned; and to all this I personally attended,
working hard with my own hands, even as a
seaman. Yet I had ultimately to go to sea
with the vessel leaky, and her decks covered
with timber, which lumbered her fore and aft."

The instructions with which the captain
sailed were, that he was to have authority
over the vessel and its crew, and over the
men of the land party, when on board the
vessel. That the vessel was to be employed
only with a view to the instruction and
civilisation of the natives of South America.
That he was to be always ready to convey
the missionaries to Tierra del Fuego and
Patagonia, to aid their intercourse with the
natives, and to bring back to the Falkland
Island station whatever people they might
induce to accompany them. That as soon as
the station was somewhat arranged, and the
clergyman or catechist could go with him, he
was to proceed to Woollya, and look for
Jemmy Button. The clergyman who was to
have gone out and acted as "third mate on
board," was not ready in time. He was to
be sent out afterwards, by some vessel, to
join his party at the Falklands, With twelve
months' provisions, and a crew bound for
eighteen months (the men requiring then to
be sent home free of expense) the Allen
Gardiner left Bristol in the last week of
October, eighteen hundred and fifty-four,
much fortified with prayer.

Of the voyage out, the Captain writes:
"Except one or two of the seamen, I have
found that it would have been better to have
had any kind of men, than professedly super-
excellent ones—men who come with heaven
on their lips, but not in their heart. . . . .
If there was anything that could disgust me
with what I inwardly have a sincere respect
for, it would have been the amazing
impudence with which a few of my companions
and a couple of the seamen, with the boy,
would take upon themselves to denounce me
to perdition, and put themselves in the place
of a consecrated minister of God, whenever told
to do what they chose to think not right."

On Christmas Day, the mission yacht was
entering Rio Janeiro, and a Christmas dinner
was then given by the Captain and Mrs. Snow
to all hands; every extra being furnished from
their private purse in this as in all other
matters. On the twenty-eighth of January they
reached Keppel Island, a small island of
unappropriated crown land in the Falklands,
which was selected as the ground most suitable
for purchase as the seat of a mission.
The society had obtained from the Crown
the privilege of purchasing at the usual price
of eight shillings an acre the land chosen,
without the risk of losing it, attendant on
the usual auction. The selection made by
Captain Snow was "strongly approved of by
the committee."

Possession having been taken of this little
island, one of the crew accidentally set fire
to the dry tussack grass, and an extensive
conflagration was the consequence. To
secure the purchase, it was then necessary to
go round to Stanley, the seat of government
in the Falkland Islands, and at Stanley, the
Captain found his cause a little prejudiced.
At the first interview with the Governor, his
Excellency produced "letters from the Right
Honourable Sir George Grey, wherein it was
said (and this his Excellency dwelt upon with
much natural indignation), that the secretary
of the Patagonian mission, desired a location,
&c., away from the depraved, low, and
immoral colonists of Stanley!" "I have no
hesitation," observes the Captain, "in saying that
these terms are not warranted, at least so far
as my own knowledge went, of Stanley. But
let me ask the reader to consider the absurdity,
and the harm to myself as well as the
mission, in thus traducing a colony to which
I and the vessel had to go." It was finally
agreed that for one year the Patagonian
Missionary Society might occupy Keppel Island
at the rental of one pound, but that it must
then buy, or give up the right of purchase
without auction. No better terms could be
made, "for," says the Captain, "we had no
money, we had no letters of credit; and the
mission, I could soon see, was thought but
little of at Stanley. We need not look there
for help; nor do I wonder at it, after what
had been said."

Having left the land-party on Keppel
Island, and displayed his want of "faith," by
making an arrangement to prevent the risk
of its being left helpless in case of accident,
Captain Snow went to Monte Video, earning
some money that the vessel wanted, by
conveyance of the mails. There, two mates
became mutinous because, there being no
clergyman on board, the Captain performed
once only instead of twice, a daily service of
public prayer. These persons were
discharged, it being their wish to go on shore
for the purpose of "converting the wretched
sailors and bigoted papists."

Returned to Stanley many troubles beset
the bold captain who had undertaken to
command a crew of saints for a society of lovers
of the Patagonian. His instructions from
home were as ambiguous as Delphic oracles,
and the behaviour of his companions was
spiteful in proportion to the profession made
by them of piety. Especially a thorn in the
side of the captain was the catechist who on
the passage out "fancied and taught that
religious duties made a man independent of all