long-boat attached to the commanding officer's ship at Chatham: an
indulgence which afforded him the highest satisfaction; while it tended
so largely to promote his practical knowledge of navigation, that he is
said to have soon actually become an excellent pilot for such vessels as
sail from Chatham to the Tower of London, and down the Swin Channel to
the North Foreland.

It was thus that this young seaman, by being continually engaged in the
successful navigation of difficult passages, or dangerous coasts,
habitually acquired that experimental reliance on his own skill, and
that internal self-possession, which so essentially contribute to
establish the dauntless intrepidity of a truly heroic mind. He felt a
conviction of his growing powers, and panted for opportunities of
bringing them to the proof. His present sphere of action, confined to a
comparatively small spot, for the Triumph never once went out to sea
while he remained on board, made him languish for some new situation,
better suited to his enterprising spirit; and it was not long before an
occurrence took place, which seemed to promise the gratification of his
most sanguine wish.

About the beginning of February 1773, the Earl of Sandwich, then First
Lord of the Admiralty, in consequence of an application which had been
made to him by the Royal Society, laid before the King a proposal for an
expedition to try how far navigation might be practicable towards the
North Pole; which his Majesty was pleased to direct should be
immediately undertaken, with every encouragement that could countenance
such an enterprise, and every assistance that could contribute to it's
success. The Racehorse and Carcass bombs, being selected as the
strongest, and therefore the properest, vessels to be employed in this
voyage, were taken into dock, and fitted in the most complete manner for