As the month of December advanced the scene on the ship was a very
busy one, but at last the day for sailing from Lyttelton arrived,
though not for the final departure from civilization, because a
short visit was to be paid to Port Chalmers in the south to complete
the stock of coal. On Saturday, December 21, the ship lay alongside
the wharf ready for sea and very deeply laden. 'One could reflect
that it would have been impossible to have got more into her, and
that all we had got seemed necessary for the voyage, for the rest
we could only trust that Providence would vouch-safe to us fine
weather and an easy passage to the south.'

New Zealand, to the last, was bent on showing its enthusiasm for the
expedition. Two men-of-war steamed slowly out ahead of the _Discovery_,
while no fewer than five steamers, crowded with passengers, and
with bands playing and whistles hooting, also accompanied her,
until the open sea was reached and the _Discovery_ slowly steamed
out between the war-ships that seemed to stand as sentinels to
the bay. And then, before the cheers of thousands of friends were
hardly out of the ears of those on board, a tragedy happened. Among
the ship's company who had crowded into the rigging to wave their
farewells was one young seaman, named Charles Bonner, who,
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more venturesome than the rest, had climbed above the crow's-nest
to the top of the main-mast. There, seated on the truck, he had
remained cheering, until in a moment of madness he raised himself
into a standing position, and almost directly afterwards he fell
and was instantaneously killed. On the Monday the ship arrived
at Port Chalmers, and Bonner was buried with naval honours.