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| May 9th
Halifax docky'd
All day yesterday we were fishing and some scores of fine Cod were
caught, who we had for dinner, tea & supper. We sighted the
coast of Nova Scotia early this morning & steamed up the harbour,
mooring alongside the dockyard at twelve o'clock. The passage down
the river was splendid, regular English scenery, Lighthouses, Forts
& Batteries, and Halifax itself is quite like one of our towns
at home.
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Halifax in 1893, just
twenty years after Challenger's visit |
| It is the principal Naval
station in British North America and the dockyard is very extensive.
The Harbour is considered one of the finest in the world, & the
fish market more plentifully supplied than any other known, cod, salmon,
halibut & mackerel are very abundant, & lobsters are only
1d each. The weather at present is very cold, more so than in England
in May; although it is in the same latitude as Paris, the winter is
more severe than it is in the north of Scotland. |
Challenger's celebrity throughout the world was made apparent
by their reception in Nova Scotia.
| To day
we have been taking in six months provisions &c, we have had
any amount of visitors off to see the ship already and the Halifax
papers are crazy about her...The ship is full of visitors who have
come all the way from New York to see it.... |
Challenger did not remain long in Halifax, but set sail
for the return trip to Bermuda within ten days. Matkin took advantage
of the time on board to write to his younger brother Charlie with his
advice on marriage:
| You spoke
of a chance of Your being married before I get home again. I don't
think of it myself, even if you can find any one to have you. If
you do marry early, you must marry for money; for myself I mean
to wait at least 10 more years, & look about for a good one,
White, Black or Brown, as long as they're the right sort. |
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