to break up the expedition by the end of July. However, he trusted that the wreck of the Tigris had changed their circumstances, and believed that the government would not stand to lose their prestigious reputation by cancelling a major British project after one steamer had been inadvertently lost. Therefore, the party collectively chose to continue the descent of the river aboard Euphrates and reduce expenses by sending the survivors of the wreck back home. Euphrates then anchored at the small city of Ana, where they repaired and refuelled the steamer as well as wrote reports regarding the previous unfortunate events. Numerous episodes of "comic melodrama" then unfurled during their ensuing descent of the river. For instance, on 31 May 1836, the day Euphrates left Ana, Chesney left Ainsworth on the bank of the river during a momentary loss of memory. Ainsworth finally made his way to the vessel after having walked more than fifty miles for over two days. Another episode unfolded when Euphrates arrived at New Lemlum on 13 June 1836 and the steamer was compelled to secure itself close to town. Soon after, the ship was encircled by half-naked native of the Khezail tribe. Ainsworth recorded that "the unusual sinewy length and thinness of their limbs, a peculiarity of development which, as seen on a smaller scale in the shrimp girls of Boulogne, we could not but attribute to their living in a marsh". Following these events, Chesney noted that the descent and survey of approximately 1200 miles of the Euphrates river had been completed by 18 June 1836. The River Karun and Bah-a-Mishir were then examined throughout September 1836. This constituted the final step of the expedition, that is, the ascent of the river Tigris to Bagdad. However, as the steamer crossed the twisting river of the Lemlum marshes, the canal narrowed and, on 24 October, Estcourt wrote that "we have now this moment anchored at a narrow winding, past which we cannot get". Since there were no new orders from India or England, Chesney was forced to make a decision about what to do with the expedition during the remaining ten weeks until the scheduled end of the mission, on 31 January 1837. The captain decided to go to Bombay himself aboard the steamer on 1 December 1836, leaving Estcourt in charge with instructions to further examine the Karun and the Tigris. The Expedition was