Character
Records of the Vancouver expedition suggest that Whidbey was an expert and reliable seaman, entrusted with difficult tasks. However, upon his return to England, he provided testimony for Sir Joseph Banks' campaign against Vancouver (Whidbey was at the time competing with Vancouver for the pay accrued as Astronomer for the voyage.) Vancouver soon died, perhaps mooting difficulties in their relationship.
At any rate, Whidbey rose swiftly from his humble beginnings, undoubtedly due to his proven technical skill as much as to his connections.
Correspondence between Whidbey and Rennie suggests a close and honest working relationship, and an earthy sense of humor. For example, when Sir Francis Northwell pestered the two with the idea that a large hole in the floor of Plymouth bay might complicate construction, Whidbey wrote to Rennie that, should such a feature be discovered, it would be named Lady Northwell's Hole.
Read more about this topic: Joseph Whidbey
Famous quotes containing the word character:
“Whoever has the luck to be born a character can laugh even at death. Because a character will never die! A man will die, a writer, the instrument of creation: but what he has created will never die!”
—Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936)
“The character of the logger’s admiration is betrayed by his very mode of expressing it.... He admires the log, the carcass or corpse, more than the tree.... What right have you to celebrate the virtues of the man you murdered?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There are certain stereotypes that are offensive. Some of them don’t worry me, though. For instance, I have always thought that Mammy character in Gone with the Wind was mighty funny. And I just loved “Amos ‘n’ Andy” on the radio. So you see, I have enough confidence in myself that those things did not bother me. I could laugh.”
—Annie Elizabeth Delany (b. 1891)