[[1]]
Copy *1 H.M.S. "Erebus" Berkeley Sound Falkland Islands
April 5, 1842
My dear Mother,
You, I know, forgive me for having long neglected you amongst my relations at
home, if so be that you have yet all assembled again; but as often as the long
weeks rolled on & on, without the possibility of my redeeming my character, I
grew more & more impatient & every succeeding month, & upbraided my
conscience for not having forced me to thank you in kind for the long letter you
wrote to me. I only hope that you were not alarmed at not hearing from me during
the projected stay at the Chatham Islands; the more especially as no other
opportunity could turn up by which I could relieve your minds, before our
departure on the long cruize[sic], from which we have but just returned; we have
this day cast anchor for the first time for 136 days, & thus my first offering is to
write you a letter[.] It is indeed a curious life to lead, to be boxed up with only
three messmates for such a length of time, without any object to occupy the mind
but what our own minds can afford, no walks to take, but a few steps on deck
when the weather permits, no news, & no comforts of any description; the only
wonder is that we do not quarrel, which would always, be a change; but
somehow, although we cannot but know a great deal too much of one another,
we get on most amicably together; nor, for my part, could I ever say
[[2]] in the morning that I wished for the night, for want of some imployment[sic].
You will be glad to hear that we have again beaten the French & Yankees by
many degrees of latitude, & ourselves by a few miles, a great thing, though it be
by a very few weeks; we have had, however, no ordinary struggle with the
stubborn ice & the unruly elements to accomplish this; for we have had a most
stormy season, & surely these high latitudes are the temples of Eolus[sic].
Nothing, however, could be more snug than our ships in bad weather, & from
their build it is almost impossible for the winds & seas to hurt us, though they
wash our decks, split our sails, & carry our boats away, & for the time; from the
rolling motion of the clumsy craft, they make us very uncomfortable. As, however,
I intend to give my father *2 a detailed account of the voyage, I need not trouble
you with it here. So long a time has now elapsed since the date of your last
letters, that I trust the worst of all turns--out, as it is natural to expect, is over, &
now I cannot but look upon you as all comfortably & quietly settled in "Brick farm
house", as our new mansion is dubbed, & I only wish I were there to keep you all
alive, although in truth, my banishment from civilization & especially from ladies
society, is now of so long a period that I fear me I should blush & feel awkward at
the sight of a petticoat; nor am I sure that I could recognize one, seeing that they
are talked of in the abstract so to speak among us so as things believed to exist,
like Mermaids or unicorns, & of which we have but a faint recollection, chiefly
associated with the Island of Great Britain & the scenes of our childhood. From
Your kind letters have indeed been a source of great grat-[[3]] ification to me; although the accounts of my dear little Mary *3 are so sad & of
Elizabeth *4 so doubtful; still, for the latter I do not fear & the happy state the
former is in much lightens the pain of separation; to have to part with her is,
however, a great grief & though the ultimate pain of hearing of our her removal
will be to me a sad shock, the light of hope has been so slowly extinguishedly by
the tardy letters, that I am quite prepared to rejoice for her sake, & to smother my
own feelings on the belief, that, when I shall know of it, your grief will be in a
measure past, with you she is one year sick, but to me two before the worst
arrives; & when the news does come it unfortunately unhinges one & is a sad
obstacle to doing my duty properly; these regrets must not, however, prevent my
working; though I cannot but vainly wish that the affection would come to me
when far from any land, & not when the prospect of a little enjoyment & of making
myself useful ashore, after so many tedious months at sea, is to be so sadly
marred by it. These regrets, as I said before, are useless & as God pleases to
send His visitations, so shall I always take them, truly thankful that they are no
worse & without grateful remembrance of his past wonderful mercies to those
that remain, & to myself in particular. Now that I expect an answer to this letter
before we go South again (for the last time) I feel myself quite at home, & all the
more so, as I feel sure that you will answer this letter, if it be only by a single line,
immediately on its receipt, & dispatch it at once for the Falklands. What our next
movements will be, I do not know. [W]e expect to have to go to Rio de Janeiro for
a new boltsprit, & to repair a few
[[4]] trivial damages, which cannot so well be done here; after that to return here
to the "Terror"; then to go to St. Martins cove close to Cape Horn, from which we
shall go to the Southward in Weddel[l]'s *5 track, push through the pack, & get as
far South as we can; at any rate we hope to beat M D'Urville *6, who has twice
essayed the pack where poor Weddel[l] passed through, & now has the
impudence to say that that intrepid navigator "pretends to have gone to 74". If we
only do get south there, only a few degrees beyond M. D'Urville, we shall come
home with flying colors, & none so glad as I shall be,. [A]t any rate the cruize[sic]
will be a short one, for we are close to the Ice here, & we have not the weary
long voyage in such stormy latitudes as we had first to V[an] D[ieman's] L[and], &
then here; for we shall go to the Cape of Good Hope & thence home. If we do not
go to Rio, we shall remain here for three months or more, probably 6 or else
return here after going to the Horn, to pick up answers to our letters. However
that may be is immaterial to me, for I shall have lots to do here in the Mosses,
lichens, & Seaweeds, to which latter Mr. Harvey *7 recommends me most
earnestly.
It is quite annoying to receive your & the other letters from home all together, in
such heaps, as they come, & yet it cannot be helped; during our last 3 months
stay at Hobartown, I received hardly a letter, but your kind one through Mr.
Power *8; which whilst at New Zealand, England's Antipodes, a most unfrequented
place, they actually showered in, though dispatched from home at different dates;
it looks as if the several letters kept up a private correspondence together, &
[[5]] were afraid to come by themselves to my hands; they are on that account
none the less welcome. My Father, I much fear, puts off other things to write me
such long Epistles as he does, dated from the Athenaeum club *9, of which he
proposes making me a member,. I need not say that I hope my name is already
down, for it is so first rate an establishment that it will be long before my claims
talis qualis can ever come under consideration; & if I live near London, as I hope
to do, with my father already a member I must be one too; perhaps too on our
return they may consider my having belonged to this expedition a claim in their
committee; you have always more to do with money matters than my father; &
so, if you do not know any better purpose to put the enclosed to, I beg of you to
reserve from out of it the admission fees for the club; next to being a member of
the Linnaean *10, I do count upon belonging to a club of scientific men.
You will ask about my health, which is perfect in every respect,. except being
rather stouter in build & limbs, more like what poor Willie *11 was, you would not
know me from what I was when we last met to part,. Since leaving V[an]
D[ieman's] L[and], I have not even had a headache, not a cold or cough of the
most trifling description. Jack Frost & I get on uncommonly well together; only I
am at times troubled with hunger, though our stock, which we took to sea had
lasted us uncommonly well, by dint of much management,. We managed to lay in
an immense stock, quietly smuggling them on
[[6]] board at Sydney, & stowing them away in obscure corners,. [W]e have lost
much, however, from the infamous manner in which the grocer supplied us with
Tea, hams, Maccaroni, cheeses, &c which are our great stand--byes at tea &
were packed in tin; they, however, had to be thrown overboard; to examine such
things before leaving port is impossible; for to open the air--tight boxes is to
expose them to ruin before they are wanted; so we have to take the word of
some resident who believes such a dealer to be an honest man & after we get
out of his way he turns out to be a rogue. We were allowed, however, to take 4
sheep & 6 pigs to sea, which fared very ill in the bad weather we always get to
the Southward; the decks being constantly wet with the seas washing over them,
so we killed them on entering the ice, & hung them up in the rigging, & this very
day we ate our last piece of fresh pork killed 4 months ago,. [I]t was a New
Zealand pig, a very clever one, a pig of parts, & so was christened Miss Franklin;
you may laugh at this, but, if you did but know the value of a pig in the Antarctic
circle, you would then appreciate the honor done the young lady; it is, like a very
high mountain or very large lake, only to be called after some great man. During
our former cruize[sic] we took to the South nothing but corned beef, hams &
Potatoes; the first was dreadfully tough, the second too rancid to eat, & the last
all decayed; so we were thrown upon ships provisions, & used to get very hungry
so much so that we cast longing eyes upon one another, & I had anxious serious
thought of applying to Capt. Ross *12 for a Marine
[[7]] with a drawn bayonet to mount guard over me; for of an angry man I am not
afraid, but a hungry one is a different thing, & much more dangerous.
The news of your own friends, my dear Mother, seems to be of a very
checquered complexion; for Aunt Vavasour *13 I am exceedingly sorry, as poor
Willie's Godmother, if for no other reason, I felt as much attached to her as if she
had been a nearer relation; & I still often look back with great pleasure to the
short visit she once paid us, & with greater to the shorter return one I made when
at Manchester. I owe a great many letters, particularly to your dear Mother *14 2
letters, to my own Aunt Palgrave *15, & Dawson *16, & I hope to return redeem some
of them. I have, however, a great many letters to write to persons who will not so
easily forgive my neglect, to Mrs. Boott*17, Mr. Lyuell *18, Mr. Dalton *19, Arnott *20,
Brown *21, & Bentham *22 especially, also to Colenso *23, McLeay *24, Gunn *25, &
Dayman *26, to Wilmot *27 at the Cape & some others, far more than I shall
accomplish for some time; for I do not like sending short letters, though my
affectionate aunt, Elizabeth, always keeps up with me a small--paper
correspondence not on my part (nor I am sure on hers) because we grudge
larger sheets, but because I do not fear sitting down to a small sheet, knowing I
can fill it, however unworthily, & as it does not demand more than its equal in
return, the correspondence is sure to last. I do not know who I have to thank for
what Mr. Gunn took to be some Jewels sent to V[an] D[ieman's] L[and] for me,
which that gentleman retained to return to you, not being able to forward them for
post to New Zealand[.] from whoever they came, let them accept
[[8]] my best thanks. I fear they may have been some tokens of poor Willie, & if
so, I regret the more not receiving them, though I never wear any jewels at all. I
have long intended to write to Archy Smith *28, but always have been prevented. I
cannot tell you how sorry I am to hear of the death of my poor friends & quondam
playmates; half my associations of childhood & pleasure are connected with that
family [the Smiths of Jordanhill]. If the little Minah has not yet had a silver mug,
will you get a very good one for her, as a gift from me, with the names on & the
date of her christening. I beg of you to do this as a favor to me, & let it be a good
size & substantial one; or, if she has that, a good silver knife or fork for dessert in
a case, or anything you think best; so let it be useful, & good for her when she
may be older grown as well as now. The money I enclose is of no use to me or it
should not be sent; & I should take it very kind of you to use it as you think best.
Your family expenses must now be enormous, & I am sure my father ought to
see the propriety of my sending home my surplus pay, instead of squandering it
at the first oversized civilized Port we arrive at. Coming off such long voyages &
having such expensive places to winter in causes us a great deal of waste, nor
can one well help running riot a little on first stepping ashore, & as I cannot keep
money, I have no alternative but to send it home. April 26th No opportunity has
yet occurred of sending this home, but H.M.S. "Arrow" arrived yesterday, & the
Captain dispatches here on the end of the week to Rio, to take our dispatches &
to bring the return ones down. We have seen very few papers here & know very
little of what is going on at home. But I see my Father's name in a November
paper as on the council of the Royal Society;
[[9]] which argues his being alive at least. This will go in our Mail bag, for I do not
like troubling Capt. Beaufort *29 too much[,] our movements are again so
uncertain that you had better send the letters for me to him. We are making a
new boltsprit here. Give my best love to my Grandfather & all whom I need not
mention | & Believe me ever | Your most affectionate Son | Jos. D. Hooker
ENDNOTES
1. This letter is a contemporary 19th century copy, not written in the hand of the
original author, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and not signed by him. The copy was
probably made by Hooker's Mother or one of his sisters to be circulated amongst
family and friends.
2. Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785--1865). Appointed the first director of Royal
Botanic Gardens Kew in 1841, father of Joseph Dalton Hooker.
3. Mary Hooker (1825--1841). Sister of Joseph Dalton Hooker.
4. Elizabeth Evans--Lombe née Hooker (1820--1898). Joseph Hooker's sister.
5. James Weddell (1787--1834). British sailor, navigator and seal hunter.
6. Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (1790--1842). French explorer, naval
officer, botanist and cartographer.
7. William Henry Harvey (1811--1866). Irish botanist.
8. Sir William James Murray Tyrone Power, KCB (1819--1911). British Army
General and Governor General of New Zealand.
9. The Athenaeum Club, a private members club in London, founded in 1824.
10. The Linnaean Society of London, a society for the study and dissemination of
taxonomy and natural history; founded in 1788.
11. William Dawson Hooker, 1816--1840, older brother of Joseph Dalton Hooker.
12. Sir James Clark Ross, 1800--1862, British naval officer and explorer,
commander of the Antarctic Expedition, 1838--1843.
13. Anne, Lady Vavasour (unknown--1845). Married to Sir Henry Maghull Mervin
Vavasour, 2nd Baronet (1768--1838).
14. Mary Turner nee Palgrave (1774--1850). Mother of Maria Hooker and
Elizabeth Palgrave, grandmother of Joseph Dalton Hooker.
15. Elizabeth Palgrave nee Turner (1799--1852). Sister of Maria Hooker, aunt of
Joseph Dalton Hooker.
16. Dawson William Turner (1815--unknown). Brother of Maria Hooker and
Elizabeth Palgrave, uncle of Joseph Dalton Hooker.
17. Mary Hardcastle Boott, wife of Francis Boott, American physician and
botanist residing in Great Britain.
18. Sir Charles Lyell (1797-- 1875).British lawyer and the foremost geologist of
his day. He is best known as the author of Principles of Geology.
19. Reverend James Dalton (1764--1843). Rector of Croft, English botanist.
Patron to William Jackson Hooker and godfather to Joseph Dalton Hooker.
20. George Arnott Walker--Arnott, 1799--1868, Scottish botanist.
21. Robert Brown 1(773--1858). Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist, discoverer
of Brownian motion.
22. George Bentham (1800--1884). English botanist.
23. William Colenso (1811--1899). Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand,
printer, botanist, explorer and politician.
24. Alexander McLeay (1767--1848). Colonial Secretary for New South Wales.
25. Ronald Campbell Gunn (1808--1881). South African born Australian botanist
and politician.
26. Mate Joseph Dayman, H.M.S. 'Erebus', appointed as an assistant at the
magnetic observatory in Hobart, Tasmania.
27. Frederick Marow Eardley--Wilmot (1812--1877). Lieutenant in the Royal
Artillery, set up a magnetic observatory at the Cape of Good Hope.
28. Archibald Smith (1813--1872). Lawyer and mathematician.
29. Rear Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort ( 1774--1857). Irish hydrographer, officer in
the British Royal Navy, creator of the Beaufort Scale for indicating wind force.
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