[[1]] *1
H.M.S. "Erebus"
Hobartown [Hobart Town]
V[an]. D[iemen's]. L[and]. [Tasmania]
October 27. 1840
My dear Father *2
At last I have composed myself to devote to you a letter upon Kerguelen's Land,
though it seems so long since the ships have left it, that I must refer to my journal for
the matter as also for our proceedings since leaving the Cape of Good Hope.
April 12 to 17; making very slow progress across the Agulhas bank, which, swarms
with marine animals & large masses of Macrocystis pyrifera[.]
17th The weather suddenly becomes colder & the sea less peopled. Birds very
numerous, consisting of the small Albatross, Cape pigeons &c which afforded us
some amusement, as during the time the ships are hove to for deep sea sounding,
we are employed fishing for these birds with hooks covered with pork. They also
supply our table, our fresh provisions being now exhausted. 21st passed to the
Southward of Marion Island formed of flat terraces of Volcanic rock with high cone
shaped, often red, mountains, towering up to a very considerable height. Colonies of
penguins were seen all along the shore. The ship was hove to with the intention of
landing next morning, & we dredged in 96 fathoms, between Marion & Prince
Edward's Islands the dredge came up full of a white coral & 37 different species of
coral animals, most of them abundant, no stones or pebbles or sand came up. On
the next morning we found ourselves driven so far to Leeward of these Islands, that
it would have taken us too long to beat back; we & were thus disappointed of landing.
26th Early this morning after some very severe weather, we descried the
westernmost of the Crozets, far to the Eastward of their position as lain down in the
charts. 28th. beating up for Possession Island -- May 1. Hove to at Possession
Island Blowing too strong to admit of landing without danger of the ships being blown
off & having to beat up again, which must have cost several days delay. The Island
seemed quite barren of any thing[sic] taller than some tufts of grass & moss look like
looking substance, that covered the rocks & valleys. All Volcanic -- at a little elevation
was much snow lying. May 6th. made Bligh's cap to N[orth]. W[est]. of Kerguelen's
land; -- weather so thick that we were obliged to keep off the direction of the land, as
evening was closing in. 7th. -- Blown 15 miles to Leeward of Christmas harbor[sic],
employed beating up. 8th At night--fall, hove to off the mouth of Xmas [Christmas]
harbor[sic]. 9th Hove to with heavy gales gales[sic] of wind drifting to N[orth]. E[ast].
of Kerguelen's Land. 10th. more moderate, 150 miles to Leeward of our port. 12th.
After beating up in the winds eye anchored at 5 P.M. in the outer harbor[sic] from
which we had to warp up to the head of the Bay.
Christmas harbor[sic] is double, the outer basin is some what round about two miles
in diam[eter] bounded by high cliffs of black rock above which the land rose in
successive ledges till it terminated in table topped or peaked mountains 1500 to
2000 f[ee]t in height . The effects are very curious from the pretty nearly equal
distribution of rock[,] snow & vegetation. near the sea the cliffs of 50--200 f[ee]t came
down & terminated abruptly or in rocky slopes covered here & there with long
patches, some of green & some of brown; the terraces above were
[[2]] white with snow, which again alternating with the black long precipices made the
land looked striped longitudinally black & white. The curious arched rock so correctly
represented by Cook*3, formed the termination of of[sic] the S[outh].side of the
harbor[sic], which opens to the S[outh. W[est]. The N[orth]. side is bounded by a high
hill with a conical summit; to the S[outh]. a huge black rock frowns over the water
(also figured by Cook) with a smaller one below & to one side of it. the base of this
rock is about 700 feet above the sea & at its back rims a long ledge of flat topped
hills N[orth]. E[ast]. & S[outh]. W[est]. which as in the plate (though much higher)
look lower than the black rock. at the head of the bay is a black sandy beach running
up to a broad valley, which about a mile from the bay opens into another, which we
called the N[orth]. W[est]. bay & is open to the winds from that quarter, which beat up
a most terrific surf against the precipitous sides of the Bay. Often as I have sat on the
tops of the cliffs over this iron sided bay, it is impossible to grow tired of watching the
terrific surf constantly roaring & beating against a mile of precipices capped by high
snow topped mountains. Whenever it blows a gale from the N[orth]. W[est]. which at
this season it always does, the wind is concentrated by the hills of this bay & carried
with redoubled violence into Xmas [Christmas] harbor[sic] where it spends its
strength with redoubled[word blotted with ink] fury rendering all our anchors & cables
barely available to securing the ship, & sometimes preventing for two days any
communication with the shore. The first plants you meet on landing are of course
seaweeds & Lichens on all the rocks, then comes a long grass, an Agrostis, the little
Ranunculus & more abundantly than either the Composite plant, forming little turfy
slopes & ledges of a light green hue among a mass of black bog earth covered with
the Callitriche & Portulaceaous plants.
Companions among them all is the cabbage, throwing out thick curved round roots of
1--2 inches diam[eter] & exposed from a few inches to 2 & three feet along the
ground, bearing at its extremity large cabbages sometimes 18 inches across of
obcuneate or spathulate, rounded, concave, green coriaceous leaves, enclosing a
white heart which eats like coarse tough mustard & cress. from the sides of the
heads one or more long leafy stems are thrown up bearing such spikes of seedvessels
as the specimens show. The root eats like horse radish the seeds like Cress seeds,
but the leaves are the grand fresh provision & were liked so generally by the sailors
that during the whole of our sojourn in that barren land they were boiled with the
ships company's beef or pease soup. They taste to me like very stale cabbage with a
most disagreeable essential oil, which resides in cavities in the parenchyma of the
leaves, & which are very conspicuous on making a transverse section of the heads
(of leaves), this oil gives the vegetable an curious anti--flatulent anti--heartburn property
altogether I consider this cabbage to be a most invaluable antiscorbutic, which few
do not like or cannott[sic] bring themselves to eat. Near the sea it is very abundant &
ascends to the tops of the hills 1500 feet where it is small & hairy but retaining its
properties. The next most remarkable plant is a little--tufted umbelliferous one that
forms long brown patches along the shores on the Banks or rocks. sometimes
covering many acres of land with deep cushions on which one may from their
elasticity lye[sic] with comfort, but in which you at other times sink up to the middle,
its tap roots in old tufts sink many feet into the soil, which itself has formed (from its
property of shooting annually upwards) from the withered tops of the last years
shoots, like the Bryum Ludwigii. The flowers are scarce & very inconspicuous
[[3]] it has no smell nor any essential or other oil, but is remarkably curious from
being the only plant in the Island that is characteristic of the vegetation of another
quarter of the globe to which from this circumstance I suppose the Botany of the The
Acaena is the next common plant, growing in bogs or creeping over the drier soil like
the Comarum palustre at home, of which it put me very much in mind. All the above
mentioned plants grow near the sea, the cabbage & Halorag[ac]eae being the only
ones that ascend to any height above its level; & all are often exposed to the salt
spray, apparently with impunity.
At an elevation of about 300 feet but also found near the sea there is formed a little
tufted Silene? (n[umber] 769) it grows often among the Umberlliferae & at other
times nestles among the rocks like Cherleria sedoides, I am most puzzled to
ascertain its Nat[ural]. Ord[er]. except it be Caryophyllea -- At this height are found
two other grasses, a small tufted Poa (n[umber] 761) & a most beautiful Aira? that
has the most beautiful effuse panicle with remote horizontal spikelets on long
peduncles, it is rather scarce & certainly the most delicate pretty plant on the Island,
it generally grows in marshes. -- A little Juncus is the next common plant on the
banks of two small lakes between Xmas harbor[sic] & N[orth]. W[est]. Bay where like
J[uncus]. triglumis it appears tufted or solitary.
In these lakes there occurs a most remarkable plant, which resembles Subularia
aquatica forming lar green patches a foot or two below the surface of the water, on a
loose muddy bottom, here it flowers the close imbrication of the calicine segments &
those of the Corolla protecting the stamens from the influence of the water. Each
germen[?] contains a small bubble of air generated of course within the ovary[.]
Winter seems to be its flowering season & I found it in flower after a long season,
under a coating of two inches of ice, as far as I have hitherto examined it seems to
differ from the characters of any natural order. though like Limosella it may be nearly
allied to Scrophulariaceae, having also some of the characters of Lentibulariaceae &
Primulaceae. Another curious plant (n[umber] 766) which was only found in fruit &
that on our first arrival is very scarce it forms rounded tufts on dry gravelly banks
above the lakes & sparingly elsewhere. The only other phenagamous plant seen was
one (n[umber] 774) that invariably grows on rocks near the sea & of which no
specimens either in flower or fruit could be obtained. -- The seasons are evidently
late on this Island & the winter comparatively mild, we had frequent hail & Snow
storms, but on the low ground they seldom were of longer than a few hours duration,
the Sea, wind, or a fall of rain, soon removing the Snow with hardly any damage to
the vegetation none appearing to have their young or old capsules materially injured.
The only aquatic plant is the (n[umber] 773) the only strictly dry land one (n[umber]
776) the others prefer a moist peaty soil the Callitriche (n[umber] 772) Portulaceae
(n[umber] 771) & Juncus (n[umber] 788) being generally confined to marsh lands or
peat bogs. Of Jungermannia & mosses there were a considerable number of species
all belonging to Alpine or Arctic forms this remark particularly refers to the genus
Andraea & another approaching Scouleria in characters.
The Lichens appear here to be [word crossed out, illeg.] form a greater comparative
portion of the vegetable
[[4]] *4,5 than in any other portion of the globe especially when it is considered that
from the want of larger large trees there can be no parasitical species. The rocks
from the waters edge to the summits of the hills are apparently panicled[?] with them,
their fronds adhering so closely to the stone that they are with difficulty detached, in
other cases they seem to form part of the rock which from its excessive toughness &
hardness almost defies any attempt to procure specimens that can be satisfactory.
But it is at the tops of the hills that they assume the appearance of a miniature forest
on the flat rocks, & nothing can be prettier than the large species with broad black
apothecia that covers all the stones at an elevation of from 1000 -- 1500 f[ee]t. A
smaller species like a little oak tree grows in spreading tufts also upon stones & is of
a delicate lilac color[sic]. Near the sea they are generally more coriaceous,
especially a yellow one that then forms bright yellow patches on the cliffs. In the
caves, also near the sea, a light red one is so abundant as to tinge such situations
with that color[sic], & many other species inhabit the rocks & their crevices.
Seaweeds are in immense profusion, especially two large species the Macrocystis
pyrifera & Laminaria radiata? The former forms a broad green belt to the whole
Island (as far as seen) of 8 -- 20 yards across within 20 feet or so from the shore,
here its branches are so entangled that it is sometimes impossible to pull a boat
through it & should any accident occur outside of it, its presence would prove an
unsurmountable[sic] obstacle to the best swimmers reaching land. On the beach the
effort of the surf heaving it up & down is very pretty but not so striking as the view
from a little elevation a bay with this olive green band running round it. The sea birds
&c when on the water always fly over or dive under it to reappear on its other side.
The Laminaria hangs down from every rock within reach of the tide in digitate fronds
of a very thick coriaceous consistence of great weight. Perpetually in motion from the
surf & yet from its sliminess & strength always unhurt. It protects thousands of
Limpets that would otherwise be exposed to the attacks of the [word crossed out,
illeg.] Gulls & other sea birds. To collect our food of Patellea was sometimes a great
labor[sic] from having to remove the heavy & tough masses of this seaweed.
Of Fungi only one small scarlet Peziza is found rarely on black bay. These my dear
Father are what I consider the most interesting points of the vegetation of
K[er]G[uelen] Land. In my journals I have full accounts <of?> them all as far as I
could observe.
Believe me | your most affec<tionate> son | Jos[eph] D Hooker [signature]
ENDNOTES
1. The letter is annotated in pencil. To the left of the address reads "close Kerguelen
again | n[umber] 3 plant flowering under water | Lichens (ad fin[em])". Underneath
the address reads "I hope I shall have a copy of this" and "Copy follows".
2. Hooker, Sir William Jackson (1785--1865). Botanist & Director of RBG Kew.
3. Cook, Captain James (1728--1779). Explorer, navigator & cartographer.
4. The address of the recipient appears here as the letter would originally have been
folded in such a way that it formed its own 'envelope'. The address reads: "Sir
W[illia]m. J. Hooker | Woodside Crescent | Glasgow| N[orth].B[ritain]". The address
has subsequently been crossed out and the letter forwarded to WJH "or Lady
Hooker, Jersey".
5. Text from "than in any other portion..." to "...Near the sea they are" appears at the
top of the page, above the address; text "generally more coriaceous..." to "...digitate
fronds of a very thick coriaceous" appears below the address; text "consistence of
great weight..." to the valedicton appears on the right hand side of the paper, to the
right of the address and at 90 degrees to the other text..
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