[[1]]
HMS Erebus[,] Hobarton[,] V.D. Land [Tasmania]
August 16th 1840
My dear Maria
As the vessel which takes this home was only heard of by me as about to sail
late last night, & as she starts at 12 today, you must not expect much from
your affectionate Brother. Did you but know how often you & all of my family
were in my thoughts during the last 5 months that we have been banished
from civilisation, much of the time on the most tempestuous latitude & that in the
worst season of the year, you would not then suppose I could have forgotten
you. Never having for 11 months heard from home, you may guess how
anxiously the days were counted till reaching this port. heartily sick of
alternate rations of salt beef, salt pork, & pea soup for breakfast dinner &
supper, with the ship rolling so heavily that I could scarce read & write[.] you
cannot guess the joy with which we hailed the land. And as we sailed up the
magnificent Derwent, with the first gentle breeze we had had for months
slipping along under the wooden cliffs & hailing each hamlet with rapture,
each picturing his own home, as we clustered on the gangway. And when
Hobart Town surrounded with wood, & backed by Mount Table (or Wellington)
did open upon us, the green point of the cove in which it lies jutting out into
the river as clam as a lake, the lofty trees reflected on it & the snow capped
top of the mountain just reaching our ship by its image in the water. The
familiar sounds, the smell of shore that greeted us & above all the proximity of
news & letters served to make all look happy. None but a sailor knows what it
is to see the first boat pull along side & oh how my heart pounded when
Captain Crozier pulled along side & handed up the huge wash--beaten letter
bag. A few minutes more & I should be happy[,] 15 or 16 letters were handed
out for me (among my surveying companions), the black seal & margin
passed my eye quite unnoticed & so did the first lines "my only son". I went
below to my cabin the only sorrowing one on the ship. The men forward were
merrily singing when work was over, & I heard the merry laugh of my
messmates kindly checked when I appeared among them. Our fellow
voyagers came on board & renewed greetings were passing every minute
with congratulations on a safe delivery from our late dangers. At night I went
on deck & a lovely night it was[,] I saw the light shining from windows of happy
parties, & the song of a boatman, the moon rose gloriously & it was such a
time that I have enjoyed so often in the Tropics, the military band, the first
music I had heard came swelling over the bay each note sounded most
melancholy to me. Often when the rolling of the vessel prevented our sleeping
in our aftward ship cabins have we lain indulging in day dreams of the future,
& how delighted I should [be]
[[2]] when I should return, to tell William tales of what I have seen[,] but now
he is gone & there will be none of my childhoods playmates when I return to
talk over bye gone time with, for he was at school my only companion. Mr
Nelson & Swan[?] have now I trust met with him & little as wordly affairs have
to do with the state above, I never can divest myself of the idea that one
though a small share of the pleasures that attend the good, is the meeting of
those whom our God & duty have sanctioned our loving. You may remember
that I never thought W[illia]m had really a confirmed pulmonary complaint &
fully believed that Jamaica would cure what little ailed him, though I was never
sanguine enough to expect that as a medical man he would succeed so well
as he on arriving promised to do. From what I saw of him at Invereck he
seemed much changed for the better, & knowing him as I do I feel certain that
he would never have behaved with the strength of mind he did on the
passage, towards his fellow passenger, had not some most decided change
been worked in him. Do not think I repine at this dispensation nor at the
additional & not the less felt one of my grandpapa's illness, I have far too
much to be thankful for[,] both for myself & for those that are left & if there is
one thing that cheers my thoughts of home it is having a faithful sister of my
own age. You perhaps do not know how responsible your situation at home is
& it is my great happiness to think that when sorrow weighs down my parents,
they can put full confidence in you. Were I not sure that this is the case it
would make me miserable indeed, to think so, & that they were left alone in
Glasgow deprived of your companionship which I feel sure is their present
relief.
Your many good letters to me, I thank you beyond every thing for, pray tell
Mama the same, perhaps though indebted to you both, this letter should have
been to her, but I cannot trouble her, already so afflicted, with my selfish
sorrow; to one of my own age I feel it most proper to write though not more
dear to me. I may be wrong in troubling you on the same grounds but here I
am alone. Much as all feel for me & express themselves so their kindness is
no consolation nor should my sorrows affect them, they show me many little
attentions, Mr McCormick especially, & now I can feel what a happiness it is
to have lived on perfectly friendly terms with all hands hitherto.
A few days in the natural course of things will alleviate my grief, when I shall
commence my duties here with the cryptogamic plants of the island. Dr
Johnston called on me this morning & stayed a few minutes, he will remain
here perhaps two months, he told me that you & Mama had had the influenza
but were recovered. Jorgen Jorgensen is a sad drunkard & has just lost his
drunken wife, he is about to publish the continuation of his life. tell Papa I shall
see him, but take care of him. I have given my father a faithful account of my
health, I need not repeat it to you. You are a naughty girl to suppose I forgot
you or any at home, but I am
[[3]] sorry that the omission of a mere form of words has affected you.
My father talks of leaving Glasgow, I sincerely hope he may for his own sake,
for my own I am quite indifferent, except Jas. Mitchell I have no friends I care
about there but Adamson, now that Thomson and the Stewarts are gone. I
shall however always look upon the dirty town as the only place connected
with old associations, & whatever attractions other places might have for me,
none can have localities so endeared to me as that town which is the same as
my birthplace. It is true I have no friends there but equally I have none
elsewhere, wherever he & you all live should circumstances favor my living at
home on my return there I shall be too happy to find you; though now no spot
on earth is dearer to me than Invereck. two sketches of it hang in my cabin &
bring it constantly before my eyes -- W[illia]m his wife & your}my dog figure in
one, & little Mary sits sketching in the other with Skye & W[illia]ms cat. It was
there we fished walked climbed & sketched together, & I far more often figure
you to myself in Glasgow Invereck than in Glasgow. A sailor has always one
spot to fix his thoughts upon, if he can paint it with the charms of nature so
much the dearer it is; to it he refers every thing he sees, & as I passed the
sorry little hamlets surrounded with smiling cornfields & embosomed with
wood they call up old highland scenes to my mind, especially those of Loch
Eck, Loch Lomond & the Trosachs [Trossachs] where I last was with W[illia]m
& where with him we walked 110 miles in three days, his & my last long walk.
I must close abruptly[.] Best love to all Father[,] Mother[,] Bessy & Mary &
believe me your most affectionate Brother Jos D Hooker [signature]
I need not add that I never write without Mr Cormick adding his kindest
messages to my father & all of us he knows[,] he has indeed been my kind
friend ever since sailing.
God bless you dear Maria.
I have no time to correct. The books were not sent to Dr Johnstone's agent
before he sailed I much regret it. they are to follow. Thank dear Bessy & Mary
for me. & when you write do so on a sheet of paper with the Crescent at the
head of it such as grandpapa used to use.
[[4]]
To
Miss Hooker
Care of Sir William J. Hooker
Woodside Crescent
Glasgow
N[orth]. B[ritain].
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