[[1]]*1a
H.M.S. "Erebus," Berkely Sound,
Falkland Isl[an]ds.
May 26th 1842.
My dear Maria *1
By H.M.S. "Arrow" which sailed on May 3rd I sent letters, to my Father 2 -- to Mother
& Bessy; besides others to my Godfather *2 & Mrs Boott *3 under cover to Kew; being
too busy at the time to add another to you which I much wished to have done, I do so
now, & this will be the only letter from me going by this opportunity. You cannot
conceive how puzzling it is to sit down, as I do, to write epistle after epistle home,
without ever receiving any return ones, for receiving no news of others, one is
obliged to be perfectly egotistical, & to fill a sheet with one's own affairs only. The
only arrival here since the "Arrow's" is of a fine brig, the "Champion" of London,
which put into Rio, & having picked up a passenger or two for the Falklands, came in
here on her way round the Horn, as however she is not insured for this place, the
Captain would not make it too public in Rio that he intended visiting this port, & so
we lost all chance of having the letter Bag forwarded by her from the Commodore on
the station. -- The name of the Captain of the "Champion" is "Holt," & he tells me that
Mr Turner *4 is somehow connected in business with him, & also that his wife is the
daughter (I think) of Mr Shelly of Barmouth, whose son has married Tom Brightman's
sister, so we are Scotch cousins. Holt is a very nice fellow, he sails to morrow for
Valparaiso, & will we expect, call in here on his return. Our latest papers are about
the beginning of March, but the christening of the prince, & the Queen's Speech are
the only things that amuse us. In the Spanish papers there is the bankruptcy of a
"Hooker" announced, no relation I suppose. I can find nothing about Kew in the
papers, nor are the Births, Marriages &c more prolific, saving the death of a College
mate of mine who went to Cambridge, James McCall of Daldowie, he died at Athens.
The African Expedition seems to have failed, tho[ugh] not wholly; nor are the number
of deaths at all fewer than ought to have been counted upon. Sir J. Herschil *5 called
us the "Forlorn Hope of Science," they are however much more the forlorn hopes of
Philanthropy, & no rewards can recompense them sufficiently, whilst our casualaties
are few, & our service has never cost us a man. The scientific men have suffered
but not severely from the fever. Since the "Arrow" sailed I have been [on] a very
pleasant excursion to Port William with the Governor, who went to look out the
proposed site of a town nearer the sea than Port Louis is, at the head of this long
harbour. We went
[[2]] down in a brig, the "Alarm" of Jersey, which has been here for some time, &
lived on board her for a week, making short excursions in the surrounding country.
Like other parts of the Isl[an]d it is quite barren of trees, & the whole country covered
with peat bogs or grass lands which afford excellent fodder for the herds of wild
cattle & troops of horses. Near the sea coast a very fine grass grows, in immense
abundance, called Tussac, & a very different plant from that I sent a description of to
the Governor, & which is very common here, & also called Tussac. The true Tussac
forms quite an extraordinary feature in the landscape, covering immense tracts of
land, especially on a sandy soil; round its roots it forms immense balls which stick up
5 or 6 feet on the ground, & are often as much in diameter, on the top the grass
throws up its stems, & long leaves which hang down all round & often are 6 or 7 feet
long. These heaps grow within a few feet of one another, leaving spaces generally
bare of vegetation between them, & in walking among them you are quite hidden
from view, & the whole Tussac patch is a perfect labyrinth. I believe the plant is the
Dactylis glomerata (not of Linn, but the plant mentioned in King's *6 voyage). I have
not examined it yet, I also procured some splendid sea weeds & some Lichens &
new plants at Port William. Of shells very few; 2 or 3 Paletta, & 2 dead specimens of
the rare Voluta Magellanica for you, with a very few others. Upon the whole I have
got many more plants in the Island than I expected, especially at so late a season.
Winter has now set in in good earnest, for the whole ground is covered with snow, &
frosts are very common, but not enough to afford one any skaiting[sic]. Our ship is in
a state of dreadful confusion, for we are hauled up with the Spring tides to repair the
Copper, & are thus within a few feet of the beach, grounding as the tide falls. All the
provisions & stores are ashore, so that she is quite light in the water, & the
Carpenters are hammering away very heavily to finish all before the next tide, when
we shall float off again, & move as before, several hundreds from the shore. My
botanizing will now be confined to the lower order of plants, amongst which there is
plenty for me to do, al especially as along the beaches are the richest spots. I shall
also go to some distance along the coast before long for the sea weeds on the open
coasts differ from those in the bays. Collecting here is no sinecure for the days are
very short & the nights long, & the weather generally so stormy & wet that the tent is
very uncomfortable.
[[3]] At S[ain]t Salvador Bay we had to floor it with gravel for a bed, under which the
water drained & upon which we lay down in a blanket bag which is a blanket sewed
up, into which you crawl feet foremost & pull the mouth over t your head. My bed
when out of the ship always consists of the plaid rug my Mother gave me, & either a
Blanket bag, or a rug of Opossum skins, in which one can sleep quite comfortably in
the open air. I do not know whether my mother during the stay in Jersey ever met
with the Governor of Guernsey Lieut[enant] Col[onel] Moody, who is father of the
present Governor here who is a particular ally of mine & has been very kind of to me,
his house being open to me at all hours & his library quite at my service. Wilmot &
Lefroy *7 have I suppose returned home, as I see that other officers (called gallants)
have been appointed to S[ain]t Helena & the Cape. I wish very much that my father
could meet them, & especially Wilmot, who is the best & most amiable Soldier I ever
met with. The papers are full of the King of Prussia's & Baron Humboldt's *8 visit to
London, & I see that the latter met with the most enthusiastic cheering, he was an
old friend of my father's, & his name is most familiar to our ears from the interest he
took in our expedition, he is now so old that I much fear I shall never meet him, even
should I go to the continent on my return. We have not heard anything about our
future motions than what were detailed in my last letters & until we hear from home,
we must remain as much in the dark as you are, or rather more so, for Capt[ain]
Beaufort *9 can give you a hint of what the Admiralty will do. I have seen a copy of
Ross's despatches home, which are most excellent. Tell my father that Davis *10 is
making a chalk drawing of the Ships in the Ice for him, which I take very kindly, for it
was done quite voluntarily without even a hint from me. If I can I shall send home as
much oak wood as will make veneer for framing it, he has improved amazingly in his
ship drawing very much from studying Capt[ain] Smyth's, who did Bank's ships.
There is nothing for me to draw here accept sketches of a few mountains which I
have made & drawing plants. When letters arrive I hope to find a sketch of our new
house enclosed, for I can form no idea of your whereabaouts from anything but
D[octo]r Sinclair's *11 accounts. I often wonder who your new friends & neighbours
are, & how
[[4]] everything goes on at Kew. I see nothing about it in the Parliamentary papers
which are full of idle ceremonies & expenses about the Queen & Prince Albert. & the
very valiant army against the unfortunate Chinese; the Acre heroes too are not yet
forgotten, & as to poor pill garlick, *12 the Expedition, it is "out of sight, out of mind"
with the public; we do not however distress ourselves having plenty to do, & manage
to make ourselves very happy, & as comfortable as circumstances will admit, living
in hope long deff deferred of having news from home. The other day was the
Queen's birthday when we all Erebus's & Terror's dined with Capt[ain] Ross, such a
posse of blue coats & bright buttons! Her health was drunk with 3 times 3 & finding
great delight in each others society we kept it up till 3 next morning & sang "God
save the Queen," & broke up. I do not yet know for certain who has the Glasgow
chair of Botany, but from what I heard in New Zealand I have too much reason to
fear that Arnott *13 has not obtained it, Balfour *14 is probably the successful
candidate. I owe Dawson a long letter for one he sent me, which I hope to write
before long. I have written to Valpariso for some Matchero's one of which I intend for
him. Capt[ain] Holt will bring them here on his return, he may use it to light his
beloved pipe with. My father has never acknowledged a letter which McCormick *15
sent him giving him an account of my health, & which went with another from me by
the very first ship that sailed from Hobart Town, immediately after our first arrival at
that Port. Your answer to this will I suppose go to the Cape of Good Hope where I
wish you w[oul]d send me a pair of steel mounted concave spectacles, no. 6 & a
no.6 concave tortoise shell eye glass, you cannot think how difficult it is to procure the
articles in the colonies, also ask my father to put in the letter a little bit of Cud-bear[sic] & Archil[l], 2 lichens about which I am often asked, & whose appearance I
have almost forgotten. Long before the receipt of this you will thro[ugh] the former
ones know much more of me than I do of you, & this must be my excuse for being
very egotistical. My latest news from home is March 29th 1842. & that is in answer to
a nearly 2 year old one of mine from Hobartown. I know well that you have all
written one long letter, but hitherto we have had no opportunity of receiving them, & I
cannot afford to take the will for the deed. So may God bless each & all of you at *16
home & with best love to my father, mother, G[ran]dfather, Bessie, Isabella & baby.
Believe me | Y[ou]r very affect[ionate] brother | Jos. D. Hooker
ENDNOTES
1a. 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.
1. Maria Hooker was Joseph Hooker's sister born in 1819. She later married Walter
McGilvray.
2. Rev. James Dalton (1764--1843). Clergyman who graduated from Cambridge,
eventually becoming the Rector of Croft in North Yorkshire. As a botanist he was
mainly interested in bryophytes, lichens and the genus Carex. He donated his
collection to York Museum. Godfather to Joseph Hooker.
3. Mrs Mary Boott (née Hardcastle), was married to Francis Boott, a physician and
botanist resident in England from 1820. He helped pioneer the use of anaesthetics
in surgery. Also interested in the genus Carex.
4. Dawson Turner (1775 -- 1858). English banker, botanist and antiquary. He was
also Joseph Hooker's grandfather on his maternal side.
5. Sir John Frederick William Herschel KH, FRS, (1792 -- 1871). English polymath,
mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor and experimental photographer, who
in some years also did valuable botanical work.
6. James King FRS (1750 -- 1784) joined HMS Resolution as 2nd Lieutenant sharing
the duties of astronomer with Captain Cook. Following the death of Cook, and his
successor, Charles Clerke, King was appointed to command HMS 'Discovery'. After
his return to England he was very much involved in the publication of the official
account of Cook's third voyage.
7. Lieutenants Eardley Wilmot and John Henry Lefroy had been selected to proceed
to St. Helena and the Cape of Good Hope respectively to take magnetic
observations.
8. Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (1769 -- 1859). Prussian
geographer, naturalist and explorer. In his later years the King demanded his
presence at Court in Berlin.
9. Rear Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort KCB, FRS, FRGS, MRIA (1774 -- 1857). Irish
hydrographer and officer in the British Royal Navy, who created the Beaufort Scale.
In 1829, he was appointed British Admiralty Hydrographer and used his position &
prestige to act as a "middleman" for many scientists of that time. Overcoming many
objections, Beaufort obtained Government support for the Antarctic voyage of 1839 - 1843 by James Clark Ross.
10. John Edward Davis (1815 -- 1877) was Second Master on HMS 'Terror' and also
a talented artist.
11. Dr. Andrew Sinclair (1794 -- 1861). British surgeon notable for his botanical
collections. He visited the Bay of Islands on H.M.S. 'Favourite' in 1841, where he
encountered the Ross expedition, and joined William Colenso & Joseph Hooker on
several botanical expeditions. He later served as New Zealand's second Colonial
Secretary.
12. Variation of Pilgarlic or Pill'd Garlic -- Generally a poor wretch avoided and
forsaken by his fellows. Garlic was a prime specific for leprosy. As lepers had to pill
their own garlic, they were nicknamed Pilgarlics, and anyone shunned like a leper
might be called likewise.
13. George Arnott Walker--Arnott (1799 -- 1868). Scottish botanist who originally
studied law. He held the position of Regius Professor of Botany at the University of
Glasgow after John Hutton Balfour.
14. John Hutton Balfour (1808 -- 1884). Regius Professor of Botany of Glasgow
University from 1841 to 1845 when he transferred to Edinburgh.
15. Robert McCormick was the Surgeon on board HMS 'Erebus' during the Ross
Antarctic Expedition.
16. From here on the letter is finished in the left hand margin of page 1.
Please note that work on this transcript is ongoing. Users are advised to study
electronic image(s) of this document where possible.