[[1]]
(Copy) *1
H.M.S. Erebus, Cape of Good Hope
April 28, 1843 (rec'd July 14)
To W[illiam] Gifford Palgrave, Esq. *2
My dear Giffy
Did I suppose you have forgotten me, which you suggest I may have done,
depend upon it I should have written to you ere this time; however I am sure such
is not the case, though this conviction does not diminish the pleasure I felt on
receiving a proof of remembrance in your own handwriting.
I have written to Frank *3, congratulating him on his success in gaining the
scholarship at Balliol College, Oxford, & I do hope that when your turn comes,
you too may make an honorable march into the most honorable University in the
world. By the time this note reaches England, you will probably be enjoying the
mid summer Holy day & perhaps have time to write me an answer.
As to our going to Scotland, we may perhaps go there together at some future
period, when you can render every place we see doubly interesting by telling me
the history of its foundation or destruction; while I will talk Scotch for you,
introduce you to the Highlands & keep you from being cheated by the Natives.
Not having been able to procure the Walrus or Elephant Tusks which you wished
me to get for you, I do not know what you will think of our expedition. The whole
Antarctic Ocean is very barren of any thing interesting, except the curious Birds
called Penguins & some of the marine animals. You would enjoy yourself far
better fishing for Pike & Eels in Irstead Broad, than in any employment whatever
down to the Southward.
You will be glad to hear that we have, at last, fairly turned our backs on the South
Pole; & though we have not been on the spot,
[[2]] still our success has been greater than that of any preceding Navigators.
The Americans judging by Commodore Wilkes *4 little pamphlet, seem very sore
that their land has been sailed by us & ours; & poor Wilkes, in attempting to
explain to (vid[e]. Athaeneum *5) gets more & more deep in the snow. From what
is there stated, it would seem that he believes the land he laid down (in the chart
sent by him to Capt. Ross *6 & now lying before me) is Balleny's Island; -- & that
he has inserted it from Balleny's observations never having seen it himself; &
thus that we sailed over Balleny's Island & not on land of his. But he forgets, -what he puts down for the land we ran over is 2 degrees North of those Islands &
a continuation of his own (according to the same chart). We passed Balleny's
Island & sighted them in their proper place, a day before we sailed over Wilkes'
Land. In fact, he appears to have forgotten what he had inserted in the chart
which he had sent to Capt. Ross. Had the Athoneum [The Athenaeum] known
this it could have explained the matter.
What a horrible fate was that of poor D'Urville *7 & his family! He was an old & a
good Navigator; but evidently had no experience of ice & nor an idea of the
protracted perseverance required to penetrate it to any distance. Our sealers are
the men who have most contributed to elucidate the geography of the ocean &
lands of the Antarctic Circle. Unfitted to resist the ice, ill mannered & often very
short--handed, they discovered every inch of land in the South, except a few
specks, seen by the French & Belgians. It now seems evident that the Americans
never descried land, & the French only Terre Adelie. Côte clairi may be nothing
but a
[[3]] Pack, hanging probably on land. All the coasts of Terre Louis Philippe &c,
were merely named, not discovered by the French; you will find them in
Weddell's *8 & Bransfield's *9 charts. The Russian Expedition *10 performed what it
had to do well; sailing round a great part of the Globe, within the Antarctic Circle
& detecting the the little Islands of Alexander & St Paul's hitherto the farthest
known Southernlands.
Inglis *11, I hear, is intended for the Bank, where I wish him all prosperity.
Remember me affectionately to him & Reggie *12, & believe me, my dear Gifford,
ever y[our] aff[ectiona]te Cousin 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. William Gifford Palgrave aka Giffy, 1826--1888, Jesuit priest, Arabic scholar,
son of Sir Francis Palgrave, K.H. and Elizabeth Turner; cousin of Joseph Dalton
Hooker.
3. Francis Turner Palgrave aka Frank, 1824--1897, British critic and poet, son of
Sir Francis Palgrave, K.H. and Elizabeth Turner, cousin of Joseph Dalton
Hooker.
4. Charles Wilkes, 1798--1877, American naval officer and explorer, led the
United States Exploring Expedition, 1838--1842.
5. The Athenaeum, a literary magazine published in London from 1828--1921.
6. Sir James Clark Ross, 1800--1862, British naval officer and explorer,
commander of the Antarctic Expedition, 1838--1843.
7. Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville, 1790--1842, French explorer, naval
officer, botanist and cartographer. He and his family perished in the fire of the
Versailles train crash in May of 1842.
8. James Weddell, 1787--1834, British sailor, navigator and seal hunter.
9. Edward Bransfield, 1785--1852, officer in the British Royal Navy, Antarctic
explorer.
10. The Russian Expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen
discovered the continent of Antarctica in 1820.
11. Sir Robert Harry Inglis Palgrave, 1827--1919, British economist, joined bank
of Deacon, Williams and Co. in 1843, son of Sir Francis Palgrave and Elizabeth
Turner, cousin of Joseph Dalton Hooker.
12. Sir Reginald Francis Douce Palgrave, 1829--1904. Clerk of the British House
of Commons, son of Sir Francis Palgrave and Elizabeth Turner, cousin of Joseph
Dalton Hooker.
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