[[1]]
River Derwent
Hobart Town
V[an]. D[iemen's]. L[and]. [Tasmania]
HMS. "Erebus"
September*1 7th 184[0]
My Dear Father*2
A post leaves this to day[sic] without my writing a letter by it to you although it carries
away my long cherished collections of Kerguelen's Land Plants. I do not write by it
because the next post will in all human probability make a quicker passage but write
this on the occasion lest you should think laziness deterred me from addressing you.
I have just been carefully perusing your long & kind letters, for the first time since
their receipt for I had not the heart to do it before, your last delights me particularly
though containing the sad news of our dear parents illness for its want of a black
margin tells me that at home the heavy affliction of our last bereavement is modified
through the lapse of so many months has naturally, from the date of their arrival
here, still caused little change on my feelings. Still I have been very happy here &
never before could I have so deeply felt how much the study of our mutual pursuit
tends to alleviate our distress. Soon after the arrival of your letters my mess mate
Yule*3 had to mourn a heavier loss, that of his father, he is a fine fellow & we both
went ashore for the first time together for a walk under the trees opposite our ships. I
need not tell you they were Eucalypti small trees of 2 sp[ecies] mimica? &
amygdaline, the former & largest looks like a Birch from its white stems oval form &
drooping branches but its evergreen leaves are much darker green & of a more
harsh appearance & have all my zeal for collecting returned & though at a most
unpropitious season I brought off several plants including a little Splachnum & the
Mniarum Forsteri a very common tufted plant on the lawns.
You divert my attention particularly to Cryptogamia believe me that I have at
Kerg[uelen]. Land strained every nerve to add to its scanty Flora in that particular.
Though two months there, to the last day I went ashore Botanizing & as far as I know
I have left no hole unexamined or stone unturned. My excursions were generally
solitary but you cannott[sic] conceive the delight which the new discoveries afforded
as they slowly revealed themselves though in many cases it was all I could do to
collect from the frozen ground as much as would serve to identify a species. All
these are packed in one small case now sent & very glad I shall be to hear that its
contents have not altogether disappointed you. The seaweeds I laid out as well as I
could their collecting was very tiresome as the water as always very cold & the
heavy surf on the rocks cost me many a hearty ducking where first they appeared
very beautiful but the motion of our ship in that stormy harbor[sic] prevented my
laying them out as well as you would like. The duplicates such as they are shall go in
Mr Gunn's*4 box. My numbers are now upwards of 700 but that includes 350 Cape
plants partly given me which Capt[ain]. Ross*5 wished me to include, they are not
sent as being poor things & the cutting them up improves my Cape Botany which I
most need. The more I think of my former collections the more I feel they will
disappoint you though I hardly know then how to improve them.
[[2]] My time here has been most pleasantly & I hope profitably employed nothing
has in any way interfered with my collecting nor have I accepted any of the myriads
of invitations to dinners[,] balls & events that have been literally showered in upon us
all. Except to the Governors I have been no where[sic] but to my constant
companion's Mr Gunn almost every night I spend with him & we have had several
excursions together. His time however is far too much taken up with counselling[?] &
Secretary's work to devote much time (in the day) to Botany[.] He is a most excellent
fellow full of enthusiasm & cares for nothing but his plants. On the first Sunday after
our arrival he came on board in the morning & after service (which by the bye the
Captain Regularly performs) he dined with us. Since that I go constantly to his house
almost every evening at 6 when we go over plants together. We lie about a mile from
Town, up the river off a fine promontory of Government ground called the Paddock a
few yards from shore at 11PM I leave Mr Gunn's & pull off in a government or the
guard boat a fine whale boat. Generally the weather has been very fine but for the
last week there has been incessant rain now (Sept 10th) clearing away for future
days like such as have past of pleasant sunshine altogether better than our Scotch
summers & quite as warm. The summit of M[oun]t. Wellington is still covered with
Snow to whose limits I have ascended on the fourth time that I have been partially up
its flanks. I have already gathered several (what could have been new plants had Mr
Gunn not arrived here lately there is still however plenty to be done here which is the
only place I can visit at this season, being about the earliest place in the Colony, the
interior is very cold & backward comparatively. The Captain who is now amiably[?]
most kind to me allows me almost unlimited leave, & had Mr Gunn remained in the
North I should have been away on 6 weeks leave to see him as it is I have two
excursions in view one to the lakes in the interior which Mr G[unn]. says affords the
nearest (hitherto unexplored Botanizing ground) but for the Snows & incrossable
rivers is now impractacable[sic] the second to Port Arthur also quite new ground[.] I
go there in a few weeks in the government yacht with Sir John *6 and Lady Franklin*7
on the latter[']s special invitation. On Saturday I join Mr Gunn on an excursion to New
Norfolk (about 25 miles) for 3 or 4 days, we go on horseback sending our things & I
hope though early in the season to bring back some good things. A fortnight ago I
went to the Northward for 4 days passing over Grass Tree Hilll ( Xanthorrhoea) to
Richmond. I picked up about 50 fl[owering]. plants some interesting but the season,
winter, was of course much too early. The first night I stayed at a Mr Gregson's *8
whose wife was a great friend of Mr Selby's of Twizel house. I met there a Mrs &
Major De Gillon who have adopted Dr Scott's daughter a nice little girl who was with
them.
Sir John and Lady Franklin have invited me 4 or 5 times to Government house. I
have been there twice they are extremely kind the much so in one instance lately
where her Lady ship[sic] arranged that with Capt[ain]. Ross that I should go for a
week all over the Island on horseback with her Aide de Camp Lieut[enant] Bagot *9
(son of the bishop of Oxford*10) going to Launceston & returning by Oyster bay to
the Eastward with servants &c. As this did not suit my collecting propensities I called
on her Lady ship[sic] & respectfully declined what might have else been a most
pleasant trip. Kaye[sic] has gone & fine weather they have had! I have a nice
poney[sic] from Lady F[ranklin]. on which I sometimes ride to my Botanizing stations
along with a clever man from Mr Gunn's [.] Cryptogramica of course form the best
part of my collections hitherto
[[3]] Hookeria pennata in abundance about 1000 f[ee]t up on M[oun]t Wellington
among the Tree ferns one, sp[ecimenwith 18 capsules! & many Lichens. On arriving
I told Mr Gunn I determined to find a new Nat[ural]. Ord[er]. here the Andraea &
accordingly the other day about 2400 f[ee]t about on M[oun]t W[ellingto]n I
discovered lots of it on some trass rocks & very delighted I was having found two at
K[er]g[uelen] Land, & gathered the Cape one & all the British sp[ecies]. I am
collecting the few last years seedvessels of Leguminosae that are still extant for my
kind friend Mr Bentham*11 by the bye he wrote me a letter that shall be answered
directly I cannot tell you how much he delighted me by writing it was so very kind of
him he has I see ctd[cited?] me at Erica McKayi in D[e]C[andolle]. p[ar]t.II v[olume].
VII*12 why, I know not. Tom Thomson[']s*13 letter was from Malta -- I sincerely hope
that he will collect well & hardly doubt but that he will though at Aden he can have
but very little time. Has anything been heard of Wallich*14, one of my messmates
Smith knows his son at Hull as a terribly wild fellow. Since being here two old friends
at least one have turned up -- one a Mr Gouldie uncle to Dr Balfour the other a clever
chemist in Dr Thomson[']s laboratory Dr [John] Coverdale brother to young Eatwell.
both live near Richmond the latter receiving chiefly through private practice about
£500 per annum & driving his Carriage & pair, married & all. Valentine *15 the
microscopist is here, living about 30 miles off I shall see him if possible & stimulate
him to mosses, as to their Calyptra I can prove that it it[sic] is not necessarily formed
of one convolute leaf especially in Orthotriceae. The conical termination of Setae
downwards I also saw before seeing Val[entine]'s. paper in Linn[ean] T<ransactions>
Gunn's Dawsonia is a splendid thing, I think a new sp[ecies]. 6 & 7 inches long I
hope to find it at P[or]t Arthur & examine it microscopically especially regarding the
peristome & Calyptra, when in the ice. You must have seen it by this time. I was quite
wrong in calling T[etratheca]. glandulosa & Tetratheca pilosa vars they are very
distinct though as yet I cannot allow any more sp[ecies]. of that section but
T[etratheca]. ciliata Lindl[ey]. Gunn is annoyed at having received nothing from
Gray*16 for his animals &c. he has lately cleared off Short's debt with £300. You sent
out by me no Icones for him but some duplicates of the Journal Companion as also
many numbers of the Bot[anical]. Mag[azine]. which you have not continued he has
many fine things to send you & has still plenty of resources for continuing a capital
correspondent. His collection I am now arranging & hope to send you a catalogue of
his things in D[e]C[andolle's]*17. seventh vol[ume]. with dissections &c. of the knew
Epacrid[aceae]. &c. if it will do for the Icones & save you any trouble in preparing
matter for that chasening[sic] work. I am quite distressed about your having missed
the mss [manuscript] as I think the plant called Tillaea verticillata[sic] is a new
Bulliarda wh[ich]. I called Bruli B[ulliarda]. recurva, & the Mniarum fasciculatum I had
thought new & called congestum.
In Gunn's copy there is a wrong description to a Caryophyll[aceae]. wh[ich]. if I
remember rightly was N. Am[erican]. So the Calif[ornia]. plant is called Graza & the
V[an]. D[iemen's] L[and]. Lawrencia -- Milligania is very proper. My books did not
reach Johnstone before he sailed but he left word that they sh[oul]d. follow by the
first convict ship. many thanks for them I hope however that in future you will not
deprive your deserving correspondents by sending me the Icones. The new
Bot[anical]. Journ[al]. promises well. every one was sick of the Annals[.] why did you
give my stupid paper such an undeserved preference? I would take 20 copies if that
w[oul]d. do any good. Lady Franklin has established a Nat[ural]. Hist[ory]. Society or
rather Soirees that meet every fortnight on Monday evenings at Government House
[[4]]*18,19 They have elected me an honorary member. Lilly, a very clever & nice fellow
has read several papers on Geology. Of Orchideae I have found the Corysanthes
fimbriata & three Pterostylides[sic] the labellum of the latter on being touched springs
up with elastic force & covers the stigma instantaneously. Lady Franklin has bought a
splendid piece of ground for a Bot[anical] garden about 4 miles from town 600 f[ee]t
up M[oun]t Wellington in a grand valley, the spot is the slope of a hill commanding a
glorious view cleared out & belted by immense Eucalypti & Acacia. A winding
pathway of a few yards leads up to a perfect native forest scene where tall shafts of
Eucalypti & wattles shoot high up above everything else, covering a dense
brushwood with splendid tree ferns, Westringias, Zieria, Aster, Argoph[yllum].,
Bedfordia, Corraea virens, Exocarpus, Pittosporum, &c, &c. forming an almost
impenetrable jungle with their concomitant parasitic forms Hymenophylla Lichens &
myriad of Hook[eria]. pennata
There is plenty of water & its distance from Town is its only disadvantage. The name
of the lower part of the valley is Kangaroo bottom but a name is wanting for this part
which leads up to M[oun]t. W[elllingto]n. which by the bye is seen from it, towering
up, it strikes me it will be called Hooker's valley, as Garden V[alley]. is preengaged, a
finer spot is inconceivable[.]
Capt[ain]. Ross is a great man here & by a little management he & I have got on
better than I ever could have expected he has written to you about my health I
believe at least he told me he had. I am most anxious to know whether you have
received my plants, he fully believes you have. With regard to the live plants they
have been unfortunate I had every Kerguelen's Land Phanerogam in a Ward's case
& after a long consult with the Capt[ain]. we agreed to place them on deck to be
taken below in bad weather, but the late gale came on so suddenly that to have
removed the hatches was utterly impossible the consequence was that one of the
seas that broke into us also broke into the case & drenched them all his own which
he valued most included. They are now at Government Gardens & some including
the Cabbage are recovering.
I have left no room for messages of love which must be understood by all including
my dog. I cannot be too much obliged to Maria & all for their many kind letters I hope
to respond to them in due time[.]
Believe me | your most affectionate son | Jos[eph] D Hooker[signature]
ENDNOTES
1. Initially written as 'August', but changed to 'September'.
2. Hooker, Sir William Jackson (1785--1865). Botanist & Director of RBG Kew.
3. Yule, Henry Braddick (1811--1877). Second Master on HMS Erebus.
4. Gunn, Ronald Campbell (1808--1881). Botanist, public servant & politician.
5. Ross, Sir James Clark (1800--1862). Naval Officer & explorer.
6. Franklin, Sir John (1786--1847). Naval Officer, explorer and Governor of
Tasmania.
7. Franklin, Lady Jane (1791--1875). Née Griffin, explorer, wife of Sir John Franklin.
8. Probably Gregson, Thomas George (1798--1874). Tasmanian landowner &
politician.
9. Bagot, Lieutenant George of the 51st Kings Own Light Infantry.
10. Bagot, Right Revd Richard (1782--1854). English cleric.
11. Bentham, George (1800--1884). Botanist.
12. George Bentham's treatment of Ericeae (Ericaceae) was published in Alphonse
de Candolle's Prodromus Systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis, volume 7, part 2
(December 1839)
13. Thomson, Thomas (1817--1878), surgeon with the East India Company before
becoming a botanist. Friend of Hooker who travelled with him in India and helped
him to write the first volume of Flora Indica.
14. Wallich, Nathaniel (1786--1854). Surgeon & botanist.
15. Valentine, William (1808--1876). Surgeon and botanist.
16. Gray, John Edward (1800--1875). Keeper of Zoology at the British Museum from
1840 until the Natural History collections were transferred to the new Natural History
Museum in South Kensington in 1875.
17.De Candolle, Alphonse Louis Pierre Pyrame (1806--1893). French--Swiss
botanist.
18. 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]."
19. Text from "They have elected me..." to "...of Hook[eria]. pennata" appears at the
top of the page, above the address; text "There is plenty of..." to "& ...drowned them
all his" appears below the address; text "[word illeg.] which he most valued
included..." to the valediction 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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