Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton
JHC306
HMS 'Erebus', Berkeley Sound, East Falkland, Falkland Islands
JDH/1/2 f.95-96
Dalton, Reverend James
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
26-4-1842
© Descendants of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
Correspondence from Antarctic Expedition
The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
English
Contemporary MS copy
6 page letter over 2 folios
 

JDH apologises for not writing to his Godfather, James Dalton, since leaving for Antarctica. Though he has never met Dalton JDH has fond memories of his house & church in Croft. JDH explains that he joined Captain Ross's expedition to be of service to England as well as to pursue botany & collect new species from obscure places. Describes his living situation on board ship. At sea he spends his time examining & drawing marine animals & dissecting mosses & plants. The microscope Dalton gifted to JDH is especially helpful with studying mosses, the order which Dalton also studies. The expedition has visited many islands: Madeira, Tenerife, The Cape Verde Islands, St Paul's Rock in the Atlantic, Trindade near Brazil & then St Helena before reaching the Cape of Good Hope. At each place they stopped briefly to take magnetic observations. They spent 3 months in Kerguelen's Land, previously described by Captain Cook, & set up an observatory there to take readings simultaneously with Europe, Asia & America. At sea they take meteorological readings & whenever possible use a tow net to collect sea life such as Mollusca. JDH observes that marine animals from the most southerly latitudes are similar to those from the Arctic whilst the botany of the two polar regions is very different. They spent a long time at Hobart, [New Zealand] where the Governor Sir John Franklin was very hospitable, & from there sailed into the ice. Describes the excitement of going to this unfamiliar, unexplored environment & getting so far south even though they eventually encountered a permanent ice barrier [Ross Ice Shelf]. They were also able to achieve their goal of laying down the position of the South Magnetic Pole. JDH spent some time with the Macleay family at Sydney. He discusses the natural history work of William Sharp Macleay. At the Bay of Islands JDH collected 70 species of Moss, incl: Hypnum Menziesii & Hookeria Cristata. Describes their second more arduous trip south through the ice.

Transcript

better than anything else.
Since leaving England we have seen a little[?] of every quarter of the globe though chiefly of the Islands belonging to the several continents, Madeira was the first place in which we dropped Anchor, when I experienced for the first time the delightful sensations of setting foot upon a foreign shore. Every one has described the Island as a Paradise, & there are few of all who go to sea, who ever find any other place so pleasant on a first visit. From thence we successively visited Tenerife, the Cape de Verds, St Paul's rocks in the centre of the Atlantic under the line, the little Island of Trinidad [Trindade and Matrim Vaz] off the coast of Brazil, St Helena & then the Cape of Good Hope. Our stay at each of these places was short, merely sufficient to take the necessary observations on Magnetism, without setting up the Observatories. From the Cape we went to Kerguelen's Land of which Capt[ain] Cook has given an excellent account, & remained there 3 months, there for the first time the Observatories were established to take simultaneous observations with those of Europe, Asia & America, they consist of two wooden houses in which the various instruments are set up, & the observations taken by the Captains & Officers. My time is taken up with the Botany, except on one day in each month, when very minute observations are taken every 2 1/2 minutes for 24 hours & when every person must be engaged. At sea our occupations are very full, the ships log containing a full hourly register of the Thermometer, Air & Sea, the

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*1
H.M.S. "Erebus". Berkeley Sound.
Falkland Isl[an]ds April 26th 1842. rec[eive]d July 9. *2
My dear Godfather [Reverend James Dalton]*3
A very long time has now elapsed since I had the honor[sic] of being a correspondent of yours, so long a time indeed, that I fear you may have banished me from your recollection, on account of the ingratitude I have shown in never having written to you since leaving home. Could I however be ever so neglectful, I could never forget you, were it for no other reason, than the constant use to which a microscope you gave me is put, useful as it is, I feel far more grateful to you, for the affectionate interest you always took in the welfare of your Godson. It is true that I never had the honor[sic] of seeing you, but I well remember passing your house & Church, & rattling[?] over the bridge of Croft in 1829, in company with my father, & well do I remember the visit in Glasgow which we received from two of your kind family. My poor brother William too had been at Croft, & remembered the picture of the Cow, so that in my younger days I had many associations intimately connecting it with home.
You, I believe, know that I have joined Capt[ain] Ross' Expedition from an ardent desire to become a member of what would I hoped prove an honor[sic] to Old England, as well as to enjoy such opportunities of pursuing

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my favorite[sic] pursuit of Botany, as its progress would admit of, trusting that if the materials collected would be small, still they would not only be new but derive an interest from being collected in situations where there is but little chance of ships again penetrating. We have now been 3 years in commission & how far those collections which I have sent home may give satisfaction, the receiver can best tell. Through Capt[ain] Ross' kindness my situation on board is very comfortable, we have a very comfortable & large mess cabin, also a small private one, besides which the full use of the Captain's cabin is always at my service, there the above mentioned microscope stands on a large Table under the Stern windows, with every glass as when it left the donor's house, at sea it is in constant employ either examining or drawing the curious marine animals of which every Latitude has its greater or less proportion, or dissecting the Mosses & plants gathered ashore. It has truly arrived at a Green old Age; for the salt water tends to verdigris the stand, & dissecting table; it boasts too of a higher power than it had, for before leaving England I employed Pritchard to fit a triplet of 300 powers which is of immense[?] use, from the light & large field of vision of which it admits. For Mosses, I believe it was your constant companion, & being fonder of that order of plants than any other I sometimes imagine that it examines a Moss

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better than anything else.
Since leaving England we have seen a little[?] of every quarter of the globe though chiefly of the Islands belonging to the several continents, Madeira was the first place in which we dropped Anchor, when I experienced for the first time the delightful sensations of setting foot upon a foreign shore. Every one has described the Island as a Paradise, & there are few of all who go to sea, who ever find any other place so pleasant on a first visit. From thence we successively visited Tenerife, the Cape de Verds, St Paul's rocks in the centre of the Atlantic under the line, the little Island of Trinidad [Trindade and Matrim Vaz] off the coast of Brazil, St Helena & then the Cape of Good Hope. Our stay at each of these places was short, merely sufficient to take the necessary observations on Magnetism, without setting up the Observatories. From the Cape we went to Kerguelen's Land of which Capt[ain] Cook has given an excellent account, & remained there 3 months, there for the first time the Observatories were established to take simultaneous observations with those of Europe, Asia & America, they consist of two wooden houses in which the various instruments are set up, & the observations taken by the Captains & Officers. My time is taken up with the Botany, except on one day in each month, when very minute observations are taken every 2 1/2 minutes for 24 hours & when every person must be engaged. At sea our occupations are very full, the ships log containing a full hourly register of the Thermometer, Air & Sea, the

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Barometer, Hygrometer, clouds wind, weather, Snow & rain, with a large column for "other phenomena", where the various birds & sea animals of any consequence, Aurora &c, are accurately put down; whenever the weather is at all tolerable I have a tow--net over board, & catch the marine Molluscae &c, which I lay under the microscope & draw; afterwards preserving them in spirits, of these we have now a large collection, including all latitudes from England to 78 South; those from the latter locality have a remarkable analogy with the Arctic forms, differing in many cases only specifically, which is not at all the case with Antarctic Botany. Hobart Town was for a long time our head quarters, where observatories were built by Sir Jno Franklin, & officered by a Lieutenant & two mates from our Ships. The town was quite a home for us for many seasons, & more particularly from the attention paid to us by the Governor, who not only for 6 months supplied the Officers & Ships companies with vegetables, but in a manner threw his house open to us, where I for my father's sake, was tho' undeservedly, a most welcome guest. The climate even in winter is delightful, the Society English & good, & the whole colony in the most promising & flourishing condition. From thence we made our first trip to the Ice which we consider most successful, tho' we have not yet heard what opinion may be entertained of it at home; we can most conscientiously

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say that we could not do more either officers or crew; how we did it is another question. The novelty of the Ice to many of us, & the immense quantity of land discovered, the Northernmost Cape of which is to the Southward of any previous ultima thule known, together with the fine (considering the Eolian Latitude) weather, served to excite & to to[sic] stimulate us, & tho' the trending[?] of the land to the Eastward, & the discovery of the Barrier*4 & burning mountain in Lat[itude] 78 S destroyed every prospect of gaining a higher South point, still it was very satisfactory to be brought up by obstacles which must ever prove such. The accuracy with which we were enabled to lay down the position of the more important S. Magnetic Pole, & the sailing over a part of the American's Lands were also to us as rival nations, expeditions & sailors, sources of no ordinary delight. On our return to Hobart Town we were hailed by all with enthusiasm, who crowded on board pouring invitations upon us. From Hobart Town we sailed for Sidney[sic] where I spent some most pleasant days with Mr McLeay's [Macleay's] amiable family, his son W[illia]m Sharpe [Macleay]is now out there, having brought out with him all his father's collections, in arranging which he is now very busy, as well as in amassing more notes & specimens, than as he says he well knows how to arrange. From his writings all know how clear his views & how extensive

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his knowledge is, & whether his Linnary[?] system be correct or no; & I was therefore the more pleased to find him so very kind, & willing to give every information he can. He very much reminded me of Mr Brown his intimate friend. From Sydney we sailed for New Zealand & remained for 3 months in the Bay of Islands, there Mosses took up my time of which I collected 70 species including the beautiful Hypnum Menziesii, Hookeria Cristata & many other new & beautiful species.
Our next second cruize[sic] to the Ice during last summer, tho' as successful in regard to Latitude gained as the former, was a very different one, for we had to penetrate through 400 miles of pack Ice in which we were nearly stationary for a month & a half, & then we pursued our course with bad weather & foul winds, beating along the edge of another Ice pack till the 23d of February when we were again stopped by a continuation of the same Barrier in Lat[itude] 78º 9' & Long[itude] 161.76. from thence we made the best of our way back & running past Cape Horn we arrived here on the 5th of April, not having seen land since leaving New Zealand. We are as you may suppose waiting most anxiously for news from home, but have as yet received none, mine will I know be painful, but for that I am prepared. For my very dear Godfather I beg of you to remember me most affectionately to those of your family whom I once knew & Believe me
Yr most dutiful & affect[ionate] God Son | Joseph D Hooker [signature]
(To the Revd Jas Dalton Esqre. | Croft) *5

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. The words "rec[eive]d July 9." appear to be written in a different hand.
3. Hooker addresses his Godfather, Reverend James Dalton, who was Rector of Croft, in Yorkshire, and also a student of mosses.
4. This barrier was discovered by the Ross Antarctica Expedition on 28 Jan 1841. It is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica and was named the Ross Ice Shelf after Captain Ross. It was originally named the Victoria Barrier by Ross after Queen Victoria and later the Great Ice Barrier, as it prevented sailing further south. Ross mapped the ice front eastward to 160°W.
5. This note of the recipient's address appears to be written in a different hand.

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