JDH writes to Mary Boott to thank her for her interest in him & for Dr [Francis] Boott's care of JDH's ill sister Mary [Mary Harriet Hooker]. JDH fears the returns in botany may not equal the sacrifice he has made to go on Ross's Antarctic expedition. However JDH had a good voyage, describes his satisfaction with his living quarters & mess mates on the 'Erebus'. The expedition is in the Falkland Islands waiting for news from England. Observes that the Falklands have been an object of dispute since their discovery but hardly seem worth quarrelling over. The British Government has sent Lieutenant Moodie [Richard Moody] to write a report on the colony with a view to settling it. JDH notes that there is good grass for grazing & Moody is keen to introduce this Falkland grass [Poa flabellata 'Tussac grass'] to Ireland & the Hebrides. Wild Fowl are abundant & good to eat. Mentions their first cruise to 'the ice' & compares it to the second when, despite worse weather & ice, they reached an even more southerly latitude before reaching 'the barrier' [Ross Ice Shelf] which JDH predicts will never be surmounted. Describes the scene when entering 'the ice', how the temperature drops & an ice berg look out is posted, at what latitude the first bergs are seen, also describes the harsh weather. Describes the white petrel which is only found in the pack ice. Recounts being stuck in the pack ice, including over Christmas, & how they found their way out. Reached the 'ice barrier' on 23 Feb 1842 at 78 degrees south latitude & saw 'pancake ice'. Describes beauty, majesty & vastness of the ice barrier & how pieces break off to become ice bergs. Next year they plan to go South again on the same route as Weddell & validate, despite D'Urville's protests, that Weddell could have gone as far south as he claimed. They will then return to England via the Cape. JDH tells Dr Boott he has 4 Carex species from the Falklands as well as new species from New Zealand.

JDH thanks Mrs Mary Boott & her husband Dr Francis Boott for their letters. He associates the Boott's with his youngest sister Mary [Mary Harriet Hooker] who has died from consumption. He is glad to hear that his parents are in good health, he mentions a previous illness of his Father; Sir William Jackson Hooker. JDH is glad that Dr Boott is 'restored'. He is always glad to hear news of what is happening in London, especially in the arts, he comments specifically on the Chinese Exhibition at Hyde Park Corner, a cockney 'Skaiting' shop & skating trips to Margate. He discusses the formation of 'taste' regarding fine art, especially in the colonies where there are fewer example of good pictures. Whilst at sea JDH misses music & paintings, all their 'boxes' [accordions] are broken & the only music is his own whistling. Captain [James Clark] Ross remembers young Frank [Boott] from the Linnean Society. JDH is glad his descriptions of Antarctica entertained Mrs Boott, he explains that most of the time they are surrounded by a 'dreary waste of ice' sometimes enlivened by sights such as the erupting volcano Mt Erebus, the first sighting of which he recounts. He writes that to be an Antarctic voyager is to feel helpless, entirely dependent on a ship which is just a speck in a vast ice-scape. Since last writing JDH has been to Hermite Island near Cape Horn & to one of the Fuegian islands where he has found the winters mild compared to his expectations from the accounts of Joseph Banks & Dr Solander. He describes the cloudy atmosphere & luxuriant vegetation comparing it to the desolate Falkland Islands. Describes sailing under the cliff of Cape Horn which was covered in Fuegian Beeches. Describes the dramatic hills of Fuegia.