JDH writes to give his father, William Jackson Hooker, an account of Kerguelen Island. First comments on places they passed on the voyage there. Agulhas bank; rich with marine animals, Macrocystis pyrifera & seas birds incl. Albatross & Cape Pigeon which provided fresh meat. Marion Island; noted for volcanic mountains, penguin colonies, white coral & diverse marine life. The Crozets; found far East of the mapped position. Possession Island; barren of all but grass & moss. May 6th reached Bligh's Cap. After days of delay due to bad weather landed at Christmas Harbour, Kerguelen Island, on 12th. Describes the harbour, terraced mountains, rocky landscape & persistently violent seas, with reference to account by Captain Cook. Describes the Kerguelen Island vegetation. First plants encountered are seaweed & lichens on the rocks, then a long grass Agrostis species, a Ranunculus & a Compositae abundant in bogs & covered with Callitriche & Portulaceaous plants. Gives detailed description of the Kerguelen cabbage incl. its taste & medicinal properties i.e. preventing scurvy & heart burn. Also describes an unmbelliferous plant that can cover many acres & is the only plant that does not seem to be endemic to Kerguelen. Also notes: Acaena, a Silene of elusive classification, a Poa grass, a marsh Aira & a Juncus that grows near lakes. Describes the characteristics & habitat of a plant that flowers under the frozen lakes, it may be of a new natural order though it has some features of Scrophulariaceae, Lentibulariaceae & Primulaceae. Makes some observations on the winter climate. Notes that there is 1 aquatic plant & 1 dry land plant, most vegetation grows in between in moist peaty areas. The mosses & Jungermannia were alpine & arctic forms. Describes the proliferation of lichens in different areas, though there are no large trees so no parasitical lichens. Describes prolific seaweeds esp. pyrifera & Laminaria radiata which protect limpet colonies. The only fungi is a Peziza.

Miss Frances Harriet Henslow [FHH]’s letter of 24 Mar has arrived. JDH thanks John Stevens Henslow [JSH] for note received through his mother. Yesterday collected monstrous ear of Thibet [Tibet] barley. Published his thoughts on this subject in the FLORA ANTARTICA; considers the awn to be the lamina of the leaf. Considers geographical distribution of the Cerealia very interesting & is collecting many notes. Discusses observations of crops grown in Sikkim, Bootan [Bhutan], North West Himalaya, Menchoona & Jungle Mehals in the West of Bengal & altitude the crops are grown at. Plants cultivated incl. wheat, barley, peas, orange, beans, buckwheat, sugar came, castor oil, tobacco, mango, jack, radishes, rice, peach, almond, turnip, bamboo, egg-fruited Solanum which make the Brinjals of India,. Is trying to obtain info on crops from Llamas en route to China. A variety of Plantain grows wild among the Rajmahal Hills, has sent collector for specimens from Bhangulpore [Bhagulpur]. Wishes JSH would publish Flora of Cibaria. Describes his day which included a visit to treat Brian Houghton Hodgson Hodgson [BHH], who has been ill. BHH was questioning a man in Thibetan [Tibetan] about geography of Central Asia. Called on Archibald Campbell [AC] to report his return from Nepaul [Nepal] frontiers. Men sent beyond the snows for plants returned, they collected poor, early spring specimens of: Pinus webbiana, three Rhododendrons, Primrose, Yam, Rhubarb, Aconite. Letters from FHH, Falconer, Lord Dalhousie, & Postmasters. Coolies & servants arrived with results of past expedition asking for payment & gifts or 'backsheesh'. Discusses medical work: table-servant, Bengali collectors who took him to Tonglo [Tonglu] & a favourite Lepcha servant called Jippoo are all sick. JDH & Portuguese factotum must do the work of drying plants themselves. Society is wretched but JDH likes the hardworking Lepchas who carry his supplies without complaint, they like him to, or else they would run away.

JDH thanks his father, William Jackson Hooker, for the constructive criticism of his collections, the first he has made in a new country. The collections JDH is leaving for [Ronald Campbell] Gunn to send home are better. Since arriving in Hobart Town [Tasmania, Australia] JDH has only worked on botany, collecting the spring plants in locales advised by Gunn & shunning society with the exception of attending Government house when necessary & a ball given for the ships' officers. Explains why it is impossible for him to collect in the Western tier during the current season. Notes that flora in the centre of the island is less advanced; Acacia mollissima only just in bud in the interior. Describes a collecting excursion to Lake Echo, en route JDH stayed in a stock keeper's hut in Marlborough. Describes the interior of Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania] as a table land of marshes covered in dead Eucalyptus timber - all the trees were killed in the 1837 frost along with the undergrowth of Leptosperma, Bedfordia & Fagus cunninghamii. All nature suffered that year, hundreds of kangaroos died. The forest only survives on the highest hills, where JDH gathered the 'Cyder tree' Eucalyptus, but it was the wrong season to tap for its fluid. On return trip JDH travelled via Hamilton & the estate of the clergyman Mr Naylor at Cheny[?] on the River Derwent. By the river are: Phebalium retusum, Pleurandras, Eurybius & many flowering shrubs. The cataracts [gorge] is densely wooded & full of bush kangaroo & plants new to JDH: a beautiful Gleichenia, Sprengelia, some Eucalypti & Acacia. Briefly discusses novel species he has found amongst the gum trees & the Crucifera & Cryptandra of Van Diemen's Land. Mentions a feature of the labella of Pterostlides [Pterostyllis] orchids. Is still working on his sketches of Kerguelen's Land plants.

JDH informs his father, William Jackson Hooker, that the expedition is leaving Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania]. Discusses his collections going to Brown. JDH has more specimens from Kerguelen Island & Tasmania, some will go to WJH privately through [Ronald] Gunn, with whom he has shared collections. JDH hopes that Thomas Spring Rice, Baron Monteagle, gets WJH the Directorship of RBG Kew. Thanks WJH for sending news of his friends & discusses Fitch, Gardner, Harvey & Arnott. Mentions mosquitoes. Cummings made better St Helena collections than JDH. Discusses his family's health. Has written to Brown, who once lived at Risdon, where JDH found new Eucalyptus, Cryptandra & Cruciferous plants. Wants WJH to ask Brown about the Xanthorrhoea covered 'grass tree hill'. Describes Thomas Gregson & his son John Gregson. Discusses Sir John & Lady Franklin whom he accompanied to Port Arthur, where he collected specimens incl. Anopterus glandulosus on a Sunday. Captain Ross strictly enforces the Sabbath. JDH shares specimens with Captain Crozier & Miss Cracroft. JDH has also collected fossil woods & made sketches. Discusses his botanical books. Describes Jorgen Jorgensen's state as a drunkard. Discusses Lady Franklin's terms for employing a gardener. The expedition will now go to Campbell's Island, where JDH hopes to collect seaweed, then south to follow the coast of Antarctica. Whilst at sea JDH will draw specimens preserved in spirit. JDH thinks he has got better at collecting, though it has been a bad season for plants in Tasmania. Recounts Captain Biscoe's account of Campbell Island. Describes the difficulty of transporting plants in Wardian Cases incl. the Kerguelen Cabbage which Captain Forman of the 51st Regiment at Hobarton is also growing from seed. Fruits & livestock will be taken to Campbell's Island. Mentions the attribution of Wardia. JDH hopes Thomas Thomson will collect in China or Persia. Discusses his finances & recommends investing money in Tasmania.

No summary available.

JDH informs his father, William Jackson Hooker, that [Ronald Campbell] Gunn has left Hobart [Tasmania, Australia]. It is winter & the only plants are Cryptogamia, the summer was hot; shrivelling vegetation & causing fires that burnt the woods, seeds have been dispersed & some plants are flowering for a second time e.g. Epacris impressa & some Acacia. Recounts a trip up D'Entrecasteaux Channell on the River Derwent to the Huon River with Captain Briggs, to see Huon Pines. The D'Entrecasteaux Channell reminded JDH of the Kyles of Bute, but surrounded by gum trees, Asters & Leucopogon richei & long cutting grass. The plants on the Huon are more alpine with tropical vegetation in deep gullies. He describes some of the ferns, which incl: Allantodia australis, Polypodium vespertilionis, Pittosporum bicolor, Anopterus glandulosus & Sassafras. Also describes some beautiful, very large tree ferns giving dimensions & describing the character of their growth in the valleys. Tree ferns are covered with Psilotum triquetrum, Asplenium laxum, Polypodium grammitidis & Grammitis australis. Mosses in the valleys abound: Hookeria pennata, H. quadrifaria, Hypnum cochleariformis & a new Anomodon. Mentions an island in the mouth of the Huon made completely of fossil shells in sandstone, & on which some Asplenium species grow. Letter also includes a coloured illustration of a new species of Hookeria. The Hookeria was found growing on Dicksonia arborea on the Banks of the Huon River opposite Port Cygnet.

JDH received his mother, Lady Maria Hooker's, letter of 1 Feb through Sir John Franklin. He reacts to the news that his youngest sister Mary [Harriet Hooker] is dying of a pulmonary disease, it will be a sad return if she is not there to see the curiosities he collected for her, incl. albatross eggs from Lord Auckland's Islands. The arrival of HMS 'Erebus' & 'Terror' in Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania] was announced in a Feb newspaper, he hopes this is not the only word his family has had of him as he has written many letters. He does not know how news of their arrival in Kerguelen's land has spread, possibly a whaler carried a message from Kay to Lady Franklin. Post in the admiralty bag on the 'Hebe', including despatches for Captain [James Clark] Ross, has been missent to the China fleet, JDH hopes to get this mail at Sydney. JDH reports that he is very healthy & the work on ship is making him strong. Is pleased that his father, Sir William Jackson Hooker, will likely become Director of RBG Kew - though ministers are currently preoccupied with a likely [opium?] war. Hopes his family are thinking of him on his birthday. He has received a letter from his Aunt [Elizabeth] Palgrave. JDH expects his mother's earlier, unreceived letters contain accounts of Jersey. He has a messmate named Yule from Jersey whose father was a Lieutenant of Nelson's at the battle of Trafalgar. JDH describes the climate of Hobarton [Hobart], he prefers the cold weather of the Antarctic Circle. Describes the societal delineation between descendant of convicts & other individuals. There are many wealthy families of old & new money but culture, such as literature & music is lacking. JDH hopes for more mail by the incoming ship 'Persian'. JDH thanks his father & grandfather [Joseph Hooker senior] for books & [Walter Hood] Fitch for a sketch. Briefly describes reaching the ice for the first time & the expedition's imminent return to it. Mentions Isabella [Hooker] & her child Willielma Dawson Hooker.

JDH writes to his sisters, Elizabeth [Bessy] & Mary [Mary Harriet] Hooker, describing the colony of Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania] & the town of Hobart. JDH explains the system of governance by military & civil power: a Lieutenant Governor & council subservient to Sydney, a General Officer to oversee the Army & Navy, & a Commissariat department to provide for the convicts. Describes the division of the island into districts governed by police constables & police magistrates. Describes the ships used to transport convicts, which he says are run strictly but with attention to order & health. Explains that convicts are given different duties depending on the severity of their crime with rewards or punishments depending on their behaviour. Those who aren't dangerous work in households as servants. Female convicts all work in factories. The system is vulnerable to uprisings & escapees. Escapees, known as bush rangers, often turn to murder, theft & cattle rustling. There are many colonial tails about the bush rangers, who are occasionally portrayed as romantic, popular figures like Robin Hood or Rob Roy but are mostly villains. The population has grown quickly & many of the emigrants have made their fortune by keeping sheep & buying & selling land. He describes the typical life of a poor emigrant, living in a hut with a convict servant & surviving on damper bread, kangaroo hash, salt pork, tea & sugar. He explains how they can become rich by clearing land & quickly increasing their livestock to the point they have excess to sell in rich markets such as Sydney, Port Philip, Adelaide, Swan River & New Zealand. They can then employ more people, such as a grubber to pull up tree stumps. It is also profitable to sell potatoes & wood. Shop keepers can make good money but are often 'ticket of leave' convicts & looked down on. Replies should be sent to JDH at Berkeley Sound, Falkland Islands. At the end, the letter bears a second sender address & date: Sydney, New South Wales, July 15 1841.

No summary available.

JDH congratulates his father, William Jackson Hooker, on his appointment as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He heard the news from Clowes & it was in the March papers. Has also heard that his sister, Mary Harriet, is still very ill. He speculates about the salary & housing arrangements for WJH & family at Kew & what will happen to [William Townsend] Aiton. Arnott & [Walter Hood] Fitch will assist WJH in the move from Glasgow. In consideration of WJH's new position JDH has asked [Ronald Campbell] Gunn to cultivate Tasmanian plants that could be sent to Kew. Gunn used to a have an amazing garden in Launceston. Mr Levy[?] has also offered to send Kew things from Port Jackson & new parts of the colony e.g. Moreton Bay, McQuarrie [Macquarie] harbour & the McLeay [Macleay] river, incl. live specimens of the moss; Dawsonia. Mr Bidwell, a merchant who has recently returned from a tour of the North Island of New Zealand, including ascent of the volcano Tongadido, has sent specimens from the expedition to Lindley & others. His specimens of Dawsonia compared to Gunn's & a figure in the MUSCI EXOTICA have made JDH wonder if there are 3 different species or not. JDH has met Captain King, who gave him a letter of introduction to [William] Colenso & told him all about [Allan] Cunningham's death. Clowes' health has improved & he plans to settle at Hunter River, he has been looked after by the McLeays. William Sharpe is engaged in horticulture & has laid out a garden of 25 acres full of Australian & East & West Indian plants growing alongside European species such as snowdrops & Jonquils. Fruits grow very well in Sydney, except for Gooseberries & Currants, as do palms, conifers & tropical Orchids. The 'Erebus' is leaving for Bay of Islands, from where JDH will write again. He does not expect to receive more mail until they reach the Falkland Islands in 8 months. He has a cabin filled with bottles & buckets of animals to work on.

JDH replies to letters from his father, William Jackson Hooker. JDH arrived at the Bay of Islands, [New Zealand] 18 Aug. At Port Jackson got 200 species incl. new Sclotheimia. Area is well known but JDH has found ferns & mosses new to Cunningham's flora. Collected animals from 400 fathoms, but no marine vegetation. In flower are: Vitex littoralis, Fuchsia excorticans & orchids incl. Pterostylis Banksii. Found a few lichens, fungi & seaweed. Met missionary, Colenso, through Captain King, they will collect Crytogammia. Describes landscape. Habitat wrong for Andraea, has found Trichostomum peridiatale, Neckera setosa & a Fissidens, looks for Dawsonia & Polytichium dendroides. Colenso will send live specimens incl. Hookeriae rotulata, pennata, quadrifaria & Leptostonum macrocarpona. Thanks Robb & Mitchell for letters. Hopes Thomson succeeds at the Calcutta Museum. Has few opportunities to botanize, is studying crustacea as a temp. alternative. Captain Ross has an excellent collection of marine zoology. Hopes that the findings of the expedition will be of scientific value & public interest. Next they go to Chatham Island, Falklands & the Cape. Hopes his sisters are well. Has concerns re. his Van Diemen's Land flora. Discusses spelling of VDL & name change to Tasmania. Points out errors in ICONES [PLANTARUM] re. Ranunc[ulus] pimpinellifolius & others. Mentions JOURNAL [OF BOTANY], Gardner's return, future plans, Arnott, completion of the Arctic Botany & 'Beechey's'. Compares Fitch's work in the GERENA FILICUM to Bauer's. Wants news from Athenaeum, Glasgow Association, Link & Klotzsch. Mentions Lindley's activities, Bentham's collections & Bagan at [Glasgow] University. JDH is sending a map & drawing in confidence. He stores collections in rum & tobacco casks. Has 20 bird skins, shells & insects for Maria. Describes a ball on the ships Erebus & Terror on Derwent [River], attended by John Franklin. Notes the Antarctica expedition has received less fanfare than Arctic ones.

JDH informs his father, William Jackson Hooker, that since last writing to the family through Captain [Francis] Beaufort he has been busy collecting in the Bay of Islands. His collection is rich in mosses & phaenogams, including some not in [Allan] Cunningham's flora. JDH has been on excursions with [William] Colenso, who is otherwise busy with printing & other missionary business. JDH has a mixed opinion of missionaries but likes Colenso. Colenso has given JDH some curiosities of New Zealand, incl. minerals & a paper nautilus. The HMS 'Erebus' will travel straight to the ice without stopping at Chatham Island. The last letters JDH received from England were on 1 Feb. JDH's letter will go via Sydney on the HMS 'Favourite' & he hopes for return letters when he is in the Falkland Islands. [Joseph] Dayman wrote to JDH from Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania] with news that the latest communication with [Joseph Henry] Kay' contained no news of the Hooker family. Lady [Jane] Franklin has written to inform Captain [James Clark] Ross that part of his journal & one of JDH's collections of plants were lost en route from Hobartown [Hobart], he hopes it is not the collection including illustrated notes from the Auckland or Cape [Verde] Islands, he suspects it is the Kerguelen Island plants & luckily he has duplicates of most, unlike Sir Stamford Raffles, [Robert] Brown or WJH who did not. JDH wonders how WJH's situation has changed since being appointed as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & what has become of his friend [G. A. Arnott Walker-] Arnott. JDH finds botanizing in New Zealand lonely & hopes his work is worth it. Mentions some distinctive species of New Zealand moss: a Polytrichum, a Hookeria that resembles H. cristata, a Phascum, a Splachnum, a Trematodon & a foliaceous species with similarities to Jungermannia.

JDH recounts his excursion to Tonglo Mountain, the plants observed & the collections made. Explains that cold, wet weather made many of his servants sick & unable to work. The most hard working were his Christian servant Clemanze & the Lepchas. Describes habits of Lepchas. Tonglo is 1000ft higher than JDH has been before, this was reflected in vegetation: Iris, Unciniae, 2 Arums, 2 dwarf Panax, Anagallis, Rannunculus, Aconite, Rhubarb, Thalictrum, Convallaria, above them the dwarf Bamboo forming a little jungle, Rosa, Lonicera, Holboellea, Vacciniae, Arbutus, Currant, Rubus, Daphne & Balanophora. Describes 3 new Rhododendrons & promises drawings & plants sent via Calcutta [Kolkata]. He is very keen to get them to Kew. Also collected: a Yew, scarlet Crategus, Rosa, Pyrus, Prunus, Pyrus, 3 Berberis, Wallich's Kadsura grandiflora & an epiphytic orchid. Describes new purple Magnolia. There was no grass & few ferns, lichens & mosses: Cryptogams poor in general. Got no seeds but will return. Has temperature readings for Lindley. Describes sojourn in Lama village, he stayed in the temple & observed the priests' rituals, then ate fermented barley from a woven bamboo bowl. Mentions types of bamboo grown & many useful items made from it, which he is getting for the Kew museum. Also has samples of cloth dyed with Mungeet, indigo & Elaeocarpus. Collectors have returned from Nepal, beyond the snows, where the flora is very different despite the proximity. Most of their collection is rotten, a Frittilaria & a Primrose may survive. JDH will send more collectors, relationships with China & border powers mean he may not be able to go himself despite the efforts of his political friends: Colville, Dalhousie, Elliott & Falconer. Has Carices for Boott & fungi to draw for Berkeley. Mentions: progress on the NIGER FLORA, Rose of Jericho, news of Tussack grass, observations for Humboldt, constant rain, general features of Himalayan botany & adds the letter shld be sent to Darwin at Down.

JDH apologises for not writing sooner to Mrs [Mary] Richardson [wife of Dr Sir John Richardson of the Royal Hospital at Haslar where young naval surgeons awaited assignment]. He thanks Richardson for her letter & the news of family & friends at Haslar. In answer to her query JDH states his feelings about going to sea in naval service to pursue science, & how the service suits him. The HMS 'Erebus' is currently alongside the HMS 'Favourite', JDH likes the officers but thinks the Navy offers little financial reward or future security. Mentions Richardson's account of the Daguerrotype in her letter & her account of the usefulness of the penny post to naturalists. Thanks Richardson for her congratulations to his father, William Jackson Hooker, on his appointment as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Mentions his sisters & alludes to their uncertain state of health. JDH explains that on ship he spends more time on botany that on his actual profession: medicine, & Captain [James Clark] Ross has made comfortable provisions for his natural history work. When he can explore there are always many specimens of the lower orders of the vegetable kingdom to collect in New Zealand [moss, lichen, fungi etc] & he & Ross also make zoological collections & observations: of birds, insects, fish & shells. He notes that Dr Richardson would be interested in a kind of tunny known as a yellow tail, a beautiful salmon & several Ribband fish from the Antarctic circle. The marine life found in the towing nets is diverse, including crustacea, & has much in common with life in the Arctic seas. JDH writes of his friends Kay & Hepburn in Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania], the latter has a garden enriched with gifts from the Government Garden at Hobart Town, given by Miss Craycroft & Miss Franklin. JDH praises Sir John Franklin, the Governor, very highly & JDH is flattered by his interest in himself & the expedition: Franklin always asks for news of them from Dayman at the observatory.

JDH last wrote to his father, William Jackson Hooker, by the HMS 'Favourite' via Sydney & got replies addressed from the Athenaeum. Mentions his sister, Mary Harriet Hooker's, health. Congratulates WJH on becoming Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Dr Sinclair arrived en route to Auckland & Port Nicholson with news from home & will collect plants for WJH. JDH has sent Bay Island plants on the ship 'Jupiter'. The New Zealand specimens are still drying & notes being written up. At Bay of Islands JDH has got insects & shells for Captain Ross & minerals & bird skins for WJH incl. 'Tui' or parson birds & Columba spadicca[?]. Has found 70-80 mosses, Cunningham's Gastrodia, a new plant resembling Milligania & Gunnera, a complete set of seaweeds, & monocotyledons not mentioned by Cunningham. Describes a new sp. of Holoragaceae & a distinct Limosella. Praises Colenso, his work with the indigenous people & his botanical collecting in Paihia, the East Cape & Thames district. Mentions 2 plants collected by Colenso; a Pisonia & a Coprosma. JDH is sending a Wardian case of plants & ferns to WJH on the 'Exporter' via Mr Mcleay. He lists its contents, which incl: Corokia buddleioides, Haxtonia furfuracea, Pterostylis Banksii & Hymenophyllum sp, & describes how he packed the plants. Received letters from James Mitchell. Lady Franklin told Captain Ross that some Kerguelen Island plants sent from Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania] were lost at sea. JDH has written to: his sister Maria Hooker, Mitchell, Dr Robb, Mrs Richardson, Mr Children & Mr Ward. Expedition goes next to Chatham Islands, 'the Barrier', Deception Island, the Falkland Islands & home via the Cape. JDH is writing a Flora of New Zealand & studying German. Asks WJH to send a barometer for Gunn & a Hygrometer for him. Dayman wrote to thank Aunt Ellen & communicate that the Governor [John Franklin?] takes an interest in the Antarctica expedition. JDH sends WJH a fungus growing on a caterpillar from Rev Taylor of Waimate.

JDH last wrote to his father, William Jackson Hooker, from Bay of Islands. Expedition omitted Chatham Islands & has been in open sea for 135 days but now nears Berkeley Sound, Falkland Islands. Before reaching an ice barrier they went to a record latitude south. Discusses Sargasso weed, seaweed propagating in open sea, e.g. Macrostaysis pyrifera, & implications for plant distribution. JDH will write to Ward re. New Zealand moss. Heard from Sinclair about WJH's move to Brick Farm House, that RBG Kew is to be a public park & that Balfour got the [botany] chair at Glasgow University not Arnott. Recalls that the Hookers were shunned by most Glasgow academics but he has fond wishes for some of their true Glasgow friends. Is glad James Mitchell is working for Lord Eastnor. Discusses publication of ICONES [PLANTARUM], Gardner's return to England, MONOGRAPH OF SOUTHERN FRAGI & a new sp. found by Bidwell. Describes distribution of Ballia brunoni in Kerguelen's Land & Auckland Islands. Discusses mosses of Campbell Island: new Sclotheimias, Holomitrion perichaetiale, & an Andreaea whose unusual structure he describes. Mentions a NZ Polytricha like Dawsonia, Sprengel's Maschalocarpus ciliatus, a new Hookeria from Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania] & endemic H. cristata. Pities Swainson going to NZ, explains the shortcomings of the colony & notes some disreputable emigrants: Baron Thierry, Mr Macdonnell & Mr Polack but praises the missionaries esp. Colenso. Letter continues dated 8 Apr [1842] with a description of East Falkland incl. birds: Cormorant, Cape Pigeon, Albatross & Cook's blue nosed petrel. Describes procuring skins of birds, but says he never lets ornithology overtake botany. Has some NZ shells for his sister, Maria Hooker. Hopes to go to Rio de Janeiro & collect Cryptogamia for Harvey. Reports landing at Port Louis, a mining town in a desolate landscape where the purser met with Governor Moody. Expects to be home 1843 after crossing D'Urville's Barrier in Weddell's track.

JDH thanks his sister Elizabeth 'Bessy' Hooker for her letter & for one dictated by their dying sister Mary Harriet Hooker. It has been a long time since JDH has seen his family, he has taken to whistling tunes that remind him of them. For music the ship has an untalented fiddler & the purser plays a flute he claims was given to him by 'Peter Pindar' or Dr Wolcot. During the cruise south from Bay of Islands, [New Zealand] JDH has been making notes & learning German. The ships 'Erebus' & 'Terror' spent Christmas week tied to either side of a 2 acre piece of flat ice covered in snow, into which they carved out roads between the ships, racing grounds & a saloon with seats & dance floor. JDH describes how he & Davis sculpted ice statues of Hebe, the Sphynx, pillars & Etruscan vases. Describes their New Year's festivities on the same ice berg, incl, pig racing, raising as much noise as possible with bells, cannons, cow horns & cheering, & playing games such as 'Baste the Bear' & 'Bell the Ring'. Writes how they dined on Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, New Year's day & Twelfth Night. Discusses the animals they had on board during the cruise: cat called Phantome, goats & a tame opossum. The expedition does not get much news from home & they eagerly watch for ships heading to harbour in the Falkland Islands. They know that the Ministry has changed & wonder how it will effect their mission & William Jackson Hooker as newly appointed Director of RBG Kew. Over the last year the expedition has been successful & JDH hopes the Royal Society is pleased. JDH has worn out the muffatees his sister knitted for him but does not think she will be able to send more before they reach the Cape of Good Hope. JDH hopes the expedition will now go South in Weddell's tracks & get further than the French did under Admiral D'Urville. Wilkes' American expedition has been 'extinguished', JDH would like to talk about this with Asa Gray who he nicknames 'Bowie Knife'.

JDH writes to his Aunt, Elizabeth Palgrave, whom he last addressed from the Bay of Islands, [New Zealand]. The expedition was unable to stop at Chatham Islands & has been waiting for a chance to communicate with home whilst anchored at Berkeley Sound, Falkland Islands. He describes the expedition's most recent cruise in the Antarctica region, they spent all 2 months in the pack ice making no land stops, but did manage to get beyond the 68 degree southern latitude despite bad weather. Discusses the history of colonisation in the Falkland Islands which have recently been claimed by the English from the South American Republic. Briefly describes the landscape, geology & botany of the Falkland Islands. The vegetation is mainly a Carex grass or sedge used for fodder, JDH speculates about what crops could be grown. The population is 60 people, sappers, miners & gauchos who herd cattle. The Governor is Lieutenant Moody, & JDH has been advising him on useful plants that could be grown to improve the colony, e.g. Triticum for thatching & Poa & Agrostides for sheep lawns. Animals include geese, rabbits, snipe & wild ducks all hunted for meat, JDH lists the kill from a successful hunting party he joined. The expedition will go ashore here not at Rio de Janiero for ship repairs. JDH spends his time collecting plants & skinning birds. He has a white Petrel for his cousins shot at 78 degrees southern latitude, he mentions how the petrel is caught & skinned. The expedition is anxious to know how their success has been received at home. JDH mentions three naval promotions, those of Francis Crozier, Edward Joseph Bird & Alexander Smith. Dayman left the ship for the Hobart Town Observatory under Sir John Franklin. JDH wonders about his father, William Jackson Hooker, now that the Ministry has changed, all he knows is that WJH is still on the Council of the Royal Society. Asks if the Thames floods reached the Hooker's new home at Brick Farm, which JDH heard about from Dr Sinclair.

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 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.