JDH writes to his sister, Maria. He wrote to others by the HMS 'Arrow' on 3 May 1842. HMS 'Champion' has stopped at the Falkland Islands & JDH met with Captain Holt, who is his 'scotch cousin' through familial links with Shelly of Barmouth & Tom Brightman's sister. The latest newspapers JDH has seen are from March with news of the Prince's christening, Queen's speech, bankruptcy of an unrelated Hooker, & death of James McCall of Daldowie. Mentions the failure of 'the African Expedition' & compares with their own Antarctic expedition. JDH has been on a trip to Port William with the Governor [Richard Clement Moody] on the HMS 'Alarm'. Describes the country around Port William. Compares a Port William grass known as 'tussac' with the 'true Tussac grass', which JDH thinks is Dactylis glomerata, & describes the habit of the latter in the Falklands. On the trip JDH collected seaweeds, lichens, new plants & few shells incl. rare Voluta magellanica. JDH has found more plants than expected in the Falklands, especially given the late season. The ship ['Erebus'] is being repaired. As it is now winter JDH's collecting will be confined to lower order plants. The days are short, the nights long & the weather stormy making life in a tent uncomfortable. He describes how they line the tent floor with gravel & sleep in 'blanket bags'. JDH likes Governor Moody, whose father was Lieutenant Governor in Guernsey. Mentions the return of Wilmot & Lefroy, Baron Humboldt & the King of Prussia visiting London. Davis is making a sketch of the ships in the ice for William Jackson Hooker, JDH will send oak to frame it. JDH would like info on the Hooker's new home at Kew. Notes that the Antarctica expedition has not been in the press. On the Queen's birthday they had a smart dinner. Wonders if Balfour or Arnott is the new Glasgow University Chair of Botany. JDH intends send Dawson a Matchero from Valparaiso. Asks Maria to send him new spectacles, an eye glass & some lichens: Cud-bear & Archill.

JDH last wrote to his sister, Maria Hooker, in May. He is sending her some shells, which he briefly describes collecting & packing. He suggests that she, as a conchologist, should label them. The first specimen of Voluta magellanica [Adelomelon ancilla] has gone to the Government collection but the next will be for Maria. The only land shell in the Falklands is a minute Planorbis, the specimens of Murex sent are from the South Seas. JDH has also collected Auckland Island shells, Albatross eggs & specimens from New Zealand which will be sent later. Describes how isolated the Falklands are. Only Yule & JDH remain in their berth, Oakeley having been promoted to Lieutenant when McMurdo was invalided home & Sibbald is now 1st Lieutenant on the HMS 'Terror'. Describes their food rations & what fresh meat they can get in the Falklands, stock has also been delivered by the ship 'Carysfort' from Rio de Janeiro. Summer has arrived in the Falklands but there is little vegetation to show the seasonal change. JDH has been skating once during the winter freeze. Captain Gardiner, famed for his Zulu expedition, is in the Falklands waiting to take his family to Hazy Bay in the Straits of Magelhaens [Magellan] on the Patagonian coast. If Aunt Palgrave knows Mrs Gardiner's family in Hampstead she can tell them the Gardiners are all well. The 'Erebus' & 'Terror' will soon sail for a port near Cape Horn, probably St Martin's Cove in Hermit Island, where JDH hopes to see the natives described by both [Charles] Darwin & [James] Weddel. They will then go south towards the Antarctic pole again & hope to get further south than Weddel who reached 74 degrees latitude. JDH theorises that the channels in the ice are very changeable, describes sailing through pack ice as pleasant with opportunity for visiting from ship to ship. Explains why such visits are called 'Mollymawking' by Greenland fisherman. They also hunt seals & penguins & have snow ball fights on ice floes. Sends New Year wishes.