rning." Much earlier he had
been stirred by Cook's voyages, and, like Darwin, was fired by Humboldt's
_Personal Narrative_. While at sea his work was largely zoological, and
the tow-net was kept busy. But on 24th August 1841, he writes to his
father of his great wish to devote himself "to collecting plants and
studying them . . . but we are comparatively seldom off the sea, and then
in the most unpropitious seasons for travelling or collecting." He
speaks, too, of his wish to see the end of the voyage, in order that he
might devote himself to botany.

The voyage had its dangers: in March 1842, during a storm, the _Terror_
collided with the _Erebus_, and for nearly ten minutes the interlocked
ships drifted towards a huge berg: the _Erebus_ remained rolling and
striking her masts against the berg, but managed by the "desperate
expedient" of "sailing stern first down wind" to escape destruction.

Hooker writes to his father, 25th November 1842: "The Barrier, the bergs
several hundred feet high and 1-6 miles long, and the Mts. of the great
Antarctic continent, are too grand to be imagined, and almost too
stupendous to be carried in the memory."

In a letter to his mother he describes seeing at Cape Horn "a little
cairn of stones raised by the officers of the _Beagle_." And again he
writes, "Clouds and fogs, rain and snow justified all Darwin's accurate
descriptions of a dreary Fuegian summer." He speaks of Darwin's
_Naturalist's Voyage_ as "not only indispensable but a delightful
companion and guide." There is plenty of interesting matter in the
account of Hooker's voyage, but the above fragments of detail must here
suffice. The _Erebus_ and _Terror_ reached Woolwich on 7th September
1843.

Having safely returned to England, the next problem was what was to be
Hooker's permanent occupation. Nothing, however, was fixed on, and in
the meantime he fulfilled "his intention of seeing the chief Continental
botanists, and comparing their gardens and collections with those of
Kew."

His first visit was to Humboldt, at Paris, who turned out "a punchy
little German," whereas he had expected "a fine fellow 6 feet without his
boots." Of the great man he says, "He certainly is still a most
wonderful man, with a sagacity and memory and capability for generalising
that are quite marvellous. I gave him my book [_Flora Antarctica_],
which delighted him much; he read through the first three numbers, and I
suppose noted down