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SUMMARY OF THE VOYAGE,
B Y J O S E P H D A L T O N H O O K E R . M .D ., E .N ., F .L .S .
ASSISTANT SURGEON C
I n th e beginning o f the year 1839, th e B ritish Government hav in g d etermined on fittin
g o u t an Expedition, for the p urpose o f investigating the phienomena o f Terrestrial
Magnetism in various remote countries, and for p rosecuting Maritim e Geographical
Discovery in th e high southern latitu d e s, H.M. Ships Erebus and T e rro r, commissioned
b y Cap tain Sir Jam e s C la rk Ross, sailed from Chatham on th e 2 9 th o f S ep tem
b er 1839. In addition to carrying o u t th e above-mentioned leading views, it was
enjoined to the officers, th a t they should use every exertion to collect the various objects
of N a tu ra l H isto ry which the many heretofore unexplored co u n tries about to be visited
would afford.
O n th e outward voyage we touched a t most o f th e A tlan tic Islands, mak in g a
longer stay at some of th em th an is usual, on account o f the n a tu re o f th e observations
th a t were in stitu ted . A t Madeira, which was th e first visited, we called in th e middle
o f October, and remained eleven days ; and th en made Teneriffe and th e Cape de Verds,
whence we sailed for and landed upo n St. P au l’s R o c k s* , u n d e r th e Line, in long.
29° W. St. Helena was th e n ex t destination, and the course which it was found n e cessary
to follow to o k u s to the Islan d of T rin id ad off th e Brazilian coast, lat. 20° S.
After spending a week a t St. Helena, the vessels sailed for the Cape o f Good Hope,
a rriving there on the 4 th o f April 1840. T h e Cape may be regarded as th e sta rtin g -
* For an admirable description of these remarkable rocks, distant 350 miles from the nearest land (the
Island of Fernando Noronha), see Mr. Danvin’s Journal, p. 8.
b