OF THE ANTARCTIC VOYAGE. 249 
consequently acquired, would all be very limited, compared 
with what they actually are. A voyage of this kind is, in one 
respect, entirely different from inland travels; the scanty 
accommodation on board vessels of this description, where 
almost every inch of space is occupied by something con- 
nected with the chief objects of the expedition, being quite un 
like what the naturalist meets with on shore: still, these 
difficulties have been, in a great measure, obviated by the 
kind consideration of the commander, who has granted every 
facility possible for the advancement of each individual de- 
partment of science, by his own personal exertions, and the 
free use of his cabin. The collections which have already 
arrived bear ample testimony to the correctness of the state- 
ment. 
We shall pass slightly over the countries whose vegetable 
productions are familiar to us, to dwell the longer on the 
more interesting and less known southern regions. 
Her Majesty’s Discovery Ships, |“ Erebus and Terror,” 
quitted the Medway on the 25th of September 1839, and 
proceeded to Madeira. To the chief botanist this was a new 
Country, and though the season was mid-winter, he found the 
gardens rich with Bananas, Vines, Daturas, Fuchsias, China- 
roses, Hibiscus and Heliotrope, growing in the greatest luxuri- 
ance. A party was quickly formed to visit the well-known - 
Curral, one of the most romantic spots in the island, about 
3,500 feet above the level of the ocean, and where, at a 
favourable season, many good plants might be found; but - 
now, in these elevated situations, little could be seen buta — - 
few Mosses and Lichens, with the withered remains of Sem- 
Perviva, and other succulent genera. : 
The stay at Ténériffe, where the ships did not even cast 
anchor, was so brief as scarcely to allow of a dozen plants 
being gathered, besides a few curious Alge. All was 
dried up and flowerless. From Ténériffe they shaped 
their course to the Cape de Verds; and here, could d 
weeks have been devoted to the mountains, an extensive 
harvest might have been reaped. The several islands of 
