328 NOTES ON THE BOTANY 
their geographical distribution chiefly depended on an uni. 
form and moist temperature, such as is generally found in 
islands. All the Magelhaenic species that inhabit the Falk- 
lands, acquire there a harsh and coriaceous consistency, from 
the vicissitudes of temperature and of the hygrometric state 
of the air to which they are exposed. The Kerguelen island 
Stegania I believe to be the. most Antarctic of ferns, though 
its position as to latitude is far lower than that of many 
others.” 
Happily and usefully, as above detailed, was the Botanist 
occupied in the interval between quitting the ice and arriv- 
ing at the Cape of Good Hope; where, as already stated, the 
ships came safely to anchor on the 4th of April, 1843. _ 
Thus, by the undaunted skill of the most accomplished of 
Navigators and through a merciful Providence, such a series 
of investigations has been carried on, for three successive. 
summers in the South Polar Regions, as cannot fail to prove 
of inestimable value to science in its various departments, 
and to maintain, for the British Navy, that pre-eminent 
rank which it has so long held among the nations; “ terri- 
ble in war,” and during times of peace, engaged in extending 
the boundaries of useful knowledge, promoting navigation 
and commerce, and prosecuting geographical discoveries 
through the remotest regions of our globe. 
During this long and hazardous voyage, of four years’ 
duration, much of it pursued through unknown seas, and 
amid perils and privations of no ordinary character, disease 
has never entered the ships, nor have any casualties taken 
place beyond what must be expected in every protracted 
cruize, under the most favourable circumstances. One poor 
fellow washed overboard in the tremendous seas between 
Kerguelen’s Island and Van Dieman’s Island, ‘and another, 
in the awful hurricane described as occurring on the night of 
the 12—13th March, already mentioned in this article, are, I 
believe the only deaths: and a single officer and sailor inva- 
lided and sent home from the Falklands, but both, now, 
