68 THE SOUTH AND ITS SCIENTIFIC SCOPE 



the surgeon and nominal naturalist to the Erebus, under whom 

 he was to serve, for technically his collections, other than 

 botanical, were liable to be merged in his senior's ; but on the 

 high seas, where botany gave insufficient occupation, Hooker 

 slipped into the position he had first desired, of Naturalist de 

 facto to the Expedition. As he writes (February 3, 1840) : 



McCormick has collected nothing but geological speci- 

 mens, and pays no attention to the sea animals brought 

 up in the towing nets, and they are therefore brought to me 

 at once. . . . 



(March 17, 1840, at the Cape.) McCormick and I are 

 exceedingly good friends, and no jealousy exists between 

 us regarding my taking most of his department ; indeed he 

 seems to care too little about Natural History altogether to 

 dream of anything of the kind ; for my part I am rather 

 glad to have an opportunity of doing more than is expected 

 from my department. . . . He takes no interest but in 

 bird shooting and rock collecting ; as of the former he 

 has hitherto made no collection, I am, nolens volens, the 

 Naturalist, for which I enjoy no other advantage than the 

 Captain's cabin, and I think myself amply repaid. 



Most of his work, however, was done under Eoss's wing, 

 whose special branch of science lay in terrestrial magnetism ; 

 but he was keenly interested in Natural History and, adds 

 Hooker to his father (February 3, 1840), ' he knows a good deal 

 of the lower orders of Animals, and between him and the in- 

 valuable books you gave me, I am picking up a knowledge 

 of them.' No doubt he would not have been so gracious to a 

 mere assistant surgeon who was not the son of his distin- 

 guished friend, and indeed in all Hooker's early undertakings 

 when he had to deal with officials, he was greatly helped, 

 and knew that he was helped, by the social and scientific 

 prestige at his back, and the introductions he received to 

 notable persons who could help him. 



My time during this sea life has not been, I hope, so 

 uselessly employed as I expected it might have been. 

 Capt. Boss, as soon as he heard that I was very anxious 

 to work, gave me a cabinet for my plants in his cabin ; one 



