1850 THE FALKLAND ISLANDS 57 



very quiet and unpretending— straightforward folks desirous of 

 doing their best for the people among whom they are placed. 



One touch must not be allowed to pass unnoticed in 

 his appreciation of the missionaries' unstudied welcome to 

 the belated travellers, whose proper host was unable to take 

 them in : — " tea unlimited and a blazing fire, together with 

 a very nice cat." 



By July 12, midwinter of course in the southern hemi- 

 sphere, they had rounded the Horn, and Huxley writes from 

 that most desolate of British possessions, the Falkland 

 Islands : — • 



I have great hopes of being able to send a letter to you, via 

 California, even from this remote corner of the world. It is the 

 Ultima Thule and no mistake. Fancy two good-sized islands 

 with undulated surface and sometimes elevated hills, but with- 

 out tree or bush as tall as a man. When we arrived the 8th 

 inst. the barren uniformity was rendered still more obvious by 

 the deep coating of snow which enveloped everything. How 

 can I describe to you " Stanley," the sole town, metropolis, and 

 seat of government ? It consists of a lot of black, low, weather- 

 board houses scattered along the hillsides which rise round the 

 harbour. One barnlike place is Government House, another the 

 pensioners' barracks, rendered imposing by four field-pieces in 

 front; others smaller are the residences of the colonel, surgeon, 

 etc. In one particularly black and unpromising-looking house 

 lives a Mrs. Sullivan {sic) the wife of Captain Sullivan,* who 

 surveyed these islands, and has settled out here. I asked myself 

 if I could have had the heart to bring you to such a desolate 

 place, and myself said " No." However, I believe she is very 

 happy with her children. Sullivan is a fine energetic man, so 

 I suppose if she loves him, well and good, and fancies (is she 

 not a silly woman?) that she has her reward. Mrs. Stanley 

 has gone to stay with them while the ship remains here, and I 



* Captain Sullivan, who sailed with Darwin in the Beagle, and 

 served with great distinction in command of the southern division of 

 the fleet in the battle of Obligado (Plate River), had surveyed the Falk- 

 land Islands many years before his temporary settlement there. Dur- 

 ing the Crimean War he was surveying officer to the Baltic fleet, and 

 afterwards naval adviser to the Board of Trade. He was afterwards 

 Admiral and K.C.B. 



