46 THE ANTAECTIC VOYAGE : PEELIMINAEIES 
History companions to keep up the zest of the thing, and 
though I think very favourably of most of yom^ companions, 
I could have wished to have witnessed their conversation 
taking a more scientific and soberer turn. Above all I 
should have liked to have seen them pay more respect to 
the Sabbath. Do you do so, my dear Boy, and carry some- 
thing of the Sabbath into the week and I am sure you will 
be a happier man for it. 
The days pass in preparation till well on into September. 
Our Mess Eoom [he writes to his grandfather] is fitted 
up ^ith redwood and painted Birds-eye Maple ; it is 
abundantly hghted from above and calculated to hold ten, 
half that number is all that will at present occupy it. Each 
has a small cabin of his own ; its dimensions are 6X4; 
it is fitted with a bed-place, a book shelf, a seat, table, etc. ; 
below the bed are very large drawers for our things ; it is 
hghted by a large circular bull's eye on deck ; we fit them 
up as we please ; mine is to be painted satinwood, with 
brass rods and curtains before the door and bed, to be used 
in hot climates when, with the door shut, they would be far 
too close ; the bull's eye is then removed and a grating 
replaces it, which ensures a current of air. 
He expects his whole outfit, uniform, books, instruments, 
private stores, to cost £150. His grandfather sends him a 
travelhng thermometer. He had economically waited to buy 
a new watch until his first expenses were settled ; now he was 
forestalled by his father, who gave him ' a beautiful Chronometer 
watch,' ^ 
It is the admiration of all the officers, so much so, that 
I expect that it will be taken from me as soon as we get 
to sea. Of books also I have a good store and some for 
general reading, all Constable's * Miscellany,' for instance. 
The rest are chiefly Botanical with a few on Zoology and 
Geology. . . . My messmates are all readers and careful of 
^ This watch ho used to the end of his life on his travels and at home, 
wearing it in preference to the watch which Robert Brown left to him. It 
has been presented to the Royal Geographical Society by Hyacinth, Lady 
Hooker. 
