106 TASMANIA AND THE ANTARCTIC 
Dayman, who was left in charge of the magnetic observatory, 
writes, * Sir J. FrankHn expressed his regret that he had not 
seen more of you while you were here.' Others had occupied 
his attention. 
Lady Franldin had established a Natural History Society, 
or rather Soirees, that met every fortnight, on Monday evenings 
at Government House, and Hooker was elected an honorary 
member. Lady Franklin herself was, it seems, somewhat 
imperious, and to the young man incomprehensible in her 
autocratic ways. Hence he writes (November 9, 1840) : 
Lady Franklin . . . would like to show me every kind- 
ness, but does not understand how, and I hate dancing 
attendance at Government House. I have dined there five 
or six times. . . . She very kindly invited me to go to Port 
Arthur in their yacht, to botanise ; w^e were three days 
away, — ^two of them at sea, and the third, a Sunday, it 
rained furiously. I got about 500 specimens on Monday, 
and a few after service on Sunday, though Lady F. did not 
like it, and very properly, but I thought it excusable as 
being my only chance of gathering Anopterus glandulosus. 
Do not think this is my habit. Captain Ross is too strict, 
were there no other reasons. 
His own disinchnation to spend his time in meaningless 
amusements can be gathered from letters of the period. Herein 
he was fortified by a letter from his Glasgow friend, the botanist 
Arnott, who warns him to collect, not to dance or amuse him- 
self : * H.M. does not pay for this.' He quotes the example 
of Lacy and ColUe, w^ho were not employed to play the fiddle 
on Beechey's voyage, yet that seemed the principal part of 
their occupation ! 
His main concern from April to July 1841 was botanising 
work that afterwards bore fruit in his ' Flora of Tasmania.' He 
has an eye, however, for human affairs. Among the trees 
charred by the natives' bush-fires from ancient times, he 
marks some few hollowed out by fire to form their houses : 
a meagre record of the thousands of native Tasmanians, for 
of them all ' only three remain, all males, and they consist of an 
old and a middle-aged man and child. They are very savage, 
