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106
Hong Kong, China
March 1854
in a much stronger manner under other cir-
cumstances than those which have obtained
in our Expedition since he has been con-
verted with it.
28th. The prevailing "Influenza" has now
reached me, and I am now so severely
affected by it that I can only remain
in my room, and occupy myself with
revising a book called "Richardson's Geology"
which I had not before seen. I find it to
be a good compilation, with excellent
wood-cuts, and very comprehensive.
29th. The weather for some days has been
cold and damp; the sky continually cloud-
ed over. I visited in the afternoon the
house employed occupied by our scientific
corps while here. It is situated about
half way up the side of the Mountain,
back of the town, and is very large and
convenient, so that each of us can have
a room at his service. It is surround-
ed by a most beautiful garden, in
which the natural wildness of the scenery
is tastefully controlled, and the crags and
water courses rendered harmonious by
art.
107
Hong Kong, China
March 1854
30th. Today I am confined to my bed by illness,
- a violent cold, cough, and the operation of the
medicines given me by Dr Nicol.
31st. I am recovering, but still too sick to at-
tend to business. Weather still unpleasant.
April 1854
1st In the morning boxes were prepared
for the reception of part of my collec-
tion, and the packages marked and set
ready for stowing in the U.S. Naval Store-
house in this place: I also took a lot
of bird-skins up to the house on the hill
to have them dried, as the dampness of
the ship has affected them badly.
I also took a boat and went out to
dredge, but meeting with a native boat
with fishermen, I found more profitable
employment in searching the contents of
their trawl, with which they were catch-
ing various small fish - soles, eels, gobies, etc.
In it I found several cuttle fishes (Sepia)
crabs (Dromia), a Brossus?, a large Mausix
and Ophiolepis. The trawl consisted of
a kind of bag-seine terminating on each
side in a long rope. The boat was
anchored at some distance from wharve