Plymouth, where the "Rattlesnake" put in after leaving Portsmouth. The
comparison with the ordinary quarters of an assistant-surgeon, and the
shifts to which a studious man might be put in his endeavour to find a
quiet spot to work in, have a flavour of Mr. Midshipman Easy about them
to relieve the deplorable reality of his situation:--]

You will be very glad to know that I am exceedingly comfortable here. My
cabin has now got into tolerable order, and what with my books--which
are, I am happy to say, not a few--my gay curtain and the spicy oilcloth
which will be down on the floor, looks most respectable. Furthermore,
although it is an unquestionably dull day I have sufficient light to
write here, without the least trouble, to read, or even if necessary, to
use my microscope. I went to see a friend of mine on board the "Recruit"
the other day, and truly I hugged myself when I compared my position
with his. The berth where he and seven others eat their daily bread is
hardly bigger than my cabin, except in height--and, of course, he has to
sleep in a hammock. My friend is rather an eccentric character, and,
being missed in the ship, was discovered the other day reading in the
main-top--the only place, as he said, sufficiently retired for study.
And this is really no exaggeration. If I had no cabin I should take to
drinking in a month.

[It was during this period of waiting that he attended his first meeting
of the British Association, which was held in 1846 at Southampton. Here
he obtained from Professor Edward Forbes one of his living specimens of
Amphioxus lanceolatus, and made an examination of its blood. The result
was a short paper read at the following meeting of the Association,
which showed that in the composition of its blood this lowly vertebrate
approached very near the invertebrates. ("Examination of the Corpuscles
of the Blood of Amphioxus lanceolatus" "British Association Report" 1847