Volume Ten - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Even more aspects - Darwinian Connections . . .

That evening, he took passage on the monthly mail boat bound for La Guaira, Venezuela. Informed that it was usually a three day voyage, he purchased provisions sufficient for a trip of that duration. He was not impressed with 'the tub-like affair' in which he embarked. The captain was new, incompetent and badly-equipped, and set sail 'in a strange sea, with a vessel bound for places of which he also knew nothing, and with a sextant in lieu of which he might as well have had a rusty horse-shoe'. As a result, he mistakenly passed La Guaira whilst still far out to sea, and he had not allowed for the current of three or four knots, and so arrived at Puerto Cabello, one hundred miles to leeward. They them had to beat back all the way against the wind. Having run out of fresh provisions due to the extended journey caused by the navigation errors, they fished to replenish their supplies and caught dolphinfish (mahi mahi) and barracuda.

After seven long days aboard the little fifty ton vessel, they finally anchored at La Guaira. Hawkshaw was pleasantly surprised that his telescopes, barometers, compasses and other scientific instruments passed through Customs with no difficulty. Following a good wash, a shave and a change of clothes, he walked to the Vice-Consul's residence where, for the first time in more than a week, he enjoyed the luxury of a good dinner.'

John Hawkshaw managed a workforce of over 1,200 at the mines and improved many aspects of the operation of the mine and the transportation of ores to the coastal ports. When he left, due to ill health, in 1834 the occupants of the house where he had lived were murdered which led to abandonment of the mines.

During his time in Venezuela he travelled far and wide, observing the geology of the land together with its flora and fauna which at that date was practically unknown to Europeans, other than the Spanish! He noted the variations in tree and plant life which changed according to climate and altitude. Due to the haste of his departure his specimens were lost, however, he had apparently already sent twenty different species of snake to the Manchester Natural History Society.

1834 - He departed Venezuela in the brig 'Black Hawk' during July 1834 and returned to Liverpool via Boston and New York. He was unwell at this time. Initially he was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the liver which on second opinion became a mild form of malaria. During convalescence he wrote a book entitled 'Reminiscences of South America from Two and a Half Years Residence in Venezuela' which was published in 1838.