During the voyage, he wrote to his sister that "there is nothing like geology; the pleasure of the first days partridge shooting or first days hunting cannot be compared to finding a fine group of fossil bones, which tell their story of former times with almost a living tongue".
Durante a viaxe, escribiu á súa irmá que "non hai nada coma a xeoloxía; o pracer da caza de perdices dos primeiros días ou os primeiros días de caza non se podían comparar co descubrimento dun fermoso grupo de ósos fósiles, que contan as súas historias dos tempos pasados case cunha lingua viva".