Alert, 1878-82. This voyage aboard the Alert, captained by George Strong Nares, an officer in the British navy (1831-1915), was ostensibly a surveying expedition to explore the waters in and around Patagonia, Polynesia and the Mascarene Island group in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar. Dr Richard Coppinger (1847-1910), surgeon in the British navy and enthusiastic zoologist, collected zoological specimens throughout the voyage. The Alert returned to Sheerness in Kent, England on 20th September, 1882.]]> ___]]> Alert, 1878-82. This voyage aboard the Alert, captained by George Strong Nares, an officer in the British navy (1831-1915), was ostensibly a surveying expedition to explore the waters in and around Patagonia, Polynesia and the Mascarene Island group in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar. Dr Richard Coppinger (1847-1910), surgeon in the British navy and enthusiastic zoologist, collected zoological specimens throughout the voyage. The Alert returned to Sheerness in Kent, England on 20th September, 1882.]]> ___]]>