BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 119 
which Mr Webb has genersingly andes to superintend. 
It will form a thin octayo.” 
Dr Welwitsch,* who a little time ago left England for 
the Azores, &c., has been unexpectedly detained in Lisbon. 
With respect to this botanical traveller, we have received 
Some interesting particulars from Mr William Pamplin, 
who we believe is the agent for the disposal of his collec- 
tions in this country, and who has been in close correspon- 
dence with him. Dr Welwitsch says in his first letter, 
dated Lisbon, September 7, 1839, ‘Safely arrived in 
this place, on the paradisiacal banks of the Tagus, I soon 
learned from the most correct sources of information, that 
especially at this season, the opportunities for performing the 
voyage to the Azores, particularly to Fayal, or Pico, are by 
no means so frequent as our people in the north are inclined 
to believe. I therefore shall as quickly as possible, make the 
necessary preparations for the satisfactory employment of the _ 
time I may have to spend in Portugal; and indeed I began 
from the first day of my arrival to make a number of . 
botanical excursions, which during the space of six weeks, 
have afforded me so many treasures, that I am already 
able to send a tolerable collection of several thousand Portu- 
guese plants, insects, and shells, to the Wurtemberg Natural 
History Society, (the Unio Itineraria). At the same time, 
I have gained such a proficiency i in the Portuguese language, 
as to be able to make myself easily understood by the. 
inhabitants; which is the more important to a traveller. 
going to the Azores and Cape de Verdes, as nothing so much 
Wins the favour of the proud and unsociable Portuguese, as 
an acquaintance with their language. Towards the end of 
this month, I hope certainly to embark.” And on the 21st 
of Drtoler. (Lisbon,) he says, ** According to my former 
letter, you may imagine me already arrived in that groupe 
. Of islands, which, strange enough, is not reckoned to belong 
to any one quarter of the tol the Azores. But the weather ie s 
| Seu the Botanical Information pou at page 32 of this — uL 2 
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