THE society's heritage from the macleays. 021 



Captain, afterwards Kear-Admiral Piiillip Parker King (1793-1850) was an 

 old friend of W. S. Macleay. They had met in London before 1820. At 

 Captain King's request, W. S. Macleay described the collection of Annulosa 

 accumulated by the former, during his survey of the Inter-tropical and Western 

 Coasts of Australia l)etween the years 1818 and 1822 [King-'s "Narrative," Vol. 

 ii., Appendix, [). 138. 1827] . CaptaiA King was a Committeeman or a Trustee 

 of the Colonial or Australian Museum for many yeai-s, from 1830 onwards. 



Rear-Admiral King is another distinguished Australian, born in Norfolk 

 Island, of whom, unfortunately, no "Life and Letters" has been published. A 

 very interesting biographical notice of this eminent man, by the late Mr. H. C. 

 Kussell, will be found in the First Report of the Australasian Association for tlie 

 Advancement of Science (p. 48). In addition to what is therein stated, it may 

 be pointed out that Captain King became very interested in zoology during his 

 survey of the Southern Coasts of South America, 1820-30. The results of some 

 of his observations, dated July 8th, 1827, were sent to Mr. Vigors, who published 

 them, under the title of "Extracts from a letter addressed by Captain Phillip 

 Parker King, R.N.. F.R.S. and L.S.. to N. A. Vigors, Esq., on the Animals 

 of the Straits of Magellan," in the Zoological Journal, [Vol. iii., pp. 422-432; 

 Vol. iv., pp. 91-105]. He was also the joint author of another paper, "De- 

 scription of the Cirrhipeda, Conchifera and Mollusea, in a collection formed by 

 the Officers of H.M.S. Adventure and Beagle employed between the years 1826 

 and 1830 in surveying the Southern Coasts of South America, including the 

 Straits of Magalhaens and the Coast of Tierra del Fuego. By Captain Phillip P. 

 King, R.N., F.R.S., &c., assisted by AV. J. Bmderip, Esq., F.R.S., &c." This 

 paper likewise was published in the Zoological Journal, Vol. v., p. 332, 18,35. 



The existence of these papers helps to explain why, like W. S. Macleay, 

 Captain King visited the "Erebus" in Port Jackson, to see Dr. J. D. Hooker's 

 Southern collections, and his drawings of sea-animals, as already mentioned. He 

 also contributed an article on "The Antarctic Expedition of Discovery" to the 

 Sydney Herald of August 19th, 1841, a fortnight after the "Erebus" and "Terror" 

 sailed from Port Jackson for New Zealand . This gives an account of the doings 

 of the Expedition up to the time of its arrival in Port Jackson. A reprint of 

 this article, no doubt presented to W. S. Macleay by the writer, is included 

 among tlie memorials of the former. 



Another interesting relic is portion of a letter from Captain King to W. S. 

 Macleay, dated June 4th, 1842. The address is not mentioned, but it would be 

 Tahlee, Port Stephens, where Captain King resided from 1839-48, and then re- 

 moved to Sydney. The writer says — "I have found here to-day a sp. of Latr. 

 genus Mictyris running on the sand at low tide. The above [a pencil-sketch of 

 a crab] is, no doubt, a bad resemblance, but it will serve to show nearly what 

 it is, and whether it is of use to your collection. The carapace is a dull blue, 

 and the sides a yellow fawn colour. T believe I am right in assigning it to 

 Latreille's genus Mictyris. I have him in spirits, at your disposal, if wanted." 



Other interesting relics are three rare pamphlets, being the first, second, and 

 fourth of the series mentioned by Mr. Russell as printed at Captain King's own 

 private printing-press, when he resided at Tahlee. These relate to the specific 

 gravity of sea-water, and to meteorological or astronomical observations. W. S. 

 Macleay's three copies have inscriptions by the author. 



