366 THE FOESTER HERBAKIUM. 



He certainly has made some clever remarks during the voyage ; but 

 he talks rather too much of them. You cannot imagine how much 

 the man is mended since he came home ; the officers say they 

 hardly know the man. He came home thinking himself very 

 great ; now he, like Bruce, is reduced, even in his own opinion. 

 Some days ago he desired me to call upon him, and he then 

 desired me to pick out of his insects two of each species, one for 

 you and one for the Museum, which I did not think proper to 

 refuse. He has very few indeed from the South Seas, but some 

 very fine ones from the Cape. I believe I told you before, that in 

 the rest you are to be the third sharer : 1st, Br. Mus. ; 2nd, Eoy. 

 Socy. ; 3rd, Banks ; 4th, Tunstal ; 5th, Lever, &c. 



" Ld. Sandwich has desired him to, by way of specimen, send 

 in some sheets, containing an account of what happened at Dusky 

 Bay, New Zealand. If approved of, he is to write the account of 

 the Voyage, and he is to have ^ the profits, and ^ to Captn. Cook." 

 The manuscript, when sent in, was rejected by Lord Sandwich, 

 "without alledging any other ostensible reason than the general 

 expression, it would not do ; " and Forster further adds, that the 

 same nobleman " had already represented [him] to His Majesty as 

 an obstinate, violent, and impracticable man, instead of recom- 

 mending me to the King according to his promise." He certainly 

 seems to have met with an unfavourable reception at court, and he 

 attributes this to the action of Sandwich. He considers he fell 

 under Sandwich's displeasure on account of a circumstance which 

 he thus narrates : — "I bought at the Cape of Good Hope various 

 live animals in order to present them to Her Majesty, to the 

 amount of 200 f. When I arrived in England, Lord Sandwich 

 came on board the ' Eesolution,' accompanied by Miss Eay. She 

 saw the animals, and repeatedly told my servant she wished to have 

 them ; but my man told her they were destined for Her Majesty, 

 but I am sure had I preferred Lord Sandwich's mistress to the 

 King's royal consort I would have done better ; whereas, now I 

 have brought upon me the noble lord's odium." The whole letter is 

 of interest, but too long for transcription ; it occupies pp. 171-181 

 of vol. i. of the ' Banksian Correspondence.' A letter, dated Sept. 

 26, 1778, shows that Forster did not despair of obtaining some 

 payment from the Government : in it he writes : — 



" I have proposed Lord North a plan for sending 20 millions 

 sterl., without taxing the public. I begged only secrecy in case my 

 plan were rejected, and I stipulated a sum and an annuity if it were 

 adopted. His secretary, Mr. Robinson, tells me in his letter that it 

 is not usual to make stipulations, and promises that my plan shall 

 be examined with candour and due attention, if I will give it to 

 Ld. North without promising me the least reward. But I have 

 some notion that Lord North will not be long at the head of the 

 Treasury ; and I shall reserve my j)lan for his successor, to whom 

 I can likewise offer £10,000 from a foreign Prince. You'll think me 

 crazy talking in such a strain, but it is all fact." It would be in- 

 teresting to know how Banks replied to this proposal. 



George Forster seems to have resembled his father in many 



