LDWEAN SOCIETY OF LOS'DON. IxXV 



some aptitude in writing, his first article having been written at the 

 age of seventeen. Two years after this, in 1844, he came to Kew 

 with the object of fitting himself for the work of a botanical 

 collector, and worked in the garden under the then curator, Mr. 

 John Smith. In 1846, upon the recommeudation of Sir "W. J. 

 Hooker, he was appointed, by the Admiralty, naturalist to H.M.S. 

 ' Herald,' Captain H. Kellett, C.B., which had been employed since 

 June 1845 on a surveying expedition in the Pacific. He left 

 England in August, and when he reached the city of Panama, in 

 September, he found that the ' Herald ' and her consort the 

 'Pandora' had not returned from Yancouver's Island. Seemann 

 profited by the delay to explore the greater part of the Isthmus, 

 and collected materials which enabled him to produce the most 

 complete general description of that country ever published. He 

 discovered not only a number of new plants and animals, but also 

 some curious hieroglyphics in Yeraguas, on which he afterwards 

 read a paper before the Archfeological Institute of Great Britain. 

 In the beginning of 1847, H.M.S. ' Herald ' returned from the North, 

 and Mr. Seemann joined her on January 17th, and remained with 

 her until the completion of her voyage round the world, during 

 which three cruises to the Arctic regions, via Behring's Strait, were 

 made. Seemann thus had the opportunity of exploring nearly the 

 whole west coast of America, frequently making long journeys 

 inland. His explorations in Peru and Ecuador, when he was ac^ 

 companied by Mr. (now Captain) Bedford Pim, U.K., led him from 

 Payta through the Peruvian deserts, and across the Cordillera of the 

 Andes to Loja, Cuenca, and Guayaquil, and familiarized him with 

 the magnificent scenery, vegetation, and population of a large section 

 of the former empire of the Incas. Subsequently, he traversed 

 several of the western states of Mexico, starting from Mazatlan, 

 crossing the Sierra Madre, and pushing on to Durango and the 

 borders of Chihuahua. At that time the Comanche and Alpache 

 Indians were very troublesome, and Mr. Seemann narrowly escaped 

 with his life. In 1848, the fate of Sir John Franklin began to 

 excite apprehension in England, and the ' Herald,' accompanied by 

 the ' Plover,' was directed to proceed to the Arctic regions, by way 

 of Behring's Strait, to search for the missing voyagers. This gave 

 an entirely new character to the expedition, which, up to this time, 

 had been used simply for making hydrographical studies of the west 

 coast of America. Three times did the ' Herald ' proceed to the 

 Arctic regions, the second year, joined by the 'Enterprise' and 



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