INTRODUCTION. 
IN offering this little Work to the Public, more 
especially to Sailors and Travellers, it may not 
be improper to state, that the following pages 
are, generally, the result of my own observations, 
during fifteen years that I was at sea, and sub- 
sequently whilst [ was resident for six years in 
Spanish America, and the Brazils. 
HAVING sailed to most parts of the globe, I 
may say, from experience, that there is no 
station which affords such facilities for collect- 
ing shells, and other productions of Nature, as 
a 
