Ixxvi INTRODUCTION. 
might procure. He kept up.a continual communication 
with the fishermen of Plymouth, and constantly received 
from them baskets filled with the rubbish they dredged 
from the bottom of the sea; and this he examined with 
diligence and attention, preserving all the new objects that 
he discovered, and making descriptions of them. He vi- 
sited, occasionally, the Brixham, Plymouth, and Falmouth 
fishermen, and made excursions withthem. He very often 
left Kingsbridge in an open boat, and remained absent for 
along time together, during which, he dredged when the 
tide was full, and examined the shores when it was out. 
At night he slept in his boat, which he drew on shore ; and 
when the weather was too stormy for marine excursions, 
he would leave his boat and proceed to examine the 
country and woods for insects, birds, &c. The remarks 
with which he accompanied the infinity of new objects 
which he discovered, are invaluable; many of them have 
been, and the rest shall be hereafter, made public.” 
In this way was Mr. Cranch employed for the collec- 
tion of natural history in the British Museum, at the time 
when the expedition to the Congo was planned: for such 
an expedition, a person of this description was invaluable, 
and Doctor Leach recommended him to Sir Joseph 
Banks, as one in every way fitted for the undertaking. 
On his part, an appoimtment so suited to his pursuits, and 
so flattering to his hopes, was the height of his ambition, 
and he at once accepted it, though not without some 
painful struggles to his feelings. It seems he had a sort of 
presentiment that he should never return, and that the ex- 
pectation of such an event became weaker and weaker, 
as his country faded from hjs view. His conduct, however, 
