lv FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. 
Astrolabe), and accompanied by M. Lesson, a distinguished naturalist. The combined collections of 
these individuals and two voyages, amounting to 200 species of flowering plants and Ferns, were pub- 
lished by the late Professor A. Richard, in his ‘Essai d'une Flore de la Nouvelle-Zélande. This is 
a work of considerable merit, in which were included all Forster's plants in the Paris Museum, with 
extracts from his MSS. that accompany them. 
On the establishment of Colonial Gardens and botanists at Sydney, New Zealand became an ob- 
ject of especial interest to the latter, and the Bay of Islands was visited by Mr. Charles Frazer in 
1825, by his successor Allan Cunningham in 1826, by Richard Cunningham (brother to the latter) 
in 1838, and again by Allan in 1838, during which visit this indefatigable collector contracted, through 
exposure and fatigue, the illness which terminated his life at Sydney in 1839. After his first ex- 
pedition Allan Cunningham prepared his Prodromus, which was published in detached portions in 
several botanical periodicals*. In this he enumerated all the previously published species of Forster 
and A. Richard, but the work is so unsatisfactory and incomplete that were it not for the invaluable 
herbarium of both Cunninghams, now in Mr. Heward’s possession}, I should have found it impos- 
sible to have quoted the * Prodromus with any degree of confidence. 
Amongst the earlier explorers of this period, Dr. Logan, now a resident in the colony, deserves 
especial mention; his contributions of excellent specimens arriving at a time when New Zealand 
plants were almost the rarest, and scientifically the most interesting. Tt is however within the last 
twelve years, and since New Zealand has attracted the notice of colonists, that the most important 
accessions to its botany have been made, and it is to correspondents, most of them still alive, and 
actively engaged in pursuing their investigations, that I am indebted for the materials of these 
volumes. The Reverend William Colenso, Dr. Andrew Sinclair, R.N., my lamented friend J. T. 
Bidwill, Esq., Dr. Dieffenbach, M. Raoul, and Dr. Lyall, stand pre-eminent as indefatigable ex- 
plorers and collectors. Mr. Colenso’s researches have extended uninterruptedly over upwards of 
twelve years, during which he has traversed a great part both of the coast and interior of the Northern 
Island, and has been the principal contributor to our knowledge of its botany. Dr. Sinclair has also 
devoted many years to the New Zealand Flora, and has made numerous most interesting discoveries, 
especially on the east coast, and has transmitted such copious suites of excellent specimens as are 
most valuable for botanical purposes. Mr. Bidwill and Dr. Dieffenbach were the first explorers of 
the lofty mountains of the interior: Mr. Bidwill indeed ascended both Tongariro and the Nelson 
range, and formed collections of the greatest interest and value, accompanied by valuable notes on the 
elevation at which the plants were gathered, their variations, periods of flowering, and many other 
important points]. M. Raoul accompanied the French frigate L’Aube in 1840 and 1841, and again 
L’Allier in 1842-3, during which voyages he made a very complete botanical exploration of Banks’ 
Peninsula and the Bay of Islands. His admirable collections were deposited in the Jardin des 
Plantes at Paris, where they were placed at my disposal by M. Raoul, with whom I had the pleasure 
of examining them in 1845; a complete set was also detached for Sir W. Hooker’s Herbarium, and 
has been of the greatest use to me. A selection from the new species was described by MM. Raoul 
* Under the title of * Flore. Nove Zelandie Precursor,’ in the ‘Companion to the Botanical Magazine,’ 
vol. 2, and concluded in the ‘Annals of Natural History,’ vols. 1, 2, and 3. 
T I am indebted to Mr. Heward’s liberality for the unreserved use of this extremely valuable collection. 
i The Nelson Mountains have since been again explored by Dr. Monro, who has added a few remarkable 
novelties that had escaped Mr. Bidwill's notice, and whose excellent collections are, I hope, an earnest of still 
further discoveries. 
