280 PETER COLLINS ON [1766. 



with a very little, provided lie can but indulge himself with sitting 

 in the sun and doing next to nothing. 



In all thy expeditions, didst thee fall in with any Indians ? 

 What nation ? and how did they behave ? Is there a disposition 

 in them to continue in peace and friendship ? There is much talk 

 of civilizing them. A good, sensible man, named Hammerer, a 

 foreigner, who was long in London, could not be easy without 

 going to reside among the Cherokees, in order to try to bring them 

 to a sense of moral duties. 



I have heard that the Opuntia, or Indian Fig, grows in such 

 abundance at Augustine, that the fruit was a great food of the in- 

 habitants. Is it a different species from those at New York ? I 

 conclude the Palmetto arrives to a greater size than those in 

 Carolina. 



_ * * * * 



Billy's elegant drawings are admired by all that see them. 

 When he comes to be settled I must get him to look out for in- 

 sects of any kind, for in his warm, southern situation,* these 

 creatures increase in size and beauty, with many new species that 

 you have not. When thou writes to him, pray give my respects 

 and thanks for his curious presents. 



I don't forget my honest friend MoSES, who sent me a very 

 sensible, respectful letter ; and remember me to our young bota- 

 nist, thy son Johnny. 



People begin to be tired with the same seeds over and over 

 again. Could no plan be formed for Billy to send seeds from 

 Georgia, to make a little new variety in your cargoes ? * * 



So now, dear John, farewell. 



P. Collinson. 



Mr. Ehret, our famous flower painter, was with me, and I 

 showed him Billy's paintings. He admired, as we do all, his fine 

 Red Centaury ; a most elegant plant, if we can but get it in our 

 gardens. His butterflies are nature itself. His yellow fly is ad- 

 mirable. 



I am pleased to see that he has got so pretty a way of drying 

 fish. By it, we may have a Hortus siccus, or rather, Oceanus 



* About this time, "Billy" took a notion to settle on a plantation, on the 

 River St. John, in Florida, where he soon found himself in a very forlorn " situa- 

 tion." See the letter of Henry Laurens to John Bartram, August 9, 1766. 



