32 MEMOIR OP 



tory of the Medusa, concerning which, he had made 

 many observations, and of which he collected a num 

 her of new species. 



In due time, the first volume of his " Voyage aux 

 Terres Australes" appeared, after being long delayed 

 by the plates, and an opportunity was then afforded 

 of judging of Peron's merits. We find it distinguished 

 by the most scrupulous accuracy with regard to 

 facts, a merit of primary importance in works of 

 this kind. The descriptions of the soil and climate, 

 and the meteorology, present phenomena w r hich are 

 extremely curious ; and the comparison of our 

 author's views with those of previous voyagers, often 

 lead to general results. The sketches of the wan- 

 dering tribes of New Holland, and those inhabiting 

 Van Dieman's Land, make us acquainted with two 

 races of savages of shocking ferocity, and expose 

 the limit of the misery and degradation of the human 

 race. No voyager, with the exception of Mr 

 George Forster, (who, like Peron, is often quoted 

 in the following pages,) has been so successful in 

 seizing the physical and moral qualities which dis- 

 tinguish different tribes, and in marking the connec- 

 tion between their organization, manners, intelli- 

 gence, and numbers, and the resources which their 

 soil afforded them ; and if Forster's narrative is 

 superior, from the excellence of its style, our voy- 

 ager has the advantage of being free from every 

 systematic bias, and has withheld from his sketches 

 the colouring of romance. 



Peron lived to finish onlv the first half of the 



