Hv PROCEEDINGS. 



enthusiastic student of botany, collected and observed all 

 over the province, and conveyed the information he gained 

 to the prominent botanists of the time in England, Scotland, 

 France and elsewhere. He was also interested in geology, 

 and in fact in natural history in general, as well as in the 

 most improved methods of agriculture. As a general natural- 

 ist he was in advance of any others of his time in Nova Scotia, 

 and his ability to read readily in various languages, placed 

 scientific literature within his easy reach. In local history 

 he was an acknowledged authority. About 1801-2 he was 

 employed by the government to make a general tour or 

 survey of the unsettled regions of the province, on which he 

 left a voluminous manuscript report, including an account 

 of our trees. Land surveying he took up as a profession. 

 Unfortunately he published almost nothing over his own 

 name, being of an exceedingly modest and retiring disposition; 

 but he gave most liberally of his information to others and 

 often wrote anonymously for the local press. The descrip- 

 tive text of the first issues of Miss Maria Morris's superb 

 "Wild Flowers of Nova Scotia" (about 1840) was written by 

 him, and he collected the plants which that talented artist 

 portrayed. His evidence before the Durham Commission of 

 1843 shows his extensive knowledge of the province. He 

 contributed articles to the local press on the subjects of 

 agriculture, rural economy, education, chemistry, geology 

 and botany, and occasionally lectured before the Mechanics' 

 Institute. For many years he was secretary of the Central 

 Board of Agriculture and for a time conducted an agricultural 

 periodical. Murdoch says of him that he was remarkable 

 for the vast and varied information he acquired in botany, 

 natural history, etc., and that with a knowledge of most that 

 nature and books can teach, he united an unfeigned simplicity 

 and kindness to the lowest as well as to the highest in the 

 land, recognizing no distinction of rank whatever. On one 

 occasion this Institute made a pilgrimage to his grave in the 



