LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 449 



and importance of the three expeditions, so far as botany is con- 

 cerned, are in the order of their priority in date. By far the most 

 extensive and valuable collections were made in the earliest, that 

 of Captain Freycinet ; Duperrey's is next in rank ; while the latest 

 (that of D'Urville in the Astrolabe) follows longo intervallo, both 

 as to the extent and interest of the specimens. 



But although the botanical department of the latter expedition 

 was more imperfectly filled than in either of the two which im- 

 mediately preceded it, do not imagine that they were by any means 

 sans reproche in this division. In each instance a capital error 

 was committed in not sending out a botanical draughtsman. This 

 deficiency was, doubtless, seriously felt by M. Gaudichard, the in- 

 defatigable botanist who accompanied Freycinet, as he was par- 

 ticularly interested in vegetable anatomy and physiology, and must 

 have frequently desired magnified drawings and sketches of dis- 

 sections, &c., which could only be made from the living plants. 

 In none of these expeditions were any researches of consequence 

 made beyond the coasts of the islands visited ; while at some 

 places (as Admiralty Island, the Carolines, and others), touched at 

 by Freycinet, the time allowed for observation was so limited that 

 M. Gaudichard did not even land ; but was obliged to content him- 

 self with what he could obtain from the water. From the mate- 

 rials collected, however, he prepared a digest of the botany of the 

 voyage, from which he deservedly gained high reputation ; and 

 this is the only instance in the three enterprises where the per- 

 son who collected the plants arranged and described them on his 

 return. So far the model is a good one. Those who collect 

 should be able to describe. 



I trust, sir, you are now satisfied that a comparison of the or- 

 ganization, naval and scientific, of the "exploring expedition," 

 with " the most successful expeditions of like character heretofore 

 sent out by the maritime powers of Europe," will afford no war- 

 rant for your efforts at reduction. On the contrary, were it possi- 

 ble for you to take the enlarged and practical views of a statesman, 

 as regards this subject, you would see the obvious propriety of in- 

 creasing the number of small vessels, which additional force could 

 be so advantageously employed in useful nautical labours, under 

 the general direction and protection of the flagship, at an expense 

 so trifling to the government. One would think, indeed, that a 



