36 THE LIFE OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS 



him happy, particularly when Banks " expected both 

 entertainment and instruction " from the volume. 



Banks went beyond the mere curiosity-hunters, as was 

 the way with him. The relations of the Eskimos with 

 other races formed the subject of erudite discussion 

 with his friends. Among his correspondents were 

 Dr. James Hutton, the geologist, a man who then was 

 leading the van in ethnographical inquiry ; and Dr. 

 William Robertson, the historian, who requests Banks 

 to entertain him with all the curious observations he has 

 made upon men in an early stage of culture ; and intro- 

 duces to his notice the novel speculations of Lord Mon- 

 boddo concerning the Simian ancestry of mankind. 

 Monboddo maintained that there were, in all likelihood, 

 existing races of men with rudimentary tails. Banks 

 appears to have treated his lucubrations with some 

 respect, and corresponded freely in an open-minded 

 way. 1 



In March, 1773, Banks was on a visit to Rotterdam, in 

 company with the Hon. Charles Greville. They attended 

 a meeting of the Batavian Society. Banks told them 

 of his wish to undertake a voyage toward the North Pole, 

 and desired that they would communicate with him 

 on the discoveries and observations that the Dutch 

 nation had already made, as far as 84 N. He promised 

 in return to furnish them with ample information con- 

 cerning the results of his trip. 



This Dutch excursion was the means of adding several 

 good acquaintances to his circle. 2 The visitors made 

 a profound impression upon their new friends. One 

 of them wrote afterward to Banks with some warmth : 

 " Your visit leaves a kind of sensation hard to describe. 



1 Hist. MS 5. Com., VI, pp. 674, 678. 



2 A Journal of this jaunt was among the Banks manuscripts dis- 

 persed at Sotheby's sale in 1886. 



