142 THE LIFE OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS 



course of a few days I shall have the honour of pointing 

 out to you their situation and extent, on a chart which 

 I have made of the coast ; as also of presenting you with 

 a few mementos from that and other parts of it. Till 

 which I am with due respect," etc. 1 



In these few years of peace, just preceding the outbreak 

 of the French revolutionary wars, there was considerable 

 activity in over-sea adventure. The French and the 

 British Governments were emulous, alike with their own 

 sailors, in discovering new lands and in seeking new out- 

 lets for trade and for colonial settlement. La Pe" rouse 

 was away in the South Seas ; and the scientific world was 

 beginning to be anxious concerning his fate. Our own 

 traffic with Africa was increasing largely, especially at the 

 Cape of Good Hope. New Holland [Australia] was now 

 to be added to the lands familiarized with the sight of 

 British sailors. 



The year 1791 was remarkable for our maritime energy. 

 Beside the regular traffic with Bengal and with Port 

 Jackson, other important voyages were taken in hand. 

 And, almost as a matter of course, Sir Joseph Banks 

 was intimately concerned in them, even if he did not 

 actually initiate them. One of these was a circumnaviga- 

 tion set on foot under the following circumstances : 



Early in 1791, it was needful to come to an under- 

 standing with Spain about the possession of Nootka 

 Sound. A projected voyage of discovery in the North 

 Pacific had been postponed from various causes ; and it 

 was now resolved by the Admiralty to combine the two 

 objects in one Expedition, which should embrace a 



1 Nearly forty years later than this, Banks had a letter from the 

 Rev. Thomas Kendall, of the Church Missionary Society, dated Bay of 

 Islands [N.Z.], July 10, 1816, with a similar story : " Some time ago, 

 being visited by some natives from the River Thames, one of them 

 produced a brass maree, or war club, bearing ' Joseph Banks, Esq.' and 

 your coat of arms engraved upon it. ... The possessor would not 

 consent to part with it for any consideration whatever." 



