PREFACE 



the long extinct great auk, as well as his notes on 

 matters botanical, are all of exceeding interest. 



His treatment of labour difficulties, his adven- 

 tures with American privateers during the Revo- 

 lution and the side-light he throws on the char- 

 acter of Benedict Arnold, with whom he happened 

 to share a cabin on a voyage to England, are all 

 interesting; but above all one admires his keen 

 sense of honour and his cheerful philosophy that 

 cling to him in his numerous misfortunes. 



The care with which his observations are made, 

 his avoidance of exaggeration and his evident in- 

 tention to state the truth as clearly as he could, 

 together with his excellent judgment, make these 

 volumes of great value and ever increasing inter- 

 est, as they deal with conditions many of which 

 are now passed for ever. 



Intermingled with these interesting parts is 

 much that is of necessity tedious and of little in- 

 terest to the general reader, and much that is 

 mere repetition, for the Journal, of over one thou- 

 sand pages, in three large quarto volumes, is the 

 every-day record of Cartwright's life, put down 

 without embellishment evidently for his own con- 

 venience, and, as he himself says, with no thought 

 of publication. The volumes are now rare, and, 

 in this age of hurry, few would care to wade 

 through the great body of the work for the sake 

 of the plums. 



In the following pages I have reproduced the 

 Journal without any changes in the wording, 

 spelling or punctuation, omitting only the unim- 



