THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 7 



travagantly dear ; 7 or 8 guineas. Geoffroy will set you 

 right by means of his cuts in many genera of insects. 



The motto from the Odyssey, Book iv. 566, is a description 

 of the Elysian fields, and will suit the climate of Andalusia 

 well. 



Ou vtfperos, ovt' ap' ^eificov 7ro\vs, ovre ttot op^pos' 

 AAA' aiei Zvcpvpoio XiyvnveiovTas arjras 

 Queavos avirjaip, ava^vx^v avdpanTits. 



Stern winter smiles on that auspicious clime ; 

 The fields are florid with unfading prime : 

 From the bleak pole no winds inclement blow, 

 Mould the round hail, or flake the fleecy snow ; 

 But from the breezy deep the blest inhale 

 The fragrant murmurs of the western gale. 



The prose motto is perfectly suitable to your present situa- 

 tion, and prophetic of your undertaking. 



" Certe si aliquis naturse consultus in maxime australi Hispanhi aves 

 observaret, quando accedant aut recedant austrum et septentrionem 

 versus, notatis scilicet diebus mensis et speciebus ; res hfec adeo obscura 

 brevi maxime illustraretur." — Amcenitates Academical, Lin. vol. iv. 



Now Mr. Twisse is returned, be sure get his conjectures on 

 the currents of the Streights : you will want dissertations for 

 your work. Your embassy to the Emp. of Morocco with a 

 description of his person, manners, troops, &c. will make a 

 very good chapter. Have you not in Spain some crown- 

 flocks of sheep which migrate with the seasons from N. to S. 

 Get some anecdotes of them. Mr. Pennant makes his artist 

 take all your most curious birds ; and promises the drawings 

 shall be forthcoming if wanted to engrave from. Describe 

 the Vultur percnopt. most minutely, and learn if you have an 

 opportunity the difference of the sexes. Get the skin of the 

 Lupus aureus from Barbary, and describe it well. Scopoli's 

 new Hirundo alpina is nothing, I think, but the Hirundo 

 melba, which is indeed a noble swift : get all the anecdotes 

 you can about them. Write to Scopoli, he is very clever : 

 but ask him as gravely as you can how he is sure that the 

 woodcock, when pursued, carries off her young in her bill. 

 I have just sent your cargo, which I received in August, to 

 Mr. Pennant : but as to your collection shipped in October, I 



