THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST 151 



as I have near 700 folio plates prepared.* It is to give an account 

 of all such new plants discovered in my voyage round the world, 

 somewhat above 800." 



Two months after this was written, Solander died. It was then 

 eleven years after the return of the Endeavour, and the book was 

 still unwritten, though many preparations had been made, and 

 nearly 800 copper-plates were ready. The death of his friend 

 and companicn on the voyage took all heart out of Banks for 

 proceeding with the big book. More and more did other matters 

 occupy his time and thoughts. The Right Hon. Sir Joseph 

 Banks, P.C., Baronet, became the chief adviser of His Majesty's 

 Ministers on all subjects connected with science or with explora- 

 tion in any part of the world. After the colonizing of New South 

 Wales, as to which he had borne a great part, he was consulted 

 about almost every detail as to it. t It was Banks that offered 

 the governorship to Bligh, whom he had come to know well from 

 his two bread-fruit voyages, the idea of which was due to Banks. 

 It was Banks that made the arrangements for the voyage of 

 Flinders in the Investigator, that engaged Robert Brown, the 

 eminent botanist, and Ferdinand Bauer and William Westall, the 

 natural history painter and the scenery artist. 



In all this press of work, the copper-plates were put away, and 

 after the death of Sir Joseph, they, on his bequest, became, with 

 many another article of value, the property of the British Museum. 

 Now, in this last year of the century, 80 years after the death of 

 Sir Joseph Banks, the first part, containing the " Australian 

 Plants," has been published, the first of eight parts, and very 

 beautiful the engravings are. The descriptions that in manuscript 

 " came with the plates are printed verbatim," and Mr. James 

 Britten, of the Botany department of the British Museum, has 

 " added determinations in accordance with the nomenclature at 

 present adopted." 



This is surely a remarkable resurrection, and the attention of 

 Australians who love science should be drawn to it. 



[The first part of this work contains 100 plates, each devoted 

 to a single species, which are arranged in the sequence of the 

 natural orders, and extend as far as Myrtacese. Most of the 

 plants mentioned were collected at the "Endeavour's River" 

 (Cooktown), North Queensland, only about twenty-five being 

 recorded as from " Botany Bay." Of these several are well-known 

 Victorian plants, such as Viola hederacea, Comesperma ericinum, 

 Boronia pinnata, Correa speciosa, Aotus villosa, Lotus australis, 

 Glycine tabacina, Kennedya monophylla, Acacia juniperina, A. 

 suaveolens, A. longifolia, and Drosera binata. The plates on the 



* The literary style of Sir Joseph Banks, in spite of Eton and Oxford, was 

 not very satisfactory. 



t Ample evidence of this is to be seen in the " Historical Records of N.S.W." 



