V 



O 



R 



G 



A 



N 



I 



C 



B 



O 



D 



I 



E 



S. 



i8 



3 



during which they felcfom go afliore, and much lefs make any ftay 

 in places, which are worthy the attention of the curious obferver. 



VEGE- 

 TABLE 

 KINGDOM. 



And thi 



mftance likewife fhews, how much that immenfc 



part of our globe, India, with its iiles, v/ants the labours of a new, 

 accurate, and modern obferver, accompanied by a faithful draughtf- 

 man, ufed to drawings of natural hiftory, in order to make us bet- 

 ter acquainted with the rich treafures of thefe extenlive regions ; 

 and it raifes a wifh in each patriotic breafl, that, as the Britifh 

 empire in India is fo extenfive, fo much refped:ed, and its fubjedls 



the 



fo 



r 



althy and powerful, that fome of them v/ould eng 



men capable of fearching the treafures of nature, and examining the. 

 feveral objed:s of fciences and arts in thefe climates. 



Before L conclude this article, I ihall only add a word or two on 

 the received opinion, that fea-weeds are certain indications of land. 

 I' fhall not need" to mention the immenfe beds of weed, which are 

 annually found in the midft of the Atlantic ocean, to difprove this 

 alTertion, fince T can have recourfe to an ocean infinitely broader, 

 namely, the South-Sea in the temperate zone, which is at leafl ; 



1 500 leagues broad from Nev/-Zeeland to America, in which fpace,- 



we are now well affui 





d,. there is no land, though we faw from 



time to time bunches of weeds in every part of it. Indeed, nothing- 



1 



fo probable, as that fome weeds never take 



but grow fi 



ing on the water, as other aquatic plants do. But, fuppofing this 



Yv'er 



,^ 



« 



\ 



\ 



