SIR JOSEPH BANKS xxvii 
the Resolution, with the object of ascertaining the existence, 
or the contrary, of an Antarctic continent, and Lord Sandwich 
invited Banks to accompany it as naturalist, to which he 
readily consented. Towards this new venture he made elabo- 
rate preparations, on a scale for which even his ample fortune 
did not suffice, for he had to raise money to complete his out- 
fit! Various surmises or explanations have been advanced 
to account for Banks’s abandonment of his intention to pro- 
ceed on this voyage; amongst others it has been said that 
Cook raised difficulties concerning the accommodation ; and it 
is stated that Banks’s equipment would have necessitated 
the addition of a poop-deck on the vessel destined for the 
voyage, which would have materially interfered with its 
sailing powers. But the reason given by Sir John Barrow, 
who was for many years Secretary of the Admiralty, is no 
doubt the correct one. He states (Sketches of the Royal 
Society, p. 26) that “ such a system was adopted by the Navy 
Board to thwart every step of his proceedings, especially on 
the part of its chief, the Comptroller of the Navy, Sir Hugh 
Palliser, whereby his patience was worn out, and his indig- 
nation so far excited as to cause him, though reluctantly, 
to abandon this enterprise altogether.” It may be incident- 
ally mentioned that the great chemist Priestley, whom Banks 
had invited to join the expedition (on advantageous terms, 
including a provision for his family), was also objected to, 
in his case on account of religious principles, by the Board of 
Longitude. Although thus bitterly disappointed, Banks never- 
theless used his utmost endeavour to promote the objects of the 
voyage; and that there was no personal bitterness between 
Banks and Cook seems certain from the following extract from 
a hasty note by Solander to Banks after Cook’s return :— 
Two o’clock, Monday, 14th August 1775. 
This moment Captain Cook is arrived. I have not yet had an 
opportunity of conversing with him, as he is still in the Board-room 
1 The last few cases of specimen bottles prepared for this voyage were not 
utilised until they were transferred by Robert Brown to the editor of this 
“‘ Journal,” when the latter was preparing to accompany Captain James Ross 
on his voyage to the Antarctic Ocean in 1839. 
