viii PREFACE. 



the expediency of securing my collections for the 

 Royal Gardens at Kew ; and owing to the generous 

 exertions of that nobleman, and of the late Earl 

 of Auckland (then First Lord of the Admiralty), my 

 journey assumed the character of a Government mission, 

 £400 per annum being granted by the Treasury for 

 two years. 



I did not contemplate proceeding beyond the Hima- 

 laya and Tibet, when Lord Auckland desired that I 

 should afterwards visit Borneo, for the purpose of reporting 

 on the capabilities of Labuan, with reference to the 

 cultivation of cotton, tobacco, sugar, indigo, spices, gutta- 

 percha, &c. To this end a commission in the navy (to 

 which service I was already attached) was given me, 

 such instructions were drawn up as might facilitate 

 my movements in the East, and a suitable sum of 

 money was placed at my disposal. 



Soon after leaving England, my plans became, from 

 various causes, altered. The Earl of Auckland* was 

 dead ; the interest in Borneo had in a great measure 

 subsided; H. M. S. "Mseander," to which I had been 

 attached for service in Labuan, had left the Archipelago ; 

 reports of the unhealthy nature of the coast had excited 



* It is with a melancholy satisfaction that I here record the intentions of that 

 enlightened nobleman. The idea of turning to public account what was intended 

 as a scientific voyage, occurred to his lordship when considering my application 

 for official leave to proceed to India ; and from the hour of my accepting the 

 Borneo commission with which he honoured me, he displayed the most active 

 zeal in promoting its fulfilment. He communicated to me his views as to the 

 direction in which I should pursue my researches, furnished me with official and 

 other information, and provided me with introductions of the most essential 



