48 J. H. MAIDEN. 



"This is the identical Club, given to me by the late Admiral] 

 John Hunter." 



Sir Jos h . Banks, Bar*, f.l.s. and k.b., Portland Place. 



Dr. Solander 



Cap 11 . W m . Bligh, r.n." 



The original label was written by Mr. Legh, and was, Mrs. 

 Lowther tells me, a copy of an extract of a letter by Sir Joseph 

 Banks to Mr. Legh in presenting the club. How Admiral John 

 Hunter (Governor of New South Wales, of course) obtained the 

 club is not known to me, but ever since it was presented to Mr. 

 Legh it has only been at Lyme Hall and Shrigley Hall, places, 

 five miles apart. 



What the object of Mr. Legh was in adding the names of 

 Solander and Bligh, I do not know. Probably they are mere 

 memoranda. 



Mr. F. M. Bladen, to whom I submitted the facsimile of the 

 label, says that it is not in the handwriting of Sir Joseph Banks,. 

 Admiral Hunter nor Captain Bligh, and agrees that it is probably 

 a copy made by or for Mr. Legh. He points out, however, that 

 the document could not have been written as a whole at any given 

 date. The paragraph commencing "this is the identical club" 

 refers to the late Admiral John Hunter, and could not have been 

 written by Banks, for Hunter survived him (Banks died in 1820, 

 Hunter in 1821). 



Perhaps however, the club was given by Admiral Hunter to 

 Mr. Legh and the descriptive letter furnished by Sir Joseph Banks. 



I give an extract from Kippis' abbreviated work (edition of 

 1883), and Mr. F. M. Bladen has been good enough to give me 

 the original passage, giving the account of the death of Cook 

 by Surgeon Samwell, an eye witness. 



The club is of Iron wood (Casuarina equisetifoliaj, a timber 

 commonly used in the Islands for making such articles. It is 

 about three feet long, the diameter at the thicker end is 2 inches 

 and 1 J inches at the other end. The photograph is a clear one (two 



