APPENDIX. 



On niy arrival in London, having heard that several 

 convict ships were on the point of sailing, I lost no time 

 in addressing to the Principal Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies, the following letter : — 



(copy.) 



" London^ 6th January/, 1832. 



My Lord, 



" Having occupied myself a good deal during my residence in New South 

 Wales, in endeavouring to promote the plantation of vineyards, and the mak- 

 ing of wine in that Colony, I could not allow the opportunity afforded by my 

 visit to Europe to pass, without attempting to ascertain to what peculiarities of 

 climate, soil, or culture, the most celebrated wine provinces ai'e indebted for 

 the excellence of their respective products ; and to make a collection of the 

 different varieties of vines cultivated in each, I have just returned to England 

 after an absence of four months spent in pursuit of these objects in France and 

 Spain, and the results •f my journey have fully satisfied me that the opinion I 

 have always entertained of their great importance was not exaggerated^ 



" My reason for troubling your Lordship on this subject, however, is the 

 following : — 



" I had the good fortune to find in the Botanic Garden at Montpelier, a col- 

 lection of most of the varieties of vines cultivated in France, and in some other 

 parts of Europe, to the number of 437, and, on application to the Professor of 

 Botany, he (with the gi'eatest liberality) permitted me to take cuttings from 

 the whole. I afterwards added to this collection 133 from the Royal Nursery 

 of the Luxembourg at Paris, making in the whole 570 varieties of vines, of all 

 of which, with two or three exceptions, I obtained two cuttings *. 



" It is my wish to place this collection of vines at the disposal of His 



* There was an error in this, as will be seen from page 1 34. The Director 

 of the garden did not tell me that he had not been able to supply the whole 

 deficiency, and it was not discovered, till after they were unpacked at Kew, that 

 only 110 had been supplied. 



