B9X 
m 9 
c.z 
ScNHZ# 
INTRODUCTION. 
The specimens of Natural History described in this Work were 
collected during a voyage to the Pacific and Behring’s Strait, in 
H. M. Ship Blossom in 1825, and the three consecutive years. 
From the nature of this voyage it was not practicable to retain 
the ship long at any one place, and her stay was sometimes limited 
to a few days only. It cannot therefore be expected that under these 
circumstances we should have been able to collect a series of specimens 
illustrative of the natural history of any particular place ; but we have 
had the good fortune to bring together a variety of rare species from 
distant localities, some of which have been but seldom, if ever, visited by 
any collector. 
In arranging the work for publication it was found necessary from 
the extent of the collection to separate the natural history from the 
narrative of the voyage, and to divide it into the several branches 
under which it appears, of which the Botany forms no inconsiderable 
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