202 
SIR JOSEPH BANKS. 
shrubs, &c., which may have been collected during the survey, in order to their 
being brought home for His Majesty; and you are, so soon as the sloop shall 
arrive at any port in England, to give notice of her arrival to His Majesty’s botanic 
gardener at Kew, and to transmit to him a list and state of the said plants, &c., 
which the gardener employed under your orders is to furnish you with for that 
purpose.* * * § 
Following is Flinders’ account of his work in this matter : — 
Amongst our employments was that of fitting up a green house on the quarter 
deck, and sawing plank to makj boxes for the reception of such plants as might 
be found by the naturalist, and thought worthy of being transported to His 
Majesty’s botanic garden at Kew. This green house had been received at Sheer- 
ness, and stowed away in pieces ; but I saw that, when filled with boxes of earth, 
the upper works of the ship, naturally very weak, would be incapable of supporting 
the weight, and that, in bad weather, we should be obliged to throw it overboard 
for the safety of the ship. I therefore proposed its reduction to two-thirds of the 
size, and Mr. Brown being of opinion it would then contain all the plants likely 
to be collected in any one absence from Port Jackson, it was reduced accordingly, 
and the feet lowered down close to the deck. This arrangement required an 
alteration in the tiller, and a short one, with two arms, was fitted to the after 
part of the rudder head ; with v hioh expedient, and leading the main braces forward, 
the green house was not likely to cause much inconvenience to the working of the 
ship. The plants already collected on t’ne South Coast had been landed on our 
arrival in good order, and deposited in the Gov^ernor’s garden until such time as 
the objects of the voyage being completed, we should be ready to sail for England.f 
On 11th February, 1801, Flinders writesj again to Banks: “ Your 
letters. Sir Joseph, I always receive with pleasure, and consider each 
one as a fresh honour conferred upon me ; but your objection to the 
paragraph respecting the south cape of Van Diemen’s Land is par- 
ticularly pleasant, as it shows the great attention you are pleased to 
pay to my efforts for enlarging our geographical knowledge ”... 
“ I now wait only for your approbation to wTite to the Admiralty 
for eight days’ leave.” It is remarkable in how many ways the advice 
and influence of Banks was sought. 
On 18th February, 1801, he tells Banks§ that his commission to 
H.M. Sloop “Investigator” “came down here this morning, and for 
which. Sir Joseph, I feel m}"self entirely indebted to your influence 
and kindness As the first favour, after this great act of 
kindness, I have to request of you. Sir Joseph, that on your first 
interview wdth my Lord Spencer (First Lord of the Admiralty) you 
will be kind enough to thank him for me for the promotion which he 
has been pleased to give me.” 
On 9th March, 1801||, Flinders has other worries, and asks Banks 
to get them rectified. 
• “ Flinders’ Voyage,” i, p. 11. 
t Op. cit., i, 231. 
f Hist. Rec., iv, 301. 
§ Ib., 303. 
II lb.. 310. 
