xviii Sir William Jackson Hooker . 
Soon after his return, and yielding to the wishes of his 
friends, he commenced writing his ‘Journal of a Tour in 
Iceland.* On hearing of this Sir Joseph Banks most liberally 
offered him the use of his own manuscript journal, and various 
other papers relating to the island, together with the magni- 
ficent drawings of the scenery, dresses of the inhabitants, &c., 
which were made by the artist who accompanied him in his 
voyage thither in 1 772. With these materials, his own 
journal of four weeks out of the twelve which he passed in 
the island, and a retentive memory, refreshed by a reference 
to all available works and all documents relating to the 
revolution, he compiled and printed, for private distribution 
only , in 18x1, an 8vo volume of upwards of 400 pages and four 
plates. Sir Joseph Banks was so pleased with it that he 
induced my father to reproduce it for publication. The second 
edition with additions, in two volumes, with two maps and 
four plates, dedicated to Sir Joseph, appeared in 1813, and is 
to this day a standard work. A resume of its contents may be 
welcome to those interested in the author’s career. Volume i 
contains the history and present condition of Iceland, its pro- 
ductions, institutions, commerce, &c., followed by his ‘ Re- 
collections of Iceland ’ in journal form. Volume ii consists of 
six appendices: (1) details of the Icelandic Revolution, drawn 
up with singular impartiality ; (2) proclamations relating to it ; 
(3) Hecla and the volcanic mountains of Iceland ; (4) Odes 
and Letters presented by the literati of Iceland to the Right 
Honourable Sir Joseph Banks and the Honourable Captain 
Jones ; (5) a list of Icelandic plants ; (6) Danish ordinances 
concerning the trade of Iceland. 
Reverting to the destruction of his collections, my impression 
is that the loss to science of the cryptogamic plants was the 
most serious, for he was a keen student of mosses, Hepaticae, 
lichens, and both marine and fresh-water Algae 1 , and had 
gained invaluable knowledge on them during his excursions 
1 When only twenty-one years old he was in correspondence, on the subject 
of fresh-water Algae, with Mr. Dillwyn for whose British Confervae he made 
drawings of species discovered by himself in Norfolk. 
