228 
WANDERINGS IN 
THIRD 
JOURNEY 
gentleman in George-town had made me a present 
of. I had collected in the forest several eggs of 
curious birds, in hopes of introducing the breed into 
England, and had taken great pains in doing them 
over with gum arabic, and in packing them in char¬ 
coal, according to a receipt I had seen in the Gazette, 
from the u Edinburgh Philosophical Joumal.” But 
these were detained in the depot, instead of being 
placed under a hen ; which utterly ruined all my 
hopes of rearing a new species of birds in England. 
Titled personages in London interested themselves 
in behalf of the collection, but all in vain. And 
vain also were the public and private representations 
of the first officer of the Liverpool Custom-house in 
my favour. 
At last there came an order from the Treasury to 
say, that any specimens Mr. Waterton intended to 
present to public institutions might pass duty free; 
but those which he intended to keep for himself 
must pay the duty ! 
A friend now wrote to me from Liverpool, re¬ 
questing that I would come over and pay the duty, in 
order to save the collection, which had just been 
detained there six weeks. I did so. On paying an 
additional duty, (for the moderate duty first imposed 
had already been paid,) the man who had detained 
the collection delivered it up to me, assuring me that 
it had been well taken care of, and that a fire had 
been frequently made in the room. It is but justice 
to add, that on opening the boxes, there was nothing 
injured. 
