THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
30 
lie was a son of the great gardener of that name, hut 
because we should he glad if any correspondent would 
inform us whether he is the same naval officer that dis¬ 
tinguished himself as captain of the Theseus, at the 
Battle of the Nile, and in other actions under Lord 
Nelson ? We have another reason for recurring to this 
subject, namely, that it enables us to give our testimony 
to the kindness of heart and liberality of Mr. Forsyth. 
Abundant are the letters in the collection confided to 
us, showing that to poor obscure men, from whom ho 
could hope for no return, not only was his purse ever 
open, but his influence exerted to serve them. 
Mr. Anderson had obtained tbe appointment of Hos¬ 
pital Mate at St. Lucia, under Dr. Young, but, he 
says, “ the want of attending at a course of anatomical 
lectures is a great loss to me; nor can I rest contented 
until I have it in my power to do so, although I have 
no reason to complain of my ignorance above many of 
my comrades.” (!) He remained at St. Lucia until the 
end of 1783, with the exception of a few months of its 
autumn, during which he was at Barbadoes. The follow¬ 
ing letter is dated from that island, 11th September, 
1783. 
MR. A. ANDERSON TO MR. FORSYTH. 
I received your last letter (dated the 3rd of May, 1783) 
in the beginning of August, with one enclosed to Mrs. 
Mures, Dunlap, in Jamaica. I am at a loss to express my 
gratitude for your unwearied kindness to me. I wish not 
for the smiles of fortune for any selfish view, hut to re¬ 
compense, in some measure, the many distinguished marks 
of friendship I have received. 
About a week prior to the reception of your letter, 
General Mathew sent to St. Lucia for me to come to Bar- 
j hadoes to him. He received me with great kindness, told 
me I was to look on myself as one of his family, since which 
I time I have been constantly with him. He told me he 
would give me every assistance in my disquisitions he 
possibly could. I am sure, from his behaviour, he will he 
of all the service he can to me. He has a great love for 
natural history, and I dare say would spare no expense or 
trouble to promote it as much as he can. He is the most 
agreeable man I ever saw; is exceedingly sensible, and has 
a tolerably good idea of all the sciences in general. 
From some questions he asked me relative to Sir Joseph 
Banks, I have every reason to think his sending to St. 
Lucia for me was owing to some letters he had got from Sir 
Joseph concerning me. 
I suppose he has also got the letter from the Bishop of 
"Winchester you mentioned to me, for he pays every atten¬ 
tion to me he possibly can. 
He has frequently spoken to me about going to Trinidad, 
Surinam, and other parts of the Continent, and I am sure 
if Sir Joseph Banks would give the least hint of his desire, 
he would assist me by every means in his power to go to 
any of the aforesaid places, or any other pait; at present I 
am doing little else than trifling away my time, for I ex¬ 
amined Barbadoes to my wish in two weeks’ time. There 
are some things in it to attract one’s view for a few days, 
but it is not worth spending long time in. 
I find myself in a dilemma at present, as all the medical 
people thatwere in the general hospital in these islands are 
dismissed, and their places supplied with others from home. 
I know the General intends taking me to Grenada with him, 
but whether he will, or can with propriety, continue my pay, 
I cannot say, for he has mentioned nothing about it, and it 
is rather a delicate thing for me to ask him ; for if I knew 
he could not continue my pay, I would go to Jamaica 
directly; but I wish much to see some more of these islands 
before I leave them, especially Tobago. I also have a great 
desire to visit some part of tbe Spanish Main, as it certainly 
Is the only place we know the least of, and I imagine its 
productions are numerous, and very different from these 
April 15. 
islands ; hut travelling in this country is exceedingly ex¬ 
pensive, and attended with inconceivable hardships, so that 
I cannot undertake it without some assistance. 
I should have applied for leave to go to Tobago before 
now, but as the General is anxiously expecting the packet 
with the definitive treaty signed, as I can go from Grenada 
In any of the other islands as easily as from this, I thought ' 
it better to wait events here, as then I may probably know 1 
what footing he intends taking me to Grenada on. But 1 
do not wish to stay long in any of these islands, for if my 
means would have afforded it, I had seen many more of 
them before tliis period. 
I hope you have received the three boxes I sent with 
Mr. Freeman long before this. I now send you all the j 
specimens and seeds I have got, with some fossils of St. 
Lucia. As the island of Barbadoes has something in its i 
formation ami external appearance very different from any 
of the other islands, I could not help sending you my ideas I 
concerning it; but as I made them not with any intention 
of transmitting them to you, hut in my leisure hours, when 
I had nothing else to engross my attention; but, on looking 
over your letter this morning, you wished I should transmit 
any observations on natural productions I might make, I 
thought of sending them to yon as they are. I hope you 
will excuse the dress they are in, as I have not time now to 
correct them. 
GOSSIP. 
The Lincoln Horticultural Society have fixed their 
Shows on May 25th, July 27th, and September 14th. 
Their prizes are liberal, and their rules good. 
The flower-gardeners of Dresden, at a ball given by 
them a few weeks since, presented the ladies present 
with fans made of natural flowers, which, by a very 
simple piece of mechanism, opened and closed like 
ordinary fans. 
Speaking of potatoes, says the author of “ The Cruize 
of the Midge,” stop till I immortalize my old mother’s 
receipt:— 
“ To dress a potato, wash it well, hut let there be no 
scraping. At the thickest end cut off a piece the size of a 
sixpence." This is the safety-valve through which the 
steam escapes, and all rents in the skin are thereby pre¬ 
vented, just as the aforesaid valve prevents a rupture in the 
steam boiler. If you do this, oh for the mealiness of the 
potato! 
We have always objected to nurserymen, and other 
local dealers in flowers, being admitted as Judges at 
Shows in their vicinity. We have so objected, not 
because we think such judges would intentioually act 
unjustly, but because we know that even the most cir¬ 
cumspect in cases of doubt have given the casting vote 
from a friendly bias. This, however, is not the chief 
ground of our objection, because the still more preju¬ 
dicial ground exists that such judges cause suspicions 
in the minds of exhibitors, and if exhibitors once im¬ 
bibe an opinion that unfair awards are probable, they 
soon withdraw from exhibiting altogether. Holding 
this opinion, and possessing this knowledge, we fully 
concur in all that is said in the following extract from a 
letter with which we have been favoured by an amateur 
poultry fancier of high position. 
“ I see one of your correspondents is recommending 
Mr. Baily as judge at a poultry show. I know no more 
respectable tradesman than Mr. Baily, but there is a 
strong and increasing feeling among exhibitors that dealers 
should not be judges ; and in this neighbourhood I 
honestly believe that if a dealer were appointed there would 
I be no show. I think it right that you should be aware of 
