PREFACE. 
v 
have voluntarily chosen England as guardian to their infant 
state, and lean towards it with affectionate respect, as the 
source whence they expect all that is to be beneficial to 
them, it was thought, that to diffuse a knowledge of their 
past and present condition would perhaps contribute to ob¬ 
jects so worthy of a great and ancient people, as the amending 
and polishing an innocent and ingenious nation, and fostering 
the growth of religion, polity, and literature, where hitherto 
man has scarcely assumed his proper rank in the scale of 
creation. 
For the few notices concerning natural history which 
the work contains, it is chiefly indebted to the zealous atten¬ 
tion of Mr. A. Bloxam, brother to the chaplain of the Blonde, 
who, if not a learned naturalist, deserves the praise of a dili¬ 
gent and sensible collector. For some facts connected with 
the subject, the Editor is obliged to the gentlemen connected 
with that department in the British Museum, who very 
kindly gave permission to consult them, and to inspect the 
specimens of natural history deposited in the Museum. 
It is to be regretted, that the practised collector of bo¬ 
tanical specimens who went in the Blonde to the Sandwich 
Islands should not have furnished any account of the plants, 
