10 
The Early Botanists—Sinelair, Lyall, 
Monro, W. T. L. Travers, von 
Haast, Hochstetter, Lindsay, H. H. 
Travers, Kirk. 
Dr Andrew Sinclair was another botanist 
who visited New Zealand in the very early 
days of its colonisation. His first visit 
was in 1841 when the Antarctic Expedition, 
under Sir James Ross, was at the Bay of 
Islands. Sir J. D. Hooker was busily en- 
gaged in collecting materials for his “Flora 
of New Zealand,’’ and Dr Sinclair and 
Mr Colenso accompanied him on many of 
his botanising expeditions. He subsequently 
returned to Australia, and accepted the 
position of private secretary to Captain 
Fitzroy, who had been appointed Governor 
of New Zealand. He spent his spare time 
very largely in botanical researches, and 
the valuable collections of plants he made 
from time to time he sent to Kew Gar- 
dens, where they proved of great service 
to Hooker in the preparation of his “Flora 
Nove Zealandie.’’ Dr Sinclair gave up his 
official position and after a brief visit to 
Hingland returned to New Zealand and 
devoted himself to his botanical pursuits, 
discovering many new species of plants. 
He met an untimely fate by drowning in 
an unfortunate attempt to ford the Rangi- 
tata River in 1861. 
Another of the early botanists was Dr 
Lyall, who accompanied Captain Stokes 
as surgeon and naturalist in H.M-.S. 
Acheron in 1847-51 when Captain Stokes 
was engaged in surveying the coast line of 
New Zealand. The West Coast sounds 
were among the localities visited, and Dr 
Lyall d:d excellent work in those regions, 
among his discoveries being the magnifi- 
cent ranunculus which bears his name 
The publication in 1853 of Sir J. D 
Hooker’s ‘‘Flora,’’ with its systematic de- 
seription of nearly 1800 species, of which over 
700 were flowering plants, gave a great fillip 
to the systematic outdoor research work 
of many men who were interested in the 
subject in New Zealand, and Mr Cheese- 
man pays a just tribute to the fine work 
