by old friends after the lapse of so many months, and when so far apart. Capt. Sabine goes so far as to say, that he can suggest to me no improvement in the manner of taking my astronomical or other observations, or in the way of recording them. He has shown them to the excellent Capt. Beaufort, who also expressed his approbation of them, and has (I fear too partially) done the same officially to Mr. Hay at the Colonial Office. Capt. Sabine feels, I am sensible, too true a regard for my welfare not to point out my faults, and as this letter adverts to none, I may take it for granted, I trust, that he is well pleased with me. I have received a copy of Capt. Beechey's book. I entertain a great respect for that gentleman, but I think he has been too severe on the Catholic Missionaries in California. Any man who can make himself well understood by them, either in Castilian or Latin, will discover very shortly that they are people who know something more than their mass-book, and who practise many benevolent acts, which are not a little to their credit, and ought to soften the judgment of the stranger, who has probably had more opportunity of seeing men and things than the poor priests of California. Their errors are the errors of their profession, and I thus make bold to say so, having had reason to know that the individuals in question are honourable exceptions to priests in general. I am no friend to Catholicism, still I should desire to maintain my own opinion without hurting the feelings of others.
I heard of M. Klotzsch from Mr. Ferdinand Deppe,[1] of Berlin, whom I had the pleasure to meet in California. Formerly M. Deppe devoted his time wholly to Natural History, Zoology in particular; but now he is partly engaged in mercantile pursuits. In Mr. Klotzsch's favourite department of Botany little has been done out of Europe, and I fear little can be effected until he, or some one of equal zeal and talent, will undertake a voyage for the express purpose at least, we, can only look for a collection from such a source.
What a blank we have in the department of sea-weeds! You must still look to Mr. Menzies as the main stay, though you will find some fine species in my collection from the coast of California. Fearing I may not have it in my power to visit the numerous groupes of islands so particularly rich in this class of vegetables on the North-West parts of the continent, I have written to all friends, American as well as English, residing there, and requested them to collect every thing in the shape of sea-weed, and that I may put them to as little trouble as possible. I have told [them] simply to dry them in the sun. They can, like Mosses, be revived and put in order afterwards. Scarcely a Moss exists in California. But when we consider the excessive dryness of its climate, our surprize may cease. Perhaps no where else in the
- ↑ Many of the new plants discovered by this gentleman in Mexico are published by Schlechtendal Chamisso in the volume of the "Linnœ"; the same work also contains some interesting accounts of his excursions.
