aufpiciously, and further efforts were

firmness and candour to conciliate the regard of its members; if rejecting the allurements of diffipation to explore scenes unknown, and to cultivate the moit manly qualities of the human heart; if to difpenfe a princely fortune in the enlargement of fcience, the en. couragement of genius, and the alleviation of diftrefs; be circumstances which entitle any one to a more than ordinary fhare of refpect, few will difpute the claim of the perfon whofe portrait ornaments the prefent Magazine.

SIR JOSEPH BANKS, we have been informed, is defcended from a family of great refpectability in Sweden, and his paternal grandfather was the firft of it who fettled in England.

He was born about the year 1742 and received his education at Eton, from w...nce he removed to Oxford, where he purfued his ftudies with fuccefs, and foon fhewed that Natural Hiftory was the branch of fcience to which he had the greatest attachment, and accordingly cultivated it with the greatest ardour.

At the time of his quitting the univerfity, in the year 1763, he went on a voyage across the Atlantic to the coats of Newfoundland and Labradore. In this voyage he made his firft effay in the fervice of fcience, and collected many objects of natural history, which Aill adorn his manfion.

But a more arduous undertaking was 'foon to be entered on. The difcoveries in the South Seas had been begun very

age was refolved on, under the command of Captain Cook, for the benefit of aftronomy and all the arts dependant on it, to obferve, in the latitude of Oraheite, an expected tranfit of the planet Venus over the Sun. In this voyage Sir Jofeph Banks refolved to

fail with Cook. His liberal fpirit and generous curiofity were regarded with admiration ; and every convenience from the Government was readily fupplied to render the circumftances of the voyage as little unpleafant to him as poffible.

Far, however, from foliciting any accommodation that might occafion expence to Government, he was ready to contribute largely out of his own private fortune towards the general purposes of the expedition. He engaged, as his director in natural history during the voyage, and as the companion of his refearches, Dr. Solander, of the British Mufeum, a Swede by birth, and one of the most eminent pupils of Linneus, whofe fcientific merits had been his chief recommendation to patronage in England. He took with him alfo two draughtsmen, one to delineate views and figures, the other to paint fubjects of natural hiftory. A fecretary and four fervants formed the rest of his fuite. He took care to provide, likewife, the neceffary. inftruments for his intended obfervations, with conveniencies for preferv ing fuch fpecimens as he might collect of natural or artificial objects, and with ftores to be distributed in the remote

ifles he was going to vifit, for the improvement of the condition of favage life.

On the 26th of August 1768, the Endeavour failed from Plymouth on this great expedition. Lieutenant Cook was commander: but Sir Jofeph Banks went in circumftances which made it improbable that he fhould be fubjected to any difagreeable controul. No unfortunate accidents occurred in the early course of the voyage. Even in the paffage to Madeira, Sir Joseph and his companion difcovered many marine animals which no naturalist had as yet defcribed. At Madeira, and as they failed on to Rio Janeiro, their vigilance was ftill eagerly awake, and was fufficiently gratified by obfervations and fpecimens new to science. The jealousy of the Portuguese greatly difappointed their curiofity, by forbidding those researches at Rio Janeiro, of the fruits of which they had conceived very high hopes. On the coaft of Terra del Fuego, in an excurfion to view the natural productions of the country, Sir Jofeph Banks and Dr. Solander had nearly perifhed by a ftorm of fnow. With extreme difficulty, with the lofs of three of the perfons who had accompanied them, and after paffing a night on land amidst the storm, in worse than the agonies of death, they at last made their way back to the beach, and were received on board the fhip.

On Wednesday, April 12th, 1769, the Endeavour arrived at Otaheite. For three months, the voyagers continued at this and the finaller contiguous ifles; refreshing themselves after their late hardships; making thofe aftronomical obfervations, for the fake chiefly of which Lieutenant Cook was fent out; cultivating the friendship of the natives; laying in ftores of fresh provifions; furveying, as navigators, the coafts of the different ifles; collecting fpecimens of the natural productions peculiar to them; ftudying the language, manners, and arts of the islanders; and refitting the thip for the farther profecution of the voyage.

At Otaheite, Sir Joseph Banks, by the prudence, benignity, vigilance, and fpirited activity, which he eminently exercifed in the intercourfe with its inhabitants, contributed in the soft effential manner to prevent diffentions, and diforder, and to promote that mutual harmony between thofe

good people and the English, which was indifpenfably requifite to prevent the chief purposes of the voyage from being fruftrated. His conduct was that, not merely of a raw, adventurous young man, or of a naturalift unfit for aught but collecting fpecimens, but of a man who knew himself and human nature, and poffeffed, in a high degree, the talent of beneficially guiding the defigns and controuling the paffions of others. The fpecimens of natural hiftory which he and his companions collected at thefe ifles were very numerous and interefting.

On the 15th of August 1769, the Endeavour failed from Oteroah, the laft ifle of this groupe which they vifited. On the 6th of October they defcried New Zealand, which had not been feen by any former navigator but Tafman. An Otaheitean Priest, of the name of Tupia, who had voluntarily accompanied them from that ifle, acted as interpreter between them and the inhabitants on this new coaft, who fpoke his native language. The whole coats of the two ifles forming that which is called New Zealand, were circumnavigated and diligently fur. veyed the ftreight between them was carefully explored: much pains was employed in attempting a friendly intercourfe with the inhabitants. The acquifitions in natural and artificial curiofities which Sir Joseph Banks here made, were allo numerous. Although the plants and animals were less various than, for fuch an extent of country, might have been expected; yet the fpecimens were comparatively many, which were worthy of being admitted in the collection of the natu ralift.

From New Zealand they pursued their voyage to New Holland. They failed northward along its coat to Botany Bay, which owes its name to the rich treasures of botanical objects that it was found to afford. New fpe. cies in zoology were likewife obferved on the fame fhores. Dinant excurficns into the interior country difpofed them to regard it as a scene that might prove exceedingly favourable for colo. niai fettlement. The voyage was continued along the eastern coat of that great territory; and to the track adjacent was given the name of New South Wales. As they advanced, the hip truck upon a rock; an opening was made in her bottom; they were in

extreme

extreme danger of perithing at fea, and escaped but as by miracle. In every fituation, Sir Jofeph Banks was ftill diftinguished by uncommon firm pefs and prefence of mind. At the mouth of a river which they named after their hip, Endeavour, they repaired, in the best manner they could, the damage which the veffel had fuffered. In the reparation, (fuch were the continual difficulties of this fcientific enterprise !) the pofition of the thip occafioned a sudden admittance of water, by which a part of Sir Jofeph Banks's collection of fpecimens was entirely fpoiled, and even the rett were not faved without the greateft anxiety and trouble. As the company continued to advance northward along the coast, many thells and marine productions of unknown fpecies were gathered, in occafional vifits to the fhore. The discovery of the Kangoroo enabled them to offer an interefting addition to the natural history of quadrupeds. No opportunity was negleted of making new altronomical obfervations. On the 23d of Auguft 1770, they left this coaft, and steered for New Guinea.

The rest of their voyage was through known feas, and among ifles which other European navigators had before vifited and defcribed. The noxious climate of Batavia afflicted a number of them, during their neceffary ftay there, with fevere difeafe. Tupia, the Prieft from Otaheite, died of an ague; and his boy, Tayeto, of an inflammation of the lungs. Sir Jofeph Banks himfelf and Dr. Solander were for fome time exceedingly ill. Every perfon belonging to the fhip was fick during their stay at this place, except the fail-maker, an old man, between feventy and eighty years of age, who got drunk every day. Seven died at Batavia; three-and-twenty more in the courfe of the next fix weeks after the departure of the thip from that harbour. On Wednesday the 12th of June, 1771, the furvivors brought the veffel to anchor in the Downs, and came afhore at Deal.

Sir Jofeph Banks was received in England with eager admiration and kindness. The defigns with which he had gone on the voyage; the pru dence, fortitude, and vigilant activity, he had exercifed in the courfe of it; the perils through which he had pafled; the invaluable information

recorded in his journals; and the fpecimens, before unknown, which he brought, at fo much risk and expence, to enrich the fcience of natural hiftory; deemed to let him greatly above almoft every other young man of rank and fortune in the age, both for perfonal qualities, and as a benefactor to mankind. At court, among men of fcience and literature, at home and abroad, he was equally honoured. A new expedition of discovery was foon after sent out, in which he at first wished to embark, though he was afterwards induced to decline it. But his directions and affiftance were not withheld, fo far as thefe could promote the fuccefs and usefulness of the voyage.

Iceland was faid to contain many natural curiofities, highly worthy of the infpection of one whofe love of nature had led him to circumnavigate the globe. Sir Jofeph Banks, therefore, hired a veffel, and went, in company with his friend Dr. Solander, to vifit that ifle. The Hebude,' thofe celebrated illets fcattered along the north-west coast of Scotland, were con tiguous to the track of the voyage: and thefe adventurous naturalists were induced to examine them. Among other things worthy of notice, they difcovered the columnar ftratification of the rocks furrounding the caves of Staffa; a phenomenon till then unobferved by naturalifts, but which was no fooner made known, in a defcription by Sir Joseph Banks, than it became famous among men of science throughout Europe. The volcanic mountain, the hot fprings, the fili ceous rocks, the arctic plants and animals of Iceland, with all its other native productions, were carefully fur veyed in this voyage, A rich harvest of new knowledge and new fpecimens comper fated for its toils and expence. Dr. Von Troil, a Danish clergyman of great merit, was a companion in this philofophical adventure, and was thus, by the beneficence of Sir Jofeph Banks, enabled to make communications to the Danish Government, of which they afterwards availed themfelves for the improvement of the condition of the ifle.

*

In the year 1777, Sir John Pringle refigned the Prefidentfhip of the Royal Society, which was immediately conferred on Mr. Banks, who, on the 24th of March 1781, was created a Baronet.

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