Narrative of a Voyage to the Southern Atlantic Ocean in the Years 1828, 29, 30

PREFACE.

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THE peculiar objects of the Chanticleer's Voyage rendered it one of more than ordinary interest, and particularly desirable that a record of its general proceedings should be preserved. Had it not been for the melancholy event by which the expedition was deprived of its leader, there can be no doubt that a complete narrative of the voyage would long ago have been published. The present volumes have been drawn up from notes made with a scrupulous

care.

The numerous observations resulting from the extraordinary exertions of Captain Foster, were placed by the Admiralty in the hands of men of science, who have done ample justice to

the merits of their Author: some of them have been given here, but their discussion, and the conclusions of these gentlemen, will be found in the transactions of the learned Societies to which they belong.

Besides this public testimony to the merits and high qualifications of Captain Foster, his admiring friends have erected a Monument to his memory in the sanctuary of his native village, Woodplumpton in Lancashire.

The monument consists of an Urn, from which the British flag hangs in negligent folds, and against which a sailor is leaning in the attitude of grief. An anchor and quadrant, and a few nautical and scientific instruments, are also introduced; and below the figure the following inscription is engraved in plain Roman capitals:

Sacred to the Memory of

HENRY FOSTER, R. N. F. R. S.
Distinguished as well for superiority of intellect
as urbanity of manners.

By a zealous and firm discharge of duty,
he gained the confidence and regard of his
brother officers, and by a successful

pursuit of knowledge attracted the
notice of men of science.

PREFACE.

For his philosophical experiments made in the Arctic regions, the Copley medal of the Royal Society

was presented to him on the 30th November, 1827; when the Lord High Admiral of England, with an alacrity honourable

to himself and to the subject of his patronage,
instantly promoted him to the rank of
Commander.

In the year following he sailed on a
voyage of scientific research.

He had completed his astronomical observa-
tions at Panama, and all things had prospered
in his hand; when, proceeding to his ship,
and anticipating a speedy return to his
native shore, he fell from a canoe, and
in a moment was lost to his country
and his friends.

His body, shrouded in the British flag, was interred near to the fatal spot on the bank of the river Chagres, in the Gulf of Mexico, on the 5th of Feb. 1831, and in the 34th year of his age.

This monument was erected by several of his companions and friends, as a memorial of the high esteem they entertained for his character, and of the deep regret they felt for his untimely death. He was the son of the Rev. Henry Foster, Incumbent of this Chapelry.