troops. I fhall be much obliged to your lordship, if you will be pleated to inform me, whether this unufual appearance of foldiers marching through the heart of the city, with drums beating and fifes playing, was occafioned by the order of your lordship, or of any other commiffioned officer. Ever fince I have had the honour of being the first magiftrate of this metropolis, I have not heard of any riot or diforder within my jurifdiction; and I trust, if any tumult fhould be excited by evildifpofed perfons, the force of the eivil power will be fufficient to fubdue all disturbances, and bring the I War-office, Dec. 19, 1769. My lord, Received your lordship's letter of yesterday, informing me that on Saturday laft a relieved detachment of foldiers from Spitalfields, without any previous notice given to you, marched, on their return, before the Manfion-house, and through the heart of the city, with drums beating and fifes playing." Your lordship defires I will inform you" whether this was occafioned by me, or the order of any commiffioned officer." The detachment from the footguards, relieved every twenty-four hours, which has for fome time paft done duty in Spital-fields, at the requifition of the worthy magiftrates acting there, in order to fecure the public peace, went by order from hence; but no particular directions were given as to the manner in which they should march, which was left, as ufual, to the difcretion of the commanding officer. I am very clear in opinion, that no troops should march through the city of London in the manner defcribed by your lordship (though I find, on enquiry, it is fometimes done) without previous notice given to the lord mayor; and I shall take care care that the officer who commanded the detachment, which returned from Spital-fields laft Saturday, fhall know my opinion. I will alfo take fuch measures as fhall, I truft, for the future, prevent any just offeace being given to the city, or its chief magiftrate. I have the honour to be, Copy of a letter to J. Ellis, efq; of Gray's-inn, from Dr. Solander, of the British Museum, now on his voyage round the world, in company with Jofeph Banks, efq; and the aftronomers fent to objerve the tranfit of Venus, by the Royal Society, at the new difcovered islands in the South Seas. Rio de Janeiro, Dec. 1, 1768. My dear fir, IN my last from Madeira of the 18th of Sept. I only had time to let you know we were all well, and that we there met with a very good reception, which is more than I can fay of this place, where the vice-roy has been fo infernally cross and illnatured, as to forbid us to fet our feet upon dry land. How mortifying that must be to me and Mr. Banks, you beft can feel; especially if you fuppofe yourfelf within a quarter of a mile of a fhore, covered with palms of feveral forts, fine large trees and fhrubs, whofe very blossoms have had fuch an influence upon us, that we have ventured to bribe people to collect them, and fend them on board as greens and fallading for our table. Now and then we likewife botanized in company with our fheep and goats, when grafs has been fent on board for them. Once [ have ventured, as belonging to the watering boat, to land at the watering place, which is in the, middle of the town, where happening to meet with a civil captain of the guard, and telling him I was the furgeon's mate, and fhould be glad to go up to fome apothecaries fhops to buy drugs, he granted me a guard; which happened to be a very good natured ferjeant, that town, but likewife a little way into followed me not only all round the the country, where I collected a few plants and infects; but I could not get fo far as the uncultivated places where the palms grow. This place is very large and well built, very regular and well paved. They reckon 37,000 white inhabitants, and above 400,000 blacks; some fay half a million. Their churches are very rich, as are their numberlefs convents. The opera-house is large, but they fay the performers are indifferent. Every body that lives here cannot be called any thing elfe but a flave: none dare do any thing without the vice-roy's leave. We have, nevertheless, by fair means and foul, got about 300 fpecies of plants, among them feveral new, and an infinite number of new fifh. We can hardly buy a plate of fhrimps, without finding a dozen of your Pennatula reniformis, or kidney-fhaped fea pen, among them. This harbour fwarms with rays and fharks; among the laft, the zygena and tiburo of Linnæus, or hammer-headed and shovel-nose fharks, have given us a great deal of of pleasure. It is never heard that harks do any harm, but in the fea and open roads. In our voyage between England and Madeira, as well as afterwards, we have been lucky enough to meet with a great variety of mollufca, efpecially of the tribe which Dr. Peter Browne calls Thalia, but very ill defcribed by him. We have made above eight or ten new genera, and, I believe, rather two few; I think we have feen above an hundred fpecies of mollufca, especially when we were becalmed near the line; we then every day hoisted out Mr. Banks's boat, and fometimes might have caught boat-loads of what the failors called fea-blubbers, and thought they were all of one kind; but they foon became fuch good philofophers, that they even recollected the different names, and could remember what we had fhewn them, and, confequently, could look out for new ones; fome of the failors have proved very useful hands. Many of our fhip's company have, for a few days, been low fpirited from a billious complaint, which our furgeon generally cured in a week's time. We have loft no men yet by ficknefs. Our first mate was drowned at Madeira. If any of your friends go to Madeira, advise them to get recommendations to Dr. Heberden; he has more influence there than the governor. He is just such a philofopher as my friend, and very communicative. His many inftruments, mathematical and optical, have procured him the name of il Doctore Dotto. His being a member of the Royal Society of London, has not added a little to his reputation. He procured us accefs into a nunnery; when they heard that Mr. Banks and myself belonged to the Royal Society, they immediately took us for men of fupernatural knowledge, and defired us to walk into their garden, and fhew were they might dig for water; they wanted to know by what figns they fhould be able to foretel tempefts, rain, and thunder and lightning. The anfwers and explanation of all this would have taken us up feveral days; but our captain would not stay for the gratification of the nuns. The governor was highly pleased with the performance of the new electrical machine; it worked prodigiously well at Madeira, but not half fo well near the line: perhaps the air is too damp at fea. These letters are fent to Europe in a Spanish king's packet, that came here in her way to Buenos Ayres; there is on board of her an officer that as lived feven years in the miffions of Paraguay, which he defcribes as the finest country under the fun. It was not a little mortifying to us, to fee all the Spaniards get leave to hire a houfe on fhore, when we were denied to land on any ifland, or other place that we defired the vice-roy might appoint, and that under a guard, the very day when our fhip was keeled for to clean her fides, fo that we could hardly make a fhift to walk. I hope Ishall live to fee the day when conte de Azambuja, the new vice-roy of Brazil, shall be ashamed of his impolite behaviour towards us. This letter goes in a Spanish man of war; my laft, from Madeira, was fent in an Irif fhip. The Spanish officers are the only people that we are allowed to converfe with; they are very civil and agreeable, and feem. to be unreferved. The captain has been in the South Seas, and went round round Cape Horn, which, I believe will be our route. The fruits of this country are nothing near fo good as ours are in Europe. Their pine-apples are extremely fweet, but no flavour; their grapes bad, fo are their few apples, likewise their melons; oranges are good, but rather want acid to give them flavour. Bananas, plantains, very little better than those you might have tasted at Kew. Water melons very good. Mangoes are not fo good as they are described in 20. 18.; taste of a difagreeable turpentine. Their other fruits, as Iamboeira (Eugenia Iambos of Linnæus), Papayas, Mammeas, &c. can no ways be equivalent to our fruits: but they have one advantage, that they have here a fucceffion of fruit the whole year round. Their few peaches are abominable; their greens tough and leafy. The country people eat almost every fruit that grows, but very few of them would be acceptable, even to boys, in Europe. DAN. CH. SOLANDER. from our reckoning, we judged lay about ten leagues to the catward. But, in less than an hour's time, the water overflowed the lower deck, and we could fcarce get into the yaul, being thirteen in number, before the veffel funk, having only, with much difficulty, been able to take out a keg, containing about fixteen lits of bifcuit, ten lits of cheese, and two bottles of wine; with which fmall pittance we endeavoured to make the land. But the wind continuing toblow hard from the North, and the fea running high, we were obliged,after an unfuccefsfulattempt of three days, to bear away for the bay of Honduras, as the wind feemed to favour us for that course, and it being the only visible means we had of preferving our lives. On the feventh day we made Swan's Island: but, being deftitute of a quadrant and other needful helps, we were uncertain what land it was. However, we went on fhore, under the flattering hopes of finding fome refreshments; but to our unspeakable regret, and heavy disappointment, we only found a few quarts of brackish water in the hollow of a rock, and a few wilks. Notwithstanding there was no human nor vifible profpect of finding water, or any other of the neceffaries of life, it was with the utmoft reluctance the people quitted the ifland; but being at length prevailed upon, with much difficulty, and through perfuafive means, we embarked in the evening with only fix quarts of water, for the Bay of Honduras. Between the 7th and 14th days of our being in the boat, we were moft miraculouíly fupported, and at a time when nature was almoft exhausted, having nothing either to eat or drink. Yet the Almighty Author of our Being furnished farnifhed us with fupplies, which,' when seriously confidered, not only ferve to display his beneficence, but fills the mind with admiration and wonder. Well may we cry out, with the royal wife man, "Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him!, or the son of man, that thou vifiteft him!" In the evening the wild fea-fowls hovered over our heads, and lighted on our hands when held up to receive them. Of thefe our people eat the flesh and drank the blood, declaring it to be as palatable as new milk: I eat twice of the flesh, and thought it very good... It may appear very remarkable, that though I neither tafted food nor drink for eight days, I did not feel the fenfations of hunger or thirst; but on the 14th, in the evening, my drought often required me to gargle my mouth with falt water, and on the 15th it increased, when, happily for us, we made land, which proved to be an island called Ambergris, lying at a. fmall diftance from the main land, and about four teen leagues to the northward of St. George's Quay, where the white people refide, in the Bay of Honduras; though the want of a quadrant, and other neceffaries, left us ftill in fufpence. We flept four nights on this island, and every evening picked up wilks and conks for next day's provifion, embarking every morning, and towing along the fhore to the fouthward. On the first evening of our arrival here, we found a lake of fresh water, by which we lay all night, and near it buried one of our people. On walking along the shore, we found a few cocoa-nuts, which were full of milk. The fubftance of the nut we eat with the wilks, inftead of bread, thinking it a delicious re paft, although eaten raw, having no implements whereby to kindle a fire. From the great fupport received by this fhell-fish, I shall for ever revere the name. On the third day after our arrival on this ifland, we buried another. of our people, which, with four that died on the paffage, made fix, who perished through hunger and fatigue. On the fifth day after our arrival at Ambergris, we happily discovered a fmall veffel at fome distance, under fail, which we made for; in the evening got on board her, and in a few hours, being the 10th of Ja-nuary, we arrived on St. George's Quay, in a very languid ftate. I cannot conclude without making mention of the great advantage I received from foaking my clothes twice a day in falt water, and putting them on without wringing. It was a confiderable time before I could make the people comply with this meafure; though, from. feeing the good effects it produced, they, of their own accord, practifed it twice a day. To this difcovery I may, with justice, impute the prefervation of my own life, and that of fix other perfons, who must have perished but for its being put in ufe. The hint was first communicated to me from the perufal of a treatise, written by Dr. Lind, and which, I think, ought to be commonly underftood, and recommended to all fea-faring people. There is one very remarkable circumftance, and worthy of notice, which was, that we daily made the fame quantity of urine, as if we had drank moderately of any liquid, which must be owing to a body of water being ab forbed |