Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 5.djvu/240



While so much geographical information has, of late years, been added to the general stock of knowledge, and so many distinguished individuals have assiduously devoted their talents to the investigation of the northern parts of this country, the Horticultural Society of London, desirous of disseminating among the gardens of Britain the vegetable treasures of those widely extended and highly diversified countries, resolved on sending a person experienced in the modes of collecting and preserving botanical subjects, and of transmitting seeds to England. I had the pleasure of being the individual selected, having previously extensively traveled on the eastern parts of the same Continent for a similar purpose. Before entering on this brief statement, I must beg to return my grateful thanks to John Henry Pelly, Esq., Governor, and Nicholas Garry, Esq., Deputy-Governor of the Honorable the Hudson's Bay Company, for the kind assistance I, on all occasions, experienced at their hands, and for much valuable information received both before and after my arrival in England. To the enlightened zeal with which these gentlemen forward every enterprise for the advancement of science, and to the warm interest they always showed on my behalf, I am happy to have this occasion of bearing my grateful, though feeble testimony. I also beg leave to thank the different residents, partners, and agents of this company, both individually and collectively.

I embarked on Sunday, the 25th of July, on board the Hudson's Bay Company's brig, William and Ann[e], Captain Henry Hanwell, destined for the entrance of the River Colum-