anxious consideration to hurry these
volumes through the press as rapidly as possible. There is one
circumstance to which he wishes particularly to allude, as accounting for
the very scanty notices he is now able to give of the geology or botany
of the country through which he travelled; it is the loss of all the
specimens that were collected during the earlier part of the Expedition,
which occurred after they had been sent to Adelaide; this loss has been
irreparable, and has not only prevented him from ascertaining points
about which he was dubious, but has entirely precluded him from having
the subjects considered, or the specimens classified and arranged by
gentlemen of scientific acquirements in those departments of knowledge,
in which the author is conscious he is himself defective. In the latter
part of the Expedition, or from Fowler's Bay to King George's Sound, the
dreadful nature of the country, and the difficulties and disasters to
which this led, made it quite impossible either to make collections of
any kind, or to examine the country beyond the immediate line of route;
still it is hoped that the passing notices which are made in the journal,
and the knowledge of the similarity of appearance and uniform character,
prevalent throughout the greater portion of the country passed through,
will be quite sufficient to give a general and correct impression of the
whole.

To Mr. Gray of the British Museum, the author is particularly indebted
for his valuable contribution on the Natural History of the Southern
coast of Australia, and to Mr. Gould, the celebrated Ornithologist, his
thanks are equally due, for a classified and most interesting list of the
birds belonging to the same portion of the continent.

To Mr. Adam White, of the British Museum, he is also indebted for an
account of some new insects, and to Dr. Richardson, for a scientific and
classified arrangement of fish caught on the Southern coast, near King
George's Sound. The plates to which the numbers refer in the
last-mentioned paper, are the admirable drawings made from life, by J.
Neill, Esq. of King George's Sound, and now lodged at the British Museum.
They are, however, both too numerous and too large to give in a work of
this description, and will probably be published at some future time by
their talented author.

For the account given of the Aborigines the author deems it unnecessary
to offer any apology; a long experience among them, and an in