PREFACE.
colonists in their laudable enterprise. The proposition of the Right Hon.,
the then, Secretary for the Colonies was favourably entertained, and ere
long I was informed that a portion of the expense of the projected publication
would be defrayed by Government, in- order that it might be sold
at a price i which would place it within the reach of the generality of
naturalists. On the receipt of this information, JI proceeded to make
arrangements with a publisher ; and, on the approval by Government of the
terms proposed, the materials for the first part were placed in the hands
qf Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co. At this time I expected to be able to complete
a part of the work every second month ; but scarcely was the second
part commenced, when serious disease rendered me unequal to almost any
exertion, and no sooner was I differently circumstanced, than I was appointed
to fill a highly responsible and onerous position, which required so much time,
that little leisure could be devoted to the publication I had undertaken, X
think it necessary to state these facts, in order that the Subscribers to the
work may understand why it has been extended over so long a period.
All the illustrations, with a few exceptions, have been executed by
Mr. Ford, who, it has already been stated made the drawings; and I feel
confident that purchasers will not regret his having been selected. A
cursory survey of the plates will, I think, convince any one that they are
the production of a master’s hand—-a hand that depicts nature so closely as
to render the representation nearly, if not equally, as valuable as the actual
specimen.
In describing colours, i have almost invariably had reference to the little
but useful work of Mr. Syme, of Edinburgh,* and always employed his
* “ Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours.” Second Edition, 1821',
nomenclature, so that the reader, with this publication in his hand, will
understand exactly what are the colours indicated.
Some of the objects described were collected in the Cape Colony; others
in Kaffirland, a district of country lying along the sea-coast to the eastward
of the colony; others near Port Natal; but the majority on the belt of
country which was explored by the expedition already mentioned, which
was in breadth nearly 3 degrees, and in length 7|-; or, in other words, the
country lying between 25^ and 27° 58' east longitude, and 31° and 23° 28'
south latitude.'
Considering that the Association contributed not merely the principal
but the greater part of the novelties,' and that its members incurred
great expense to acquire them, without any prospect of individual advantage,
I feel it a duty to embrace this opportunity of not only recording that fact, but
also the names of those, who, though residing in a distant part of the globe,
are not indifferent to the promotion of discovery and the advancement of
science. In doing justice to them, however, I must not fail, at the same
time, to discharge a like duty to a resident of this country, who contributed
in a greater proportion than any other individual to whatever success
attended the exertions of thff Association,—I allude to Mr. Jameson, of
Liverpool, who spontaneously transmitted to the Society, through Mr.
M‘Queen, the sum of two hundred pounds, to be employed in furtherance
of African discovery.
The plates, as it will be observed, have been published in five divisions,
viz., Mammalia, Aves, Reptilia, Pisces, and InvertebratEe. Those
of each division have been* numbered independently, and the letterpress
descriptions left unpaged, in order that they may be arranged according to
the particular view of purchasers. An index to each division is given, so
b