C II A P. IV.
A n Account o f what happened in afcending a Mountain to
fea rch fo r Plan ts.
jL7„6£;. C \ N the ,6th’ earl>' in the moving, Mr. Banks and Dr.
Solander, with their'attendants and fervants, and two
°n 37' ' fcamen to affift in carrying the baggage, accompanied by
Mr. Monkhoufe the Surgeon, and Mr. Green the Aftronomer,
fet out from the lh-ip, with a view to penetrate as far as they
could into the country, and return at night. The hills, when
viewed at a diftance, feemed to be partly a wood, partly a
plain, and above them a bare rock. TVIr. Batiks hoped to get
through the wpod, and made no doubt, but that, beyond it,
he fhould, in a country which no botanift had ever yet vi-
fited, find alpine plants which would abundantly compen-
fate his labour. They entered the wood at a fmall fandy
beach, a little to the weftward of the watering-place, and
continued to afcend the hill, through the pathlefs wilder-
nefs, till three o’clock, before they got a near view of the
places which they intended to vifit. Soon after they reached
what they had taken for a plain ; but, to their great difap-
pointment, found it a fwamp, covered with low bufhes of
birch, about- three feet high, interwoven with each other,
and fo flub born that they could not be bent out of the way •
it was therefore neceflary to lift the leg over them, which
at every ftep was buried, ancle deep, in the foil. To aggra-
I va(e the pain and difficulty of fuch travelling, the weather,
which hitherto had been very fine, much like one of our
bright days in May, became gloomy and cold ; with fudden
blafts
blafts of a moft piercing wind, accompanied with fnow.
They pulhed forward, however, in good fpirits, notwith- t---- ----- '
. , n r i Monday 16. {landing their fatigue, hoping the worft of the way was
paft, and that the bare rock which they had feen from the
tops of the lower hills was not more than a mile before
them; but when they had got about two thirds over this
woody fwamp, Mr. Buchan, one of Mr. Banks’s draughtmen,
was unhappily feizcd with a fit. This made it necefiary for
the whole .company to halt, and as it was impoffible that he
ffiould go any farther, a fire was kindled, and thofe who
were moft fatigued were left behind to take care of him. Mr.
Banks, Dr. Solander, Mr. Green, and Mr. Monkhoufe went on,
and in a fhort time reached the fummit. As botanifts, their
expectations were here abundantly gratified; for they found
a great variety of plants, which, with refpect to the alpine
plants in Europe, are exactly what thofe plants are with re-
lpeCt to fuch as grow in the plain.
The cold was now become more fevere, and the fnow-
blafts more frequent; the day alfo was fo far fpent, that it
was found impoffible to get back to the fhip before the next
morning: to pafs the night upon fuch a mountain, in fuch
a climate, was not only comfortlefs, but dreadful ; it was
impoffible however to be avoided, and they were to provide
for it as well as they could.
Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, while they were improving
an opportunity which they had, with fo much danger and
difficulty, procured, by gathering the plants which they
found upon the mountain, fent Mr. Green and Mr. Monkhoufe
back to Mr. Buchan and the people that were with
him, with directions to bring them to a hill, which they
thought lay in a better rout for returning to the wmod, and
which was therefore appointed as a general rendezvous. It
was