INTRODUCTION.
T h e specimens of Natural History described in this Work were
collected during a voyage to the Pacific and Behring’s Strait, in
H. M. Ship Blossom in 1825, and the three consecutive years.
10, FBITH STREET, S From the nature of this voyage it was not practicable to retain
the ship long at any one place, and her stay was sometimes limited
to a few days only. I t cannot therefore be expected that under these
circumstances we should have been able to collect a series of specimens
illustrative of the natural history of any particular p la c e ; but we have
had the good fortune to bring together a variety of rare species from
distant localities, some of which have been but seldom, if ever, visited by
any collector.
In arranging the work for publication it was found necessary from
the extent of the collection to separate the natural history from the
narrative of the voyage, and to divide it into the several branches
under which it appears, of which the Botany forms no inconsiderable
b