t * ]
T O
J O S E PH B A NK S , Efq;
D e a r S i r ,
I Think myfelf io much indebted to you, for, making
me the vehicle for conveying to the public the rich
difcovery of your lafl: voyage, that I cannot difpenfe with
this addrefs the ufual tribute on fuch occafions. You
took from me all temptation o f envying your fuperior
good fortune, by the liberal declaration you made that
the H e b r i d e s were my ground, and yourfelf, as you
pleafantly expreifed it, but an interloper. May I meet
with fuch, in all my adventures!
Without lefiening your merit, let me fay that no one
has lefs reafon to be Iparing of his ilores o f knowlege.
Few poflefs fo large a ihare: you enjoy it without oilen-
tation; and with a facility o f communication, the refult
o f natural endowments joined with an immeniity of
obfervation, colledted in parts o f the world, before,
either of doubtful exiftence, or totally unknown. You
have enriched yourfelf with the treafures of the globe,
by a circumnavigation, founded on the moil liberal and
fcientific principles.
S The