the expediency of securing my collections for the Royal Gardens at Kew ; and owing to the generous exertions of that nobleman, and of the late Earl of Auckland (then First Lord of the Admiralty), my journey assumed the character of a Government mission, £400 per annum being granted by the Treasury for two years.
I did not contemplate proceeding beyond the Hima- laya and Tibet, when Lord Auckland desired that I should afterwards visit Borneo, for the purpose of reporting on the capabilities of Labuan, with reference to the cultivation of cotton, tobacco, sugar, indigo, spices, gutta- percha, &c. To this end a commission in the navy (to which service I was already attached) was given me, such instructions were drawn up as might facilitate my movements in the East, and a suitable sum of money was placed at my disposal.
Soon after leaving England, my plans became, from various causes, altered. The Earl of Auckland*[1] was dead ; the interest in Borneo had in a great measure subsided; H. M. S. "Maeander," to which I had been attached for service in Labuan, had left the Archipelago ; reports of the unhealthy nature of the coast had excited
- ↑ * It is with a melancholy satisfaction that I here record the intentions of that enlightened nobleman. The idea of turning to public account what was intended as a scientific voyage, occurred to his lordship when considering my application for official leave to proceed to India ; and from the hour of my accepting the Borneo commission with which he honoured me, he displayed the most active zeal in promoting its fulfilment. He communicated to me his views as to the direction in which I should pursue my researches, furnished me with official and other information, and provided me with introductions of the most essential use.
