New-York tribune., 1897-01-10
I 7

To his dilatoriness Sir Joseph Hooker attrib-
utes the failure Of this great catalogue of over
800 plants. til then unknown, to reach the scien-
tifc public But Solander's neglect must have
been supplemented by Banks's Indifference. see
ing that the work was practically ready to he put
in type. AS Banks looked al the matter himself
the merely Of lack Of time. He
too busy with other matters he let DR..
Hawkesworth have his journal. From his point
OF view. to judge by his words. this not
due to the singular disinterestedness" men
toned by Sir Joseph Hooker. but simply to his
desire to transfer the task to another because
II interfered with his plans. To a man still youth
full, OF ample fortune and boundless activity. the
temptation to do this in those days must have
been very great There much of the
world unknown. that II seemed pity to stay at
home. Besides. there were many questions to
settle. 1t seems odd enough in a book that has
just seen the light. to stumble on a passage
about the mythical Southern continent, sceptical
as Bankss remarks on this subject usually are.
What they prove to now is that little over
a century ago the Southern Ocean was filled
mainly by the imaginings OF geogra piers. Banks
thought that the argument absurd which
placed a continent in the South to balance the
expanse Of land in the Northern Hemisphere.
Still he believed in the existence Of continent.
and was disappointed when New w-Zealand turned
out to be a group of islands. and not part Of "A
new world. He had his suspicious, too that the
volcanic islands were the relics Of continent
which had been submerged. and this theory still
recurs as he only means Of accounting for the
geologically antique fau"a of Australia. He
seems not to have been duly impressed with the
magnitude of New-Hoand. The reason seems
to he that from the time he visited that vast ISL
and until he reached the Cape of Good Hope. he
was absorbed with the problem Of an antarctic
continent The fact that Cook on his second
VOYAGE was expected to sail as far he could
to the southwark must have increased Banks's
dsappontment at not being allowed TO accom-
pany the expedition. Even II the hopes were
dashed of finding new continent. still the sea
and the islands remained and these were almost
the same 10 the naturalist as If they had never
been visited before Indeed. most of the islands
never had been visited. and savage man there
was as novel to the eyes OF science as any other
creature
II was Banks who discovered the racial af-
hnity Of these ISLANDERS and found that they all
talked more or less closely related dialects OF
the same language. 1t was his genial manner
that prevaneA an Otahitan priest. a man
learned in the oral lore the legends and ira
this mans success as interpreter among all the
islands as far as New-Zealand demonstrated
the correctness Of Banks's surmise. Mention
has already been made of the novelties OF plant
life But the fauna was novel, too. The kan
garoo is familiar enough now; but Banks could
not even give the animal name when he first
saw II.
Banks's neglect to bring his discoveries before
the public In proper form to he appreciated
brought its own revenge In the fact that up to
this time his achievements as working nat
uralist have been practically ignored His hid
den manuscripts were unknown. II was sup
posed that Hawkesworth published Of his jour
nal all that was worth publishing and the world
naturally inferred. when he was left out OF the
second voyage that the Office of a naturalist did
not signify. Meanwhile his fame grew In other
ways that satisfied him. He surrounded him
self at his London house In Soho Square and in
his country home. Revesby Abbey. with splendid
libraries and large collections. all arranged with
the utmost care and precision. The catalogue Of