Letter received by Banks from Arthur Phillip, 16 November 1788 (Series 37.08) - No. 0001

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Sydney Cove Novr. 16 1788

Dear Sir

I am sorry to say that very few seeds are to be procured at present, & the few I do send is rather to shew you that they were not left behind thro' inattention, than from being thought worth sending, for they have been gather'd too green, the Seeds of the large Gum Tree excepted.  The small box they are in is on bd. [board] the Fishburn wth. two others. No. 1 contains the White Clay with wch. the Natives mark themselves, it is found in great plenty, a few feet below the surface & by what I have observed, general two or three feet in thickness, under the Strata of this Clay there generally is rock but we have only open'd three or four places, the people use it to cover their Houses. I should not think it worth sending, but that you mention'd it in your Voyage, & L'Abbe Mongez, a very sensible Man, & I believe a good Naturalist; told me that it would make good China. When at Broken bay I was on a small Island a few feet below the Sand on the beach, a White Clay that