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[Page 3]
& that every possible care might be taken of them, at the Request of the Committee, I received them into my own Garden; the greater part of them are in a very flourishing state; with respect to many of them which appeared dying, when brought on Shore, I must in Justice to Mr. Wyles & Mr. Smith mention, that they were evidently nothing but Cuttings; this appeared on removing them from the pots after they were dead; from this Circumstance I imagine Dr Anderson must have employ'd people to collect , by whom he has been deceived, after all however there still remains a very fine collection.
Previous to the arrival of Captn. Bligh some plants had been collected & deposited, part at the Garden at Bath under the Care of Dr. Dancer & part in the Garden of the late Mr. East in the Mountains of Liguanea under the care of Mr.Thame. These however were few compared to what the Country wished to have collected on this occasion. Accordingly the Committee of the Hon: House of Assembly appointed to act on this occasion gave orders that such plants as were mentioned in your List to their Island Botanist or others which might be thought acceptable at the Kew Gardens, without any regard to Number or Expense, might be immediately collected, & seeing that it would be impracticable for Dr. Dancer to effect what might be wished in so short a Time, they willingly accepted the offer which I had previously made of assisting them in the Collection; how far I have contributed you will judge from the inclosed Catalogue, independant of which you will find a number of [Tilises?] & of the Genus Epidendrum; also many annual