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[Page 1]
Sir
In answer to your Letter which I have just had the honor to receive, I beg leave to assure you that I have no other reasons for declining the voyage than what have been already mentioned.
When I first offered my services in this undertaking I had not the least suspicion that the ship would be permitted to sail without the protection of a Passport, & to this cause alone must be attributed my silence on the subject. I nevertheless feel myself extremely concerned that you should have occasion to complain of my not having been sufficiently explicit. I ought certainly to have stated to you personally what I frequently did to Capt. Flinders & the other Gent.n concerned, that nothing should induce me to go without a passport & my frequent & anxious enquiries made to yourself on this subject must have been some indication of the state of my mind.
[In margin]
May 1. 07.