William Hodges’s drawings of plants

Turnbull Library Record, Volume XIX, Issue 2, 1 October 1986, Page 141

William Hodges’s drawings of plants

IAN M. ST GEORGE

In the Drawings and Prints collection of the Alexander Turnbull Library is an octavo album labelled in brown ink on the cover, 'Hodges's Drawings of New Zealand Plants'. A further inscription reads, 'Drawn by Mr. Hodges the painter who was with Capt. Cook'. The album contains 25 sketches, drawn in yellow and two tones of grey wash with occasional touches of another colour. One is at once struck by the resemblance to Chinese brush drawings of plants. They are quickly and skilfully done. A few pencil lines show through in places, but the artist creates his light and shade, curve and plane, of leaf, flower and stem with a minimum of welljudged brush strokes. White flowers (see Thelymitra longifolia, plate 3) and leaves are outlined, or stand out from a wash background. Sometimes fine dark lines add texture. But they are poor in botanical detail, not the work of a scientist. There are handwritten annotations for eight plants, but for the first four descriptions there are no sketches so that the fifth description corresponds with the first sketch.

William Hodges (1744-1797) was the professional artist of Cook's second voyage (1772-1775) on the Resolution, commissioned to paint landscapes and figures. His paintings often do contain recognisable plants, but no true botanical studies have been ascribed to him. The naturalists on the Resolution were Johann Forster, and his son George, who was to draw the natural history subjects. Was Hodges the artist? The style suggests that he was. Bernard Smith writes, 'I had no doubt at all after I had examined the Hodges sketchbook, both from the style of the drawings and the accompanying inscriptions, that it was his work'. 2 And, . . . strongly reminiscent of Hodges's style,' agrees Riidigerjoppien. 3 Joppien has attempted to trace the provenance of the booklet. The names of T. F. Forster andD. D. D. Gough are inscribed in it, as is the note, 'Mr. Walton who Mr. Tunstal employed in painting, has sent him this book'. Thomas Furley Forster (1761-1825) was not related to the naturalists on the Resolution, but was associated with Sir Joseph Banks and his circle. Forster drew up a list of plants for one Richard Gough. Marmaduke Tunstal (1743-90) was a famous natural historian and collector of Cook specimens. Henry Walton (1746-1813) was a still life painter who exhibited at the Royal Academy with Hodges in the late seventies; a Mr Walton

bought two of Hodges's later Indian landscapes at a Warren Hastings sale in April 1797, a month after Hodges's death: 4 had he earlier bought the plant sketches too? Joppien asks, Would Hodges have parted with his drawings? After 1778 Hodges painted no more South Sea subjects and there is strong evidence that he disposed of a number of figure sketches from the South Seas, either before his going out to India in 1778, or after his return in 1782, in any case before 1785. If he disposed of figure drawings, why not of plants as wcll?^

Joppien surmises that the sketches changed hands from Hodges to Walton to Tunstal to T. F. Forster to Gough. Identification of the plants poses some problems, for botanically the sketches are naive. The identity of a few of the plants can be discerned reasonably easily; others can be guessed at, but many have simply not been identifiable with any degree of confidence. Some clearly are not New Zealand plants, despite the label. I first saw the booklet while researching early illustrations of New Zealand orchids. Of six orchids depicted, only two are New Zealand natives (album pages 5 and 6, Microtis unifolia and Thelymitra longifolia). The sketches of these two bear a striking resemblance to the George Forster drawings of them in the British Museum (Natural History), illustrated in plates 1,2 and 3,4. Apart from the botanical accuracy, the similarities are such that one must have been copied from the other; otherwise there should be some difference in the angle of view or the attitude of the specimen, but there is not.

Could it be, then, that the other sketches might be identified by comparing them with the other George Forster drawings? The answer is yes. All but two can be said with reasonable certainty to match Forster drawings in the British Museum collection. A full list of the sketches, with annotations and identification, is given in the Appendix. Was this a bound sketchbook? Probably not. Several of the sketches are not centred on the page and appear to have been slightly trimmed at the upper or right edge. In two instances the brush strokes continue onto the facing page beneath the stitching, evidence of later binding. There is no sign that the missing first four sketches have been torn out, so that perhaps they were unavailable at the time of binding. There is no sign either, of earlier stitching, to suggest that a field sketchbook has been rebound —indeed, if this has been done then the order of the sketches has been altered: although the first ten follow the timing of the ship's passage from Dusky to Queen Charlotte Sound to Niue to Tahiti, after this the sequence of localities for the sketches in the bound volume bears no

relationship to the chronological order of landfall (see Appendix). Overall, one must conclude that the sketches were made on loose sheets, which were later bound and the sketches annotated. Possibly Walton bound the sketches, for, according to the inscription, Walton gave Tunstal 'this book'. Were the plants sketched in the field? The plants do look natural: certainly the terrestrial plants are depicted as growing from the ground. (In George Forster's correct botanical drawings, the terrestrial plants are shown with roots). Several appear to be lit by bright sunlight, and in some cases they cast a distinct shadow. Hoare refers to the possibility of field sketches —'We gain, indeed, some strong evidence . . . that there were other notebooks, field notes and memoranda of perhaps a more ephemeral nature kept by all three scientists' 6 —and at times Hodges did accompany the naturalists ashore on their botanical excursions, as is recorded below (see Appendix, 7). Hodges probably took loose sheets with him on field trips —after all he was an important early English plein-air painter, as Smith emphasises. 7 He must have been well equipped for work in the open. But this is not evidence that the sketches were done in the open.

Why would Hodges want plant sketches? Beaglehole writes, 'He worked in. . . oil, probably not direct from the subject, but from his water colour sketches. . . ' 8 Perhaps he planned to use the plant drawings to add authentic vegetation to his definitive works. He was employed by the Admiralty after the Resolution's return in 1775, finishing his drawings and paintings, and supervising the engravings for Cook's official account of the voyage. In 1777 he exhibited paintings of New Zealand and the Pacific at the Royal Academy. These paintings and drawings show a variety of flora; among them the tree-fern in his 'A View in Dusky Bay, New Zealand', and the flax in 'Waterfall in Dusky Bay, New Zealand' are easily recognisable. There are carefully drawn and identifiable plants in several of his Pacific island works. Stuebe writes of his 'View in the Island of New Caledonia', 'The composition is rich in details of the island's flora and fauna. . . ' . 9 Indeed Hodges was careful about his botanical foreground staffage: he wrote on the back of a print in the British Museum, 'A view of the Island of Otaheite from the Land looking towards the Reef and Sea, and which has much appearance of the Low coral reef Islands. The Plants are Coconut trees and Plantains which are Idigenous [sic]. Drawn from Nature by W. Hodges in Year 1773'. Could it be that the sketches of the little album served as models and that some plants are recognisable in his finished works? Again the answer is yes. The Kyllingia monocephala of page 10 of the album is clearly the same plant that appears in the foreground of Hodges's

'Afia-too-ca, a burying place in the Isle of Amsterdam', engraved by W. Byrne for Cook's published journal of the voyage. 1(> Unfortunately, although it appears certain that Hodges made a drawing of the scene at the time (4 October 1773), no drawing has survived; 11 so we cannot say whether the Kyllingia was a feature of the original, or was added later, in London, at the time of the engraving. In the same engraving is a fair copy of the Liparis clypeolum of page 21 of the album. There are some similarities between the Tacca leontopetaloides of page 22, and the same plant in the foreground of the engraving, 'View in the Island of New Caledonia'; ~ again, the original drawing is not known.

This, of course, may be explained if Hodges at times simply used Forster's botanical drawings as models for the plants in his engraved landscapes. The works executed in London after the voyage contain much more botanical detail than those done on the voyage: but neither the other published engravings, nor the large finished paintings at the Royal Naval Museum at Greenwich, contain plant studies that can be matched to the Hodges sketches or the Forster originals with any confidence. Other questions cannot yet be answered. Did he work from the Forster originals or from these sketches? Were there originally more Hodges sketches? Why are the New Zealand flax, rata, mistletoe and gentian missing? Did George Forster copy Hodges's botanical sketches? Hodges probably helped the young George Forster with his artistic technique, and their relationship has been explored by Peter Whitehead. In the George Forster collection at the British Museum (Natural History) there is one bird study by Hodges, done at Dusky Sound. It is of Lams scopulinus, the red-billed gull, described on 13 April 1773.

.... this drawing by Hodges suggests that the latter, ten years older than George Forster and an experienced draughtsman, took an interest in the boy's work and could well have offered him advice, the drawing perhaps being by way of illustration. In fact, the drawing could well be mistaken for one of George's later drawings of sea birds, so that perhaps he was influenced to adopt this large and rather vigorous technique. 14

There is a George Forster painting of a falcon from the Cape of Good Hope that certainly has a Hodges background; in fact Joppien suggests on stylistic evidence that the backgrounds of several of George Forster's paintings of Cape mammals and birds may have been painted by Hodges. 5 And there is one botanical sketch in the Forster collection (No. 89) that looks very like a Hodges. It is tempting to think that we might have here a further insight into the relationship between Hodges and the young George Forster: did Hodges do a quick brushed sketch of the plant in the field,

so that George could make his later careful drawings (from wilted or even dried specimens) appear more lifelike? Hodges did help other crew members with drawing, as John Elliott records in his memoirs (of the period at Tahiti in April 1774): 'Myself, Mr Roberts, and Mr Smith (Cooks Nephew) were when off Watch, Employ'd in Captn Cooks Cabbin either Copying Drawings for him, or Drawing for ourselves, under the Eye of Mr Hodges'. But the sketches are botanically naive compared with George Forster's finished drawings. The pencilled outlines are shaky and suggest that the sketches are the copies, rather than the other way round.

Did Hodges copy George Forster's drawings? There is a precedent: Joppien suggests that Hodges used a George Forster drawing of a falcon as the model for the bird in the foreground of his 'Christmas Sound. Tierra del Fuego'; Stuebe points out that there are differences between the two depictions, and indeed, George Forster wrote that Hodges's falcon, 'from its supernatural size, seems to resemble the rukh, celebrated in the Arabian Tales, more than any bird of less fanciful dimensions'. 17 (Hodges's friend William Wales leapt to the latter's defence, mistakenly attributed these remarks to the elder Forster, and wrote his famous sarcastic reply.)

Perhaps Hodges copied the young naturalist's botanical work on the voyage home. It is tempting to guess so, for in the main only two colours are used, and we know that his paint stocks were exhausted well before the end of the voyage. As Cook wrote to the Admiralty Secretary, . . . there are several other Views. Portraits and some valuable designs in Oyl Colours, which for want of proper Colours, time and conveniences, cannot be finished till after our arrival in England'. I 8 Smith writes that Hodges 'was reduced to drawing in crayon, pencil or wash —and a good deal of indian ink work'. ; But his topographical sketches early in the voyage were done (presumably by choice) with a simple three-tone wash process, so we can draw no conclusions from the colours.

The orientation of the sketches matches that of George Forster's drawings, rather than that of his engravings (the mirror image of his drawings, of course) in all cases where both are available for comparison: the one exception is number 19a, where identification is questionable anyway. Where a watercolour drawing is available for comparison, the shading of the sketch is so similar, that one is tempted to guess that all the album sketches are copies of Forster watercolours (see for example plates 8,9, 10). In fact, only nine watercolours corresponding to the Hodges sketches (album pages 5,6, 7,8, 10, 13, 24, 25, 27) are present in the Banksian collection in the British Museum.

George sold his drawings to Banks in August 1776, and Hodges was working for the Admiralty until 1778. If some of the watercolours he copied are not now in the British Museum, these must be drawings that Forster did not sell to Banks, a deduction that suggests that the copies were made before 1776—that is, on the voyage home or within a year of landfall. One wonders if these watercolours have been lost.

Who wrote the annotations? They pose some problems. They are fresh, clear descriptions of the plants and their localities, written in a careful hand, and in rather unscientific language (see Appendix, 5, 6,7, 8). They do not appear to derive from the Forsters' Latin botanical descriptions." 0 " Furthermore, neither the wording nor the handwriting is just what one would expect an artist to put in his own commonplace book (one would expect at least some notes on colour); the annotations read as if they were written (under the heading 'New Plants') for other eyes; the handwriting is careful and neat, even a little shaky. A handwriting expert has looked at the inscriptions, and compared the hand with that in a letter from Hodges. ~ The writing is not Hodges's. 23 In fact the placing suggests that the annotations were written after the album was bound. It would be interesting to examine Walton's handwriting.

My conclusion is that the artist was William Hodges, who copied the plants from George Forster's botanical watercolour drawings. My guess is that he copied them either on the homeward voyage, or in London just after the voyage. He sketched the copies on loose sheets of paper, intending to use them as working drawings for the foreground vegetation in the works he was to finish in London. He did use some of them; but later, sick of the South Seas and ready to begin his new career in India, he gave (or sold) them to his colleague, Walton. Walton bound them, and someone annotated them. We can now identify the plants in most of the drawings with confidence.

APPENDIX These notes are numbered according to the page numbers of the album. The following abbreviations are used WH: Hodges's album. BM: the inscription on the matching George Forster plant drawing or engraving in the British Museum (Natural History), and the catalogue number of Forster's drawing or engraving, and comment.

JF: the relevant entry in Johann Reinhold Forster's diary corresponding to the date on the George Forster drawing, where a date is recorded on the latter. GF: the relevant entry in George Forster's diary 25 for the date on his drawing. Cook: the relevant entry in Cook's journal 26 for the date on the drawing. Prodr: the name and number of the plant in the Florulae Insularum Australium Prodromus. 27 Identity: the most recently accepted name for the plant. Notes 29

1 WH (no sketch): 'New Zelanders hemp. This plant grows to the height of six feet, on the sides of naked hills, in meadows, and on the rocky shores of the Sea, where its long green leaves often hang into the Water'. Prodr: No. 153 Phormium tenax. Identity: Phormium tenax). R. & G. Forst. Note: the common New Zealand flax. It appears in the right foreground of Hodges's 'Waterfall in Dusky Bay, New Zealand' (1775), at Admiralty House. 2 WH (no sketch): 'Red Parasitic Flower of New Zeland. A Shrub which grows without any root out of the branches of the tallest trees, often so full of twigs as to appear in tufts, which are much adorned by the beautiful colour of the flowers'. Prodr: No. 156 Loranthus tetrapetalus. • Identity: Peraxilla tetrapetala (L. f) Tiegh. Note: a New Zealand mistletoe.

3 WH (no sketch): 'Climbing Myrtle. This is a beautiful Shrubby plant which has long winding branches and twines round very high trees, often altogether covering them. Its upper branches are divided into a great number, very tufted & full of leaves, and its flowers of an elegant crimson grow in very large branches. In New Zeland'. Prodr: No. 214 Melaleuca florida, No. 12 M. perforata, or No. 213 M. diffusa. Identity: Metrosideros Julgens Sol. ex Gaertn., M. perforata (J. R. & G. Forst.) A. Rich., or M. albijlora Sol ex Gaertn. Note: one of the New Zealand climbing ratas. 4 WH (no sketch): 'Rock Gentian'. A small juicy plant with white flowers; inhabits rocks wholly surrounded by the Sea, and where scarce anything but a few mosses will grow with it; was found in Dusky Bay N.Z.' Prodr: No. 133 Gentiana montana, or No. 132 G. saxosa. Identity: Gentiana montana Forst. f. or G. saxosa Forst. f Note: one of the New Zealand gentians.

SWH (figure 1): 'single leaved orch: a new plant peculiar to the dry hills of New Zeland especially the top of Long Island in Q. Charlotte Sound'. BM (figure 2): 'Ophrys unifolia Nov. 13 Charlotte's Sound N Zeeland'. Finished watercolour drawing No. 2/232. JF: 'The next day we went over to Long-Island & mounted the hill, where we found several fine plants. . . . We returned to dinner, having found a new Orch & an other new plant nearly related to the Class of Orches, but of a very singular structure & making absolutely a new genus.' GF: '. . . we made an excursion to Long Island, where we found a number of

plants and some birds which were new to us.' Cook: 'Mr Forster and his party in the country botanising.' Prodr: No. 311 Ophrys unifolia. Identity: Microtis unifolia (Forst. f.) Reichenbach f Note: the common New Zealand onion orchid (terrestrial). 6 WH (figure 3): 'An elegant genus of the orchidcae, growing along with the other. Its height of (sic) that of the preceding sort never exceeds eighteen inches'. BM (figure 4): 'Serapius regularis Nov 13'. Finished watercolour drawing No 2/ 233. JF: see 5 above. The 'new genus' is Thelymitra. GF: see 5 above. Cook: see 5 above. Prodr: No. 312 Serapius regularis. Identity: Thelymitra longifolia J. R. &G. Forst. Note: the common New Zealand sun orchid (terrestrial).

7 WH: 'Portlandia. A shrub with large yellowish green leaves of a thick texture like leather, and long tubulous white flowers: It grows on the bare rocks of a Savage Island of the South Sea without any Soil at all. It has all its leave towards the tops of the branches, which are but few.' BM: 'Portlandia tetrandra Savage Island. June 22 1774'. Finished watercolour drawing No. 1/48. Uncoloured engraving No. 29. JF: 'We landed & waded a good deal through the water & then climbed up the steep Coral rocks, where we found one plant & immediately after went into the boat'. They met natives, and Cook's gun misfired. Forster's gun too, but he writes, ' . . . then Mr Hodges, Mr Sparman & my Son fired, & probably wounded some of the Men who had thrown 2 Spears at Capt Cook. . . . ' So Hodges was with the botanists on this venture ashore. GF: 'The captain, accompanied by Dr. Sparrman, Mr. Hodges, my father, and myself, went ashore.' Cook: 'Mr F. and his party began to Collect Plants etc; the Coast was so run over with woods, Shrubery, Plants, Stones etc that we could not see forty yards around us.' Prodr: No. 86 Portlandia tetrandra. 'ln insula ferox'. Identity: Bikkia tetrandra (Forst.f) A. Rich. Note: Cook's Savage Island is Niue. They are superb plants with large showy flowers.

8 WH: 'Loranthus. This plant is parasitic, and of the same Genus with that No. 2 and grows out of the Stems & Branches of trees in like manner: but its branches are long, and twining, not so much divided into smaller ones. Its leaves are a bright green, and its flowers orange with some Crimson leaves. —It is a native of the Tropical Southsea isles.' BM: 'Loranthus stelis Taheitee'. Finished watercolour drawing No. 1/109. Prodr: No. 157 Loranthus stelis. Identity: Loranthus forsterianus Schultz. Note: a Tahitian mistletoe. 9 WH: no description Note: there is no Forster drawing like this sketch.

10 WH: no description BM: 'Kyllingia triceps Taheitee'. Finished watercolour drawing No. 1/15. Prodr: No. 57 Kyllingia monocephala. Identity: Kyllingia monocephala Rottb. Note: A North American species of Kyllingia is the false bog-rush. 11 WH: no description BM: 'Carex uncinata Nov. 20th Q. Ch. Sound New Zeland'. Pencil drawing No. 2/256. Uncoloured engraving No. 104. JF: 'ln the afternoon the same day I went with the Captain to Motuaro on the Hippa & got some Grasses, which were described, & drawn the next day. It rained in the morning'. GF: ' . . . much rain, which confined us on board; nor did we receive any visits from the natives during that time'. Prodr: No. 338 Carex uncinata. Identity: Uncinia uncinata (L. f) Kukenthal. Note: a hook-grass. The year is 1773. It is curious that on 20 November Johann recalled that he went to the pa with Cook and found some new grasses, while George recalled that the weather was so bad they could neither go out nor receive visitors.

13 WH: no description BM: 'Oldenlandia tenuifolia Tana 12th August 1774'. Finished watercolour drawing No. 1/28. JF: J. R. Forster writes of ascending the volcano of Tana in the New Hebrides on this date, passing several steaming vents in the mountainside, where 'We found several species of figs, which loved so much the warm Spot, that they throve well within a yard of the Sulphureous stream. The solfataras are allways places free of bushes & Trees, though Grass, was seen on the clear Spots with the Dolichos ensiformis, Ischaemium aristatum, Paspalum disrectum, the Hedysarum heterocarpon, together with a small new Oldenlandia.' GF: 'one new plant'. Cook: ' . . . Mr. F. carried his botanical excursions. . . Prodr: No. 57 Oldenlandia tenuifolia. Identity: Hedyotis tenuifolia Smith. Note: Interesting under-shrubs. H. arborea is a dogwood.

14 WH: no description BM: 'Chrysocoma purpurea Tana 12th August 1774'. Pencil drawing No. 2/208. Uncoloured engraving No. 82. Prodr: No. 286 Chrysocoma purpurea. Identity: Chrysocoma purpurea Forst.f. Note: the Chrysocoma are sometimes called golidlocks. One of the Compositae.

15 WH: no description BM: 'Craspedia uniflora Charlotte Sound Nov. 16th'. Pencil drawing No. 2/228. JF: That morning, J. R. Forster wrote that, with the Captain, they climbed a hill at East Bay, where a cairn of stones had been erected on the First Voyage. The weather was hazy, and they did not sight the Adventure, and for the first time began to become alarmed. 'We discovered only two plants on this fatiguing Expedition.' Cook: 'Accompanied by some of the officers and gentlemen. . . . Mr. Forster profited by this excursion in collecting some new plants'. Prodr: No. 306 Craspedia uniflora. Identity: Craspedia uniflora Forst.f Note: a small hairy New Zealand herb. The year is 1773.

17 WH: no description BM: 'Epidendrum resupinatum Raieteajune 2nd 1774'. Pencil drawing No. 2/244. JF: ' ... 2 or 3 new plants a discovery that came quite unexpected; especially having every-where tried in vain to get new ones; but these we found along a little rivulet, in shady bushes, among rocks & precipices.' Prodr: No. 322 Epidendrum resupinatum. Identity: Microstylis rctusa]. J. Smith. Note: Microstylis is the adders-mouth orchid. 19 WH: no description BM: 'Piper latifolium Tahaiti May Bth 1774'. Pencil drawing No. 1/13. JF: Forster writes that, at Opara, they climbed a hill, and, 'we arrived at the very top, where the woods begin, pretty early; & begun to search these woods for plants, of which we found a few new ones. . . . ' Prodr: No. 22 Piper latifolium. Identity: Piper latifolium Forst. f Note: The ava pepper.

19a WH: no description BM: Perhaps 'Fagara Euodia Amsterdam I. or Tongatabboo'. If this is a simplified version of Forster's pencil drawing No. 1/26 and uncoloured engraving No. 17, it is the only instance in which Hodges makes such a simplification, and the only instance where the orientation of the Hodges sketch matches that of the engraving, i.e. is reversed compared with the drawing. JF: Forster wrote on 7 October 1773 of an enclosure between the houses and the plantations of the natives of Tongatapu, 'ln these Areas are Trees planted on purpose, remarkable for their odiferous & beautiful Flowers as for instance, the Gardenia Jlorida, the Sartanthus sessilis, the Guettarda speciosa, the Cinchona corymbifera, the Gynopogon stellatum, the Euodia longifolia, & many more. . . . Prodr: No. 54 Fagara euodia. Identity: Euodia hortensis].R. & G. Forst. Note: one of the Rutaceae. Euodia (or Evodia) are ornamental trees and shrubs.

20 WH: no description BM: 'Epidendrum umbellatum Raieteas June 2nd 1774'. Pencil drawing No. 2/ 243. Uncoloured engraving No. 100. JF: . . .2or 3 new plants a discovery which came quite unexpected'. Prodr: No. 321 Epidendrum umbellatum. Identity: Cirrhopetalum thouarsii Lindl. Note: the medusa-head orchid. An unusual species with straplike sepals growing from one side of the flowers, while the petals are very small, yellow, spotted finely with red.

21 WH: no description BM: 'Epidendrum clypeolum Tahaiti May Bth 1774'. Pencil drawing No. 2/245. Uncoloured engraving No. 101. JF: . . . & begun to search these woods for plants, of which we found a few new ones'. Prodr: No. 323 Epidendrum clypeolum. Identity: Liparis clypeolum Lindl. Note: an epiphytic orchid. A European Liparis is the tway-blade. 22 WH: no description BM: 'Tacca pinnatifida Otaheite'. Pencil drawing No. 1/151.

Prodr: No. 209 Tacca pinnatifida. Identity: Tacca leontopetahides (L.) Ktze. Note: Tacca is the Malay word for the species. A terrestrial plant with a fleshy root — South sea arrowroot, or Tahitian salep. George Forster gives instructions for making a flour, a bread and a gelatinous cake from the roots; he notes the use of the roots as a plaster for war wounds in the Moluccas. 30 23 WH: no description BM: 'Epidendrum myosurus Taheite'. Pencil drawing No. 2/239. Uncoloured engraving No. 98. Prodr: No. 317 Epidendrum myosurus. Identity: Oberonia myosurus Lindl. Note: Oberonia are the mouse-tail orchids. This is a small, fleshy-leaved epiphyte.

24 WH: no description BM: 'Arthericum cirrhatum Charlottes Sound'. Finished watercolour drawing No. 1/95. Prodr: No. 148 Arthericum cirrhatum. Identity: Arthropodium cirratum (Forst. f) R. Br. Note: New Zealand rengarenga. 25 WH: no description BM: "Aster holosericeus". An unfinished watercolour drawing in which Forster has filled in the background with black so that the uncoloured leaves stand out: No. 2/217. See plates 11, 12. Prodr: No. 296 Aster holosericeus. Identity: Celmisia holosericea (Forst.f) Hook. f. Note: one of the many New Zealand Celmisias.

26 WH: no description BM: 'Sisyrinchium Ixoides Charlottes Sound'. Pencil drawing No. 2/247. Prodr: No. 325 Sisyrinchium ixioides. Identity: Libertia ixioides (Forst. f.) Spreng. Note: one of the two New Zealand irises. 27 WH: no description BM: 'Trichilia spectabilis Charlotte's Sound'. Unfinished watercolour drawing No. 1/132. Prodr: No. 188 Trichilia spectabilis. Identity: Dysoxylum spectabile (Forst. f) Hook. f. Note: The large New Zealand forest tree, kohekohe.

REFERENCES The George Forster drawings (Plates 2,4) are located in the Botany Library, Department of Library Services, British Museum (Natural History) and are reproduced by courtesy of the British Museum (Natural History). I am grateful to Mrs Judith Diment, Botany Librarian at the British Museum (Natural History) for matching them with the Hodges sketches. I am grateful to Mr Dan Hatch for Latin translations and helpful comments; to Ms Moira Long and Ms Marian Minson, of the Alexander Turnbull Library for their help and enthusiasm.

1 Drawings & Prints Coll. E. 104. 2 Bernard Smith, personal communication, 27 July 1984. 3 Riidiger Joppien, 'Cataloguing the Drawings from Captain Cook's Voyages: a Task Completed', Australian Journal of Art, 3 (1983), 59-78. 4 Isabel Combs Stuebe, The Life and Work of William Hodges (New York, 1979), p. 371. 5 Joppien, p. 71. 6 Michael Hoare, The Resolution Journal of Johann Reinhold Forster V772-V775, 4 vols (London, 1982), I, 80-81. 7 Bernard Smith, 'William Hodges and English plein-air Painting', Art History, 6(1983), 142-152. 8 J. C. Beaglehole, The Journals of Captain James Cook on his Voyages of Discovery 3 vols (London, 1955-1967), 11, clviii. 9 Stuebe, p. 114. 10 James Cook, A Voyage towards the South Pole and Round the World Performed in His Majesty's Ships Resolution and Adventure In the Years 1772, 1773, 1774 and 1775 written by James Cook, Commander of the Resolution, 2 vols (London, 1777), Plate No. XXVIII. 11 Stuebe, p. 163. 12 Cook, plate No. L. 13 P. J. P. Whitehead, 'The Forster Collection of Zoological Drawings in the British Museum (Natural History), Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Historical series), 6 (1978), 25-47. 14 Whitehead, p. 30. 15 Riidiger Joppien, Drawings from Captain Cook's Voyages. An Unrecorded collection of Fourteen Ethnographical and Natural History Drawings Relating to the Second and Third Voyages (Catalogue of exhibition and sale, 13 September to 1 October, 1976) (London, 1976).

16 See 8 above. 17 Johann George Adam Forster, A Voyage Round the World, in His Brittanic Majesty's Sloop, Resolution, Commanded by Capt. James Cook, During the Years 1772, 3, 4 and 5 (London, 1777), p. 494. 18 Beaglehole, p. 692. 19 Smith, p. 150. 20 Johann George Adam Forster, Florulae Insularum Australium: Prodromus (Gottingen, 1786). 21 Johann George Adam Forster, and Johann Reinhold Forster, Characteres generum plantarum, quas in itinere ad insularis Maris Australis, colligerunt, descripserunt, delinearunt . . . (London, 1776). 22 Hodges to Hayley, 27 April 1793. Holograph letter, Alexander Turnbull Library. 23 John West, personal communication. 24 see 6 above. 25 see 21 above. 26 see 10 above. 27 The full list of George Forster plant drawings in the British Museum (Natural History) has been compiled by Phyllis Edwards and appears in Hoare, p. 770. 28 H. L. G. van Wijk, A Dictionary of Plant Names (1909) (Amsterdam, 1971). 29 Paxton, Paxton Botanical Dictionary (London, 1868). 30 Johann George Adam Forster, De plantis esculentis insularum oceani australis. . . (Gottingen, 1786), p. 60-61.