PATAGONIAN

8vo, 2 pp. Bifolium. Thirty-two lines of text. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged and creased paper. It is only now that he is able to thank him for the 'bon accueil que m'a fait Monsieur Benard grâce à votre Gracieuse recommendation'. Benard has lent him 'quelques ouvrages', including 'ceux que vous aviez bien voulu <?> sur la petite note'. He has not had time to look at them, 'pressé que j'etais tout d'abord de vous remettre ceux que vous m'avez bien voulu prêter'. He has not been able to 'les compulser', but has 'sommairement lu le contenu qui je l'espere me suffira'.

The piece relates to 'the death by starvation of Commander A. Gardiner and the whole of the party sent out by the Patagonian Missionary Society in September 1850, to Picton Island, the southern extremity of America'. '3 columns, each 13½ inches by 2¾, attached to a piece of grey paper, and a fourth column, 3¾ inches by 2¾, attached to another piece. Discoloured and with minor spotting but in good condition overall. The article consists exclusively of transcriptions of two letters from Captain W. H. Morshead, H.M.S.