Were the writer of the following Work a well-known and admired member
of the Literary Community he would still be fortunate in the permission
of having it dedicated to your Lordship, as your Lordship’s literary,
scientific, and commercial knowledge, correct judgement, and amiable
qualities, more than the influence of elevated birth and rank, would
confer upon it increased recommendation. But coming forward as I
do, an unknown contributor to the stock of general knowledge, I am
peculiarly happy in having so high a passport to the notice of the
Public, in a Work which professes to communicate new information
respecting a portion of South America, now more than ever interesting
to the commercial, political, and scientific worlds. Whatever faults
it possesses, the pains I have taken to obtain authentic information
will, I trust, render it not unworthy of their and your Lordship’s
notice. If the style in which I present the new fruit, gathered from
the branches of the tree of knowledge that are spread in a far country,
is not considered interesting, the fruit itself will be found, I hope,
acceptable and useful.