They knew I was incapable of trying to
introduce anything contraband, and they were aware that I never dreamed of
turning to profit the specimens I had procured. They considered that I had
left a comfortable home in quest of science; and that I had wandered into
far-distant climes, and gone barefooted, ill-clothed and ill-fed, through
swamps and woods, to procure specimens, some of which had never been seen
in Europe. They considered that it would be difficult to fix a price upon
specimens which had never been bought or sold, and which never were to be,
as they were intended to ornament my own house. It was hard, they said, to
have exposed myself for years to danger, and then be obliged to pay on
returning to my native land. Under these considerations they fixed a
moderate duty which satisfied all parties.
However, this last expedition ended not so. It taught me how hard it is to
learn the grand lesson, "aequam memento rebus in arduis, servare mentem."
But my good friends in the Custom House of Liverpool were not to blame.
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