Haenke missed the start of the voyage and caught up with the ships nine months later. They stopped first in Montevideo on July 30, 1789 and then circled South America with stops in Patagonia, Chile, Peru, Panama, and Nicaragua. At each port Née spent several days or weeks collecting plants in the surrounding region. In addition to collecting plants, Malaspina recalled an incident when Née and Pineda tested a local species of Solanum on themselves resulting in severe vomiting and overall pain and swelling. When they reached Acapulco on March 27, 1791, Née and Pineda settled down for an extended period of botanizing in Mexico while the expedition proceeded along the coast of North America to Alaska. During the next six months Née collected almost 3,000 plant specimens while travelling over 1,500 miles throughout Mexico. Malaspina returned to Acapulco in December 1791 to pick up Née and Pineda and then head west to Asia. Six weeks later they reached Marianas Islands where Née collected several rare plants that were later described in his publication, Observaciones Botanicas - Islas Marianas. From there they sailed to the Philippines, reaching Sorsogon Bay in early March 1792. Née was anxious to explore the interior of the island, so he arranged to be left at Sorsogon Bay and travelled alone to Manila where he met up with the expedition three months later. While in the Philippines he collected some 2,400 specimens and kept a journal where he recorded his observations on natural history, agriculture, and native customs. Meanwhile, Pineda was on a separate collecting trip when he became seriously ill and died. After the Philippines, the two ships visited Australia, New Zealand and Tonga before heading back across the Pacific to South America. From Chile, Née again left the main expedition and journeyed overland across Chile and Argentina to meet up with the team in Montevideo. This was their last port of call; war was threatening in Europe and Malaspina was ordered to prepare his ships for possible battle and return home. They reached Cadiz on September 21, 1794,completing a voyage that lasted more than five years. Post-expedition Née remained in Cadiz until December, sorting and arranging the enormous number of plant specimens that had been collected by the expedition. He estimated that he personally had collected more than 12,000 specimens, the largest numbers coming from Mexico (2,900), the Philippines (2,400) and Peru (1,600). Much