Letter from Robert Fortune to Dr Lindley [John Lindley, assistant secretary of the Horticultural Society of London]

Information

Title: Letter from Robert Fortune to Dr Lindley [John Lindley, assistant secretary of the Horticultural Society of London]

Scope & content: Written from Kelloe, Ayton [Berwickshire, Scotland]

He acknowledges receipt of Lindley's letter the previous day; 'with regard to sending home letters for the 'Athenaeum' [literary magazine], I must be guided by your advice, but I concur there is some difficulty in coming to any agreement at present owing to so little being known about what I might be able to communicate'; he is disappointed at the committee's decision regarding firearms, and hopes they will change their minds: 'I think that Mr Reeves [John Reeves, naturalist, former East India Company tea inspector in China] is perfectly right in the majority of cases – that a good stick is the best defence – but [...] many of the inhabitants will bear the English no good will', and a stick would not help against an 'armed Chinaman'; he promises to be careful in using guns; he hopes to receive a good map of the country and books on the subject; 'I hope the young Chinese you intend to send out with me is an agreeable character'