Letter from Robert Fortune to the secretary of the Horticultural Society [Alexander Henderson], 21 Regent St, London and 'List of plants in 4 glazed cases shipped on board the Emerald Isle, March 5th 1844 for the Horticultural Society of London' by Robert Fortune

Title

Letter from Robert Fortune to the secretary of the Horticultural Society [Alexander Henderson], 21 Regent St, London and 'List of plants in 4 glazed cases shipped on board the Emerald Isle, March 5th 1844 for the Horticultural Society of London' by Robert Fortune

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/8/2/5

Date

5 Mar 1844

Scope & content

Written from Hong Kong

Postmarked ('India', '[illegible]'). The letter includes an opened seal. Written on onion-skin paper. Annotated on the reverse: 'Via Southampton'

Letter No 5

He acknowledges receipt of the last letter; he was 'much gratified' to hear that his first dispatch had arrived in good order; he visited Macao [Macau] and Canton [Guangzhou, Guangdong, China] and made 'a few additions' to his collection; his northern plants are doing very well, and he is sending four cases by the Emerald Isle, containing 'many fine things, of which a detailed account will be found on another sheet'; he will send a beautiful Enkianthus and a potential new variety of Azalea in box 16, planted in the soil and stones among which they grow on the mountains of Hong Kong; he has been paying particular attention to the growing environment of the plants, as instructed, and wrote a detailed account in his journal; he will visit Canton again in a couple of days when the moutans [Paeonia suffruticosa] and camellias will be in full flower, before returning to the north; he would like to know what the council would prefer him to do, as he feels the coming summer and autumn will be a sufficient time for him to spend in China, 'unless something takes place of which I am not aware at present'; he might return via Manilla [Manila, Philippines] or Singapore: 'in any instructions, which you may send out, I hope you will continue that discretionary power, which you have always given me in case any opportunity may offer, which I might think advantageous to the interests of the Society'; if the council wants him to go to Manilla, he requires letters of introduction; he encloses a bill of lading [shipment receipt] from the captain of the Emerald Isle [enclosure not present], and sent a duplicate of that bill with his duplicate letter on that ship

Fortune's expenses for 1-29 Feb 1844 include 'outfitting after coming down from my northern expedition' $20, 'passage to Macao from Hong Kong' $4, 'purchase of a Chinese vocabulary from Mr Wilhelms[?]' $4, 'purchase of plants for the Society at Fatee gardens, Canton' $25 and 'hire of boats, coolies [indentured workers] &c at Hong Kong' $3 [here the list includes 8 more items]. Includes a note that he will 'attend to the suggestions of the treasurer, and not mix my own accounts with those of the Society, but the former will be very trifling'

Enclosed is a list of the contents of four glazed cases sent to the Horticultural Society from Hong Kong on the Emerald Isle. The list is numbered (specimens 1-19, boxes 13-16) and includes Azalea ('mountains of Hong Kong, more of this in box No 16'), Jasminum ('Nankin [Nanjing, Jiangsu, China], yellow'), an unnamed 'shrub' ('producing heads of yellow, sweet-scented flowers, Chusan [Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China]'), seven papers of seeds and '5 rice paper drawings of some of the above plants (these are sent with duplicate letter per Emerald Isle)' [here the list includes 17 more items]. Includes two notes at the foot of the page: 'the above are a most valuable collection of plants as will be seen from some drawings, which I intend to send with them, and if we are fortunate enough to introduce them alive, I hope they will be taken great care of', and 'Memo, concerning lost cases' with brief notes of the contents of boxes 1, 7 and 8

Extent

6 page letter (2 sheets)

Is part of

RHS archive: plant collector papers

Repository

Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library

Copyright

Royal Horticultural Society

Credit Line

RHS Lindley Collections

Usage terms

Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)