Letter from Edward Sabine, Pheasant to Jos [Joseph Sabine, secretary of the Horticultural Society of London]
Information
Title - Letter from Edward Sabine, Pheasant to Jos [Joseph Sabine, secretary of the Horticultural Society of London]
Record type - Archive
Original Reference - RHS/Col/2/Z1/30
Date - 16-20 Oct 1822
Scope & content - Written from HMS Pheasant, off Jamaica
The letter is written in two sections, from HMS Pheasant and from Jamaica
He encloses a letter to Sir Augustus Frazer [Augustus Simon Frazer, British military commander] on the subject of his military prospects for Joseph to read, seal and forward; if he is ever to 'rise towards distinction', it must happen soon, and he would be doing himself no favours by neglecting the proper time to push; everyone tells him that he will be rewarded, but the old proverb that 'while the grass grows [the horse starves]' is applicable; he is glad that Joseph is satisfied with their work in natural history, and it has given both Don [George Don] and Smith [John Smith, Edward Sabine's assistant] fresh health, life and spirits; he hopes that the box sent by the Morgiana has arrived and that its contents are in good order, as the opportunity was excellent, but neither the box, the securing nor the direction were to his satisfaction; Joseph should instruct Don on the matter if he is to continue to collect for him; Smith spent some days at the house of Mr Legendre [Thomas Legendre, owner of a sugar plantation in Trinidad, slave holder], a French planter who is fond of hunting and shooting; Legendre has made an agreement with Edward that he is to send home, and Edward is to describe, all the rare and new animals of Trinidad; he has been told by 'every person on the island' that he could depend on Legendre's fulfilment of his promise; Legendre has hounds and several gamekeepers, and took with him to his plantation a considerable amount of shot of different sizes 'to commence action'; Legendre will provide the French and Trinidadian names of the animals, their habits, and their natural history, and will mark the specimens male and female, and Edward will give correct specific descriptions and class the animals properly; these specimens will remain with them and return home in spirits, although he fears the preservation in spirits is not as good for subsequent setting up as the old method of skinning, otherwise it would be routinely used in hot countries; they have had difficulty in keeping the Ascension [Ascension Island, British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha] collection clear of insects, as the skins are too large for any jars or bottles which can be easily procured, yet he thinks they will be just as good for description, and they have the additional advantage that they may be identified and described by their skeletons as well as plumage; he hopes to find the bird room sorted, as they will not be able to fulfil its potential if it is not done; he berates Joseph for not examining all the birds he sent on the Stockton; the better collection was sent on the Fletcher, which had not arrived when Joseph's last letter was written on 20 Jul; he looks forward to the letters he will receive in Jamaica from the August and September mails, but Joseph will have tracked their progress no further than their accidental re-encountering of the Iphigenia off St Thomas's [Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe]; Whitelaw [Robert Whitelaw], the surgeon of the Iphigenia, is a good collector and tireless when in pursuit of an object he finds curious, and he asks that Joseph be as kind to him as Whitelaw was to Smith and himself; Whitelaw has a case of bottles from Edward which he was to fill with crustaceans; Edward has several species of freshwater crawfish [crayfish] from Trinidad, and 30 or 40 species of crustaceans already with him, most of which he thinks are undescribed, which will form a good paper when he has the time; Whitelaw also promised to give Joseph his duplicate birds, although Edward does not think he could have collected many, 'having had his hands full of sick slaves latterly'; Whitelaw's birds are for Barrow [John Barrow, second secretary to the Admiralty, fellow of the Royal Society], and will probably go to Scotland, unless Lord Londonderry's death [Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh and marquess of Londonderry, Irish and British politician; he committed suicide in 1822] has removed Lord Melville [Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville, British politician, fellow of the Royal Society and the chancellor of the University of St Andrews] from the address; Mildmay [?George William St John Mildmay, British Royal Navy officer], who shot the francolin in the Gambia collection, is a good friend of Edward's and would be flattered to be shown it if Joseph meets him; he hopes to send Don and Smith into the mountains in Jamaica and to remain at Port Royal himself in order to push on with his observations; their live birds and plants remain well; Smith and Don have lost all traces of illness and Don especially has 'got much fatter' than when they left England, as well as becoming more accustomed to the ship; he is glad that they are becoming more selective in the Royal Society, as admission was becoming too much a matter of course, and he hopes that meetings will now be more agreeable and useful; he is very grateful for the spare hygrometer that Joseph sent him, although neither of his are damaged; he reminds Joseph to obtain an order from the Treasury to admit their birds without examination, which should be the only thing requiring duty, apart from a few artificial flowers from Brazil he picked up as a curiosity; he hopes that the Treasury will concede, as there are so many birds that the duty would be high
Letter continued from Jamaica, 20 Oct 1822
He has just received Joseph's letter of 7 Aug; only the packages sent on the Fletcher should have gone via Liverpool; he is glad the duty has been remitted; he must find Dr Hosack [David Hosack, physician and botanist in New York] or DeWitt Clinton [governor of New York, naturalist] in New York [United States of America] as he has no other acquaintances there, although the British consul is a standby if all other assistance fails; he has written to Miss Petty [unidentified] to let her know that the form of the request is not perfectly legal; she will of course decline any advantage, and he asks that Joseph bring the affair to a conclusion for him and take anything that Lord Lansdowne [?Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, marquess of Lansdowne, British politician, later president of the Zoological Society of London] may be pleased to give; he shall wait to see if Miss Petty does anything towards Sally's [Sarah Sabine, later known as Sarah Irton, sister of Joseph and Edward Sabine] comfort, and if not, the best mode of employing his uncle's legacy is to pass it to Sally; he supposes matters are now decided between the Parrys [unidentified] and themselves, although they will never 'cotton together', he does not think the loss is theirs; he supposes that 'that silly fellow' Garnier [unidentified] prevented his wife from writing to Emily [unidentified] after her father's death, as Mrs Garnier [unidentified] 'was not a person to have omitted such an action of necessary propriety'; from the concluding paragraph of Joseph's letter, he does not expect any letters by the September mail, due today; Don [George Don] fears that he shall not do much here, as it is the rainy season and is certainly raining heavily; today Don has gone with Mr West's [Stewart West, physician and botanist in Jamaica] letter to Bath [Jamaica] which is 30 or 40 miles away, and will then consult as to how to proceed; they hear of a vessel sailing to London in two or three weeks' time which will take some boxes from Don, but none from Edward; he is concerned about a pamphlet which Caroline [Caroline Browne, sister of Joseph and Edward Sabine] tells him attacks Joseph: 'you stand on much too high ground, the Horticultural Society is too manifestly so greatly indebted to you to render it necessary for you to notice what you would otherwise need to reply to. Is it Salisbury [Richard Anthony Salisbury, botanist], or Bellenden Kerr [John Bellenden Ker, botanist], who is attacking you?'; they may return as late as 8 Jan, as the repairs on the Pheasant are more extensive than they realised and will delay their departure; Clavering [Douglas Charles Clavering, captain of HMS Pheasant] is working very hard not to get too far behind; General Conran [Henry Conran, British governor of Jamaica] received him very kindly; the under-secretary of state's letters are exactly those which he thinks he should be given; he is writing to Amherstburg on Lake Huron [Fort Amherstburg, British naval base in Ontario, Canada] for birds and shellfish from Briscoe [Henry Briscoe, British Royal Navy officer who served with Edward Sabine in the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom], who wrote to meet him here; Briscoe should return home soon, and he has asked him to bring six wild turkeys with him; he has heard nothing of the paper he transmitted to Brande [William Thomas Brande, chemist and editor of 'The Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature and Art'] from Captain Laing [Alexander Gordon Laing, explorer and captain in the Royal African Colonial Corps] about the 'Mohammedan [Muslim] priests' sects' across Africa, and hopes he has published it [Brande did publish the article in 1823, although Laing's name was omitted: 'Narrative of a journey from Egypt to the western coast of Africa, by Mahomed Misrah. Communicated by an officer serving in Sierra Leone', published in 'The Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature and Art', volume XIV, no XXVII, pages 1-15]; Laing will have a very interesting account to give of the 'Sulimas [Solima, also known as Sulima, of the kingdom of Yalunka Sulima in Sierra Leone], amongst whom he is at present'; if Brande thinks it worthwhile, he can obtain more original information from Sierra Leone for the journal. Written from HMS Pheasant, off Jamaica
The letter is written in two sections, from HMS Pheasant and from Jamaica
He encloses a letter to Sir Augustus Frazer [Augustus Simon Frazer, British military commander] on the subject of his military prospects for Joseph to read, seal and forward; if he is ever to 'rise towards distinction', it must happen soon, and he would be doing himself no favours by neglecting the proper time to push; everyone tells him that he will be rewarded, but the old proverb that 'while the grass grows [the horse starves]' is applicable; he is glad that Joseph is satisfied with their work in natural history, and it has given both Don [George Don] and Smith [John Smith, Edward Sabine's assistant] fresh health, life and spirits; he hopes that the box sent by the Morgiana has arrived and that its contents are in good order, as the opportunity was excellent, but neither the box, the securing nor the direction were to his satisfaction; Joseph should instruct Don on the matter if he is to continue to collect for him; Smith spent some days at the house of Mr Legendre [Thomas Legendre, owner of a sugar plantation in Trinidad, slave holder], a French planter who is fond of hunting and shooting; Legendre has made an agreement with Edward that he is to send home, and Edward is to describe, all the rare and new animals of Trinidad; he has been told by 'every person on the island' that he could depend on Legendre's fulfilment of his promise; Legendre has hounds and several gamekeepers, and took with him to his plantation a considerable amount of shot of different sizes 'to commence action'; Legendre will provide the French and Trinidadian names of the animals, their habits, and their natural history, and will mark the specimens male and female, and Edward will give correct specific descriptions and class the animals properly; these specimens will remain with them and return home in spirits, although he fears the preservation in spirits is not as good for subsequent setting up as the old method of skinning, otherwise it would be routinely used in hot countries; they have had difficulty in keeping the Ascension [Ascension Island, British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha] collection clear of insects, as the skins are too large for any jars or bottles which can be easily procured, yet he thinks they will be just as good for description, and they have the additional advantage that they may be identified and described by their skeletons as well as plumage; he hopes to find the bird room sorted, as they will not be able to fulfil its potential if it is not done; he berates Joseph for not examining all the birds he sent on the Stockton; the better collection was sent on the Fletcher, which had not arrived when Joseph's last letter was written on 20 Jul; he looks forward to the letters he will receive in Jamaica from the August and September mails, but Joseph will have tracked their progress no further than their accidental re-encountering of the Iphigenia off St Thomas's [Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe]; Whitelaw [Robert Whitelaw], the surgeon of the Iphigenia, is a good collector and tireless when in pursuit of an object he finds curious, and he asks that Joseph be as kind to him as Whitelaw was to Smith and himself; Whitelaw has a case of bottles from Edward which he was to fill with crustaceans; Edward has several species of freshwater crawfish [crayfish] from Trinidad, and 30 or 40 species of crustaceans already with him, most of which he thinks are undescribed, which will form a good paper when he has the time; Whitelaw also promised to give Joseph his duplicate birds, although Edward does not think he could have collected many, 'having had his hands full of sick slaves latterly'; Whitelaw's birds are for Barrow [John Barrow, second secretary to the Admiralty, fellow of the Royal Society], and will probably go to Scotland, unless Lord Londonderry's death [Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh and marquess of Londonderry, Irish and British politician; he committed suicide in 1822] has removed Lord Melville [Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville, British politician, fellow of the Royal Society and the chancellor of the University of St Andrews] from the address; Mildmay [?George William St John Mildmay, British Royal Navy officer], who shot the francolin in the Gambia collection, is a good friend of Edward's and would be flattered to be shown it if Joseph meets him; he hopes to send Don and Smith into the mountains in Jamaica and to remain at Port Royal himself in order to push on with his observations; their live birds and plants remain well; Smith and Don have lost all traces of illness and Don especially has 'got much fatter' than when they left England, as well as becoming more accustomed to the ship; he is glad that they are becoming more selective in the Royal Society, as admission was becoming too much a matter of course, and he hopes that meetings will now be more agreeable and useful; he is very grateful for the spare hygrometer that Joseph sent him, although neither of his are damaged; he reminds Joseph to obtain an order from the Treasury to admit their birds without examination, which should be the only thing requiring duty, apart from a few artificial flowers from Brazil he picked up as a curiosity; he hopes that the Treasury will concede, as there are so many birds that the duty would be high
Letter continued from Jamaica, 20 Oct 1822
He has just received Joseph's letter of 7 Aug; only the packages sent on the Fletcher should have gone via Liverpool; he is glad the duty has been remitted; he must find Dr Hosack [David Hosack, physician and botanist in New York] or DeWitt Clinton [governor of New York, naturalist] in New York [United States of America] as he has no other acquaintances there, although the British consul is a standby if all other assistance fails; he has written to Miss Petty [unidentified] to let her know that the form of the request is not perfectly legal; she will of course decline any advantage, and he asks that Joseph bring the affair to a conclusion for him and take anything that Lord Lansdowne [?Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, marquess of Lansdowne, British politician, later president of the Zoological Society of London] may be pleased to give; he shall wait to see if Miss Petty does anything towards Sally's [Sarah Sabine, later known as Sarah Irton, sister of Joseph and Edward Sabine] comfort, and if not, the best mode of employing his uncle's legacy is to pass it to Sally; he supposes matters are now decided between the Parrys [unidentified] and themselves, although they will never 'cotton together', he does not think the loss is theirs; he supposes that 'that silly fellow' Garnier [unidentified] prevented his wife from writing to Emily [unidentified] after her father's death, as Mrs Garnier [unidentified] 'was not a person to have omitted such an action of necessary propriety'; from the concluding paragraph of Joseph's letter, he does not expect any letters by the September mail, due today; Don [George Don] fears that he shall not do much here, as it is the rainy season and is certainly raining heavily; today Don has gone with Mr West's [Stewart West, physician and botanist in Jamaica] letter to Bath [Jamaica] which is 30 or 40 miles away, and will then consult as to how to proceed; they hear of a vessel sailing to London in two or three weeks' time which will take some boxes from Don, but none from Edward; he is concerned about a pamphlet which Caroline [Caroline Browne, sister of Joseph and Edward Sabine] tells him attacks Joseph: 'you stand on much too high ground, the Horticultural Society is too manifestly so greatly indebted to you to render it necessary for you to notice what you would otherwise need to reply to. Is it Salisbury [Richard Anthony Salisbury, botanist], or Bellenden Kerr [John Bellenden Ker, botanist], who is attacking you?'; they may return as late as 8 Jan, as the repairs on the Pheasant are more extensive than they realised and will delay their departure; Clavering [Douglas Charles Clavering, captain of HMS Pheasant] is working very hard not to get too far behind; General Conran [Henry Conran, British governor of Jamaica] received him very kindly; the under-secretary of state's letters are exactly those which he thinks he should be given; he is writing to Amherstburg on Lake Huron [Fort Amherstburg, British naval base in Ontario, Canada] for birds and shellfish from Briscoe [Henry Briscoe, British Royal Navy officer who served with Edward Sabine in the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom], who wrote to meet him here; Briscoe should return home soon, and he has asked him to bring six wild turkeys with him; he has heard nothing of the paper he transmitted to Brande [William Thomas Brande, chemist and editor of 'The Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature and Art'] from Captain Laing [Alexander Gordon Laing, explorer and captain in the Royal African Colonial Corps] about the 'Mohammedan [Muslim] priests' sects' across Africa, and hopes he has published it [Brande did publish the article in 1823, although Laing's name was omitted: 'Narrative of a journey from Egypt to the western coast of Africa, by Mahomed Misrah. Communicated by an officer serving in Sierra Leone', published in 'The Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature and Art', volume XIV, no XXVII, pages 1-15]; Laing will have a very interesting account to give of the 'Sulimas [Solima, also known as Sulima, of the kingdom of Yalunka Sulima in Sierra Leone], amongst whom he is at present'; if Brande thinks it worthwhile, he can obtain more original information from Sierra Leone for the journal
Extent - 4 page letter (1 sheet)
Repository - Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library
Copyright - John J. Timothy Jeal
Credit Line - Courtesy John J. Timothy Jeal / RHS Lindley Collections
Usage terms - Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)