Letter [from Edward Sabine] to Joseph Sabine [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London], Horticultural Society's House, Regent Street, London
Information
Title - Letter [from Edward Sabine] to Joseph Sabine [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London], Horticultural Society's House, Regent Street, London
Record type - Archive
Original Reference - RHS/Col/2/Z1/15
Date - 13 Mar 1822
Scope & content - Written from Sierra Leone
Postmarked ('7 o'clock 31 MY 1822 N.T'). A small section of the letter has been torn away by an opened seal, with some loss of text
He sent three cases from Mr Don [George Don] and one from himself yesterday on the brig James, with Captain Smith; Don sends one case of live plants, one of dried specimens, and one of fruits preserved in spirits; his case is of birds and insects; the cases are with Mr Gunning [unidentified] of the Navy, a passenger on the James, which is bound first to the Gambia for three or four weeks, then to London; Don's cases are addressed to Mr McLean [David MacLean, Custom House, London], but Edward's is addressed to Joseph at the Horticultural Society's house; Gunning has a letter to let Joseph know of his arrival and his London location in case of difficulty obtaining the boxes [for the letter to Joseph Sabine sent with Gunning, 11 Mar 1822, see RHS/Col/2/Z1/14]; Gunning is a son of Sir Robert Gunning of Northamptonshire and is 'a very gentlemanly, agreeable young man'; Edward hopes Gunning will also take a fifth box from the Gambia from Bryan O'Bearne [assistant surgeon to the colony] to whom he and Dr Nicoll [Andrew Nicoll, medical officer in Sierra Leone] have written; Mr Ritchie, deputy surgeon of the regiment stationed there ('an old acquaintance of mine in Canada'), helped shoot birds in the Gambia; the Gambia is an important station for its position between Senegal and Sierra Leone and for its great variety of birds; Smith [John Smith, Edward Sabine's assistant] sprained his ankle severely several days ago, chasing an 'extraordinary kingfisher', which Edward regrets as Smith hoped to surprise Joseph with his collection; Smith's research has a lot of zeal and was successful until the accident; he is recovering fine and Edward hopes he will still get two weeks' shooting in before they leave; Don has not found any birds yet and Edward thinks that he is unlikely to, but he is 'happy to do him justice in saying that he is indefatigable, and I dare say that his exertions are well directed'; Don says he will have five more cases to send from Sierra Leone, but Edward is concerned about those containing live plants; Captain Kelly [Benedictus Marwood Kelly] of the Stockton will take charge of the boxes, but will only sail as far as Plymouth, and there is no other vessel in the harbour; Sir Charles [Charles MacCarthy, British governor of Sierra Leone] has been kind to Don, who is staying at his country house; the army surgeons join his walks and he has as many attendants as he wants: 'he seems very happy, & likes the warm weather'; he has not drawn any money for Don since the £10 in England, and will continue to supply him until the West Indies or perhaps until their return to England; Dr Nicoll has sent 400-500 species of birds collected in Sierra Leone and in Senegal to James MacGregor [James McGrigor, military surgeon], who is in charge of the army medical department and lives in London, and to whom Joseph could obtain an introduction through Somerville [William Somerville, physician at Chelsea Hospital in London]; Nicoll says that they will be allowed access for the purposes of description; there is a large case at the British Museum, purchased from Surinam [Republic of Suriname] and sent to Lord Bathurst [Henry Bathurst, secretary of state for war and colonies] by Sir Charles; Nicoll has written to Senegal and the Gambia to collect for Joseph; Nicoll is head of medical staff here and has 12 staff whom he directs; he sailed yesterday with Sir Charles to Cape Coast [Ghana] and will establish a collection there; Whitelaw [Robert Whitelaw, surgeon on HMS Iphigenia] is collecting for the British Museum, 'or rather for Barrow [John Barrow, second secretary to the Admiralty, fellow of the Royal Society], which is the same thing'; his duplicates will be prepared separately for Joseph and he can refer to Barrow's; Whitelaw has gone down the coast and if they add what Smith will collect on the way to and on St Thomas's [Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe], they should have an extensive basis for a description of the birds of Western Africa; Temminck's 'Index' [Coenraad Jacob Temminck, 'Manuel d'ornithologie, ou Tableau systematique des oiseaux qui se trouvent en Europe', 1820] will note all the birds in the Dutch and French collections; there are some African birds in Edinburgh which would be easy to visit 'if worthwhile'; Temminck's 'Index' will 'lighten the labour of such a description', and make the notices very short except when there is something new to say; he has enclosed a letter to Caroline [Caroline Browne, sister of Joseph and Edward Sabine] written a while ago, which will let Joseph know of the appointment of the HMS Pheasant to the voyage, which Joseph is to seal and send to her after reading; he adds to its contents that if the rainy season ('consequently the unhealthy one') is at its height at St Thomas's when they arrive, he will only spend a day or two there and will divide his allotted time in that region between the other stops; he regrets that he has no excuse to visit the Portuguese settlements in Africa which are south of the equator; he cannot obtain any information about them; Joseph is to direct his letters to the West Indies to Jamaica but not to Barbados; their visit to Barbados is uncertain as it is 'much too windward'; he regrets that the assortment of seeds they should have taken from England were not brought, as they are regularly asked for seeds and have had complaints that those which are usually sent from England do not grow; he suspects that precautions on handling them have been omitted and that their seedsmen should be 'publicly cautioned and instructed' if so; he wishes Woodford [Ralph Woodford, British governor of Trinidad] to know that they will remain at Trinidad for two weeks in August and September [they stayed there during September and October]; if Joseph can procure letters to Bermuda, Havana [Cuba] or the Western Islands [the Azores, Portugal], he is to enclose them to Jamaica; he asks Joseph to ask Sir Humphry Davy [chemist and inventor, president of the Royal Society] if he has anything to suggest before Joseph writes to the West Indies, as Edward's motions are now certain; he may receive letters from Joseph at Trinidad, but Jamaica is the surest as they may have left Trinidad before the letters arrive. Written from Sierra Leone
Postmarked ('7 o'clock 31 MY 1822 N.T'). A small section of the letter has been torn away by an opened seal, with some loss of text
He sent three cases from Mr Don [George Don] and one from himself yesterday on the brig James, with Captain Smith; Don sends one case of live plants, one of dried specimens, and one of fruits preserved in spirits; his case is of birds and insects; the cases are with Mr Gunning [unidentified] of the Navy, a passenger on the James, which is bound first to the Gambia for three or four weeks, then to London; Don's cases are addressed to Mr McLean [David MacLean, Custom House, London], but Edward's is addressed to Joseph at the Horticultural Society's house; Gunning has a letter to let Joseph know of his arrival and his London location in case of difficulty obtaining the boxes [for the letter to Joseph Sabine sent with Gunning, 11 Mar 1822, see RHS/Col/2/Z1/14]; Gunning is a son of Sir Robert Gunning of Northamptonshire and is 'a very gentlemanly, agreeable young man'; Edward hopes Gunning will also take a fifth box from the Gambia from Bryan O'Bearne [assistant surgeon to the colony] to whom he and Dr Nicoll [Andrew Nicoll, medical officer in Sierra Leone] have written; Mr Ritchie, deputy surgeon of the regiment stationed there ('an old acquaintance of mine in Canada'), helped shoot birds in the Gambia; the Gambia is an important station for its position between Senegal and Sierra Leone and for its great variety of birds; Smith [John Smith, Edward Sabine's assistant] sprained his ankle severely several days ago, chasing an 'extraordinary kingfisher', which Edward regrets as Smith hoped to surprise Joseph with his collection; Smith's research has a lot of zeal and was successful until the accident; he is recovering fine and Edward hopes he will still get two weeks' shooting in before they leave; Don has not found any birds yet and Edward thinks that he is unlikely to, but he is 'happy to do him justice in saying that he is indefatigable, and I dare say that his exertions are well directed'; Don says he will have five more cases to send from Sierra Leone, but Edward is concerned about those containing live plants; Captain Kelly [Benedictus Marwood Kelly] of the Stockton will take charge of the boxes, but will only sail as far as Plymouth, and there is no other vessel in the harbour; Sir Charles [Charles MacCarthy, British governor of Sierra Leone] has been kind to Don, who is staying at his country house; the army surgeons join his walks and he has as many attendants as he wants: 'he seems very happy, & likes the warm weather'; he has not drawn any money for Don since the £10 in England, and will continue to supply him until the West Indies or perhaps until their return to England; Dr Nicoll has sent 400-500 species of birds collected in Sierra Leone and in Senegal to James MacGregor [James McGrigor, military surgeon], who is in charge of the army medical department and lives in London, and to whom Joseph could obtain an introduction through Somerville [William Somerville, physician at Chelsea Hospital in London]; Nicoll says that they will be allowed access for the purposes of description; there is a large case at the British Museum, purchased from Surinam [Republic of Suriname] and sent to Lord Bathurst [Henry Bathurst, secretary of state for war and colonies] by Sir Charles; Nicoll has written to Senegal and the Gambia to collect for Joseph; Nicoll is head of medical staff here and has 12 staff whom he directs; he sailed yesterday with Sir Charles to Cape Coast [Ghana] and will establish a collection there; Whitelaw [Robert Whitelaw, surgeon on HMS Iphigenia] is collecting for the British Museum, 'or rather for Barrow [John Barrow, second secretary to the Admiralty, fellow of the Royal Society], which is the same thing'; his duplicates will be prepared separately for Joseph and he can refer to Barrow's; Whitelaw has gone down the coast and if they add what Smith will collect on the way to and on St Thomas's [Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe], they should have an extensive basis for a description of the birds of Western Africa; Temminck's 'Index' [Coenraad Jacob Temminck, 'Manuel d'ornithologie, ou Tableau systematique des oiseaux qui se trouvent en Europe', 1820] will note all the birds in the Dutch and French collections; there are some African birds in Edinburgh which would be easy to visit 'if worthwhile'; Temminck's 'Index' will 'lighten the labour of such a description', and make the notices very short except when there is something new to say; he has enclosed a letter to Caroline [Caroline Browne, sister of Joseph and Edward Sabine] written a while ago, which will let Joseph know of the appointment of the HMS Pheasant to the voyage, which Joseph is to seal and send to her after reading; he adds to its contents that if the rainy season ('consequently the unhealthy one') is at its height at St Thomas's when they arrive, he will only spend a day or two there and will divide his allotted time in that region between the other stops; he regrets that he has no excuse to visit the Portuguese settlements in Africa which are south of the equator; he cannot obtain any information about them; Joseph is to direct his letters to the West Indies to Jamaica but not to Barbados; their visit to Barbados is uncertain as it is 'much too windward'; he regrets that the assortment of seeds they should have taken from England were not brought, as they are regularly asked for seeds and have had complaints that those which are usually sent from England do not grow; he suspects that precautions on handling them have been omitted and that their seedsmen should be 'publicly cautioned and instructed' if so; he wishes Woodford [Ralph Woodford, British governor of Trinidad] to know that they will remain at Trinidad for two weeks in August and September [they stayed there during September and October]; if Joseph can procure letters to Bermuda, Havana [Cuba] or the Western Islands [the Azores, Portugal], he is to enclose them to Jamaica; he asks Joseph to ask Sir Humphry Davy [chemist and inventor, president of the Royal Society] if he has anything to suggest before Joseph writes to the West Indies, as Edward's motions are now certain; he may receive letters from Joseph at Trinidad, but Jamaica is the surest as they may have left Trinidad before the letters arrive
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)