Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of Horticultural Society [George Bentham], 21 Regent Street, London

Title

Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of Horticultural Society [George Bentham], 21 Regent Street, London

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/7/1/1/15

Date

18 Oct 1837

Scope & content

Written from Bolanos [Mexico]

Postmarked [illegible]. Two opened seals are attached to the letter. Annotated on the reverse: 'The envelope in which this letter came addressed to us being sealed exactly above the seal of the letter is the cause of its having been partially opened. Tampico [Mexico] 6th November 1837, McCalmont & Lyall & Co [merchants in Mexico]. By HM pkt [packet] Mutine'

Letter No 11

He left Aguas Calientes [Aguascalientes, Mexico] on 22 Sep and arrived at Bolanos on 4 Oct; he travelled over a mountain path 'of which I never saw the like before', which became worse daily with the heavy rain; he went down with a fever, a few days after his arrival, probably as a consequence of moving from a cold to a hot climate; after his recovery his servant was taken ill, but is fast recovering with the aid of 'the little medicine chest'; the main object of his visit was to find seeds of pines and Orchideae in abundance, as it is only about 250 feet difference in elevation to Mr Lavater's [Karl Lavater, Swiss consul in Mexico] hacienda, but his expectations have been 'frustrated', as the air is very dry and unsuitable to 'that class of plants'; on the road from Aguas Calientes he found two 'terrestrial' species; he collected two species of epiphytes and a very pretty cactus, resembling Cereus senilis [Cephalocereus senilis] on the mountains west of Bolanos, which are about 5,000 feet above the town and about 8,200 feet above sea level; he spent three nights in the mountains, and judging from the frosts, the plants are probably very hardy; the mountains are covered with four species of pines, but the seeds are not ripe yet; he was promised some in about two months' time by the mining company's Italian forester, who lives up there, together with some seeds of a white rhododendron, which was in full flower when he visited; he showed his letter of introduction to Mr J. Watson [James Watson of Anglo-Mexican Mining Association] as Mr Floresi [Damian Florezi, director of the Bolanos mines, Anglo-Mexican Mining Association], was away, and Mr Kerrison had left some time ago; Mr Watson is advancing him money until the letter of credit arrives from Messrs Meade [Richard W. and Denis Meade, merchants in Mexico] of Guanajuato [Mexico]; the delay is probably because they do not have correspondents here, as they have usually been attentive; there are no stables for the horses in the 'wretched mezon [meson] (inn)', and he had to use the company's stables

Hartweg's accounts for 17 Sep-16 Oct 1837 comprise 'monthly allowance' $50, 'wages of the mozo [servant]' $18, 'horse keeping' $10, 'shoeing of horses' $1.7 and 'carriage of luggage' $30

Level

Item

Extent

4 page letter (1 sheet)

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)