Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of the Horticultural Society of London [George Bentham]

Title

Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of the Horticultural Society of London [George Bentham]

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/7/2/2/21

Date

12 Mar 1846

Scope & content

Written from Tepic [Mexico]

Letter No 5

He sent on 7 Mar a tin case of seeds, including four species of pine, to Tampico [Mexico] to the care of Messrs H.J. Blume & Co [merchants in Mexico], to be forwarded to Vera Cruz [Veracruz, Mexico] to Messrs Manning, Mackintosh & Co [agents of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company in Mexico]; on 9 Mar he sent two boxes, marked HS5-6 with orchids, to Messrs Blume & Co to be forwarded to Messrs S.L. Jolly & Co [agents of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company in Mexico] in Tampico, with the letter from the secretary of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company; box HS6 consists of two separate boxes, one with cones of Pinus russelliana [Pinus montezumae], Pinus devoniana, Pinus macrophylla [Pinus devoniana] and 'the new one, which in compliment to Mr Gordon [George Gordon, botanist, foreman of the Horticultural Society Gardens at Chiswick, London, who described many of Hartweg's conifers] [Pinus gordoniana, renamed Pinus montezumae var. gordoniana] I have named after him'; his luggage finally arrived and has been sent to San Blas [Mexico], where he will travel tomorrow on his way to Mazatlan [Mexico]; there are no news of ships sailing for California [United States of America], but Mr A. Forbes [Alexander Forbes, merchant and explorer in Mexico] thinks it will be possible to gain passage on an American man-of-war; he received letters of introduction from Messrs Forbes for California; as they have no commercial connections there, they recommended taking money with him, and he has given them a draft on the Society for £400 or $2,000, and received from them $650 in cash, and $1,350 in credit on Messrs Mott, Talbot & Co [merchants in Mexico] in Mazatlan, who may be able to assist in opening a credit in California, or give the remaining sum in cash; he encloses copies of his letters, journal and accounts

Hartweg's expenses for 12 Feb-12 Mar 1846 include 'a mozo [servant] mounted with cargo mule for 4 days' $8, 'two boxes, HS5 & 6' $5, 'nails, covering & making up for [the boxes]' $2.2, 'repairing of saddle' $2.4 and 'freight of paper' $5.4 [here the list includes 5 more items]

Extent

4 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)