Pages 12-13 of John Damper Parks' journal and notes: Copy of a letter from John Parks [to Joseph Sabine, secretary of the Horticultural Society of London]

Title

Pages 12-13 of John Damper Parks' journal and notes: Copy of a letter from John Parks [to Joseph Sabine, secretary of the Horticultural Society of London]

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/4/1/6

Date

7 May 1824

Scope & content

Pages 12-13: Copy of a letter written on board HCS Lowther Castle, 'off the Lizard [Lizard Point, Cornwall] at 12 o'clock'

This item is bound in the volume comprising journal and notes of John Damper Parks

Marked 'letter 4th'

Captain Baker [Thomas Baker, captain of HCS Lowther Castle] expects the ship to arrive at Gravesend on 10 or 11 May; there will be 11 cases of plants, the cases the same size as those sent previously, about four feet long and 20 inches wide, and one 'tub' from the governor of St Helena [Alexander Walker], about two feet in diameter and one large clothes basket with some dried ferns; there are two boxes in the ship with dried specimens, fruits in spirits and seeds, which 'will not come with the plants, as Mr Reeves [East India Company tea inspector and naturalist in China] had them put into the manifest'; he put them into the orlop [the lowest deck on the ship], considering it the driest place with the most even temperature; the plants have fared quite well, although he lost a case of mangosteens from Prince of Wales' Island [Pulo Penang, Malaysia], and most plants from another case from there before sailing from Whampoa [Huangpu, China], as the nights were very cold; he has plenty of the new Hoya requested by Sabine, three out of four plants of yellow 'China rose', three yellow Rosa banksiae, yellow Bletia, two cases of Chrysanthemum ('which tribe I hope will be an acquisition to what you have already'), with about 50 plants and over 30 varieties; he lost both plants of double red Azalea, and left the one surviving variegated Azalea at St Helena, hoping it would strengthen sufficiently to be propagated; he has two double purple Azalea, one with broad leaf ('I think [...] the same kind as Mr Brookes [?Samuel Brookes, gardener and nurseryman in Ball's Pond, Islington, London] has got') and one with narrow leaf; he has attempted to send the plants on different ships and in different environments to increase the chance of some of them surviving, but the double red and the variegated 'seem particular tender'; he has had to move some of his plants from the poop [poop deck] before arriving at the Downs [Kent]: 'the longboat or steerage was the place appointed for them'; he put six cases of the most fragile plants there, thinking they would fare better with a short period of darkness but less exposure to cold air; he is worried that the plants he sent previously may have been damaged by the journey and the sudden change from hot to cold climate, which 'has so powerful an effect on them'; he collected some Dicksonia at St Helena and planted them in the mangosteen case, hoping they will grow once they are in a warm house; he does not expect the plants left with the governor of St Helena to survive, as many of them are very fragile seedlings; there was some Parkinsonia aculeata, Hakea teretifolia, Euchaliptus piperita [Eucalyptus piperita], which are all dead, 'but I believe the same kinds are in England'; Reeves has probably informed Sabine by letter that he is coming to England by HCS Warren Hastings with Captain Rawes [Richard Rawes, captain of HCS Warren Hastings], 'and likewise that he has provided me with a cabin homeward bound, which has been much to my comfort'; they sailed from Whampoa on 16 Jan, and the journey has gone well thus far

Extent

2 pages

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)