Copy letter from J.L. [John Lindley, assistant secretary of the Horticultural Society of London] to Mr Fortune [Robert Fortune], care of Messrs Dent [merchants in China], Hong Kong

Title

Copy letter from J.L. [John Lindley, assistant secretary of the Horticultural Society of London] to Mr Fortune [Robert Fortune], care of Messrs Dent [merchants in China], Hong Kong

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/8/1/39

Date

20 Jun 1844

Scope & content

No address

He acknowledges receipt of a letter dated 5 Mar 1844 by the last overland mail with the bill of lading [shipment receipt] for four glazed cases by the Emerald Isle; the Cornwall arrived at Portsmouth 10 Jun, and reached Deptford 19 Jun; the nine glazed cases and the bag of seeds are already at the garden; the leguminous plant is safe and will hopefully prove 'the best of the other things'; the bulbs in one of the boxes had suffered from wet and the box was in 'bad order', while the plants in another box had died from being too dry, apart from a 'very sickly' peach from Canton [Guangzhou, Guangdong, China]; the captain had apparently taken good care of the glazed cases; he asks Fortune to send a parcel of Trapa bicornis [Trapa natans] seed; they could not find the box of dried plants, but it may still be in the hold; the box with bird skins is still at the Custom House; the council requests that nothing be included in the Society's bills of lading except that directly relating to his mission; all other expenses, such as procuring, preparing, transporting, packing and shipping should have a separate bill of lading as mentioned previously in the letter of 20 Oct 1843 [for the letter from John Lindley to Robert Fortune, 20 Oct 1843, see RHS/Col/8/1/34]; Fortune's bill of £200 has been paid and his account charged; it is better to use regular traders sailing to London, rather than ships intended to convey troops, as such consignments cause additional delays and expenses with the customs in London; cutting, rather than writing, numbers on the packages will facilitate transport, as paint washes off so easily; fragile seeds and bulbs should be placed in a wicker basket to protect them from damage, and it is useful to have an affidavit, 'a distinct declaration of the contents of each case'; the council is pleased with his success so far, and will leave it for him to decide whether he wishes to visit Manilla [Manila, Philippines] on his return journey, although Mr Cuming's [Hugh Cuming, naturalist and botanist, who visited Philippines and the surrounding areas in 1835-1839] collections from the Philippines 'do not hold out much encouragement for a visitor there for horticultural purposes'; it may not be possible to travel north of Borneo [Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia] ('where more novelty may be expected') during the monsoon season; if he does go to Manilla, he should acquire information and specimens about the manufacturing of pineapple fibre into cloth, and 'it is also worth ascertaining what the Manilla hemp plant is'; they will forward letters of credit and introduction for each place, but Messrs Dent & Co [merchants in China] will probably also be able to assist; if he goes to Borneo via Singapore, he should seek assistance from W.H. Read & Partner [merchants in Singapore] in the merchant house of A. Johnson & Co [A. L. Johnston & Co, merchants in Singapore]; letters of introduction from Mr Cuming were sent on 3 Jul

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)