Letter from Robert Fortune to the secretary of the Horticultural Society [Alexander Henderson], 21 Regent St, London and 'Plants in glazed cases'

Title

Letter from Robert Fortune to the secretary of the Horticultural Society [Alexander Henderson], 21 Regent St, London and 'Plants in glazed cases'

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/8/2/7

Date

10 May 1844

Scope & content

Written from the Temple of Tein tung, Ning Po district [Ningbo, Zhejiang, China]

Postmarked ('16SP16 1844'). The letter includes an opened seal. Written on onion-skin paper. Annotated on the reverse: 'Via Southampton'

Letter No 7

He sailed from Hong Kong for the northern provinces on 22 Mar, visiting the ports along the coast; he hired a Chinese boat at Woosung [Wusong, Shanghai, China] to go up the river to Shanghae [Shanghai]; already familiar with the local gardens, he was able to visit them much more easily than previously, when he was 'entirely ignorant of the country and of the language'; he purchased several 'very fine' azaleas and other plants, and duplicates of some sent earlier, which proved 'remarkable'; he encloses some notes which should be useful at the garden and for identifying the plants; he visited the moutan [Paeonia suffruticosa] country, where 'hundreds of gardens are filled with this beautiful flower'; he thinks he was 'deceived' with the blue and yellow variety, which he has not seen in any of the gardens, but the purples, reds and whites are 'the most charming things'; he wanted to visit Chusan [Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China] and Ning Po [Ningbo, Zhejiang] early in the spring, and only stayed in Shanghae for three days; he found in Chusan that the azalea which he sent is 'the most beautiful of all which I have yet seen'; it flowers at only a few inches high on the hills, but grows to 10-20 feet high in the woods, and has two colour varieties, white and light purple ('the white variety I think the finest of the two'), with dark markings and round, regular flowers 'resembling more a first-class pelargonium than an azalea'; he encloses drawings [enclosures not present]; he sailed from Chusan to Ning Po, where 'the little knowledge of the language which I now possess, and my former acquaintance with the country enabled me to proceed at once to those places most desirable'; he saw a 'striking' yellow climbing rose with large flowers, which he may already have sent; he is now at the temple of Tein Tung, about 20 miles inland from the town of Ning Po, in the middle of the tea district; 'hundreds of the Chinese are now engaged here in gathering and preparing the tea' growing on the hills, and the area is 'by far the richest place as regards plants and general scenery', with many plants growing wild that he had previously only seen in the gardens; the temple is large and full of idols on altars; 'the good priests, although very ignorant, are not the less kind and hospitable, and the whole place has an air of romance about it, almost making me believe that I am living in some ancient monastery in England in the olden time'; he encloses a few seeds of a Daphne [enclosures not present], 'a charming plant' growing on the hills, of which he sent a plant and a drawing from Hong Kong; it is used for its medicinal properties here

Fortune's expenses for 22 Mar-30 Apr, including 'sundry personal expenses, boat hire &c' $8, 'paid for stores for captain, who brought me up, in lieu of passage money' $50, 'boat hire in Chusan for 1 week' $4, 'personal expenses in Shanghae and in Chusan' $14 and 'wages of servant for 1 month' $10 [here the list includes 6 more items], with the sum total of $102.12

Enclosed is a 'Memo' on a loose sheet, entitled 'Plants in glazed cases', with notes on particular plants and seeds in cases, including 'case 2, no 7 & 8, & case 5, no 22. Splendid shrub, perhaps not all the same variety (see drawing)', 'case 14, no 13. Very fine shrub (see drawing)', 'case 6, no 27. This is a very distinct and fine dark rose', 'no 6. Worthless (throw these away)' and '26. Azalea, very fine, same as that in case 2' [here the list includes 5 more items]

Extent

5 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)