Letter from E.S. [Edward Sabine] to Joseph Sabine esq [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London], Horticultural Society's House, Regent Street, London
Information
Title - Letter from E.S. [Edward Sabine] to Joseph Sabine esq [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London], Horticultural Society's House, Regent Street, London
Record type - Archive
Original Reference - RHS/Col/2/Z1/18
Date - 10 Apr 1822
Scope & content - Written from Sierra Leone
Postmarked ('2 o'clock 19 JY 1822', '[illegible]'). A small section of the letter has been torn away by an opened seal
He is sending six boxes to England with Lieutenant Moryarty [Moriarty, captain of the Fletcher] on the Fletcher, which is expected to sail at end of the month; one box has live plants, three have bulbs and seeds, one has insects, and one has birds and quadrupeds: 'I think you will be pleased with the bulbs, [but] the insects are poor'; he had hoped that Don [George Don] would have had more success, but 'he will never be more than a collector of plants'; his own box contains a galago [bush baby] in a jar, which he thinks is the short-tailed species mentioned by Bosman [Willem Bosman, Dutch merchant, who published a description of the Gold Coast in 1704]; he thinks Sir Everard Home [surgeon, anatomist, and the brother-in-law of John Hunter of the Hunterian Museum] might be interested in its anatomy, which he thinks is peculiar due to its slow movements; it is nocturnal and feeds on bananas: 'I had it alive for some days'; Joseph will be pleased with the birds Smith [John Smith, Edward Sabine's assistant] has caught since his ankle healed; Smith is 'quite indefatigable' and exerts himself too much, putting him at risk of fever of which he did have a slight attack last night; they have sent over 100 species from the coast; there is an interesting specimen in the small white glass bottle, where the 'membrane around the eye' is unknown to him; Mr Kenneth Macaulay [merchant and colonial official in Sierra Leone] has promised to send Joseph half a dozen crested guinea-fowl, which are very rare and difficult to obtain, and is likely to fulfil his promise; their quest for natural history specimens is well known, in the colony and on the coast; 'it remains with us by a little exertion to monopolise the receipt of everything curious in natural history, if we please, for some time'; Sir C. MacCarthy [Charles MacCarthy, governor of Sierra Leone] is going to ask Joseph for tropical fruits as their cultivation has been neglected here; he has put together 12 specimens of the woods of the country with their African names which he was given at Mr McCormick's [John McCormac, Irish timber merchant in Sierra Leone] factory; he has lost his list but McCormick has a copy; McCormick is the principal timber merchant and has an establishment 25 miles upriver which he visited; McCormick has promised to send more to Macaulay to be forwarded to Joseph, along with the names; Joseph could, if inclined, make a table with each wood veneered in small compartments and numbered for reference for the Horticultural Society's Hall; he asks Joseph to write to Macaulay about this, and to request that McCormick send all the specimens he can; they have altogether above 40 woods in trial, and the army have a great number of these 40 which Joseph might obtain through Barrow [John Barrow, second secretary to the Admiralty, fellow of the Royal Society]; he has drawn £20 for Don's expenses through Macaulay, as Don has 'black attendants to pay here'; they will arrive at Cape Coast [Ghana] in ten days, where they will stay with MacCarthy for two weeks before heading to St Thomas's [Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe]; they will not be at St Thomas's at the best season, so he will keep Don and Smith 'bridle in hand'; the Fletcher is bound for Liverpool but this letter will be left at the post office at Milford [?Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales]; Moriarty will leave the boxes at the Liverpool customs office on arrival before they reach the port, and instruct someone from the Botanic Garden there to look at the plants; Smith is very unwell this morning so Edward must do the packing. Written from Sierra Leone
Postmarked ('2 o'clock 19 JY 1822', '[illegible]'). A small section of the letter has been torn away by an opened seal
He is sending six boxes to England with Lieutenant Moryarty [Moriarty, captain of the Fletcher] on the Fletcher, which is expected to sail at end of the month; one box has live plants, three have bulbs and seeds, one has insects, and one has birds and quadrupeds: 'I think you will be pleased with the bulbs, [but] the insects are poor'; he had hoped that Don [George Don] would have had more success, but 'he will never be more than a collector of plants'; his own box contains a galago [bush baby] in a jar, which he thinks is the short-tailed species mentioned by Bosman [Willem Bosman, Dutch merchant, who published a description of the Gold Coast in 1704]; he thinks Sir Everard Home [surgeon, anatomist, and the brother-in-law of John Hunter of the Hunterian Museum] might be interested in its anatomy, which he thinks is peculiar due to its slow movements; it is nocturnal and feeds on bananas: 'I had it alive for some days'; Joseph will be pleased with the birds Smith [John Smith, Edward Sabine's assistant] has caught since his ankle healed; Smith is 'quite indefatigable' and exerts himself too much, putting him at risk of fever of which he did have a slight attack last night; they have sent over 100 species from the coast; there is an interesting specimen in the small white glass bottle, where the 'membrane around the eye' is unknown to him; Mr Kenneth Macaulay [merchant and colonial official in Sierra Leone] has promised to send Joseph half a dozen crested guinea-fowl, which are very rare and difficult to obtain, and is likely to fulfil his promise; their quest for natural history specimens is well known, in the colony and on the coast; 'it remains with us by a little exertion to monopolise the receipt of everything curious in natural history, if we please, for some time'; Sir C. MacCarthy [Charles MacCarthy, governor of Sierra Leone] is going to ask Joseph for tropical fruits as their cultivation has been neglected here; he has put together 12 specimens of the woods of the country with their African names which he was given at Mr McCormick's [John McCormac, Irish timber merchant in Sierra Leone] factory; he has lost his list but McCormick has a copy; McCormick is the principal timber merchant and has an establishment 25 miles upriver which he visited; McCormick has promised to send more to Macaulay to be forwarded to Joseph, along with the names; Joseph could, if inclined, make a table with each wood veneered in small compartments and numbered for reference for the Horticultural Society's Hall; he asks Joseph to write to Macaulay about this, and to request that McCormick send all the specimens he can; they have altogether above 40 woods in trial, and the army have a great number of these 40 which Joseph might obtain through Barrow [John Barrow, second secretary to the Admiralty, fellow of the Royal Society]; he has drawn £20 for Don's expenses through Macaulay, as Don has 'black attendants to pay here'; they will arrive at Cape Coast [Ghana] in ten days, where they will stay with MacCarthy for two weeks before heading to St Thomas's [Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe]; they will not be at St Thomas's at the best season, so he will keep Don and Smith 'bridle in hand'; the Fletcher is bound for Liverpool but this letter will be left at the post office at Milford [?Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales]; Moriarty will leave the boxes at the Liverpool customs office on arrival before they reach the port, and instruct someone from the Botanic Garden there to look at the plants; Smith is very unwell this morning so Edward must do the packing
Extent - 4 page letter (1 sheet)
Repository - Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library
Copyright - John J. Timothy Jeal
Credit Line - Courtesy John J. Timothy Jeal / RHS Lindley Collections
Usage terms - Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)