Letter from Edward Sabine to the secretary of the Horticultural Society [Joseph Sabine], Regent Street, London

Title

Letter from Edward Sabine to the secretary of the Horticultural Society [Joseph Sabine], Regent Street, London

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/2/Z1/12

Date

3 Feb 1822

Scope & content

Written from Bathurst, St Mary's, River Gambia [Banjul, The Gambia]

Postmarked ('Cowes [Isle of Wight] ship lres [letters]', 'G 18MR18 1822'). The letter includes an opened seal

Annotated at the top of the first page: 'The secretary received March 18 1822'

Bathurst, a 'new, but very flourishing settlement', is built on a sandy island, which causes great inconvenience, as in the dry season clouds of sand cover the streets; Captain Stepney [commandant at Bathurst, St Mary's] thinks the sand should be bound by grasses or some other vegetation; he asks Joseph to send a packet of binding seeds to trial; Joseph should consign these to the care of Matthew Forster esq [merchant in London], New City Chambers, London, to be sent on the first ship to the commanding officer at Bathurst, Isle of St Mary's, River Gambia, so they arrive before the rains; he asks that seeds for tropical fruits are included, as the island does not have any; the commandant has a good house, with a good space for a garden already walled in, and 'plenty of men at command' to water and tend the plants; the sand is very dry in the dry season, and mostly underwater during the rains; there is a Mr Masterman [crossed out in pencil and replaced with 'Waterton' in a different hand], who is a merchant and employs people to procure bird specimens for his correspondents, and is 'very intimate' with the commandant; Joseph could request birds from the commandant in return for the seeds, especially the black partridge, as Masterman says they are scarce but he can get them occasionally; the latitude is '13 ½'. Written from Bathurst, St Mary's, River Gambia [Banjul, The Gambia]

Postmarked ('Cowes [Isle of Wight] ship lres [letters]', 'G 18MR18 1822'). The letter includes an opened seal

Annotated at the top of the first page: 'The secretary received March 18 1822'

Bathurst, a 'new, but very flourishing settlement', is built on a sandy island, which causes great inconvenience, as in the dry season clouds of sand cover the streets; Captain Stepney [commandant at Bathurst, St Mary's] thinks the sand should be bound by grasses or some other vegetation; he asks Joseph to send a packet of binding seeds to trial; Joseph should consign these to the care of Matthew Forster esq [merchant in London], New City Chambers, London, to be sent on the first ship to the commanding officer at Bathurst, Isle of St Mary's, River Gambia, so they arrive before the rains; he asks that seeds for tropical fruits are included, as the island does not have any; the commandant has a good house, with a good space for a garden already walled in, and 'plenty of men at command' to water and tend the plants; the sand is very dry in the dry season, and mostly underwater during the rains; there is a Mr Masterman [crossed out in pencil and replaced with 'Waterton' in a different hand], who is a merchant and employs people to procure bird specimens for his correspondents, and is 'very intimate' with the commandant; Joseph could request birds from the commandant in return for the seeds, especially the black partridge, as Masterman says they are scarce but he can get them occasionally; the latitude is '13 ½'

Extent

4 page letter (1 sheet)

Is part of

RHS archive: plant collector papers

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)