Copy letter from George Bentham, secretary, Hort. Soc. [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London] [to Theodor Hartweg]

Title

Copy letter from George Bentham, secretary, Hort. Soc. [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London] [to Theodor Hartweg]

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/7/1/1/31

Date

15 Nov 1838

Scope & content

None of the boxes sent by Hartweg to Tampico [Mexico] have been received, apart from No3, possibly due to the French blockade; the council wishes for Hartweg to move from Mexico to Guatemala, hoping he will find 'a richer harvest' there; he is to proceed to Mexico City [Mexico] and 'wind up' his affairs with Messrs Byrns, Hooton & Co [merchants in Mexico], dispatch his present collection and a copy of his 'botanical journal' to Vera Cruz [Veracruz, Mexico]; he should make sure Messrs Munoz Matfield & Co [merchants in Mexico] in Vera Cruz ship his boxes promptly to England; he expects the rest of the boxes are still in Tampico, and Hartweg should attempt to get them dispatched; he should visit Mr Ashburnham [Charles Ashburnham, British secretary of the legation in Mexico] and ask for letters of introduction to any British residents and 'such protection as the Mexican government is capable of affording you'; Mr Ashburnham knows that Mr Strangways [William Fox-Strangways, British politician], the under-secretary of state for foreign affairs, 'takes great personal interest' in Hartweg's mission; they are confident that Hartweg's 'good conduct' in Mexico will make people likely to help him, in particular Messrs Byrns & Co [Messrs Byrns, Hooton & Co, merchants in Mexico]; Hartweg should send letters to all his correspondents in the places he has visited and ask them to collect more plants to replace some of those lost at Tampico, and to send them to England via Vera Cruz [Veracruz, Mexico]; they are not able to give exact directions for Hartweg's journey, not knowing enough about the state of the country, but he should go to Guatemala either via Acapulco [Mexico], Vera Cruz or by land; they enclose a copy from the 'Guatemala almanac for 1837 of the posts between Mexico & Guatemala' on the coast road and on the Chiapas [Mexico] route; if he travels by land, Messrs Byrns & Co should appoint an agent in Guatemala for him to send his collections to; once in Guatemala, he should get in touch with the governor of Belize ('an English settlement'), who Strangways has contacted, as English ships frequently sail from Belize, which also has 'a steam communication by way of the gulf of Dulce [Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica] from Isabal [Izabal, Guatemala]'; he should find interesting and valuable plants in Guatemala; there is a volcano called Volcan de Agua [Volcan de Agua, Guatemala], 'clothed with verdure'; the city of Guatemala [Guatemala City, Guatemala] is 5,000 feet above the sea and has a very different climate from other places on similar latitudes; the mountains to the west 'should be carefully explored', especially by the Pacific [Pacific Ocean]; the instructions from the Society remain unaltered, and Hartweg should focus on 'anything beautiful or useful not in the gardens of England', regardless of whether they require 'the store', a greenhouse or open air; mountain plants are particularly desirable; they have written to Mr Skinner [George Ure Skinner, British merchant and naturalist in Guatemala] to ask him to help Hartweg, and they have asked Messrs Byrns & Co to give Hartweg 'letters of credit' and money for the journey; the Society is 'perfectly satisfied' with Hartweg's work, and does not hold him accountable for the difficulties so far; he encloses a letter [enclosure not present] from Captain Washington [John Washington], secretary of the Geographical Society, asking Hartweg to keep an account of his route, although he should ensure doing this does not interfere with his collecting

Level

Item

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)