Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of Horticultural Society [George Bentham], 21 Regent Street, London
Information
Title
Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of Horticultural Society [George Bentham], 21 Regent Street, London
Record type
Archive
Original Reference
RHS/Col/7/1/1/41
Date
17 Apr 1839
Scope & content
Written from Hacienda del Carmen, in the Sierra of Oaxaca [Sierra Madre de Oaxaca, Mexico]
Postmarked ('Franqueado Abril 25', 'Liverpool ship letter' and '[illegible] 1839'). Part of an opened seal is attached to the letter
Letter No 29
He was told by Messrs Byrns & Co [Messrs Byrns, Hooton & Co, merchants in Mexico] that all the boxes at Tampico [Mexico] were shipped on board the Penguin in December, probably thanks to Mr Parkinson [John Parkinson, British consul in Mexico] who had promised to assist in having the collections shipped; he wrote to Parkinson to thank him and 'inform him at the same time agreeably to your request of the 15th of Jan last that he is still a C.M.H.S [Council Member of the Horticultural Society]'; two boxes (HS12-HS13) were taken on board the 'Sheldrake' as luggage by a Mr Wylie [unidentified] ('a gentleman unknown to me, but who took great personal interest in my mission'), against the commander's wishes; he made an excursion to the sierra [mountains] to look for Orchideae; 'the mozo [servant] was taken ill' and sent to the hospital, as he was suffering from severe rheumatism and swelling of the joints, but he is recovering now; Hartweg was also suffering from headache and fever, but is now feeling better; he encloses a list of plants collected in 1837 [enclosure not present]; he has not kept a regular journal, as the last two years have been 'so uninteresting', and he had recounted the main events and descriptions of the places in his letters, and added notes on the seed papers and on the annual list [of plants], but he will attempt to write a journal from now on; there is not much to find at the moment on the tierra fria ['cold land' in Spanish, referring to high altitudes with a cool climate], and he will leave for the Rincon [?Rincon de Guayabitos, Mexico] and Chinantla [Mexico], about 60 leagues [180 miles] away, to search for Orchideae and medicinal plants; he expects to find new epiphytes, 'as Mr Parker's [unidentified] collector did not penetrate so far', only collecting in the mining district
Hartweg's accounts for 17 Mar-16 Apr 1839 comprise 'monthly allowance' $50, 'wages of mozo [servant]' $18, 'keeping of 3 beasts & stalling' $15.6 and 'shoeing' $4.7
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)