Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of Horticultural Society of London [George Bentham]

Title

Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of Horticultural Society of London [George Bentham]

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/7/1/1/49

Date

9 Nov 1839

Scope & content

Written from Quezaltenango [Quetzaltenango, Guatemala]

Letter No 34

He arrived on 26 Oct after a journey lengthened by unusually timed rains, and the whole journey was 'rather unfortunate'; the runaway horse was not found, but he was given another one at the hacienda; his old horse ('which had served me on all my excursions') had inflamed eyes, and fell down ascending the Gineta [?La Jineta, Chiapas, Mexico], 'until I left him to his own fate'; at the Hacienda de Juncana, six leagues [18 miles] from Comitan [Comitan, Mexico], 'the mozo [servant] who accompanied me from Oaxaca [Mexico] was taken ill of fever' and was unable to proceed; Hartweg had to pay him off and, according to their contract, give him a horse to return on and money for the journey; he 'lost several days in getting another servant'; he was 'overtaken by four bandit-like soldiers, who were sent after me to examine my luggage, which they did in a most brutal manner, tearing up everything, and notwithstanding the passports for luggage, money and arms […] I was taken prisoner'; he was given back everything at the custom house at Comitan; he complained to the commander about his treatment: 'ultimately I had the satisfaction of having [the soldiers] sent to prison'; the rest of the journey was uneventful, but he was detained in Jacaltenango [Guatemala] for eight days as the incessant rains made the roads unpassable; on his arrival, he wrote to Messrs P. & I. Aycinena [Pedro & Ignacio de Aycinena, merchants in Guatemala] to say he intended to stay 'for some time', and received a response with several letters of introduction; the area around the town is 'fully adapted to fulfil the object of my mission, being very high and exceedingly cold'; he ascended an active volcano about two leagues [6 miles] away, and found a 'most splendid' Fuchsia in flower and seed, resembling Fuchsia lindleyana; the Ayacahuite pine is very common

Hartweg's accounts for 17 Aug-16 Oct 1839 include 'wages of mozo [servant]' $16, 'shoeing of 2 horses & 2 mules' $1.5, 'keeping of 4 beasts' $11.6, 'mozo to return to Oaxaca' $14 and 'a horse' $20 [here the list includes 6 more items]

Level

Item

Extent

3 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)