Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of the Horticultural Society of London [George Bentham] and 'List of articles dispatched from Mexico for diligence to the care of Messrs Manning & Mackintosh [merchants], Vera Cruz [Veracruz, Mexico]'

Title

Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of the Horticultural Society of London [George Bentham] and 'List of articles dispatched from Mexico for diligence to the care of Messrs Manning & Mackintosh [merchants], Vera Cruz [Veracruz, Mexico]'

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/7/2/2/11

Date

18-21 Dec 1845

Scope & content

Written from Queretaro [Queretaro, Mexico]

Letter No 2. On onion skin paper with detached paper backing

He left Mirador [Zacualpan, Mexico], arrived at Jalapa [Xalapa, Mexico] on 29 Nov, and by diligence [stagecoach] to Mexico [Mexico City, Mexico] on 3 Dec; he stayed for two days and delivered his letters of introduction before leaving for Angangueo [Mexico] and Hacienda de Lourdes, 'where seven years previously I found Achimenes patens and heterophylla [Achimenes heterophylla], the objects of this journey', but it was difficult to find the roots; he found the roots of some species of Achimenes, but does not know which one; he returned to Mexico on 13 Dec, as he had to fetch his luggage from the custom house; he went to search for Abies hirtella [Abies religiosa] on 16 Dec, which Humboldt [Alexander von Humboldt, Prussian naturalist and explorer, who travelled in South America in 1799-1804] says is found at 'El Guarda, an insignificant military post on the road to Ceinnavaca [?Cuernavaca, Mexico]', 30 miles from the capital on a large plain: 'the only silver firs within view are on the mountains' in a small forest; he asked about the firs at El Guarda, but 'could learn nothing satisfactory', and he does not believe the tree grows near El Guarda; he found a pine he had not seen previously: 'it has the same glaucous appearance as Pinus montezumae in the Society's garden, but shorter leaves and 'smaller and more pointed cones', growing about 40 feet high; he returned to Mexico on 17 Dec; he visited Mr Bankhead [Charles Bankhead, British minister plenipotentiary to Mexico] and received letters of introduction from the Mexican government to the governors of Guadalajara [Mexico], Mazatlan [Mexico] and California [United States of America]; he arranged his affairs with Messrs Manning and Mackintosh [agents of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company in Mexico]; he left by diligence for Guadalajara on 19 Dec; the country is politically unsettled, and General Paredes [Mariano Paredes staged a coup d'etat in January 1846 and was declared the president of Mexico] 'pronounced' in San Luis Potosi [Mexico] against the government and is about to march into Mexico; he encountered 'part of an expedition to be sent via Acapulco [Mexico] to California, to bring that distant department to obedience', but the 'general opinion' is that they lack the means to reach California; he received a letter from Mr Scott [?James Scott, unidentified] with copies of notes 'that passed between the secretary of the H.B. Company [Hudson's Bay Company] and the Society. All I have to say is that Mr Barclay [Archibald Barclay, secretary of Hudson's Bay Company] promised to send the ten cases TH1 & 2 to the care of the Company's agent at the Sandwich Islands [Hawaii, United States of America]' to be forwarded to the British consul in San Francisco [California]: 'this he seems to have forgotten'; he made similar arrangements with Mr Brown [George Brown, United States commissioner to the Sandwich Islands], but has not communicated with Barclay; he will write to the Company's agent when he reaches Tepic [Mexico]; he sent seeds on a diligence [stagecoach] to Veracruz [Mexico] on 19 Dec to be forwarded to Europe

'List of articles dispatched from Mexico for diligence to the care of Messrs Manning & Mackintosh [agents of the Royal Mail steamers in Mexico], Vera Cruz'. Signed 'Mexico Dec 18th 1845', comprising of a box of pine cones ('from the mountains of Ajusco [Mexico], collected at an elevation of 9,000ft above the level of the sea'), roots of a Zigadenus ('from the mountains of El Guarda'), two species of Juniper ('seeds not quite ripe'), a small box of Achimenes patens or Achimenes heterophylla roots ('or perhaps both') and a tin case with '21 sorts of seeds'

Extent

4 page letter (4 sheets and 4 sheets of backing paper)

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)