Amended draft instructions for Theodor Hartweg
Information
Title - Amended draft instructions for Theodor Hartweg
Record type - Archive
Original Reference - RHS/Col/7/2/2/1
Date - Jun-Aug 1845
Scope & content - 'Instructions to David Douglas ['David Douglas' crossed over and replaced with 'Theodor Hartweg'], employed by the Horticultural Society of London, on a mission to the northern and western parts of North America [annotated: 'and California'] to collect plants, seeds &c for the use of the Society'. Includes amended instructions to David Douglas for travelling arrangements, and instructions for Theodor Hartweg for travelling to Mexico and California [United States of America], desirable plants to collect, packing and shipping collections to England, route of travel, keeping a journal, documenting the collections and communicating the progress to the Horticultural Society, financial arrangements and salary and the rights of the Society
First page comprises instructions to David Douglas [Horticultural Society plant collector, who travelled in North America and California in 1823-1834. For the papers of David Douglas, 1823-1829, see RHS/Col/5], amended with instructions for Hartweg, including instructions on travelling on Hudson's Bay Company ship to Columbia River [Washington and Oregon, United States of America, and British Columbia, Canada], conduct on board, opportunities for collecting during the journey and arrival at the destination
The remaining pages are in the same hand, paper and format as the instructions in RHS/Col/7/2/2/2. The sheets are foliated in pencil (1-8, with two further unfoliated sheets, one of them blank). Includes amendments and sections crossed out in the same ink, and additions in the margins and between the lines
Includes instructions on collecting prior to reaching the coast of California [United States of America], focusing in particular on 'those ornamental species, which are now lost in this country, or which Mr Douglas was unable to introduce', including Calochortus, oaks on the north-western coast ('none of which ever reached England') and other plants including Gilia and Ipomopsis, and conifer seeds, in particular Abies douglasii [Pseudotsuga menziesii] [here the list includes 4 more plant genera]. The Hudson's Bay Company dispatch, leaving Colombia [Columbia River] in Aug 1846, to transport a large parcel of seeds, and due to reach England in the summer of 1847
The focus on collecting in California to be on ornamental plants, and in the absence of annual and herbaceous plants, pines, evergreen chestnuts and shrubby plants expected to be in seed, and first collections from California to be sent in the autumn of 1846. Zauschneria ('a beautiful shrub with somewhat the structure of a Fuchsia') particularly desirable ('it seems to have escaped Mr Douglas's observation'). He should spend the winter of 1846-1847 in California and stay until the summer of 1847 to collect spring bulbs and summer annuals
In 1847, he should return to the Columbia to collect any ripe seeds, and spend the winter in the 'Hudson's Bay Company territories'. In August 1847, he should join the overland dispatch to Hudson's Bay [Hudson Bay, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, Canada], and sail to England on the annual ship in 1849. He should find seeds of some 'curious alpine plants', including Douglasia nivalis [Androsace nivalis] on the Rocky Mountains, and spring plants in the plains between the mountains and Hudson's Bay. The council will approve of an alternative return route via Mexico
He should keep a 'very detailed', daily journal: 'this will form a narrative of your expedition, and [it] will be laid before the fellows of the Society'. Any unidentified plants should be numbered in the journal and correspond with the dried specimens. Particular attention should be paid to the climate, soil and habitat of the plants to help with cultivation
Inserted is a loose sheet glued to the page: 'the journal is to be written in books with which you will be furnished for the purpose, and made at the same time in duplicate by a copying apparatus [letterpress] with which you will also be supplied'. The reverse of the note is dated 13 Jun 1845 and reads 'At a meeting of the committee appointed to make arrangements in the departure of Mr Hartweg to California. Present the E. of Auckland, V.P. [George Eden, earl of Auckland, vice president of the Horticultural Society of London] in the chair'
Hartweg's 'personal expenses', excluding the passages between Fort Vancouver [Hudson Bay Company's fur trading post on the Columbia River, Vancouver, Washington, United States of America] and California, have been estimated not to exceed £50 annually in the Hudson's Bay Company's territory, and £100 annually in California: 'the council expect that you will so shape your proceedings as to make these sums suffice'
He should be sufficiently experienced to know how to pack and preserve the seeds and specimens collected. Seeds should be sent in loose bags or boxes with sufficient air, and stored in a dry and well-ventilated part of a ship, and bulbs and seeds should never be packed in the same container. Seeds should be sent in large quantities for the purposes of distribution. [The following has been crossed out: Small collections should be sent by American ships when possible, via 'Her Majesty's envoy extraordinary to the United States']
He will be paid a salary of £100 annually from the time he embarks on board the Hudson's Bay Company ship. This sum is 'clear of all deductions, & exclusive of the cost of your outfit or such contingent expenses as may be required in carrying out the objects of the Society'
He should write back 'at every opportunity', numbering his letters and including a duplicate copy of his journal: 'this will enable the Society to judge of the progress you are making in your expedition'. Duplicate letters should be sent separately. Each letter should include an account of expenses, and he should keep 'vouchers of [...] expenditure' where possible for auditing purposes
The Society to have 'exclusive claim' to all collections of living plants & seeds'. He should prepare for the Society one complete set of dried specimens of everything collected: 'any other collection which you may form will be your private property', as long as no additional expenses are incurred to the Society from these collections, and they do not interfere with his duties
All letters and other dispatches to be addressed to the secretary of the Society. He should report immediately to the secretary on his return to London. A month after his return, he should deliver the conclusion to his journal, after which the council will settle the accounts and pay any remaining balance
For other versions of the instructions for Hartweg and additions to them, Jun-Sep 1845, see RHS/Col/7/2/2/2, RHS/Col/7/2/2/3 and RHS/Col/7/2/2/6
Extent - 10 pages (11 sheets)
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)