Letter from John Forbes to Joseph Sabine [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London], Horticultural Society, Regent Street, London

Title

Letter from John Forbes to Joseph Sabine [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London], Horticultural Society, Regent Street, London

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/3/5/15

Date

3 Jun 1822

Scope & content

Written from Rio Janeiro [Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]

An opened seal is attached to the letter

Marked at the top of the page 'No 8'

Annotated at the top of page: 'Joseph Sabine received Oct 25 1822'

He has packed two boxes of plants, the first box containing 51 species of living plants packed in moss brought from England, and the second box containing specimens and seeds collected from Madeira [Portugal], Teneriffe [Tenerife, Spain] and the Cape d'Verds [Cabo Verde], along with some mineral specimens, some seeds collected in Rio de Janeiro, four drawings by Mr de Meillon [Henry Clifford de Meillon, artist and second master on HMS Leven] and bird skins, to be sent by the Lusitania with Captain Langdon [William Langdon, captain of the Lusitania]; they have added more corresponding members for the Horticultural Society, 'which I have every reason to believe will be of great service to the Society', including Chavelier G. de Langsdorff [Grigori Langsdorff, also known as George Heinrich von Langsdorff, German-Russian naturalist and consul-general of Russia in Brazil] ('a great naturalist, well known in England and on the continent') and A. Cunningham [Alexander Cunningham, British deputy consul in Brazil]; Langsdorff asks for duplicates of any plants he sends to be forwarded to the emperor of Russia [Alexander I], along with seeds of esculent vegetables and English fruit trees, via Count Lieven, the Russian ambassador in London [Christopher Henry von Lieven]; letters to Langsdorff should be addressed care of Messrs Freese, Blanckenhagen and Coucher, Rio de Janeiro [John Henry Freese, John Christian Blanckenhagen and John Paul Coucher, British merchants in Brazil]; he has sent a copy of his journal up to his arrival at Rio de Janeiro: 'there are some parts of it incomplete', as Mr Vidal [Alexander Vidal, first lieutenant, later captain of HMS Barracouta] has not finished his calculations regarding the latitude and longitude of Martin Vass [Trindade and Martin Vaz, Brazil], but promises to forward them; he encloses a list of insects, but as the box is not quite full he is hoping to fill it up before he leaves it with Cunningham to send on to England; Cunningham has treated him with 'great kindness' and he has had the use of a room in Dr Dickson's [John Dickson, British Royal Navy surgeon in Brazil] house for about a month; had he known they were staying for such a long time, he would have travelled to the interior of the country; Captain Owen [William FitzWilliam Owen, captain of HMS Leven] has bought a vessel to use as a tender, which needs to be fitted out, and once that is completed they will sail to the Cape [Cape of Good Hope, South Africa]; he hopes to hear from Sabine on their arrival, and to receive Mr Burchall's book [William Burchell, 'Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa', 1822]; there are numerous bird and insect collectors, making it difficult to find any specimens; Owen gives him 'every facility', frequently collecting plants and seeds and asks that Sabine keep him duplicates of Forbes' herbarium and insects; since their arrival in Rio de Janeiro, he has drawn two bills, altogether for £35: 'I have drawn more money than either you or I thought I should require', as Owen has advised him to purchase spirits, tobacco and other necessaries for Madagascar and the east coast of Africa; he has been obliged to buy all the boxes for the plants, the carpenters having been too busy to make them for him; he has changed his mess since leaving England: 'I found I could do nothing in my cabin with the mess in it, it was always in such a state of confusion'; Owen had advised him to join one of the midshipmen's berths: 'it will be very little more expense and I have now my cabin to myself'; the winter in Rio de Janeiro is the worst season, 'but this is such a luxurious climate that there is always abundance for the naturalist'; he will leave a box of living plants with Padre Leander [Leandro do Sacramento, Carmelite friar and botanist in Brazil] to enable them to be established before being sent to England; Dr Sellow [Friedrich Sellow, German botanist and naturalist in Brazil] 'is in the interior from Buenos Ayres [Buenos Aires, Brazil] and there has been no letter here from him for some time'

For a copy of the letter, see RHS/Col/3/5/16

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)