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/3/5/19

Date

8 Jun 1822

Scope & content

Written from Rio Janeiro [Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]

An opened seal is attached to the letter

The letter is marked 'private'. Annotated at the top of page: 'Joseph Sabine received Oct 25 1822'

Forbes mentioned in his letter of 3 Jun having changed mess, as he 'found it impossible to do justice to my plants or anything else in the way I was'; in Lisbon [Portugal] Captain Owen [William FitzWilliam Owen, captain of HMS Leven] employed a young man 'as linguist' [George Phillips, interpreter employed in Portugal, speaking English, French, Portuguese and Spanish]; the situation, with seven people in the mess, along with the cooking and the luggage, 'made it so that I could not stir in it'; Owen arranged for the gunner to take 'the two youngsters' into his cabin, for Philips to join one of the berths and 'my boy [servant] go and mess with the sailors', with four people in the gunner's mess; Owen advised Forbes to join one of the midshipmen's berths; Forbes thought it necessary to explain this in detail, in order that Sabine 'might see that I had not acted improperly'; he paid £3 'entrance', after which the cost will be 'about the same as with the gunner'; the cost of accommodation and everything else will rise this year, as the ship will have to stock up on everything before reaching the Cape [Cape of Good Hope, South Africa], after which 'we can purchase little or nothing with money'; Owen advised Forbes to buy plenty of spirits and tobacco for trading with 'the natives' on the east coast of Africa and in Madagascar; he has had to buy more cotton wool for birds, sharing it with Captain Lechmere [Charles Lechmere, accompanying Captain William Owen on HMS Leven to study hydrography] and his share is about £1 10s or £2; he has had to draw more money than expected, as despite the kindness of the corresponding members in giving him accommodation, travelling is very expensive; after the Cape not much money will be spent; Owen has changed his mind about going to Bombay [Mumbai, India], thinking of sending only the tenders and wanting to proceed to the South Sea Islands [Polynesia], returning via Cape Horn [Chile], 'but he is quiet about these matters at present'; preserving birds on the ship is difficult as everything is 'so liable to get damp and tossed about'; the skins sent earlier were 'not so nice as I could have wished'; rats spoiled about a dozen skins, eating the legs off; he has learnt more about skinning, which will be useful; 'the boy I had appointed to me from the ship' has run away with several others: 'he was but a dull, stupid kind of boy, but for all that he was of some use to me'; he probably will not 'get another', as there is shortage of staff, due to having to man a third vessel 'and the loss of others'; he praises Dr Dickson [John Dickson, a Royal Navy surgeon in Brazil] for his kindness in allowing him to stay at his house; Dickson wishes Sabine to know that he wrote to Dr Sellow [Friedrich Sellow, German botanist and naturalist in Brazil], requesting him to send seeds from Uraguay Rio [Uruguay River, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay], 'which river he is now travelling'; Dickson has also 'engaged the services' of Dr Sksash[?] [?Rochus Schuch, librarian and naturalist, who travelled to Brazil in 1817 with the Austrian Brazil expedition], 'a German professor of natural history from Vienna', paying him to collect for the Society and he will send his collection; Dickson wants to promote the Society, but does not have much time due to his professional duties; Dickson will send 'any quantity of insects, if you pay for the boxes', he sends his respects 'and would have wrote, but is ashamed he has nothing to send'; Dickson will 'see to the box I have left with P. Leander [Leandro do Sacramento, Carmelite friar and botanist in Brazil]; Mr Heatherly [Alexander John Heatherly, British vice-consul in Brazil] is 'an excellent bird skinner and preserver'; Forbes suggested to him that Sabine would be happy to correspond with Heatherly; he sends his regards to Mr Turner [John Turner, assistant secretary of the Horticultural Society], Mr Munro [Donald Munro, gardener of the Horticultural Society of London] and 'all enquiring friends'; he has not been ill, and has only had 'a little sea sickness' since leaving England

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)