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

Title

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

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/3/5/29

Date

17 Dec 1822

Scope & content

Written from HMS Leven, 'at sea'

Marked at the top of the page 'No 15'. Annotated at the top of page: 'Joseph Sabine received May 15th 1823'

They arrived in Delagoa Bay [Maputo Bay, Mozambique] on 28 Sep and stayed until 30 Nov; during that time, 'as far as circumstances would admit, I found sufficient employment collecting plants and other objects of natural history'; the variety of plants is not as great as at Cape of Good Hope [South Africa] or Algoa Bay [South Africa], 'although the country is much more luxurious'; the plants are different, having more in common with plants in tropical rather than extratropical climates; he has specimens of up to 100 plants, many of them new and beautiful; he has a quantity of bulbs of two or three species of Amaryllis, 'which I expect will be new'; he has plants of two or three kinds of Epidendrum, and hopes to be able to preserve them until he gets an opportunity to send them to England; otherwise he will have to wait for their 'circuitous passage' around Madagascar to Delagoa Bay in March, then to Algoa Bay in April 'to refresh'; where 'if all's well' he will be able to send them from Cape of Good Hope [South Africa], along with those he will collect in Madagascar, Mozambeaque [Mozambique], perhaps the Comora Isles [Comoro Islands, Union of the Comoros] and Delagoa Bay; his collections from Delagoa Bay would have been much more extensive if he had not fallen ill; he joined a surveying and exploration party up the river, but was unable to collect as many plants as he had wished, as he spent most of the time travelling in the boat and was only on shore at night, where they slept in tents; one of their boats was attacked by a hippopotamus at the head of English River [Estuario do Espirito Santo, Mozambique]; they had to stop overnight to repair the boat and were attacked by 'a marauding tribe of savages', armed with hassegays [assagai] and shields: 'we repulsed them immediately and had only one man wounded'; in the confusion of transferring their belongings to the boats in the dark, many of Forbes' plants were lost or destroyed; he had no subsequent opportunity of collecting new plants, as the party stopped only for water, the river being saltwater; returning to Delagoa Bay, he remained at the observatory, making only short excursions, 'for I durst not go far for the Hollontontos (the tribe of savages) were close in the neighbourhood'; on 31 Oct he had to go on board the ship due to severe fever: 'this fever had made rapid and fatal strides among both officers and men, and since that time we have lost upwards of 30 or about a seventh of the two ships' companies', including Captain Lechmere [Charles Lechmere, accompanying Captain William Owen on HMS Leven to study hydrography], Captain Cutfield [William Cutfield, captain of HMS Barracouta], Lieutenant Gibbons [Henry Astley Gibbons, lieutenant on HMS Leven], the master, and three other officers; these deaths have resulted in considerable changes among the crew, 'but none that affects me'; Captain Owen [William FitzWilliam Owen, captain of HMS Leven] decided to leave Delagoa Bay earlier than he would have otherwise, 'in consequence of the sickly state of his crew and this being what is considered the unhealthy season'; the bay is very large with three rivers running into it and the land is generally low but not marshy, except on the riverbanks, which overflow at certain seasons; they are now heading for St Mary's Island [Nosy Boraha, Madagascar] off the south-east coast of Madagascar, then to Mozambique and down the coast to Delagoa Bay and Algoa Bay in April; he hopes to be able to collect specimens, seeds and bulbs in Madagascar and on the African coast; there are many birds around Delagoa Bay, including large Grallae, but he has only collected a few of them due to their shyness, the abovementioned circumstances and his 'desire to make plants my first object'; he has now recovered from his sickness, 'and never enjoyed better health'

For a copy of the letter, see RHS/Col/3/5/30

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)