Letter from Joseph Sabine [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London] to Mr John Forbes, botanist &c, Cape of Good Hope on an expedition under command of Captn Owen [William Fitzwilliam Owen, captain of HMS Leven]

Title

Letter from Joseph Sabine [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London] to Mr John Forbes, botanist &c, Cape of Good Hope on an expedition under command of Captn Owen [William Fitzwilliam Owen, captain of HMS Leven]

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/3/5/49

Date

12 Jan 1824

Scope & content

Written from Horticultural Society, Regent Street, London

Joseph Sabine is concerned by Forbes having not received any letters from him at his last visit to Cape of Good Hope [South Africa]: 'it is needless now to explain how this happened', but all his friends are well, the Society is 'most flourishing', and 'all your proceedings have our entire and perfect approbation'; the perils of Forbes' journey will be over by the time he receives this letter; 'having entered on it on your own motive, you will be happy to know that I entirely approve of the spirit and motives which induced you to engage in it. The recollection of it will be grateful to you during the remainder of your life, and the honor acquired by the achievement will be both pleasing and useful to you'; had he been consulted, however, he would have hesitated due to the dangers involved in the enterprise; he will shortly reply in full to all Forbes' letters, with comments on the dispatches sent by Forbes, 'all of which appear to have arrived, except the insects mentioned in your letter of the 12th of May 1823, and your journal subsequent to the 30th of November 1822'; all the bills have been paid; Forbes' brother James will be employed by the Society, working in the ornamental garden under Munro [Donald Munro, gardener of the Horticultural Society of London]: 'you may be sure that my strong regard for you will make me particularly his friend to the extent of my power', but he must be diligent and talented to succeed; 'when we parted, I thought from my then state of health the chance was against our meeting again in this world', but his health is much improved; Forbes must remain with Owen and return with him; he will send a duplicate of the letter to Owen through the admiralty

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)