220 



HORTICULTURAL MISSION TO CHINA. 



prove hanly cnoufrh lo thrive in the open air in 

 this country, anil others will make exeellent plants 

 for the preen-iioiise. My researches this year 

 were extendeil for some ilistance into the interior, 

 which is intersecteil in all ilirections by canala — 

 in fact, the canals in the north of China are the 

 highways of the country, ami the boats arc the 

 carriages. The heat, ilurinfr the months of July 

 anil Aujjust, was very opj^ressive, the thermometer 

 frequently standing- at 100" Fahr. in the sluule. 



" In the autumn, after the seeils which I hail 

 markeii, were ripe, I grot my collections together, 

 anil saileil for Hong Kong, in onler to make my 

 shipments for Kngluiul. These consisted of twenty- 

 one glazed cases of living plants, and one bag- of 

 seeds, which were sent home in four different ves- 

 sels. IMany of the plants were, of course, dupli- 

 cates of the best species which were shipped in 

 the spring of the same year; but a number of them 

 were now sent for the first time. Amongst the 

 latter, the following may be noticed as arriving in 

 England alive for the first time: 



Tree Paeonies, wilh purple ami 

 lilac flowers, etc., (twenty 

 plants.) 



Spiraea prunifolia, flore pleno, 

 '• sp. 



Calystegia pubescens, flora ple- 

 no, 



The Chinese five-colored Rose, 



Rosa sp. (a curious anemone- 

 flowered kind.) 



Edgworthia clirj-.santha, 



Hydrajigea sp., trom the woods 

 of Tein-tung', 



Rhyiichospermum jasmiiioides, 



Acer sp., fron) Japan, 



Mandarin Orange, (true,) 



Campanula sp (liluc,) 

 Fortunrea cliinensis, 

 Lycopodium R'ildenovii, 



'■ caesium, 



Gardenia florida, var. fortuni- 



ana, 

 Finns sp., from Japan, 



" " Ningpo, 

 Juniporas sp., north ot' China, 

 Bamboos, (northern varieties,) 

 Viburnum .sp. ; tlie.<c are fine 



shrubs, witli large round 



heads of flowers, like the 



Gueldres Rose. 

 Shanghai Peach, (a fine large 



variety.) 



and several other plants to which I cannot at pre- 

 sent give any names. 



" The last sliipment at this time, was made on 

 the 31st of December, 1844. As it was still win- 

 ter in the northern provinces, and as nothing could 

 be done in the south, I determined to go over to 

 the Philippine islands for a few weeks, and ac- 

 cordingly sailed for Manilla in the beginning of 

 January, 1845. As far as I had an opportunity of 

 judging, the vegetation of Luronia has a great re- 

 semblance to the Island of Java, and other parts 

 of the Malay Archipelago. In the woods I was 

 surprised to find so many species of the genus 

 Ficus; I should imagine that nearly one-half of 

 the indigenous trees belong to this family. 



"After some trouble, I discovered the locality 

 of the beautiful Phalaenopsis amabilis, and pro- 

 cured a large supply of the plants for the Society. 

 As my visit here was a secondary object, I had 

 very little time to spare, and therefore took every 

 means in my power to make the most of my time. 

 I was in the habit of making an Indian's hut in the 

 wood my head-quarters for a certain time, where I 

 held a sort of market for the purchase of orchida- 

 ceous plants. The ground in front of the hut was 

 generallj- strewed with these j)lants in the state in 

 which they had been cut from the trees, and often 

 covered with flowers. The Phalaenopsis, in par- 

 ticular, was very beautiful at this time. I was 

 most anxious to get large specimens of this plant, 

 and offered a dollar, which was a high sum in an 



Indian forest, for the largest specimen which 

 should 1)0 brought to me. The lover of this beau- 

 tiful tribe of plants will easily imagine the delight 

 I felt, when I saw two Indians approaching with a 

 plant of extraordinary si/.e, having ten or twelve 

 branching llower-stalks ui)on it, and upwards of a 

 hundred flowers in full bloom. ' There,' said 

 they, in evident triumph, ' is not that worth a 

 dollar T' ' You lia\e gained the ilollar,' said 1, as 

 I paid them the money, anil took possession of my 

 prize. The same jilant is now in the garden of 

 the Horticultural Society; and although a little re- 

 duced, in order to get it into the jilant case at 

 Manilla, is still by far the largest specimen in 

 Europe. 



" I found few other plants of value, except perhaps 

 two species of Ai-rides, which I have never yet seen 

 in flower; these, however, with some other Ma- 

 nilla plants, are now in the garden at Chiswick. 

 Upon reference to the garden lists, on my return, 

 I find that out of four cases of Manilla orchideous 

 plants, no fewer than forty-five specimens of the 

 Phalaenopsis have been given away to the Fellows 

 of the Horticultural Society. 



" Rly allotted time having expired, I sailed for 

 my old station in the north of China, and arrived 

 there on the 14th of March. My principal object 

 now was lo make another collection of all my 

 finest plants, which I intended to bring home un- 

 der my own care. I had written to the secretary 

 of the Society, requesting to be favored with full 

 returns of the state in which my various ship- 

 ments had arrived in England, and these lists were 

 now coming to hand by every mail. When I 

 found from these lists, that any of the species were 

 perfectly safe, I discarded them from my collec- 

 tions, and only kept the kinds which were either 

 newlj- discovered, or those which we had been so 

 unfortunate as to lose during the voyage, or which, 

 if not lost, were in doubtful condition. 



" Foo-chow-foo, a large city on the river Min, 

 was visited this summer, for the first time, as well 

 as some of the black tea districts in that part of 

 the province of Fokein. The plants in this dis- 

 trict, with a few exceptions, were the same as I 

 had already found either in the south or in the 

 northern part of the empire. This was naturally 

 to be expected, as this part of the country lies 

 about half-way between the province of Quantung 

 in the south, and that of Keangsoo in the north of 

 China. When my examination of the country was 

 completed, there was no English vessel in the 

 Min, and I was therefore obliged to take a passage 

 in a Chinese junk, which was bound for the city 

 of Ningpo. (Jn our voyage up the coast, we were 

 attacked by fleets of pirates on two different days, 

 and had I not been well armed, we must have fallen 

 into their hands, where, in all probability, my ca- 

 reer would have been soon terminated. I had a 

 severe attack of fever at the same time, and alto- 

 gether was in a most deplorable condition when 

 I reached Chusan where my countrymen were sta- 

 tioned. Having the greater part of my collections 

 in the country near Shanghae, I was most anxious 

 to know in what state they were; and finding an 

 English vessel about to sail for the Yang-tse-Kiang, 

 I immediately crawled on board in the best way I 



