200 MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY 



of absence to arrange your affairs in England and allows 

 you to set off by the next French packet, but that if he 

 returns to Mexico in the meantime, he hopes yet to have 

 the pleasure of seeing you; secondly, that he quite 

 agrees with your purchasing the instruments for study- 

 ing the rainy season ; and thirdly, that he approves of any 

 effort you may make to introduce the cinchona tree, and 

 authorizes you to have sent from Kew a few specimens of 

 this valuable plant. Hoping to have fulfilled my errand 

 to your satisfaction, I only want to renew my best wishes 

 for your voyage and successful exertions in England, 

 whilst I remain. Yours sincerely, Charlotte". 



Here it should be said that, in the matter of cinchona 

 cultivation, Maury left a lasting blessing to Mexico. 

 Before leaving England in 1865, he had discussed the 

 possibility of the introduction of this febrifuge-yielding 

 tree into certain mountainous districts of Mexico, with 

 Mr. Clements Markham, who had established the cin- 

 chona plantations in India and was then in charge of all 

 matters relating to them in the India Office. The feasi- 

 bility of such an introduction of the plant having been 

 agreed to, Maury on his return to England secured three 

 packets of seeds from Markham, which were sent to 

 Mexico, and from them successful plantations were 

 established near Cordoba and in other sections of the 

 country. Thus Maury left a living monument to him- 

 self in the country of his adoption and short residence. 



Though the letters of both the Emperor and the 

 Empress indicate an expectation of Maury's return to 

 Mexico, yet in a letter to his wife, written before his 

 departure, he leaves the impression that conditions in 

 that country might not render this advisable. It was 

 also understood by some of his friends in the United 



