1738-9.] TO JOHN BARTRAM. 127 



of the great Magnolia; and with it, thee will see a Catalogue of 

 our American plants. 



London, February 24, 1738-9. 



Pensylvania Coffee-House. 



Friend John : 



To-morrow Captain Weight sails : so that I have only time to 

 acquaint thee that no ship is jet arrived, that makes me in pain 

 for the cargo of seeds, for this year. He has been so good to pro- 

 cure for tliv use, ten pounds' worth of halfpence. I paid him 4s. 

 6d. for procuring and carrying on board. He has also a piece of 

 Sagathy, for thy own wear. 



Captain Bream is not yet got clear off the Channel. He has* 

 been stayed some weeks, so that Wright may have a chance of 

 getting as soon as him. I think I never remember the like. We 

 have had southwest winds, with very short intervals of east-north- 

 east, which was so variable, that no ship has got clear of the 

 Channel since the 13th December. Some ships have had a terrible 

 time on't, lying so long in the Downs. This wind has brought us 

 exceeding temperate weather. Our Almond trees were in blossom 

 by the latter end of January, and all vegetables in proportion. No 

 frost since the 5th of January, and but very slight ones before. 



I have writ by Captain Bream, and sent a box of seeds under 

 cover to Thomas Penn ; and a parcel to J. Logan, per Wright. 



But the principal reason of my writing now is, to desire thee to 

 procure what plants thee canst of Ginseng, and plant in thy gar- 

 den, and raise what thee canst from seed. I am well assured it 

 will prove a very profitable commodity to China, who value it 

 above anything. 



I have compared yours with the Chinese, and find them in all 

 respects the same. Your proprietor was so kind to send me a con- 

 siderable parcel, and I have trusted a particular friend with it, to 

 carry to China, to see how they approve of it, and to find what 

 price it bears ; but my friend is under promise not to discover that 

 it is American, for if they know that, they are so fanciful, it may 

 not be so good as their own.* 



*." Fanciful'' as the Chinese are, their prejudices on this head were not so 

 firmly rooted as those of John Bull. "American" products, and especially the 

 Ginseng, soon found a ready acceptance in the "Celestial Empire;" whereas it 



