1761.] T0 JOHN BARTRAM. 227 



JOHN BARTRAM TO P. COLLINSON. 



May the 22d, 1761. 



* * * Thee very unjustly reproacheth me for want of curi- 

 osity in the article of the Colocasia [Nelumbium luteum, "Willd.]. 

 I have made three trials of it at different times. Twice it miscar- 

 ried ; and the last it grows so slow as scarcely to be seen. It will 

 be very difficult to send the roots ; they are almost as brittle as 

 glass, and run two or three feet deep in the mud. I hope to send 

 the seed next fall, and perhaps a root. Doctor Witt and Alex- 

 ander went on purpose and fetched seeds and roots ; but both 

 miscarried. Spring-water kills them, and the marsh weeds choke 

 them.* Billy received the fine present of Edwards, and pro- 

 mised me to send a letter of thanks, or else I should have done it. 

 * * I sent Gordon a fine parcel of Holly berries, the getting 

 of which had like to broke my bones. I was on the top of the 

 tree, when the top that I had hold of and the branch I stood on, 

 broke and I fell to the ground. My little son, Benjamin, was 

 not able to help me up ; my pain was grievous ; afterwards very 

 sick ; then in a wet sweat, in a dark thicket, no house near, and a 

 very cold, sharp wind, and above twenty miles to ride home. 

 Thee may judge what a poor circumstance I was in ; and my arm 

 is yet so weak that sometimes I can hardly pull off my clothes : 

 Yet I have a great mind to go next fall to Pittsburg, in hopes to 

 find some curious plants there. 



P. COLLINSON TO JOHN BARTRAM. 



London, June 12, 1761. 



I have no letters from my dear friend John since December 6, 

 and November 8th, that came with the seeds. I don't think I am 

 forgotten, as my friend John is often apt to imagine. If no letter 

 comes, I always make allowance for accidents ; of ships being 

 taken or cast away, as I am persuaded is now the case. As the 



* The culture of this plant was better understood afterwards, for I have seen it 

 flourishing finely in several Botanic Gardens, and, among others, in a pond in the 

 old Bartram Garden itself. 



