MAY 1, 1847. 



165 



Collectors. 



' Upon the subject of Collectors the Council have to report that 

 Mr. Fortune returned to England from China in May last, 

 bringing with him the most important part of his collections. 

 The particulars of his visit to that empire have been already 

 published in the Journal of the Society, vol. i. p. 208. The 

 cost of his expedition amounted to the sum of 1818/. 17s. 7e/., 

 spread over about three years and a half of time. The Council 

 trust that this large expenditure will be justified by the result. 

 Some of the plants which have flowered, such as Weigela rosea, 

 Daphne Fortuni, Forsythia viridissima, Dielytra spectabilis, 

 Anemone japonica, the double Spiraea prnnif'olia, the double 

 white Chinese Almond, a double white Peach, and Gardenia 

 Fortuniana, are objects of great interest and beauty ; others, such 

 as some Azaleas, Jasminum nudiflorum, Akebia quinata, Campa- 

 nula nobilis, Rhynchospermum jasminoides, Berberis Fortuni, 

 Buddlea Lindleyana, are very useful additions to our collections ; 

 and many others, including the new varieties of Moutan, from 

 which so much is expected, are still to blossom. It is satis- 

 factory to the Council to be able to announce that all the species 

 from the north of Chusan, and some from that island itself, 

 appear to be quite hardy, not having been affected injuriously 

 by the late unusually severe winter. 



With respect to Mr. Hartweg's mission to California, the 

 Council regret to have little to add to what has been already 

 announced. From Tepic, where he was at the date of the last 

 Report, he proceeded to Mazatlan, in order to procure a passage 

 to California ; but the blockade of the Mexican ports by the 

 United States' squadron had then put an end to all private trans- 

 port, and therefore Mr. Hartweg gladly availed himself of the 

 permission kindly granted him by Rear- Admiral Sir George 

 Seymour to proceed to Monterey in H.M.S. Juno. He reached 

 that place on the 7th of June, and on the 28th of July sent home 

 a continuation of his Journal, with a letter. Since that period 

 the Council have received no intelligence from him or from his 

 agents. 



In anticipation of the danger and difficulties inseparable from 

 military operations, the Council took an early opportunity, 

 through H. E. Louis M'Lane, then the United States' Minister 

 in this country, of soliciting from the Cabinet of Washington 

 protection and assistance for Mr. Hartweg. The following cor- 

 respondence which passed on the occasion will show with what 

 readiness the Government of the United States acquiesced in the 

 request of the Council : — 



