July 22. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
251 
other men could have undergone. And here, be it 
remembered, the America of seventy years ago was not 
the America of to-day; much of the soil that is now 
traversed by tbe locomotive, and gladdened by the 
joyful sound of the gospel and civilization, was then the 
hunting field of the Indian, and the scene of many a 
bloody conflict. Where now the ploughshare and the 
priming-hook pursue their quiet and ennobling course, 
the scalping-knife and tomahawk savagely reigned. 
Few now can realize what a traveller like John Fraser 
had then to undergo. 
After his return to this country, in 1790, he visited 
Russia, taking with him a large collection of plants, the 
result of his labours in America. These he submitted 
to the Empress Catherine, who so highly appreciated 
their value, and esteemed the character of the man, that 
I she requested him to set his own price upon them, 
j which was accepted. After the death of the Empress 
j Catherine he was requested again to visit Russia, when 
| he received commissions from the Empress Maria to 
supply further collections to the Imperial Gardens of 
Gatschina and Perlorskoe; and such was the favour 
with which the imperial court regarded him, that, in 
1798, an ukase was issued, signed “Paul and Maria,” 
appointing him their botanical collector. This gave a 
j fresh impulse to his untiring spirit, and, in 1799, he for 
I the sixth time crossed the Atlantic, accompanied on 
this occasion by his son John,* to prosecute, in the 
Northern and Southern States, that discovery in which 
he had already been so successful. Having on this 
expedition penetrated to the far west, it was on the 
summit of the Great Roa, or Bald Mountain, that he 
discovered the Rhododendron Catawhiense. Speaking 
of this occasion, Mr. John Fraser, jun., said to me, “I 
shall never forget so long as I live the day we discovered 
that plant. We had been for a long time travelling 
among the mountains, and one morning we were as¬ 
cending to the summit of the Great Roa, in the midst 
of a fog so dense that we could not see further than a 
yard before us. As we reached the top tbe fog began 
to clear away, and the sun to shine out brightly. The 
first object that attracted our eye, growing among the 
long grass, was a large quantity of Rhododendron Ca- 
tawhiense in full bloom. There was no other plant 
there but itself and the grass, and the scene was beau¬ 
tiful. The size of the plants varied from seedlings to 
about two feet in height, the habit being evidently 
diminutive, from the high altitude at which they grew. 
We supplied ourselves with living plants, which were 
transmitted to England, all of which grew, and were 
sold for five guineas each." 
On the termination of this journey through the States, 
they visited Cuba, in 1800, but on account of the war 
! which then existed between Spain and Great Britain 
’ they were obliged to procure passports, and travel as 
; American citizens. On the voyage they were wrecked 
I on a coral reef, about forty miles from land and eighty 
I 
* Mr. John Fraser is still living:, at an advanced age, at Harcourt 
Villa, St. John’s Wood, and to him the writer of this notice is deeplj r 
indebted, for the greater portion of the facts which are here recorded. 
from Havannali. For six days they, with sixteen of the 
crew, endured the greatest privations until picked up 
by a Spanish boat and conveyed to laud. Through the 
interest of the American consul they were allowed to 
proceed overland to Havannali, where they met with 
the celebrated travellers Humboldt and Boupland, from 
whom they received the greatest kindness, and to whom 
they communicated the nature of their journey. Hum¬ 
boldt relating in confidence to the Spanish governor 
that they were Englishmen, and botanical collectors, he 
replied, “Though my country is at war with Englaud 
she is not at war with the labours of these men.” They 
pursued their course unmolested, visited the mountains 
of Cuba, and discovered many now and valuable plants, 
among which was Jatropha pandurcefolia. Having 
made his collections, they returned to America in 1802, 
and thence embarked for England, but after being some 
time at sea, the ship sprang a leak, and was obliged to 
put into Port Masson, in New Providence. On arriving 
in England a greater disappointment awaited Mr. Fraser, 
for on landing he heard that the Emperor Paul was 
dead, and the Emperor Alexander refused to sanction the 
engagement entered into by his predecessor. In the 
Dowager Empress Maria, however, he met with a friend, 
for she fully discharged his account, and, in addition, 
presented him with a handsome diamond ring. When 
in Russia, in 1790, he procured the Black and White 
Tartarian Cherries, which are sometimes called Fraser’s 
Black and Fraser’s White Tartarian Cherries, and intro¬ 
duced them for the first time into this country. 
In 1807 he made his seventh and last voyage to 
America, again accompanied by his son, and again he 
was successful in many new discoveries, with which the 
son returned to England, leaving the father to prosecute 
his discoveries. He agaiu visited Cuba, and in 1810 
returned to England. During this last journey he bad 
the misfortune to fall from his horse, near Charleston, 
and broke several of his ribs. From this accident he 
never fully recovered, and, after forty years of unwearied 
zeal and activity, he died, at Sloane Square, Chelsea, in 
April, 1811. 
The herbarium collected by Thomas Walter, the 
author of Flora Caroliniana, along with that of John 
Fraser, was presented by Mr. John Fraser, jun., to the 
Linueean Society about three years ago. 
After his second return to England from America, 
Mr. Fraser established the “American Nursery,” in 
Chelsea, as a receptacle for the plants which he dis¬ 
covered and introduced. This nursery was situate on 
the east side of the present Royal Military School, and 
extended over twelve aores. After his death it was dis¬ 
continued, and is now, what remains of it, occupied as 
a market garden. 
Thus lived, and thus died, John Fraser, F.L.S., one 
of the most zealous and disinterested, and at the same 
time most successful, botanical collectors which this 
country has ever bad. 
The following letter from Mr. Fraser, dated January 
30th, 1787, and written at Charleston, in South Caro¬ 
lina, is among the Forsyth MSS. 
