Lacock Abbey, near Chippenham
August 27^th 1837

My Dear Sir

I received some time ago the present of flower roots which you were so kind as to send me ^<1> – They were immediately distributed to the gardens of my friends, among others the Duke of Devonshire and the Earl of Burlington ^<2> expressed themselves much gratified with the selection which I made for them. They came in excellent health having suffered nothing by crossing the Line, except several of them were putting out their shoots altho’ deprived of light & moisture for several months.

The spreading leaves of the Hæmanthus, and the tall spikes of the Ornithogalum remind me that I have not yet thanked you for this interesting present, which I assure you was most acceptable. The seeds were remarkably good and came up in a few days for the most part. One of them has flowered: you marked it as “a little purple 5-petalous flower”. I sent it to D^r Lindley ^<3> to enquire if it was not a new species of Lobelia, he said it was a Monopsis, but he did not know it. I have raised some curious plants this year, natives of the Euphrates by shaking out the seeds from the dried specimens of plants sent home by the Expedition. ^<4> I should be much obliged to you to send me seeds of any common plants you may meet with in your walks; the commoner the plant is at the Cape the less likely it is to be in our gardens I think. To save trouble several kinds may be mixed together in one paper, when they come up they will easily be separable.

I should have been very glad to have shown some civility to D^r A. Smith ^<5> for his kindness in taking charge of the box of plants, but unfortunately he left his card at my house, without putting his residence upon it and altho’ I made enquiry I could not during the short time I remained in London, find any one who knew where he lived. Along with this letter I send you a small packet of seeds just received from Mexico, names for the most part unknown. They are all from the hot country in the neighbourhood of the coast, & will I doubt not flourish at the Cape if you like to plant them in your garden. Is there a government Botanic Garden at the Cape? There certainly ought to be one, & it would be of great use, by corresponding with our Horticultural Society. We raise here in England an infinite number of plants which our Climate does not allow us to preserve; & when lost they frequently cannot be obtained again. For instance Douglas ^<6> sent home from California a very pretty new genus Clintonia, but being an annual & ripening no seed, it is already lost – Had a small packet of the seed been raised at the Cape it might have been multiplied by seed ad libitum.

I will write again shortly respecting the scientific matters to which you advert in your letter;

in the mean while believe me to remain Yours most sincerely
H.F. Talbot

Halley’s Comet was poorly seen in Europe owing to continued cloudy weather – There were only two [missing text] ^<7> (Oct^r 10. 11) when it presented a grand appearance [missing text] not equal to that of 1811 by any means However its very close approach on that night to one of the principal stars of Ursa Major was a highly interesting sight, [missing text] its motion was visible to the naked eye every quar[ter] of an hour, or half hour, till it had past the sta[missing text] I think the brightest comet I recollect to have seen, [missing text] of 1811 was in July 1819 which was visible close to [missing text] immediately after sunset. Did you see anything par[ticular?] at the time of the occulation of Mars this year Feb. 18^th. Here it was accompanied by a most extraordinary Aurora Borealis of a blood red colour which the newspapers unanimously attributed to the atmosphere of the planet! which they said had refracted the moons rays! or vice versâ, I forget which.

To
Sir John Herschel

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Notes:

1. Of the Strelitzia Alba. [See Doc. No: 03239].

2. Sir William George Spencer Cavendish, 6^th Duke of Devonshire (1790–1858) and William Cavendish, Earl of Burlington (1808–1891). The latter inherited the title of Duke of Devonshire in 1858.

3. Prof John Lindley (1799–1865), botanist.

4. Francis Rawdon Chesney (1789–1872) made expeditions to the Euphrates in 1831 and again in 1835–1837.

5. Sir Andrew Smith (1797–1872), served as a military surgeon at the Cape of Good Hope 1821–1837 and was successful in returning to lead an expedition into Africa.

6. David Douglas (1798–1834), botanist.

7. Text torn away under seal.