WCP6666

[1]

Santarem [Santarém] —

29. Jan. 1850.

My dear Sir /¹

It is only 5 days ago that I received both together your letters of the 31st Aug^t and 2nd Oct., and I cannot express to you how welcome they were, for I began to think myself forgotten. The communication between Pará² and the Sertaó [Sertão] [Portuguese: backlands] is at best very uncertain — the bark which brought your letters sh[oul]^d have reached here several weeks ago, but the captain thrashed one of his Indians at Pará for which every one of them ran away & he was obliged to wait until the police captured them again.

When I last wrote to you, which was along with a barrel containing the Victoria³ in spirits, I had some thoughts of ascending to the Barra⁴, and I had a passage promised me in a steamer which the government had just placed at the disposal of the president⁵; but the next arrival from Pará brought word that in consequence of fresh disturbances at Pernambuco⁶ the steamer had been ordered there with troops. There was no other chance for the Barra this season, & I therefore reverted to my original project of visiting Obidos⁷ & the Rio Trombétas⁸ (the execution of which you will find detailed in the accompanying sheets & afterwards of making Santarem⁹ my head-quarters for the winter. I have now in contemplation two principal excursions during the rainy season, the first a little way up this river, the Tapajoz¹⁰[Tapajós], & the second to Monte Alégre [Monte Alegre]¹¹, in April or May, when the vegetation is said to be most luxuriant. [2] I¹² have some things which I much wish to send to England just now — a barrel of Orchises for Mr. Pince¹³ — some seeds &c. for Kew — a cargo of dried plants for M^r Bentham¹⁴, &c.; but the small vessel that takes this letter has no raised cabin or deck where these things c[oul]^d be deposited — her cargo is principally cacao, the vapor & heat from which w[oul]^d be sufficient to mould & spoil all my plants in a few days (as I know by experience). I think therefore of waiting until my countrymen Jeffreys¹⁵ sends his vessel to the city, which may be in a month. By that time I hope I shall have a case of living plants ready for you & another for Mr Pince.

It is very strange that I do not yet receive the maps &c. which you say Admiral Beaufort¹⁶ & Mr Pentland¹⁷ sent me — I must write to Pará to enquire if they are laid in the Custom house there, wh[ic]^h is not impossible.

Santarem is much the pleasantest place on the Amazon, & superior even to Pará in the matter of eatables; [one illeg. word struck through] good milk & fresh beef every day — the latter cheap but the former quite as dear as in London. There are three English residents, from whom we receive much civility, but they are none of them in that flourishing state to enable them to afford us any assistance in the way of diminishing our expenses. In fact, there are (between ourselves) only two Englishmen in the province of Pará — Arch[ibal]^d Campbell¹⁸ & Miller¹⁹ — who have not great difficulty in keeping straight their finances. Poor Captain Hislop²⁰ complains bitterly of the difficulty he finds in getting [3] any sort of payment for the numerous debts that are owing to him — long credit & slow or no payment is the way of doing business here.

I am anxious to learn in what state my sendings from Pará by the 'George Glen' reached you & Mr Bentham — I took great pains to have them dry and dryly packed, but those little bothering vessels of Singlehurst's²¹ I am very much afraid of — even when I was by to take care of my goods I had great difficulty to keep them from spoiling.

You will see that I have anticipated some of your queries & wishes. I sent a Mandiocca[sic] -strainer — spec[imen]ⁿ &c. of the Pottery-tree, & some other things you ask about, from Pará²².

I wanted no incitement to look closely for Podostemeae, but it is only lately that I have come to a county where they can possibly grow. You will see I found two up the Trombétas.

I hope to send you painted cuyas [indigenous language: Calabash basins] and colors used in painting from Monte Alegre, wh[ic]^h is the famed place.

I expect you will keep your Victorias. I fear ere this the seed of the Victoria has fallen in this neighbourhood — I commissioned a person to procure some for me during my absence but he has disappointed me. I intend however shortly to revisit the place if it be only to see for myself whether the l[eave]^s attain that enormous magnitude they are said to do.

Thanks for the hints about Arums²³ — Santarem is not the place for this tribe, any more than for the ferns. The delta of the Amazon is much richer in ferns than any place I have since seen, & had I gone to the Marajó²⁴ instead of coming up here I might have done better in both ferns and forest trees. But I [4] was desirous to get into an Orchis country, if such existed, principally for the sake of Mr Pince and the Duke of Devonshire²⁵. Now however I have traversed from the mouth of the Amazon a tract extending through from [one illeg. word struck through] 700 to 800 miles, & I am compelled to conclude that it is the reverse of rich in Orchideae. It is not their utter absence that I can complain of but their want of variety. Here, up the Tapajoz, are old low trees filled with Orchises, but all of two species. In the neighbourhood of Santarem I have seen in all 3 species. I got a few up the Trombétas but only 2 or 3 that look at all promising. In other tribes of plants, I confess to have been disappointed to see the flowers in general so small — in the tropics we look for everything on a gigantic scale, but here the flowers are rarely striking from their magnitude, although the plants that bear them are. There are some pretty things, but I fear very very few which will come up to Mr. Pince's expectations. It is for this reason that I often regret having taken Mr. Pince's £50 — I will do the best I can to repay him in plants, and at any rate I will hold myself his debt for the am[oun]^t advanced & repay him in one way or other.

I have seen no place yet with a vegetation so varied as that of Santarem, or where I can gather more species in a ramble. The campos [Portuguese: fields] that seemed burnt up in summer are now assuming a new vegetation, & that not an annual one, but of plants whose roots have all the while been buried under the sand. In April & May they are said to be brilliant with flowers. I may hope too for a fair proposition of novelty, for the ground must be very imperfectly known. Martius²⁶ is said to have been sick from his half-drowning whilst he remained here and at Obidos he made no stay at all. From what I have seen the south side of the Amazon has a much more [5] varied vegetation than the north side, and I was disappointed at Obidos and up the Trombétas to find this mass of plants quite the same as at Pará

I wish I was near enough to have your advice as to my next campaign. I suppose it will be up the Rio Negro, as we talked ere I left England, but I am doubtful whether up the main river would not be more profitable. Tabatinga, the frontier town, is in the centre of unknown land, & the eastern slope of the Andes themselves is still imperfectly known. The Rio Negro has dense moist forest on each side all the way up, therefore contains few or no Orchises, though from the absence of mosquitoes &c. it is undoubtedly pleasanter to travel on than the Solimo˜es²⁷. Mr Bentham told me the Tapajoz had been explored, otherwise my own inclinations would prompt me to ascend it, for it is much the most romantic of the tributaries of the Amazon, its serras [Portuguese: mountain range] extending even to its mouth, at Santarem, which the mountains at its source are the highest in Brasil. Mr. Hislop speaks with enthusiasm of the number & abundance of the ferns near the cachoeiras [Portuguese: waterfalls]. Does Mr. Bentham know the particulars of its exploration? Mr. Hislop recollects a party of Germans (among whom was a naturalist) coming rapidly down the Tapujoz, but you know that no one gathers half so much in coming down a river or mountain that he does in going up. I have just now a capital opportun[it]^y of getting up, all the way to Cuyabá²⁸[Cuiabá] if I like, with a merchant who came down lately with a cargo of gold and diamonds.

—The Rio Chiquitos is an upper branch of the Madeira²⁹, between 15˚ & 20˚ S. latitude. I suppose Humboldt³⁰ means [one illeg. word struck through] that all the country between the Amazon, the Madeira & the Andes is imperfectly [6] known as to its vegetation, which I believe to be the case.

I am glad to hear that Gramineae & Cyperaceae will be acceptable in Europe — the grasses here are very interesting, those on the sandy campos & the volcanic serras being quite a different set from those on the river banks & low lands. Pará was a better place for Cyperaceae & now is the best time for them.

I shall have a few things for your museum when I send the plants, but as my funds require to be economically dealt with, I cannot purchase many things.

The Mandioccea plants grow to 6 or 7 feet, & would probably grow higher — I had never seen themstanding without leaves.³¹

I³² will write to Sir Ev. Home³³ either now or shortly. I write also to Adm[iral]. Beaufort — you will perhaps show him my journal if he writes to see it.

This journal will not I fear be very legible, on acc[oun]^t of the paleness of the ink. I c[oul]^d not well separate the botanical & geographical portions of it, for neither is of sufficient importance to go alone; but if you think it worth while printing it in your journal will you be kind enough to preserve the exact orthography of — the names, which I have taken much pains to ascertain.

I am glad to hear such good new of Dr. Hooker³⁴ — he seems to find the Himalaya an inexhaustible field. I wish I could get now & then into a climate where Rhododendrons might flourish — it would be a relief from this never-varying sultriness, but I fear such is not be found nearer than the Andes.

Mr. King³⁵ is rather relieved of diarrhoea since he returned to the good fare of Santarem, but he is yet far from well. I cannot say much for myself but I continue to get on & I must not grumble.

I am much obliged for Lady³⁶ & Miss Hooker's³⁷ kind remembrances — will you give them my respectful compliments. I trust by this time Miss Hooker has become quite strong.

[7] I beg to be remembered to Mr. Smith³⁸, Dr. Leemann³⁹ and Dr. Wallich⁴⁰, who I hope is as lively & as youthful as ever.

Believe me ever to remain | Dear Sir William, | Yours very faithfully | Rich^d Spruce [signature]

Sir W[illiam]. J[ackson]. Hooker

Mr. Bates⁴¹ is by this time at the Barra, but he had to wait a month longer than he liked at Obidos ere he could get a conveyance.

The last news I heard of the Wallaces⁴² they were at Villa Nova on the 20th of December, still on their way to the Barra but having been much delayed for want of men.