Robert Fortune

Plant Hunter and Adventurer

(1812-1880)

Robert Fortune was born on the 16th September 1812 at Kello in Berwickshire and was destined to help build the wealth of the vast British Empire and to become one of the greatest plant hunters. From his youngest days he could never have imagined the adventures that lay ahead. After leaving school he commenced his apprenticeship at the gardens of Mr Buchan of Moredun near Edinburgh and after learning his trade moved to the citys botanic garden where he worked under the supervision of William Mcnabb who must have recognised Robert's talent for all things horticultural, because in 1842 it was mostly on his recommendation that he secured the position of superintendent of the hothouse department at the horticultural societys garden at Chiswick London. Here Fortune must have impressed his new employers because within a few months he was selected for the societys latest plant collecting expedition.

In 1842 the ending of the Opium wars (1839-42) the treaty of Nanking was signed opening up some of the mysterious Orient to Britan ( also gaining full control of Hong Kong ) giving for the first time the opportunity to carry out "peaceful" plant hunting in unexplored northern China. Thirty-year-old Robert Fortune was to spend his time in China gathering information on chinese gardening and collecting new plants and seed, he was also required to pay particular attention to twenty specific queries listed by the society these included keeping a lookout for lilies, oranges, peaches, blue peonies and various types of tea. In return he was to be paid a salary of £100 per annum and the use of a "life preserver" a stick weighted with lead for personal protection. After some negoiation it was agreed he could take a shotgun and a brace of pistols, a decision that was later to save Fortunes life, on the understanding that he sold them on his departure from China and returned the money to the society.

On the 26th February 1843 Fortune left Britain aboard the Emu, bound for Hong Kong, where he arrived four months later. Conditions in the new British colony were very unfavourible,fever was rife and bands of robbers roamed the streets at night. Not wishing to remain in this unhealthy enviroment Fortune set sail for Amoy arriving on the 3rd of September, unfortunatly conditions here were also poor with Fortune reporting "Amoy is one of the filthiest towns which I have ever seen, either in China or elsewhere" never the less Fortune made the best of his time here making a number of botanical forays inland from Amoy often surrounded by several hundred curious locals eager to discover the purpose of his wanderings. At the end of September 1843 during the monsoon season, Fortune set sail for Chusan in the north. Soon after leaving port the vessel was caught in a violent storm with monsterous sea's, at the height of the gale a large fish weighing in excess of 30lb was thrown out of the sea and crashed through a skylight. Eventually they reached the saftey of a local bay, where Fortune transferred to another ship and set out again. They had almost cleared the Formosa strait when an even more ferocious gale blew up ripping the sails, soon the boat was driven back beyond its starting point. Fortune was down below when suddenly the boat was hit with terrible force. Glass from the skylight rained down around him and seawater began to pour into the cabin. Rushing out into the stormy night he found that the weather bulkwart had been stoved in and the crew and the longboat were hanging precariously onto the other side of the deck. For three days the gale blew the powerless boat about until finally it abated enough for the supply sails to be hoisted and a course set for the nearest land. On inspecting his belongings after the storm, Fortune discovered that two wardian cases containing plants from Amoy had been destroyed.

Fortune now found himself just 50 miles north of Amoy but decided to investigate the local countryside, spying a fine looking pagoda on top of a nearby hill he set off to survey the lie of the land. As he and his servant progressed towards the hill collecting plant specimins as they went they were soon surounded by several hundred Chinese, Fortune increased his pace in order to leave the crowd behind and marched on to the pagoda which he found to be in a dire state of repair, and having admired the view he decided to make his way back to the ship. Fortune found that the crowd were awaiting his return at the bottom of the hill and began to press ever more closely as he walked along. Suddenly Fortune felt a hand in one of his pockets and turned around to see one of the locals running off with a letter of his. He discovered that he had also been relieved of several more valuble items: "This incident stopped my progress, and made me look about for my servant, whom I saw at some distance attacked by about eight or ten of the fellows. They had surrounded him, presenting their knives, and threatening to stab him if he offered the least resistance, at the same time endeavouring to rob and strip him of everything of the slightest value, and my poor plants collected with so much care were flying about in all directions". Fortune rushed towards the crowd, who scattered at his approach, leaving behind his unfortunate servant shaken but unharmned. They quickly picked up the less damaged plant specimens before heading back to the ship in some haste.

Fortune finally reached the Chusan islands after an uneventful ten day voyage.He was delighted by the rich display of vegetation set among the towering peaks and sloping valleys of the islands which he claimed reminded him of the highlands of Scotland. He returned here many times during his travels in China. He now headed west to Ningpo, at the tail end of autumn, were he was able to observe the tree dwarfing practice of bonsai and visited a few of the gardens of the Mandarins. The weather grew worse and Fortune began to suffer from the cold. Some light relief was found on a journey into Ningpo's hinterland, where Fortune witnessed the unusual sight of men fishing with tame Cormorants. The fishermen tied a piece of string around the throats of the birds to prevent them swallowing any of their catch and set them into the water. When a cormorant caught a fish it would docilely swim back to the fisherman and deposit the fish in the boat. Fortune noticed that if a particularly large fish was caught, several other cormorants would help the captor carry its prize back to its master.

During the next year and a half Fortune criss-crossed the Chinese countryside, adding more and more floral trophies to his collection. He became enraptured with the variety and beauty of the scenery and wrote enthusiastically about the hillsides covered with pines, cypresses and junipers, the rich and fertile valleys of tea, tobacco and corn, and the majestic mountain ranges that dominated the landscape. On one visit to a temple outside Ningpo, however, he again narrowly escaped an untimely death. In remote areas the priests protected their crops from wild boars by digging deep pits which were half flooded with spring water. They camouflaged the holes with sticks and grass and placed rubbish on top to attract the animals. Although he was warned about the dangers of these pits, Fortune walked blindly on to one during a plant hunting excursion. The ground around the edge of the pit gave way beneath his foot and it was only by grabbing an overhead branch that he managed to stop himself from falling in. On examining the pit he realized that he would have had little chance of being able to climb out and would most probably have died before being discovered, a fate that had befallen David Douglas on a plant hunting experdition in 1834.

Despite his many close escapes, Fortune's enthusiasm and determination never waned. In june 1844 he decided to visit the forbidden city of Soochow (now Wuhsien), famous for its fine works of art. To do this he simply cut his hair, donned the clothes of a chinaman and set out. Travelling inland from Shanghai by canal boat, he arrived at the walls of a small town called Cading in the early evening and, after tying the boat up for the night beneath the ramparts, soon fell asleep in his cabin. He was woken up several hours later by a cool breeze blowing through the cabin. On getting up to close the window he discovered that robbers had broken into the boat, stolen all his belongings except his money, which he had prudently hidden under his pillow, and set the boat adrift. Several days later, dressed in a newly acquired chinese outfit and with a long ponytail attached to his shaven head, Fortune entered the fabled Soochow. Any fears of discovery were soon dispelled when none of the locals paid him the slightest attention as he passed through the city walls.

Although in appearance Soochow was similar to many other towns in northern China, it was clearly far more prosperous than its neighbours. The buildings were in fine state of repair, the shops were large and doing flourishing trade, and ornamental lakes decorated the landscape. Fortune confirmed that the women lived up to their reputation as the prettiest in the country, although he found their shrunken feet and white-painted faces were not to his taste. He purchased a delightful double yellow rose and a gardenia with large white blossoms from the local nursery, but found little else of interest. On arriving back at Shanghai he was forced to go ashore in his chinese costume and was highly amused when his British friends failed to recognize him for several minutes.

View in the Green Tea District from Fortunes book

A Journey to the Tea Countries of China

Fortune was soon ready to depart again. He obtained a berth on a junk carrying a cargo of timber to Ningpo, and sailed down to the mouth of the Min river. Here the junk joined a convoy of 170 other boats all heading up the coast. As a precaution against being caught in a pirate attack, the unarmed junks always sailed together whenever possible. Before they set out, Fortune was struck down by a severe fever and lay sweating and shivering uncontrollably in his cot for several days, his moments of consciousness spent considering the prospects of being buried in a lonely spot on the banks of the Min river. The convoy set off together but within hours had separated into little groups of three and four. Late that afternoon the captain of the junk appeared agitatedly beside Fortunes bed to inform him that five jan-dous or pirate boats had been spotted lying in wait for them. Although he did not take the threat seriously, Fortune crawled out of his cot, loaded his twelve-bore shotgun and pistols and went up on deck. One look through a small telescope confirmed the captains worst fears - the junks bearing down on them were filled with armed men. Fortune held out little hope that he could fight off all five vessels and did not expect to get much assistance from the terrified crew, whose only means of defence was to throw small stones from the ballast. However, he was determined to make a spirited stand, for he knew that any westerners caught by pirates were invariably killed. At a distance of 200 or 300 yards the nearest junk fired a broadside.

All was now dismay and consternation on board our junk, and every man ran below except two who were at the helm. I expected every moment that these also would leave their post and then we should have been an easy prey to the pirates. My gun is nearer you than those of the jan-dous said I to the two men, and if you move from the helm, depend upon it i will shoot you. The poor fellows looked very uncomfortable, but I suppose thought they had better stand the fire of the pirates than mine, and kept at their post.

Two more shots were fired, the second flying harmlessly above the heads of the helmsmen and past the sails, as the pirate ship sailed closer and closer. The pirates screamed triumphantly as they re-loaded their wepons for the final attack. Fortune later wrote :"Their fearful yells seem to be ringing in my ears even now, after this lapse of time, and when I am on the other side of the globe" . He had one desperate plan to save the junk. He knew that in order to deliver a broadside the helm had to be drawn down, and by watching the helmsmans actions he could predict when the pirates were about to fire. Instructing the two terrified sailors next to him to copy his movements, Fortune dived to the floor as the pirate helmsman swung the boat around. A volley of shots exploded above his head but missed everone on deck. With the pirates now no more than 20 yards away, Fortune jumped to his feet and fired both barrels of his shotgun into the jeering hordes.

"Had a thunder-bolt fallen amongst them, they could not have been more surprised. Doubtless, many were wounded, and probably some killed. At all events, the whole of the crew, not fewer than forty or fifty men, who, a moment before, crowded the deck, disappeared in a marvellous manner, sheltering themselves behind the bulwarks, or lying flat on their faces. They were so completely taken by suprise, that their junk was left without a helmsman, here sails flapped in the wind, as we were still carrying all sail and keeping on our right course, they were soon left a considerable way astern".

The danger was far from over, however, as the second pirate boat now descended on the junk, firing broadsides. Fortunes two companions begged and pleaded with him to return fire, but again the sturdy scot waited until the last moment before blasting the pirates with his shot. This time Fortune intentionally aimed at the enemy helmsman, and with the man cut down the pirate junk lost its momentum and fell back. When those on the remaining junks saw what had happened to their partners in crime,they lost their appetite for a fight and gave up the chase. Fortunes heroical companions now left their hiding places and rushed up on deck to taunt the fast disappearing pirates. All on board began singing the praises of their foreign saviour and some of the crew actually knelt down at his feet in an act of reverence. Feeling exhausted and still sick with fever, Fortune retired to the comfort of his cot.

Now that the danger had passed and they were in safe waters, the captain and his crew showed a complete lack of gratitude towards Fortune. In return for defending the junk he had been promised that he would be dropped at Chusan harbour. With only a few miles to go, the captain nonchalantly informed him that they were going straight on to Ningpo. Incensed by the unthankful captains behaviour, Fortune informed him that British men never allowed promises to be broken and that he would stand by the helmsman with his gun and would not be responsible for his actions if they steered off the course to Chusan. They duly arrived at Chusan, and Fortune, eager to be reunited with his plant collection at Shanghai, crawled on to an English vessel bound for the port. After recovering from his fever he sailed down to Hong Kong, where he dispatched eight wardian cases full of plants back to England. Fortune himself sailed from Canton on 22nd December with a further eighteen cases of plants and arrived back in London on 6th may 1846.

In August 1848 Fortune returned to China, this time sent by the East India Company "for the purpose of obtaining the finest of the tea-plant, as well as native manufacturers and implements, for the government plantations in the Himalayas". For this trip he recived a 500 per cent pay increase. Although there were none of the hair-raising adventures of the first trip, there was plenty of opportunity for some profitable plant collecting. Fortune successfully collected tea plants from the Hwuy-Chow district and the Chekiang province. He also gathered specimens from the Ningpo district, Chusan and the Woo-e mountains, and supervised the transfer of 23,892 young plants and approximately 17,000 seedlings, along with eight chinese tea growers and their equipment, to the foothills of the Himalayas. Tea plantations were established in Assam and Sikkim and it became one of northern indias principal exports during the second half of the nineteenth century. Teas importance is shown by the value of imports into Britain, which rose a staggering 837 per cent in the seventy-five years between 1854 and 1929 (£24,000 to £200,880).

Fortune made two further trips to China. The first (1853-6) was disrupted by the Tai-Ping revolution. His often forgotten fourth trip (1858-9) was on behalf of the government of the United States of America, which wished to establish its own tea industry. As a result of his explorations 32,000 plants were grown, but the American civil war effectively put paid to the plan. For his fifth trip (1860-62) Fortune once more took advantage of political changes and switched his destination to Japan. This trip was a private, speculative expedition. Fortune had a much easier time travelling in Japan than in China. Despite the threat from the feudal princes , who saw it as their sworn duty to massacre foreigners at every opportunity, he avoided any unpleasant incidents.

Robert Fortune arrived back in Britain in January 1862 and settled in Kensington, London. He enjoyed eighteen years of comfortable retirement, paid for by the success of his books and the sale of oriental antiques, which he had collected on his travels. His most significant legacy was the transfer of tea plants from China to India. From a gardeners perspective he is credited with discovering over 120 new species, and on a personal note, he introduced one of my favourite plants Trachycarpus Fortunei (the Chusan palm) that proudly bears his name. This palm led me to discover the story of one mans travels in the Orient.

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Trachycarpus Fortunei

The Jungle Garden Norwich England Subtropical Plants in a Cool Temperate Climate