Peter Forsskål wrote three letters to Linnaeus from Constantinople: one to be forwarded to his father [Johannes Forsskål; Forsskål to Linnaeus, 1 August 1761{L2949}], one at the departure [Forsskål to Linnaeus, 4 September 1761{L2965}], one in German to be read and then forwarded by Adam Gottlob Moltke [Forsskål to Linnaeus, 4 September 1761{L5426}]. Forsskål left a parcel containing the seeds of 70 species to be dispatched to Pehr WilhelmWargentin in Stockholm via St. Petersburg. This letter will be sent to Livorno. Linnaeus is asked to inform Forsskål’s father about the contents or let him read the letter.
During the voyage Forsskål left the ship only in Rhodes for a short visit. He arrived in Alexandria late on 26 September. His first plan is to sail to Rosette and then to Cairo.
Letters to Forsskål can be sent to the Danish Envoy [Sigismund Wilhelm von Gähler] in Constantinople. If Linnaeus has a correspondent in Livorno who can forward a letter to Jean François Marion, the Danish and Swedish consul in Alexandria, on the first available ship, it will reach Forsskål more quickly.
Travel by land is dangerous in Egypt. Many of the Bedouin are also robbers, but sailing is safe. There is a drought in Egypt, which means that the number of plants is limited. Forsskål has found 50 small shrubs, often succulents, many of them probably unknown to the Egyptians. He has collected many new species of Salicornia, Salsola, Senecio, Statice, Passerina, Zygophyllum and a new but ugly genus with three species, one of which could be Fredrik Hasselquist’ Chenopodium aegyptiacum. Egypt has a rich but neglected flora. Forsskål refers to a letter written by Hasselquist [published in Iter Palaestinum eller resa til heliga landet]. Prosper Alpini only treats garden plants and cultivated plants [Forsskål presumably refers to De Plantis Aegypti liber]. On the Danish King’s [Frederik V] command, Forsskål sends seeds of some very rare plants: Mimosa scorpioides, Eupatorium odoratum, Pancratium Illyricum, Reaumuria verniculata, Zygophyllum proliferum (new species), Statice aphylla (new species), Lawsonia spinosa etc. Forsskål also mentions Bammia, seeds of which he sent some from Constantinople, a flowering Atle, Tamarix, Sycomorus. Opobalsamum he will probably see in Cairo. He would like to know from Linnaeus if seeds he sent from Constantinople are correctly named, especially those he had his doubts about. On the Danish King’s command he will also send seeds to Philip Miller, Bernard de Jussieu, Johannes Burman and François Boissier de La Croix de Sauvages.What does not succeed in one place might succeed in any other place [Forsskål refers to gardens associated with these people].
Forsskål has made a general observation of the fructification of Salsola. He has observed four species of this at Alexandria, namely Kali vermiculata and two new species. Fructification is the same for all and different from the description in Genera plantarum [Forsskål presumably refers to Genera plantarum [...] editio quinta]. Forsskål will return to this in an open letter without violating his instructions.
Vitaliano Donati has left for Tor, near the Red Sea, and Sinai on his way to Balsora. Donati’s quarrels with La Roche [Forsskål means Bartolomo Giambattista Ronco] and the broken promise of marriage between Donati and La Roche’s sister has brought disgrace over the Europeans in Alexandria. Ronco and his sister have returned to France.
What is the result of the discussions on freedom of speech in Sweden? And what does Nils Wallerius say about the new edition of Forsskål’s thesis [Forsskål probably means Dubia de principiis philosophiae recentioris; reprinted in Sorö in 1761]. He has still not published this [Forsskål’s thesis] together with the other many heretics? Forsskål would very much like to have the pages [with such content] cut out of the dissertations and enclosed in letters sent to him. Forsskål sends his regards to Johan Peter Falck, O. Ahlström, Johan Beronius, Olof Domey and Daniel Solander.