Hugh Cuming ( 1791 - 1865 )

Following upon the introduction of " Natural Plant Curiosities" brought back from an increasing number of expeditions , plus the fashionability of orchids as " stove" plants , it was natural that enterprising man should endeavor to supply a growing demand for these rare tropical epiphytes. Thus emerged the professional orchid collector . One of the most sagacious of these was Hugh Cumming , an Englishman who roamed the western oceans seeking and discovering great quantities of natural wonders -not the least of which were new and unusual orchids.

Hugh Cuming was born to parents of modest means at West Alvington , kingsbridge, inthe country of Devon , England, on 14 February 1791. As a child he diplayed an avid interest in plants and shells,and through his acquinatance with Colonel Montagu , the then celebrated author of Testacea Britanica, his love of natural history was encouraged and developed .

At the age of thirteen he was apprenticed to a sailmaker . Here he was brought into cantact with seafaring men who fired his imagination with their stories of remote ports and life at sea. Seeking adventure , in 1819 he shipped out on a voyage to South America , settling in Valparaiso , Chile, which had just received its independence from spain .From there he actively commenced collecting shells in an ample field . Here he met Mr. Nugent ,the British consul, and Lieutenant Frambly, a noted conchologist , who both stimulated and assisted him in shipping plants and shells back to England. The specimens were eagerly received , and returning ships brought increasing orders for exotic materials .

In 1862 Cuming gave up his business and completely devoted his time to collecting. For this purpose he commissioned a yacht to be built according to his own specifications . Christened the Discoverer , the yacht was designed expressly for the collection and stowage of objects of natural history . For nearly twelve months Cuming cruised among the islands of the South Pacific , dredging and collecting on sea and shore. Easter Island ,the Tuomotos , and the Society Group were included in his travel repertoire , and during a visit to Pitcairn Island , he was the house guest of John Adams , one one of the survivors of theBounty mutiny, for years before . Returning to Valparaiso with his boat stocked full of plants and shells , Cuming was commented by the authorities , who were highly impressed with his work of the past year. Consumed with the ambition to increase the collection of shells in the British museum , he consigned numerous cases to that institution . He also sent many more cases of pressed plants -and as much living material as possible -to the botanical gardens of England . Shortly afterward plans were made for an extended trip along the coast of Chile and Mexico. The Chilean government , further honoring Cuming , granted him duty-free anchorage in its ports and the privilage of purchasing stores free of duty. He was also furnished with letters tothe authorities of all the states he visited , who received him with hospitality and extended every facility avilable .For two years he explored the Chilean coast, adding plants and shells from as far north as Acapulco, Mexico.

Concluding the trip, Cuming returned to England .The Zoological Society had just previously been organized ,and Cuming's arrival in 1831 was considered a great event , his accumulated stores of plants , animals and shells becoming the subject of discourse at numerous memorbable meetings . He soon became acquinted with men at the top of their professions -directors of museums and botanic gardens -and supplied fresh material to them and the Zoological Society for thirty-four years thereafter.

In 1835 he made ready for another exploration,this time in an area rich in natural phenomena and relatively untouched by natrualist-the philippinae Islands. Recommendations from the Chilean government and letters from the authorities at Madrid assured him of a welcome by the phlippine missionaries and officials and acceptance by the people . With freedom to travel where he wished , he continued to collect shells but , more particularly , he became interested in the rich and varied flora of the islands . In his four years of combing the Philippines ,Singapore, St. Helena , and the Malacca areas , he filled his storage chests with a magnificent series of land shells,the likes of which had not previously been seen. He was aided greatly in these collections ,hiring the services of local school children who gladly scoured the wood and forests for plants and snails . This enabled him to assemble the richest collection gathered by a single individual up to that time.

His orchid discoveries were numeous as well , and he became the first to ship living orchids successfully from Manila to England . Letters to Dr. William Hooker of the Botanical Gardens at Glasgow reveal that " Orchidea also i worthy of notice ; of plants 3,500 species ." Messrs. Loddiges were the receipients of at least one shipment sent from Manila. Aerides quinquevulenerum , Dendrobium anosmum , Dendrobium superbum, Grammatophyllum scriptum , Phalaenopsis ambilis var aphrodite ,and Vanda lamellata are only a few of the species which are introduced through his collecting . A number of orothers bearing his name : : Coelogyne cumingii .Podochilus . Cunmigii , to mention a few.

His vast assemblage of materials , immediately distributed to museums at home and abroad , included 130,000 specimens of dried plant material , 30, 000 conchological species and varieties , large numbers of birds, reptiles , quadrupeds and insects , and numerous living orchid plants-thirty-three of them hitherto unpublished species.

Before his sojourn to the Philippines , Cumign had brought together by purchase ,exchange , and discovery the finest and most valuable collection of shells then in existence. His philippine additions increased this to an enormous extent , and form them until the end of his life he continued to arrangement and addition of the collection . He was determined to build the greatest shell collection in the world . In the Phillippine Journal of Science he is quoted as stating :" The greatest object of my ambition is to place my collection in the British Museum that it may be accessible to all the scientific world and where it would afford to the public eye a striking example of what has been done by the personal industry and means of one man. " Toward this end , in later years he financed several collectors to carry on the work.

A glimpse of Mr. Cuming given in a commentary of E.L. Layard , a close friend with similar conchological interests:

I can see the old gentlleman now! His heavy florid face beaming over his white " choker" and his extensive , prominent white frilled shirt and black vest ; he always dressed in black -I only knew him when he was like the larger of his two portraits -he gave it to me himself , and wrote his name on it in my presence . And this reminds me , I do not think he could do more than write his name. All his letters to me were written by his secretary , though signed by himself .

Teh rigors of his years at sea began to exact their toll on him before his return to England . In correspondence with Dr. Hooker he remarked , " The ill health and fatigue that I have experienced has been very great , my eyes are much injured by the sun; in short I am ten years older than I ought to be ." He had long been subject to chronic bronchitis and asthmatic for alarm . Following a visit to the Crystal Palace on 26 July 1865 , he suffered a major recurrence of his ailments . Symptoms of Dropsy , to which he had previously been subject , reappeared , and on the tenth of August he died in his house at 80 Gower Street , London . His shell collection . which had previously been the object and comfort of his life, surrounded him in his last days and he continued to occupy himself in its contermplation until within just a few hours of his death.

References

Davis ,Reginald S., and steiner . Mona Lisa . 1952. Philippine Orchids. New york ; The william -fedric Press .

Gardeners ' 1865.Miscellaneous -Teh late Mr. Hugh Cuming No35.

Kline , Mary C. 1961.Hugh Cuming collector extraordinary . Amer . Orch Soc . Bull . 30 ,no.5.

Standley , Paul . 1928. Flora of panama Canal Zone .Cotrib, U,S. nat .Herb . 27 .

Van steenis ,C.G.G. J. 1950.Cyclopaedia of collections .Flora malesiana Vol. 1, ser .1 .