[[1]] *1 To Miss Henslow Moozuffer, Madras *2 Roads, Jan 15, 1848 My dear Frances Here we are at last, off the shores of India; for I scarcely considered myself so at Ceylon *3, where we landed the other day, & which is, you know, a British Colony out of the dominions of the E[ast].I[ndia].C[ompany]. I dare--say you wonder at my writing from on board the ship, instead of from shore; but it appears that the troops cannot be brought out to receive us in the middle of the day; so we wait till 4 p.m., to land with due military honors. My last letter was from Aden; since when we have been on the Indian Ocean, the most uninteresting sea I ever crossed; without birds or any fish but flying--fish, to relieve the monotony of the cruize. We sighted Cape Comorin last Thursday, & on Friday fore noon landed at Point de Galle, Ceylon, a few hours after the "Precursor," & for the same purpose: to lay in Coal for the rest of the voyage. I dare say you thought of us on Christmas day; & so we all did of England & English friends; you I hope were more comfortable than we; for to add to the many discomforts of the present voyage, on part of the voyage, we had adverse winds & a rolling sea. I wished Lady D[alhousie]. many Happier Christmases, & flattered myself that I was not far wrong in wishing you the same. Of Roast Beef we have none; but the more easily compassed Plum pudding was present. You will be surprised to hear that we have been most especially uncomfortable on board the "Moozuffer". This vessel was sent to Suez for us, but neither fitted or provided with any accommodation for Lord Dalhousie or his suite: she is a splendid vessel, more like a yacht than a Man of War: & it was the duty of the superintendant of the Indian navy to see that we were properly accommodated. The Captain has only the table to provide; & this he has done well; for more sumptuous fare onboard ship I never met with; but there are neither cabins or bedding for any of us. Lord & Lady Dalhousie [[2]] are in the Captain's cabin, & tolerably well off: the rest of us, Fane, Courtenay, Dr. Bell & myself have to pig it out in the ship's armoury, a dirty place, next to the Engine, intolerably hot & smothered with Coal dust. We lie on mattresses on the deck; & it is all we can do to turn out tidy for meals in the cabin, for breakfast at 9, Tiffen at noon, dinner at 4; & then to spend the evening the best way we can. The motion of her powerful engines is such, that we cannot write without difficulty; & we have no private cabin to sit in. This service (Indian navy) is a small one, but constituted similarly to the Royal Navy, of which they are very jealous. The officers do not like the ships' being employed as passage--boats; & hence the refusal of the India--board to give me a passage when supplied before leaving England. What do you think of my meeting a Godson of your Father's here!, a Mr Jermyn. Talking of Cambridge & Cambridge people one day, I found him well up on the subject, & asked him if he was any relation to this Jermyn who married Sir W. Trevelyn; he said "She is my sister"; & as we proceeded to talk of mutual friends, he told me of your father & how he had stood godfather to him. Jermyn is a quiet gentlemanly man enough, lately made a Lieutenant, much liked & deservedly so by his Captain & officers; but I do here not think the service has improved him, that is to say, neither he nor any of the officers of this Indian Navy look so like gentlemaen as those of the Royal Navy do; to use a vulgar word, it is rather a snobbish service & I should not have taken Jermyn for the brother of that bright looking Lady Trevelyan. We are naturally very great friends, as you may suppose: & I wile[sic] away some weary hours of his watch in talking of Cambridge & our many mutual friends there. His time for furlough will arrive in 2 1/2 years; so that we shall meet in England ere very long. [[3]] At Ceylon I again saw Matilda nee Smith (Rigby) amongst the groves of Palm Trees about which she used to ask me so eagerly in the Palm--store of Edinburgh Gardens. She was looking well & happy, & her husband a strong minded tough-looking gentleman, not a little pleased to have landed her safe at Ceylon. She was in such a hurry to see me that I received a note from her at dinner soon after landing, & accordingly paid her a visit at the Hotel in the Evening, as I sat up all night at any rate chatting with my friend Gardner, who had been waiting 3 weeks for my arrival. I met Matilda again on Saturday, New Year's morning, & saw her off at 4 P.M. by the mail coach for Colombo, where James Smith's house & property is. I find Lord & Lady Dalhousie extremely agreeable people with no pride or nonsense about them, but a most unfortunate indifference to science in any shape. Their conversation is almost wholly of great folks in which I cannot join by reason of my ignorance of aristocratic gossip; & except I start politics, I do not get Lord Dalhousie's ear; when I do he most good naturedly runs on, giving me an immense deal of information. I try all I can to interest him in the Vegetable productions of the East; but except an expression or two to the purport that he will be glad that I investigate this or that point, I can get no interest in the subject excited: for one thing, I think he has so much Scotch caution that he does not like to broach a subject he cannot talk upon: certainly he does not appear to like to enter upon it. At dinner we sit down thus: the Captain at the head, and one of the invited officers at the foot of the table. Lady Dalhousie to the right of the Capt. & Lord Dalhousie to the left. Fane next to Lady Dalhousie, & I for his vis--à--vis, next Lord Dalhousie. Bell is below me, & Courtenay opposite to him. The variety of dishes is infinite. Bakes, Roasts, Stews, curries, &c[.] Fowls always predominating, & dried Indian fishes, I do not like the cooking at all, in short, I think the cuisine odious. [[4]] I may come to like it; but I feel sure it is not scientifically good. Courtenay (a petit--mâitre & judge) agrees with me; but he expresses his dislike, which I do not. Bell of course, like any old Indian, revels in it. Fane is rather mystified: For the last week Lady D[alhousie]. has been much better but previous to that she was tormented with nervousness, Tic, toothache & a host of such like maladies. Today soon after our anchoring, her Father, Lord Tweedale, Governor of Madras, came onboard, a fine, hale square built man of 62 or so. Surrounded with officers in magnificent costumes, European & natives. They went ashore together, leaving Lord Dalhousie & suite, for the reasons stated above, to follow. The marquis is on the eve of starting for England to be relieved by Sir H. Pottinger, who gives the Cape up to Sir H. Smith, & comes on to Madras. we shall be here till Friday morning, & then go on to Calcutta *4, where we expect to arrive about the 14th or 15th & very glad I shall be to get there, & feel my way about. Then too I hope to hear of you & from you, how you have enjoyed your stay at Hampstead with Aunt Palgrave. I have not made many sketches, none since I left Cairo, where I made several of the Pyramids; at Aden I was far too busy botanising: though, alas, I have destroyed nearly all my collections from the salt water in our wretched Dormitory on board this ship. Not only were much of my collection destroyed, but my spare papers; so that at Point de Galle I could not collect a single thing. The latter I less regret, as I shall have to take Ceylon on my way East to Borneo, where I intend spending a week or two with Mr. Gardner at Candy. This place is a wonderful contrast to Ceylon: here, a long straggling town of immense white houses & trees interspersed occupies a long sandy flat, facing an open roadstead, in which we are now lying rolling from side to side, & surrounded by curious high flat bottomed boats, made of planks sown together [[5]] & holding 30 or 40 people, in which one lands through the heavy surf which always rolls upon the beach. At Point de Galle we lay in a pretty little cove, surrounded by dense forests & wooded hills, the beach fringed with grooves of cocoa nut palm & backed by forests of Tropical Trees of the greatest beauty. A more beautiful spot I never was in, reminding me altogether of the scenes in Paul & Virginia. The Cinghalese are a curious people, tall slender & and dark colored, the men all wearing long hair, which they gather up & tie in a knot at the back of the head, supporting the knot as you do with tortoise-shell comb & smearing the whole abundantly with Cocoa--nut--oil. Their houses or huts thatched with Palm leaves, buried in groves of Cocoa nuts and Areca or Betel--nut Palms, generally each overshadowed by a Bread--fruit tree, one of the richest & most luxuriant looking trees of the Tropics, thick & umbrageous, with dark green glossy leaves, at all seasons laden with its noble fruit. The Plantain & Banana too are abundant every where; & the Pine--Apple springs up by the roadside, bearing an excellent fruit very little inferior to that grown in our English pineries. The character of the natives is said to be treacherous & untrustworthy in their most trifling dealings: but they look happy cheerful & good--natured. Flowers there are of all kinds, from the gaudiest & gayest down to the must humble & delicate. Butterflies beetles, & gay birds all abound, & all one wants is the bracing air & far more wholesome, though less attractive, beauties of an English country scene[.] These are nice places to see, but I am not inclined to live in; as the pale yellow & all but sickly faces of the English children too plainly tell. Mosquitoes & sand--flies are rife; & so are detestable Leeches that crawl inside one's boot. Snakes too are said to be frequent; though I saw none of them. Our party was here divided into three [[6]] Lord & Lady Dalhousie went to a small Government residence (Government house is at Kandy, Fane and Courtney to the Inn; whilst the military Commandant, a Major Cuthbert, kindly accommodated me for the night & day or part of two days we spent there. I had one long walk with Gardner in the afternoon of Friday. Another after Daylight on Saturday morning, & a third after breakfast: it then came on to rain in true tropical style, as if it beat the roofs in with heavy thunder & lightening playing about us as we eat Tiffin in the open Verandah, to which Mrs Cuthbert or her little girls paid the very smallest attention; so habituated are all here to the strife of elements. Gardner was, you know, my Father's Protégé, & I was very glad to present him to Lord Dalhousie, who has heard a most excellent character of him from the official resident & received him very kindly. We embarked at three P.M. under a heavy shower, which drenched the poor soldiers drawn out to salute us, & started forthwith for this place, where we arrived at 11 A.M. you shall hear from me again at Calcutta, soon after my arrival. My affectionate regards to your Father, mother, sisters & Brothers. Your ever affectionate, Jos. D. Hooker. ENDNOTES 1. This letter is a copy, written in a hand other than that of the original author, JDH. The copy was probably made by JDH's mother or sister, soon after receipt of the original so that one version could be circulated amongst friends and family. 2. The current name of the city of Madras is Chennai. 3. The current name of the country Ceylon is Sri Lanka. 4. The current name of the city of Calcutta is Kolkata. Please note that work on this transcript is ongoing. Users are advised to study electronic image(s) of this document where possible.