[[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.