[[1]] *1
Government House Calcutta
March 30 1850
(recd. May 25.)
To Dr. Wallich
My dear friend
Through your nephew, Dr. Cantor, I have received your long & kind letter of
Feb[rua]y 2d. It reached me at this place, whither I have come, in what will prove, I
fear, the vain hope of talking over Jung Bahadur into giving me free consent to
travel in Nepaul [Nepal]. Many many thanks for all your friendly anxiety on my
behalf during my imprisonment. I am much indebted, also, to the many persons
whose enquiries & messages you convey, & I doubt not to numerous others, who
are not named.
The letter from Mr. Groves written in his capacity of Secretary to the Philosophical
Club, gratified me highly. To receive such a proof of interest, from such a body &
couched in such language, is a better reward than distinctions & honors, &
infinitely more welcome to my feelings.
All Calcutta is talking about the Sikkim fracas, & I have been questioned by Lord
Dalhousie, Sir H.y Elliott, Halliday & Grey, who all concur in deeming the upshot
very far from honorable to our nation & Government. I have endeavoured[sic] to
place the conduct of Mr.L[ushington]., & the General, in as favorable a light as
truth will bear; for both are kind friends of mine, though by no means competent
men to manage such a difficult business. I dare say you have flung Indian Politics
to the dogs, & I heartily wish I could do so too; but these affairs have stuck to my
coat--skirts like burs, & I cannot shake myself free from them. Unfortunately, the
Nepaul business is trammelled with
[[2]] state considerations & has resolved itself into the question whether Jung
Bahadur's Embassy to England is a proof of the stability of his sway, or the
reverse. He receives all Lord D[alhousie].'s intimated desires in my favor, all
Elliot's advances & all Campbell's, Hodgson's & my expressed wishes, with
evident reluctance. I always suspected that he was not safe & that the mission to
our Queen is a dernier ressort. Lord D[alhousie]. thought otherwise, till I had an
opportunity of stating my views,-- to which his Lordship now inclines. Thorsby (long
our Political Resident at the Court of the Rajah of Nepaul) has reached Calcutta
today & may know something. If he considers the fears I entertain to be well-grounded, I shall instantly withdraw my application; for I should not like to be
forced upon the Durbar, & then quoted by Jung Bahadur as the cause of all his
woes, in case the family of Martubar Singh, or any of the opposite faction, should
take up as a grievance that an Englishman was allowed by Jung Bahadur to find
out the way to conquer Nepaul. As to the huge bubble of chinese jealousy &
interference, I need hardly tell you it has all blow away. The only objection to my
Nepaul Expedition is the one I have now mentioned,-- so far as I can discover.-- I
do hope you may be able to see Jung Bahadur & his Suite at the Gardens of Kew,-- & if I am refused Nepaul travelling-- leave don't you fail to rap him over the
knuckles! He is a lively, well--informed & agreeable young man; but he looks sadly
dissipated & his house this morning (I called at 6.a.m.) presented the aspect of
very bad goings--on, the previous night. He seemed really anxious that I should
visit his country, but not by any new route. We laughed & talked for 2 hours; & he
coolly proposed me to join an expedition to lick the chinese, & make the Tsamper
Yarroo (the Brahmuputra?) the boundary of British & Ghorka [Gurkha] power
[[3]] I took care he should not entrap me into the smallest committal of myself,-- my
opinion & views;-- but plainly could I see that the Barbarian would like nothing
better than another plunder of Shigatzi & Teshoo Loombo.
I am much obliged to you for the account of the honors recently paid to Mr. Brown,
& which I do not consider by any means too high. The letter of Von Martius is
beautiful & must please Brown very much. Pray offer him my affectionate regards
& good wishes for a reduplication of these & all other distinctions.
Your Amhustia is now in bloom, both at Sir Lawrence Peel's & the Botanic
Gardens. I have not yet seen Dr. Falconer: he is at College today. Lady Dalhousie
set off yesterday for Simlah [Shimla], in a sort of Palkee-- Garry, which is to travel
along the great Trunk-- Road. The heat will be tremendous & I rather anticipate
some disaster. She kindly brought me from Malacca a beautiful present, of 2
tables, made of various woods, exquisitely polished, & insisted on my promising
that I would not give them to the Museum at Kew.
We have now only the Governor General & his 2 Aides--de Camp at Government
House. They are Metcalfe & Bowie,-- pleasant fellows. The Calcutta Season is
over,-- rightly glad I am to say so; & I look for a few days of peace,-- I mean for this
part of the world,-- though you may well ask what that means at any time of the
year in Calcutta! I have given up my Buggy Driving, in sheer disgust at having to
ask my way every 10 yards, & I have taken a stout Chuprapee & Palkee Garry,-- to
my vast comfort.
Madden & Grant you have probably seen, ere now:-- pray give them my kind
regards. I do not know Strachey. I left Thomson
[[4]] at Darjeeling to await the issue of my negotiations about Nepaul Give my best
regards to Mrs. W., & all your family, & to Dr. Boott.
Affectionately yours' | (signed) Joseph D. Hooker:
ENDNOTES
1. This letter is a copy, written in a hand not that of the original author: JDH. The
copy was probably made by JDH's mother or sister.
2. The city formerly known as Calcutta is now called Kolkata.
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