[[1]] *1
Lachoong, August 24th 1849
My dear Father,
Yesterday I had the great pleasure of receiving your long, & kind letter of June 8th,
together with its supplement of the 25th.
I am truly sorry the Ceylon *2 Government do not take Gardener's Herbarium &
Library; though I believe, in other points of view, it is all the better for Thwaites, who
must look for himself. I think Tom Thomson would become a large purchaser from
the sale; & I would advise, indeed, that the sale be deferred till Tom's return; much of
it must contain novelties to your Herbarium too; for he latterly collected in the most
malarious parts of the Island; to which Thwaites, I hope, will never go. It would be far
better that the Herbarium were taken at a valuation than put up to sale, & in that
case, you, Bentham, Thomson, & myself might subscribe with Lindley & Brown to
buy it, offering perhaps £100 amongst us. I allude, of course, to the Cingalese
portion only, which I presume is separate. Thwaites writes to me deeply grateful for
your exertions. Now I am as anxious for his success as a Botanist as I was for
Gardner's; & shall address him at Ceylon, as soon as I hear of his having sailed from
England
I was indeed glad you posted Lord Carlisle's note to Hodgson, who shews me all the
attachment & affection of a brother; & whom I shall always regard as one of my
dearest friends on Earth. The Rhododendron books Falconer has written about: it is
all right, save the copy to myself; about which pray do not trouble The work makes
me feel three inches taller; but I feel I owe it all to you. Thanks too for the copies of
my Journal & the Admiralty Manual, which I long to see. Falconer informs me that
every one of the 150 Rhododendron roots, chiefly of Dalhousiae was dead on
reaching Calcutta *3:
[[2]] really you must not be angry with me: I do my best; & I have now ordered 4
Ward's cases up to Darjeeling, where I am storing roots for you to put into the cases
& send to Calcutta in November. Meanwhile, I will send seeds as they ripen:-- none
are ready yet; I have marked a fine plant of Dalhousiae in young fruit; the seeding of
which I shall carefully watch. Thwaites proposes my sending pollen in letters: I never
thought of it; & now it is too late.
The Cupressesus funebris? I cannot procure I fear; the cuttings at Darjeeling have
not grown; & only the tree is in Sikkim: no young plants have been brought here
since the Palmy days of the monks
Larch, & Abies Brunoniana are fruiting abundantly; so that I shall have plenty of
seeds, Webbiana (or Pindrow, mine has leaves 1-2 inches long) only comes as a
very lofty tree; & I am very far from sure of obtaining these. Abies Spinaulosa
(Khatrow? Smithiana?) does not grow up this (Lachoong) valley. Campbell I have
begged to obtain for me leave to visit Lachen again in October.
The Botanical results of my Thibetan [Tibetan] cruize will astonish you in their
number; not that they would have been increased by going further North; but I found
what I so many years have only dreamed of,-- the remarkable change in vegetation
that occurs at the boundary of the mountains & Plains--, that prevalence of species,
and paucity of specimens which marks that curious zone where the perpetual snow
rises 2000ft on mountain faces opposed to the most sterile country in the inhabited
globe. I am indeed more gratified with my Lachen journey than I can express; so
long have all my friends here & at home thought the probability of reaching the
Thibetan Plateau in this direction visionary.
Campbell's & Hodgson's congratulations are extravagant I am very pleased to think
that any one may now go: the eggshell is broken: the intricate route once known &
the nature. of the impede-[[3]] --ments it is easy to forestall the one, & follow the other. Of its importance as to
Sikkim Flora you have no idea; nor had I till two days ago, when I returned from a
long visit to another Pass of which neither Campbell nor I were aware, & which took
me to within 10 miles of Pari, & the Holy Mountain Choomalari. This Pass is among
the main ranges East of Sikkim & leads from hence to Choombi; though only the
same height as the Kongra Lama: this, the Kankola, was heavily snowed; & indeed
from 14.700 -- 15,500 ft we were on snow the whole way.
It took two days from hence to reach Kankola: headache & fatigue prevented my
botanizing much on the travelling days; therefore I camped at 15000 ft, & made a full
Flora of 14--16000 ft; wholly different from the Kongra Lama flora at the same
altitude; not one Astragalus! but one Draba! one Grass, & that very rare, only 2
Pedicularis! two Carea!
The snow--line is 1000, or 2000 feet lower; though so far South. Though there was
plenty of green at 15000 feet, there was not a blade of grass: a Juncus -- looking-like grass was common, & Potentilla: the prevailing genus with was fine Fumaria:
Parnassias, many Saxifrages, fruitless mosses Primula, & Gentians were the
common plants.
There were about 50 new species. Immediately above 13000ft there is far more rock,
& snow, with vast piles of debris than anything else. This road is very rarely travelled;
& then only by an occasional courier from the Rajah; when at Choombi, to the N.E.
quarter of Sikkim.
Having no tent we slept on the ground, a great precipice our only shelter from the
rain & snow. It was curious to waken in the morning & see the broad snowy faces of
lofty mountains staring at you, the bright sunbeams dancing on their rosy peaks, &
all within a few yards of you. Unfortunately the weather was extremely bad, & always
is so on this range: at sunrise it was invariably brilliant & clear; & I then
[[4]] hastily sallied to a high place to take views, angles & bearings. From such
heights the prospect of the whole Kinchin group was superb beyond all power of
description: there was an exuberance of snow; &, as clouds form, & before 9 a.m.
every object, far or near, is wrapped in thick fog: & you are fortunate if you can gain
a glimpse of the sun with the sextant to make out your time & position. At 10 a.m.
rain always commenced, & lasted with sleet, or snow till sunrise of the following
morning. Our camping ground was of course, very cold; & the little sticks of firewood
for which we had to send down 2000ft. were so wet that with this & the diminished
oxygen of the air, it was very difficult to keep up a fire. I often think on these
occasions of passages in your Lectures, with a keen appreciation of your tact &
power in riveting[sic] student's attention; how often do I remember your Life of
Linnaeus; & what you have not realized for many a year, that it is
"The sweetest of pleasures thats under the sun
"To sit by the fire till the praties[sic] are done."
Altogether, I obtained about 60 plants new to me, from above 12000ft; some
remarkably pretty, especially two Soelannella--like Primula, & a purple Aconite. the
most powerful of all "Bikh", I have collected roots of all the other species, but none of
this.
This place (Lachoong) is a very pleasant & pretty one; & I have halted for two days
to put my plants into order -- to write up my endless journal, & answer an immense
number of letters: the Elevation is 9000 feet.
Yesterday I had a large batch of letters, Yours, Benthams, & others, from England -a very long one from Thomson -- who still talks of joining me in November for the
Khasya cruize - he is pretty well but dyspeptic. Also I had another communication
from Major
[[5]] Madden, who leaves India in December. Sir James, & Miss Colville are gone to
Ceylon: I hope Thwaites may arrive there before they quit the island; they are such very
agreable[sic] people. Sir Lawrence Peel talks of coming up to Darjeeling, & Campbell
of joining me in October in the Jungles.
Lord Dalhousie offered Tom Thomson the richest and best medical appointment in
the Punjaub [Punjab], which Tom declined on the score of health, & the necessity of
attending to his collections.
You enquire whether the £300 will be enough for my third year in India ? this quite
depends on what I have in the Bank. You made my £400 £500 for 1848; £300 for
1850 is a sad falling off! &, though I would not have you on any account apply for
more, if you do not think it quite proper, I must say to reduce my salary, & demand
the same work seems strange. One consolation I have in knowing that I cost you
less here, than I do when in England, and shall not scruple to draw on you if
necessary. I cannot think that I have touched my 1849 allowance -- I mean as to
spending it -- I drew £300 of it. I am aware that you have full confidence in me; & I
know I ought to spare no expense to render my journey memorable. Henceforth I
shall buy no more Instruments; my chief outlays hereafter will be Passage money:
nor have I any fear of mining you; so you may be at ease in regard to the £300.
As to sounding the Woods & Forests Committee about what is to be done for me on
my return, you must use your own judgment: that something must be done is clear;
for to go on as I did before leaving England is plainly impossible. If you see more of
Mr Melville of the India House,-- tell him how well I remember his politeness to me
before setting out. Now I have accepted help from the H.E.I.C. [Honorable East India
Company] though it was none
[[6]] of my seeking, & still less Lord Dalhousie's: had it been offered me I should have
refused it; but it was proposed, & sanctioned wholly without my connivance.
Campbell wrote to you by last mail, & sent 2 copies of the abridged Tonglo Journal
from the Asiatic Society's Journal; I hope you will like it. I append a map of my late
rambles to the Thibetan countries, by which you will also see the elevation of the
country, by the heights I have attached to the river--bed, & mountains around. It is far
from accurate; for I very seldom work out my observations for Longitude & Latitude,
on the angular heights of mountains.
Enclosed are a few seeds, & a packet to Falconer for despatch: the latter has sent
me another half--caste collector, who will remain at Darjeeling gathering, and drying
plants attending to the roots &c. &c.
Jos. D Hooker.
ENDNOTES
1. This letter is a copy written in a hand not that of the original author, JDH, and I not
signed by him. The copy was probably made by JDH's mother or sister.
2. The country formerly known as Ceylon is now called Sri Lanka.
3. The city formerly known as Calcutta is now called Kolkata.
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