[[1]]
Darjeeling Sikkim Himalayah
October 1. 1848 *1
My dear Father
The Rajah has as yet vouchsafed no answer to the G. Gov[ernmen]t letter
addressed to him by Lord. D[alhousie] which he might have done were he gracious. I
am all prepared for a start towards the end of this week, ere which time Campbell
hopes to know whether direct opposition is intended: if so I give up the proposed
route by the E[ast]. of Kinchin [Kanchenjunga] & the passes to Thibet [Tibet] & start
for Jongri on the S[outh] face of Kinchin 40 or 50 miles from this & half a days walk
below the perpetual snow. I think I can get there; but it is no use talking about a
place of which no one knows any thing at all. I must measure the quantity of paper
&c exactly by the number of men I can persuade to accompany me & can victual.
Hodgson I am sorry to say, Has had & now has, another attack of Liver complaint & it
is impossible he should accompany me. Campbell, unluckily, brought his horse close
up behind me I was riding this morning (whose amiable qualities he was aware of,
but forgot) & received such a kick on the ankle, that it is possible he may be laid up
too; but I hope not. Except
[[2]] Muller & Barnes, there is no one else I would take as a companion, & both are
invalids. "Friday" of course goes.
I wrote you by last Marseilles mail, & sent to [Hugh] Falconer a few days ago a
continuation of my journal, from Bhaugalpore [Bhagalpur] to this place, & one or two
excursions about here. Falconer is again very ill & wrote by an amanuensis, he has
despatched me a great stock of things, & another Portuguese serv[ant]t. who he had
immense difficulty in getting for me, at £2,,10 a month: if he is half as good as Friday,
he will be worth the money: -- more than half I hardly expect.
My collection increases still rapidly. I have found 2 more Balanophora -- typhina Wall
(picta, Griff.) & polyandra Griff., both ♂ & ♀. My head Lepcha went a good way
towards the snow, & brought me some very excellent plants. A superb new Aconite
& Rhubarb, amongst them. The former (a very diff[erent]. sp. from palmatum) is also
used for poison(Bikh) B i k h -- a man was shot about 20 miles from here the other day, with a
Bikh poisoned arrow. He belonged to a village, the people of which kept watch
[[3]] to kill the Bears which carried off their crops by night: he patrolled a field,
adjoining another similarly patrolled, & was shot by mistake & died in 24 hours. The
precise symptoms I did not ascertain; it occurred a good many miles from this. I have
sent live roots down & got excellent museum specimens.
I have just sent 15 baskets of roots to Calcutta *2, by Post "Banghy" *3, as that
species of "Parcel Delivery" is called which spans all India, & is a department of the
Post. -- There are nearly 150 species in all, chiefly of Orchideae & Seitamineae, of
which I have a fine collection of dried specimens & drawings. The number of roots is
very great: I suppose 6 or 800, at least, but so many will die en route, that I do not
expect to see very many at Kew. I have got a good specimen of the Tree--fern for
you: it was the largest 17 ft long I could get, in any tolerably accessible place, & took 8
men to lift; & these men are no children -- I could get larger, 20 or 30ft, but do not
think it worth while: such
[[4]] curve very much & are not typical of this species. I hope to get it sent down to
Calcutta, by the military board, but am not sure -- down it shall go, whatever it costs
me!
I have been busy collecting again, the rains having cleared, though I fear not finally:
& I have got another batch of roots to send down. 30 of the young plants of big
Magnolia amongst others, Helwingia, more white Rhododendrons & sundries. The
oaks are not nearly ripe yet, nor are the plants' seeds in general: the rains are
scarcely over & it requires the following dry month to perfect seeds. Compositae are
only now blossoming, I am getting a dozen or two grasses from this elevation;-- a
miserable proportion.
I am exceedingly obliged for the things you sent on by last mail; which I understand
have arrived safe in Calcutta. I hope my bills will pay for them all. I shall have
another to send at the end of the month, I have run you to a great deal of expense
on my account already & you have always behaved most liberally to me. My solace
is that you
[[5]] will not find that Botany has suffered by my fondness for other pursuits, without
which no traveller of this exacting age is thought accomplished. I have gained great
(though undeserved) credit here & no little help, by measuring the heights of the mts
& keeping up a good meteorological register. The Surveyor General who spent last
season here would tell no one what he was after, & the poor people who had shown
him much kindness were are very much disgusted. I keep no secrets & if I cannot (&
do not wish) to measure with the accuracy of a Surveyor , I do so sufficiently
accurately for all practical purposes & at a very little outlay of time. With a pocket
sextant & compass lent me by the Assistant Deputy Surv[eyor]. general (Capt Thuillier
a most excellent fellow) I worked out in 2 hours the height of Kinchin from this place
& made it 28000 ft.-- Sinchal I have worked Barometrically with no trouble at all &
make it 8653.Tonglo Mr Muller & I have just worked out from the observations I took
in May : it is 10,000 ft. --I have not done much to sketching lately. but went to Ging to
draw the Flags, of which I told you in one of the mss now sent home & have nearly
done a pen & ink panoramic view of the whole country, from about this place; which
will give you some idea of it. A fine new Luculia with rather deep pink flowers &
oderate (not oderatiss) is one of the new things I have found since writing: I have
some roots in fair order but rather too large, it is hardly in flower yet. I have also
another of the alpine Rhododendrons & have sent good roots. I have a very bad
specimen of Griffith's Larch, which I hope to find in Sikkim (no cones only bad leaf).
There is a curious little plant here I take for a Rhod[odendron]. which I only have in
fruit. I will send roots of it. I sent a letter from Tommy Thomson the other day dated
12 marches only from the top of Karakerum range (beyond Ladakh).
I have written to Mr Philipps by this mail.
A couple of seeds are in this paper, both should be sown in wet peat under glass,
but not in a hot house, I should say. Looking over my seeds I find I have more than I
expected & will send them home for next mail. All those sent by
[[6]] Edgeworth to the Gibson Craigs at Edinburgh flourished in the ope<n> garden & I
will always note what are tropical. When I say open border pray remember that they
will not endure a scorching sun or dry soil -- I should think a frame the best thing at
first & you can see which stand exposure best. The great Lacteraea[?] &c are not in
flower yet: they will make noble half hardy plants. I will write to my mother by *4 next
mail (Marseilles).
Best love to all & regards to Planchon | ever your most aff[ectionate] son | Jos D
Hooker [signature]
ENDNOTES
1. An annotation written in another hand records that the letter was "rec'd nov 24."
2. The city formerly known as Calcutta is now called Kolkata.
3. Banghy post was a system which transmitted post by a relay of bearers known as
banghywallahs.
4. The address of the recipient appears here as the letter would originally have been
folded in such a way that it formed its own 'envelope'. The address reads "via
Southampton | Sir W. J. Hooker | Kew | Nr London".
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