[[1]]
W[est]. Bank of Teesta river
Camp Sikkim Terai
about 20 miles South of the Himal.
10 miles North of Jeel--pi--gori [Jalpaiguri]
March 10th. 1849 *1
My dear Father
I am very sorry for having omitted to write to you by the last (8 March) mail. The
omission was quite accidental & I hope has not caused you any uneasyness[sic].
When I should have written I was on my way from Darjeeling to meet Hodgson on
the plains where he has been spending the cold weather. I brought down with me &
have sent to Calcutta *2 for shipment to England all my last years collections, except
those of my late tour, which are not safely dried. There are some 50 large cartridge
paper bundles of dried plants, & a great many smaller boxes of sticks staffs woods
&c. Shortly before, I sent down by Dak *3, 5 boxes of seeds, of which 3 will be divided
at the garden & two go overland at once. I have marked on all the seed papers
whether the contents are Tropical temperate or alpine, & Smith will use his own
judgement about planting them. There are many oaks, all I fear dead, for they turn
black very shortly after falling, & seedling plants I very rarely see. The latter I must
send alive to Calcutta for I fear the Sikkim oaks, owing to the
[[2]] excessive dampness of the climate, are ever more delicate than the usual run. I
have however sent a great hamper down to Calcutta, where they will be packed at
once & if any seem good enough they will be sent home forthwith at once.
Dr McCrae the assist[ant]. Sup[erintendent]., is very active & kind & promises
faithfully that these directions shall be attended to forthwith. My Port[uguese].
Ser[van]t., Clemanze, takes charge of all to Calcutta. There are 4 country cart loads
of things, & I have paid for all the carriage & have still some £50 to go on with.
My late expedition to the snow has cost about £100 & I think repaid that outlay well
as I have 50 bundles well crammed with dry plants of your Herb[arium].size,
beautifully dried & of course much novelty amongst them. I did intend to send a
complete Herb[arium]. of Rhododendrons home, but their coriaceous foliage is not
nearly dry, & I am compelled therefore to retain them. One great bundle of duplicate
R[hododendron]s goes & every thing else up to last November collections, except
some great trunks I cannot at present afford to send down, (Cycas & Tree Fern),
minerals &c. In alpines the collection
[[3]] is singularly deficient & the latter collections will not supply the want: I must go at
a very different season for these & am now arranging to do so[.] Except of ferns I
send all the Cryptogamiae with which, as with all the rest you will do as seems best
to you: the more are published & the sooner the better, either by yourself -- Wilson,
Bentham, Harvey or any one else.
I am much pleased with your account of the Rhod[odendron]. book, all except the
view of Kinchin [Kanchenjunga] (which pronounce Kānchāin) which cannot I fear
bear any resemblance to the Mt. the sketch was only ideal & drawn when I had not
seen the Mt. for weeks I suppose it is too late to withhold it -- [A diagram appears
here showing an outline of the mountain peaks which have perpetual snow, labelled
a, b, c, d, and x]. Here is a tolerable outline of the Snows by which you may judge -a Junnoo 25311 25311 ft -- b a shoulder (called Kubroo here but not true Kubroo)
24004. c Kinchin 28176. d Pundeen 22015. -- a is in Nepal, I crossed its shoulder
below the dagger at 15 or 16000ft (Choonjerma Pass. The little cross shows about
the position I reached on Kinchin half way
[[4]] between Kubro & Pundeen which latter are South of the top a -- It would be
much better to delay the view till a 2nd part of the Rhodod[endron] appears which I
will make the necessary drawings for in spring now coming -- I think there are now
22 species in collections -- Excluding the one you properly refer to arboreum -- on
recomparing the whole I felt inclined to put include the one like arb[oreum]. with
fol[iage]. subtler rusty, also under arb[oreum]. but it may stand. The curious thing
about R[hododendron]. arb[oreum]. is, its extremely variable character & descending
to 5000 ft on the interior ranges, whilst it never occurs below 7--8000 on the outer or
Southern ranges. -- The leaves of Falconeri are full 16 inches long -- I am glad that
you have named one after Royle. One of the small species will turn out only a variety
of R. setosum barbatum, which I find to be extremely variable & occasionally to have no
setae on the petiole, it is however a very marked var.
I suppose you could not make any thing of the sketch I sent you of a great
Cucurbitaceous thing -- it is abundant where I now am in deep forests & is a superb
climber. I propose naming it after Hodgson should there be no Hodgsonia already. I
have just heard of a new kind of Brick tea, I
[[5]] must try to get for you, in form of chocolate cakes. I send two splendid bricks of
the common sort, they cost about 25/ each. -- Campbell has just ordered a lot of
Assam Tea for the Sikk Darjeeling Bazaar, & will I hope succeed in supplanting the
other. You mistake my meaning about Assam Tea. The wild Assam Tea is the T.
assamica, specifically diff[erent] I suppose from the China sort but Watkins assured
me positively, that no market Tea is made from that, but all from the Chinese plants
introduced for the purpose by the Tea Company from China, & planted where T.
assamica flourished[.] The Assam Co[mpan]y is getting up & they have adopted
some wise measures I am told, & with prudence will succeed. There is plenty of
room for them & the Kemaon Tea too.
Very many thanks for sending me an aneroid Barometer, it has arrived in Calcutta &
is now on its way out up here it appears a very ingenious instrument but will not I fear
answer for great elevations. The parcel with the Books & Polka arrived quite safe, as
also one of Newmans with instruments all unbroken. I like everything you have sent - Bessels tables recommended by Sabine save a world of trouble & are admirable. I
have already worked out a few heights by them the Wallanchoon pass is 16745 ft.
Wheat
[[6]] cultivated at Gangma village 13.600ft & the height permanent habitation 13.900
(on this side the Himal. (there are permanent habitations probably at 16000 on the
opposite).
The height I reached at on Kanglachem pass is 16013ft. (not the top) -- Nango Pass
crossed at 15762 -- Choonjerma crossed at 15259 -- camped on Kinchin 13169.-Here, I am on the plains of India, which extend quite level up to the very base of the
mountains, the latter rising suddenly therefrom like land out of the ocean. The
elevation of the land at their very foot is only some 250 ft, though so far from the
ocean. The country is thinly inhabited especially through the Sal forest (Shorea)
which extends some 20 miles S[outh]. from the foot of the Mts: as a ragged jungly
wood, on a very dry soil, covered with long grasses 12--15 ft high. Shorea, Butea,
Symplocos, & Terminalia are the prevailing trees -- on the broad river flats Acacia
catechu & Dalbergia Sissoo. -- when streams run through the forest it is swamps &
along the very base of the mts the vegetation is very luxuriant -- all else is dry
unproductive -- no palm but Phoenix acaulis no wild Bamboo, few or no
[[7]] Ferns no orchideae except in the above mentioned exceptional spots, which are
very rich in plants. The tribes are nata Cooch & Mechi, both aborigines of India, prior
to the Hindus & Mahomedans: they live in the depths of the forests, cultivate very
little cotton & Cannabis both for hemp & as a drug. & live by cutting the forest, which
is wholly destroyed, not gone, but all the good trees taken -- They stand the climate
very well, which is deadly to all other people at most seasons -- My collection is not
large yet as I have only come up to the forest this few days, the 10 previous were
spent in the open country, where Osbeckia Volkumeria & Bamboo in planted clumps
were the only plants to be seen over the sea--like horizon; all else is either too
barren a soil or rice cultivation. The Bengallees of these parts who inhabit the
country south of the forest are wretchedly poor, the villages are widely scattered &
extremely small. The heat is great in day time, but cool evenings & mornings make it
very pleasant. Tomorrow we go W[est]. again along the edge of the forest to the
Mechi river which is the bound of Sikkim to the West, as the Teesta is to the East,
there are reported Iron Hills which
[[8]] I am very curious to see.
Lord Aucklands death is a sad blow, & I assure you I feel quite cut up about it. I
really did long to earn his approbation & I felt further a very deep gratitude for all he
had done & was to the last doing for me. His memory is dear to all India, where his
singular integrity & great consideration for all under him won the esteem of all. I
never heard but one opinion of Lord A[uckland]. in all India. Lindley's little tribute to
his memory was reprinted in all the Indian papers from the Gardeners' Chronicle with
a promptness that shews[sic] how true it was felt to be. Every paper speaks of him
with real regret. The grievous mistakes he made were not all his own, & at any other
but that critical period his administration would have proved a blessing to India -- Mr
Colvile writes most despondingly of Miss Eden's state. The news has just come in of
Mr Barings succession to the office, but I shall never serve another with half the
pleasure I should have Lord Auckland. I disliked him extremely at first & but for his
disinterestedly coming forward as he did I might not have had opportunity of judging
him rightly, when I did he won all my esteem & regards & latterly I have incurred a
lasting debt of gratitude.
[[9]] I have seen the Athenaeum review you allude to since coming down it seems an
attack upon me & not upon my letters, though there was plenty of room in the latter
for abuse-- for they read flippant & "would be witty" in parts -- & after all contain sore
little Botany. The London Journal looks well, what will it be at a 1/ ? you are in great
difficulty & I wish I could help you: Bentham is by far the best counsel & Harvey, I
have just answered the latters kind letter -- very many thanks on Hodgsons part for
your kind offer of assistance regarding the book of maps, Humboldt took the trouble
to arrange the whole plan of what the work should be, size & number of maps, pages
of letter press & every particular. Hodgson has copied his letter which fills 6 folio
pages, he has also arranged for Berghaus doing the work for the stipulated £150 &
we have written to the latter to go on with it -- He will therefore send it to you in 2
portions -- & on the receipt of the first be pleased to pay to whatever order he directs
half the sum, i.e. £75. you had better deduct the same from my now overdue salary
of 400 & H[odgson] will pay me here -- On the completion of the second half, which
will be sent you, the other £75 will be due. I suppose it will take some 12 or 18
months to complete. Campbell has just been East to Cooch--Behar the W[est].
extreme of Jenkins jurisdiction, where he met the latter & describes him as a jolly
merry fellow, very fond of science, who has spent all his life under "John Company"
*4 & intends to end his days under the same. He says it is quite impossible to divide
or apportion the blame between Wallich Giffith & McLelland -- the 3 most ill tempered
fellows in all India & most sure to quarrel, that could any where be found. -- I have
not seen a single Lacis, or any thing like one, & yet have poked into more streams
than most people: I will call out when I do depend upon it. I have seen no likely
stream for it; all are extremely rapid & pebbly, never tolerably quiet for a yard.
March 15th -- Siligoree -- Since writing the above I have been going on collecting &
got a few things, but nothing very remarkable, 5 or 6 terrestrial Orchideae & 2 Oaks,
which with Crataegus, Pavia & Rubus give a more temperate character to this
vegetation than you would expect at 200 ft above the sea. Lord D[alhousie]. has just
written me a most kind letter of congratulations on my return from the snow, so busy
as he is with the war, who the conducting of which he blames extremely, I did not
expect this at all. I have heard nothing of Gifford -- The papers contain a notice of the
death of a Dr Thomson of Nat. Phil. chair of Glasgow of cholera, I hope it is not
Tommy's father, I have not heard from the latter lately who is very busy drawing up
his Reports.
Mr Muller has begged me to order him a complete set of Meteorological Instruments
from Newman & to draw on his agent for the money but I have told Newman
[[10]] to send the bills to you & as soon as I see Campbell I will send you 3 more
Navy bills -- It is the only return I can make to Muller who is a poor man with a large
family educating in England & who has been my host for 6 weeks past & done me
many services -- calculating my observations & in various ways. he had just ordered
a complete set of Daguerreotype apparatus (or rather I did so through Hunt) & they cost
him £50.; if they arrive in time I will send you some splendid views of the Snow. In
what "Malabar" did you send the box of Adie's Instruments?. in HMS.? or a merchant
ship.
Kursiong 4000ft on road to Darjeeling -- Dear F[ather]. we have come up here on our
way *5 home -- I have collected a few good plants in the Terai & again been n[ea]r to
the Nepal frontier at the foot of the hills. Just got Beaumontia in full flower a most
splendid thing. The woods are now gay with Bauhinia, Sonneratia & Erythrina. At
least I take it for Sonneratia it is the plant I called Careya in the journal of my way up
to D[arjeeling]. last autu April & whose structure I compared with Napoleona, it has a
valuate calyx 5--8 parted, white spathulate petals crumpled & several rows involute
stamens. Fol[iage]. altern. oval. lanceolate large. Fl[owers] in terminal panicles. I
have picked up but little for the museum handsome cotton cloth of Mechis & Cooch
tribes who inhabit the Terai -- a bird catching or snaring apparatus of Cooch tribes &
Tiger trap of Bamboo with poison arrow & poison (aronite) of jungle people. Curious
pipe of Bamboo. Fishing net of d[itt]o very curious, 5 stems of a tree fern -- great
flower of Dillenia figured in Rumph[ius] or Sloane & a very few other odds & ends.
The Iron I take it is all manganese which will disgust Campbell but I have found a
small (useless) seam of coal & vestiges of coal fossils.
Yours & my mothers of Jan[uar]y 19 has just arrived which I will answer separately. I
want to write to Bessy about my superb Bhotea Dogs & a puppy I call "Kanchain"
who went up the Mt. & is a hero. Best love to all from yr ever aff[ectionate] son JDH
[signature]
I write to Frances, Prof H[enslow]. Forbes by this mail.
ENDNOTES
1. A note written in another hand records that the letter was received on May 31
[1849].
2. The city formerly known as Calcutta is now called Kolkata.
3. Dawk or dak is a system of mail delivery by relays of bearers or horses stationed
at intervals along a route.
4. John Company is a colloquial name for the Honorable East India Company, the
term John deriving from Hon or Honorable.
5. The address of the recipient appears her as the letter would originally have been
folded in such a way that it formed its own 'envelope'. The address reads:"To | Sir W.
J. Hooker | West Park | Kew | Nr London."
Please note that work on this transcript is ongoing. Users are advised to study
electronic image(s) of this document where possible.