and bears a large head of nuts. I t is a plant of no
interest to the common observer, but of much to the
geologist, from the nuts of a similar plant abounding
in the tertiary formations at the mouth of the Thames,
having floated about there in as great profusion as
here, till buried deep in the silt and mud that now
form the island of Sheppey.*
Higher up, the river Hoogly is entered, and large
trees, with villages and cultivation, replace the sandy
spits and marshy jungles of the great Gangetic delta.
A few miles below Calcutta, the scenery becomes beautiful,
beginning with the Botanic Garden, once the
residence of Roxburgh and Wallich, and now of Falconer,—
classical ground to the naturalist. Opposite
are the gardens of Sir Lawrence Peel; unrivalled in
India for their beauty and cultivation, and fairly entitled
to be called the Chatsworth of Bengal. A little
higher up, Calcutta opened out, with the batteries of
Fort William in the foreground, thundering forth a
salute, and in a few minutes more all other thoughts
were absorbed in watching the splendour of the
arrangements made for the reception of the Governor-
General of India.
During my short stay in Calcutta, I was principally
occupied in preparing for an excursion with Mr. Williams
of the Geological Survey, who was about to move
his camp from the Damooda valley coal-fields, near
Burdwan, to Beejaghur on the banks of the Soane,
where coal was reported to exist, in the immediate
* Bowerbank “ On the Fossil Fruits and Seeds of the Isle of Sheppey,”
and Lyell’s “ Elements of Geology,” 3rd ed. p. 201.
vicinity of water-carriage, the great desideratum of the
Burdwan fields.
My time was spent partly at Government-House, and
partly at Sir Lawrence Peel’s residence. The former
I was kindly invited to consider as my Indian home,
an honour which I appreciate the more highly, as the
invitation was accompanied with the assurance that I
should have entire freedom to follow my own pursuits;
and the advantages which such a position afforded me,
were, I need not say, of no ordinary kind.
At the Botanic Gardens I received every assistance
from Dr. McLelland, who was very busy, superintending
the publication of the botanical papers and drawings
of his friend, the late Dr. Griffith, for which native
artists were preparing copies on lithographic paper.
I was surprised to find the Botanic Gardens looked
upon by many of the Indian public, and even by some
of the better informed official men, as rather an extravagant
establishment, more ornamental .than useful.
These persons seemed astonished to learn that its
name was renowned throughout Europe, and that
during the first twenty years especially of Dr. Wallich’s
superintendence, it had contributed more useful and
ornamental tropical plants to the public and private
gardens of the world than any other establishment
before or since. I speak from a personal knowledge of
the contents of our English gardens, and our colonial
ones at the Cape, and in Australia, and from an inspection
of the ponderous volumes of distribution lists, to
which Dr. Falconer is daily adding. The botanical
public of Europe and India is no less indebted than the
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