trip to Calcutta in March, where I expected to meet
both Lord Dalhousie, on his return from the Straits of
Malacca, and Jung Bahadoor (the Nepalese minister),
who was then en route as envoy to England. I stayed
at Government House, where every assistance was
afforded me towards obtaining the Nepal Rajah’s
permission to proceed through the Himalaya from
Dorjiling to Katmandu. Jung Bahadoor received me
with much courtesy, and expressed his great desire to
serve me ; hut begged me to wait until his return from
England, as he could not be answerable for my
personal safety when travelling during his absence;
and he referred to the permission he had formerly
given me (and such was never before accorded to any
European) in earnest of his disposition, which was
unaltered. I therefore made up my mind to spend the
season of 1850 in the Khasia mountains in eastern
Bengal, at the head of the great delta of the Ganges
and Burrampooter.
I devoted a few days to the Calcutta Botanic
Gardens, where I found my kind friend Dr. Falconer
established and very busy. The destruction of most
of the palms, and of all the noble tropical features of
the gardens, during Dr. Griffith’s incumbency, had
necessitated the replanting of the greater part of the
grounds, the obliteration of old walks, and the construction
of new; it was also necessary to fill up tanks
whose waters, by injudicious cuttings, were destroying
some of the most valuable parts of the land, to drain
many acres, and to raise embankments to prevent the
encroachments of the Hoogly: the latter being a work