58 REVIEWS. 



are so ably recorded in the pages of the present volumes. During their 

 perusal, the observations of the venerable Baron Humbolt regarding their 

 author was forcibly recalled to our recollection — " What a noble traveller 

 is Joseph Hooker 1"* — writes the Baron to his father — " what an extent of 

 acquired knowledge does he bring to bear upon the observations he makes, 

 and how marked with sagacity and moderation are the views which he puts 

 forward." After such a testimony from one so capable of appreciating the 

 objects of our traveller's research any attempt at criticism must appear 

 indeed ridiculous ; and we will, therefore, only endeavour to give such 

 glimpses of the book as will make its perusal, we trust, desired by all 

 who have not yet met with it, feeling assured that they will rise from it 

 with the conviction that the time spent over it has not been wasted. 



Its author is no mere novice ; he had long been known as an able ob- 

 server, and, by habits of thought nurtured under the most favourable 

 auspices, was peculiarly fitted for such an undertaking. Dr. J. D. Hooker 

 had previously accompanied Sir James Ross on his voyage of discovery to 

 the Antartic regions, where botany was his chief pursuit. On his return, 

 prompted by a desire to carry his researches into other latitudes than those 

 he was already acquainted with, after some hesitation he determined on pro- 

 ceeding to India, being influenced in his choice by kind offers of assistance 

 from Dr. Falconer, the superintendent of the Honourable East India Com- 

 pany's Botanic Garden, at Calcutta. 



Through the intervention of the Earl of Carlisle and the late Earl of 

 Auckland, his journey assumed the character of a government mission, and 

 £400 per annum was granted by the treasury for two years. Lord 

 Auckland and Dr. Falconer both selected that portion of the Himalaya best 

 worth exploring, recommending Sikkim as being ground untrodden by 

 traveller or naturalist. 



Since the period of Turner's embassy to Tibet, in 1789, no part of the 

 snowy Himalaya, north-west of the British possessions, had been visited; 

 and here it was highly important to explore, scientifically, a part of the 

 chain which, from its central position, might be presumed to be typical of 

 the whole range. 



Among our author's earliest recollections in reading, we are told, were 

 "Turner's Travels in Tibet," and "Cook's Voyages." The account of 

 Lama worship and Chumulari in the one, and of Kerguelan's land in the 

 other, always took a strong hold on his fancy. It was, therefore, singular 

 that Kerguelan's land should have been the first strange country he ever 



* Hooker's Journal of Botany, iii. 21. 



