HOOGHLY. 5 
front as Kew Gardens present from Brentford, above the island on 
the Thames. There is the excellent residence of the Director in view 
to the extreme left, with one fine Casuarina (I think) close by, and 
thence to the extreme right a wild-looking mass of loose wood 
skirting the banks, no one tree above half the height of the said 
Casuarina, no vistas, or openings into the ground, none of the better 
of the existing trees brought into view. Stil the extensive 
piece of ground does contain some fine trees in the back-ground, and, 
here and there, next the river: and within are four monuments, 
Roxburgh’s, General Kyd’s, Jack's, and Griffith's; to all of which 
open walks should lead. There are two emn om (Ghauts), one ` 
opposite the house, to which there is no balustrade or stone-work, 
or any avenue from the more distant one conducting to the house. 
The clearance of late years about the dwelling is terrible, amounting 
to devastation ; and the direction of the new-made walks or roads is 
unsightly in the extreme. Dr. M‘Lelland (in temporary charge of the 
Gardens) wisely suggests, while the funds are inadequate to keep the 
whole in order, that some 70 or 80 acres should be devoted to Botanic 
ground, Palmetum and Arboretum, and the rest be kept as park or 
pleasure ground. Happily the arrival of the new director, Dr. Falconer, 
is daily expected. May the palmy days of Roxburgh and Wallich once 
more return to this ill-fated establishment ! 
From no one did I receive more kindness than from Mr. Colvill, 
Advocate-General, and President of the Asiatic Society, who not only 
took care. that I was provided with every comfort, but procured, 
and liberally presented me with, a completely equipped Palkee, 
which for strength and excellence of construction, was everything that 
a traveller could desire. Often have I thanked him since, ez route, when 
Thave seen other Palkees breaking down, and other travellers bewailing 
the loss of those forgotten necessaries, with which his kind solicitude 
me. - 
With grateful acknowledgment of the kindness of my many friends, 
I took leave of Calcutta for Mr. Williams’ camp. 
Hooghly, on the river of that name, was the first stage, and it 
was performed in a hooded gig, called a Buggy. The road first led 
through the almost endless suburbs of Caleutta, teeming with popu- 
lation, and the road so choked with native bullock-carts and rude 
pony-gigs, hackeries, &e., that, smothered with dust as the roads 
