62 
He was always keenly alive to anything of exceptional 
interest. Impatiens Sultani was raised at Kew from a capsule 
of seed he put in his waistcoat pocket. The discovery 
of Encephalartos Hildebrandtii in 1868 (see K.B. 1918, p. 127), 
was one of his most valuable finds and he took much trouble to 
secure fine living specimens for Kew, which are still flourishing in 
the Palm House. The living plants were accompanied by his 
own photographs of the plant and drawings from his own hand. 
His last striking addition to the living collections was Crinum 
natans in 1895, when acting as special Commissioner to Nigeria 
whence he brought home several plants. 
Sir John as might be expected was not only interested in the 
introduction of new and interesting plants to Kew, but was a keen 
gardener himself and he maintained at his own expense a fine 
experimental garden at Zanzibar (K.B. 1892, p. 87), which is 
fortunately still maintained by Miss C. D. M. Thackeray, the 
present owner. Many of the trees and shrubs planted by Sir 
John have reached large dimensions and Miss Thackeray in 1915 
sent full particulars to Kew about some of the more interesting 
trees. Sir John, to whom a copy.of the letter was sent, wrote, 
“Is it possible that the Mahogany seed I planted is now a tree 
_ 8 ft. in circumference ..... I wish I might again visit the 
place and see the result of my work. I have visited Zanzibar 
twice since I retired—the last time about ten years ago when I 
went to inspect the Uganda Railway, of the Commission for the 
Construction of which by the Foreign Office, I was Chairman.” 
It was when in Uganda on this occasion that he collected seed 
of Impatiens Oliveri, from which the stock now in cultivation was 
raised. 
Sir John maintained his interest in gardens until the end of his 
life and his letters to Kew for the past 14 years were usually con- 
cerned with gardening matters despite the fact that for some years 
he was nearly blind and for the last few years almost completely 
blind. Despite this infirmity, however, he maintained his keen 
interest in botany and corresponded always in his own handwriting 
often adding at the end of his letter “Pray excuse my bad writing 
for you know I cannot read what I have written.”” Knowing Sir 
John, as the writer was privileged to know him for some thirty 
years, it was very pathetic to see him stricken with blindness and 
unable to appreciate fully the beauties of nature to which he was 
so devoted. His last letter written in October of last year has 
this concluding paragraph “I am ashamed to send you such an 
illegible letter but venture to do so in the hope you may be able to 
read some of it.”” It is remarkable how legible his later letters are 
though often not very easy to read. His kindliness and sym- 
pathetic interest in everything that concerned his fellows is well 
known and his keen sense of humour enlivened many a narrative 
of his experiences abroad and also we believe the experiences 
