184 '■ FLORA INDICA. 



(with one exception) being the capital, Kathmandu, elevated 

 4000 feet above the sea, and distant about thirty miles from 

 the plains of India. Here a British Resident has resided since 

 1817, and several botanists have been enabled to explore its 

 vegetation. To these the Government of Nipal, though in- 

 variably refusing permission to penetrate far into the interior, 

 has always afforded every facility for prosecuting their re- 

 searches by permitting the despatch of collectors. 



Dr. Buchanan Hamilton visited Nipal in 1802, remaining 

 for more than a year, during which time he explored the val- 

 ley of Kathmandu and surrounding mountains. His plants 

 were described by David Don in the r Prodromus Florae Ne- 

 palensis/ a work which should have been alluded to in con- 

 junction with Wallich's ' Tentamen' at page 51. In 1 820 Dr. 

 Wallich arrived at Kathmandu. During his residence in the 

 valley he laboured indefatigably in the investigation of the 

 rich and scarcely known flora by which he was surrounded ; 

 collectors were despatched in every direction, and a great Her- 

 barium was formed, which is well known to science. The flora 

 of the subtropical and lower temperate zone was probably 

 almost wholly exhausted ; but the alpine zone was much less 

 completely explored, as the task had to be confided to Bengali 

 collectors, who dread cold, and by whom many small alpine 

 plants would naturally be overlooked. The collectors were 

 sent to the valley of the Gandak and the neighbourhood of 

 the great mountain Gosainthan. 



In 1845, Dr. Hoffmeister, a German traveller and botanist, 

 visited Kathmandu, but we have not had an opportunity of 

 learning whether or not he made any collection there. A 

 small collection, which now forms a part of the Hookerian 

 Herbarium, was made there by the late Mr. Winterbottom. 

 Between the Gandak and the Kali the country has not been 

 traversed by any European, nor had any part of eastern Nipal 

 been visited till 1848, when Dr. Hooker, by permission of the 

 Nipaiese Government, entered it from Sikkim, visited the 

 Tambar river, the most easterly tributary of the Aran, ascend- 



