440 TRAXSACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE [Sess. Lix. 



contributed to our " Transactions "in 1850 : — " Since my 

 admission on the Madras Establishment in 1842, I have 

 traversed a considerable portion of that Presidency in the 

 execution of duty, including the Southern Division, the 

 territory of Mysore, with parts of Canara and the Southern 

 Mahratta country. Along the line of march, and in the 

 course of botanical rambles, I made rough camp notes as 

 to the vegetation and general appearance of the country." 

 The traverse embraced the area of a European kingdom, 

 and included the arid sands of Madras, the undulating 

 plateau of the Mysore, the primeval forests of Coorg and 

 Malabar, the woodless plains of the Carnatic, where 

 European furniture cracks and warps, and the Malabar 

 ghauts, where in the south-west monsoon the lancet, in 

 pocket, coats with rust. How did the author of this paper 

 so quickly acquire his power in describing Indian botany ? 

 A reply is found in the obituary of Dr. Wight, F.E.S., 

 also a Fellow of our Society, contributed by Cleghorn in 

 1872. The veteran botanist, who began his official career 

 in 1826, had to learn solely by self-instruction the 

 gorgeous flora of the East, and displayed an ardour, the 

 wonder of civilians. Near Cape Comorin he had collected 

 2000 species; but what to do with them? They would 

 be downright ruin to him to transport, as he already 

 required, when on march, six carts to carry his books and 

 kit. After eleven hours on his legs, during another 

 traverse, he felt little fatigued, and only ceased march 

 when every sheet of paper was filled, so that he could 

 dry no more plants. As the fruit of all this travel, and 

 mindful of future Indian classification tyros, he essayed 

 the publication of " Illustrations of Indian Botany " and 

 the " Icones," describing 2101 Indian plants. Wight 

 learned lithography with a view to this project ; under- 

 took publishing at his own risk, and kept a stafif of 

 native collectors, draughtsmen, and painters to perfect 

 their execution. Cleghorn issued an index to the 

 " Icones," published by the Madras Government. At the 

 instance of this new botanical master, Cleghorn carried 

 tracings with him on his journeys of Eoxburgh's Coro- 

 mandel plants, and of the same author's unpublished 

 drawings, then housed at the Calcutta Gardens, syste- 



