EARLY COLLECTIONS 259 



Bengal Hurkarus 1 in which Mrs. Mack's collections came ?) 

 I can lay my hands on. This last fortnight I have got 

 a glorious lot of things, such fine Cyrtandreae especially, 

 and a good gale of wind helped me to many of the 

 trees. Campbell too is as active as ever he can be, and 

 I generally get two instalments, sometimes four, daily. I 

 cannot possibly draw all I ought though I do my best to, and 

 the poor Fungi are gone to the wall altogether. I cannot go 

 100 yards from the door without getting new things, to-day 

 a new Balanophora 2 close behind the house, actually within 

 a stone's-throw. 



August 30 : The rain it raineth every day, and the 

 whole country between the foot of the hills and the Ganges 

 is under water. . . . Such lots of rain was never seen nearer 

 than the West of Scotland. Plants seem to enjoy it, for 

 they are coming out and flowering faster than ever. 



Besides the strictly geographical map already mentioned, 

 a local chart was under preparation to show geographically 

 the distribution of plants, ' a Carte Geognostique of the vegetation 

 of this place from the plains to 10,000 feet (like Humboldt's 

 of Chimborazo).' Notes on the agriculture of the Himalaya 

 were being made for Professor Henslow. Loads of living 

 plants for despatch to Kew were being sent down to Calcutta, 

 where Dr. Falconer forwarded correspondence and repacked 

 plants for the voyage. Many of these plants perished .in the 

 plains before reaching Calcutta ; the safety of the rest was 

 threatened by the severe illness of Falconer at this juncture. 

 But the supply was endless. ' The richness of this Flora is 

 most remarkable and new things are brought to me every 

 day. I dissect and sketch roughly the most important, 

 including all the Orchideae.' 



A great drawback during the first months was the absence 

 of books of reference. In July, Falconer, in despair of an 

 opportunity of forwarding them, took to sending them in 

 small packages by post. 



1 A Calcutta newspaper. 



2 A curious root parasite of simple structure, without leaves or petals, 

 related to the mistletoe, formerly thought to be allied to the Fungi. Hooker's 

 paper on this order appeared in the Linn. Soc. Trans, for 1856. 



