324 LAST DAYS IN SIKKIM 



patriarchal countenances,' he adds, * though a close prison 

 and heavy threats are not 'pleasant^ still I fancy such books as 

 Gonfalonieri's and Andryale's are indebted to a doleful imagina- 

 tion for much of their interest.' 



Though for some months he confessed to being ' over- 

 whelmed with Sikkim politics,' a return to his own pursuits 

 was made all the pleasanter by the knowledge that his action 

 was approved by Lord Dalhousie, who wrote him * the kindest 

 letter that ever gentleman penned,' and that, while the news- 

 papers reflected on the conduct of all others concerned, he 

 ' alone came off with high credit.' 



For nearly three months he and Thomson were hard at 

 work — * for hard w^ork it really is ' — preparing the collections 

 to go home, filling up gaps where specimens had been lost, 

 and completing the Sikkim flora by a visit to the foot of 

 the hills. Thomson, fresh from exploration and botanising 

 in the North-west Himalayas, was astonished by the magni- 

 tude of the collections, w^hich by March ' form a huge mass, 

 some 100 men's loads, and I am sure you will be pleased with 

 them.' 



Altogether my collections are very handsome, though 

 what with the Eajah's tricks and the horrible cHmate I 

 have lost a great many of my large things, as Palm 

 plants and fruits, &c., which were to have been dried 

 whole for Museum specimens ; these I am replacing as 

 fast as I can, and Thomson being in the jungles, get on 

 very well. 



The latter was with the military, surveying the new boundary 

 and choosing healthy positions for outposts. The forests 

 continued to supply new plants. One budget contained seeds 

 of 1000 species ; others equally large followed. There were 

 100 kinds of woods, including all the Pines and most of the 

 Rhododendrons. 



My specimens of Palms were each twelve feet long, and 

 the new ones I am getting are as large, but the old ones 

 almost all rotted though kept in a room with a constant fire 

 during last rains. 



