FRANCIS HAMILTON (ONCE BUCHANAN). xxi 
Advantage was t&ken of his being again near the frontier of Nepal to acquire 
further information regarding that country. When the rains of 1814 commenced he 
went up the Ganges by boat to Fatehgarb, where his bead-quarters were till the cold 
weather of 1814 set in. While stationed at Fatehgarh he was able to obtain information 
regarding the Corundum quarry at Singraula. 
From Buchanan’s letters to Roxburgh during this period’ we learn that except 
when at Goalpara in Lower Assam he was in a country far from inviting botanically. 
As usual these letters refer mainly to despatches of roots or seeds for the Botanic 
Garden and are not of very general interest. Writing from Nathpur on Ist August 
1810 he refers to Roxburgh's well-known paper on the Scttamineae as follows :— 
“Т am very much obliged to you for your paper on the Scitamineae which was very much wanted 
and throws great light on the subject. I have just now, іп treating on the gardens of this district, 
had occasion to mention some of the Scitamineae and am happy to have some well-known name to 
which I can refer though I shall be obliged to differ from you respecting some of the synonames, 
especially those of Rumph.” 
From one of his letters to Roxburgh from Monghyr in-1811 че learn that his 
health was beginning to suffer from the survey work, and in a letter from Patna, 
dated 10th June 1812, we find that he had made up his mind to visit Europe:— 
«I take this opportunity of a boat going with my annual report to send you such seeds as I have 
been able to collect here. Тһе country is so much cultivated that it is not a good field for а 
botanist. I am a good deal surprised to find the Cerbera Thevetia with a fine yellow flower, which 
I think you must have introduced from America, with numerous Sangskrit names and in common 
use ав a medicine. The same alsois the case with a red or scarlet flowered sage which I believe 
you also introduced from America. I send you a small specimen that you may judge of its 
identity with your plant. I hope you will have the goodness to let me know when and from 
whence you procured the two plants. 
Unless some very unforeseen accident happens, it is my intention, about this time next year, to 
bend my way towards Calcutta in order to embark for Europe and I hope that I shall then have 
the pleasure of finding you stout and hearty." 
The unforeseen did happen and, as we have seen, Buchanau, instead of coming 
to Calcutta in 1813 in order to go to Europe on furlough, spent the dry season of 
1813-14 in surveying Gorakhpur. The prolonged labour of the survey had, however, 
unmistakeably told on Buchanan’s health, and in place of undertaking the survey of 
another district in the cold weather of 1814, Buchanan returned by river from Fatehgarh 
to Caleutta in order to prepare for his return to Europe, not now merely on furlough, 
but with the intention of retiring. 
However, even if Buchanan had been able to carry out his original plan, he 
would not have been in time to see his friend Roxburgh араш. During the cold 
weather of 1812-13 Roxburgh' health gave way, and at the commencement of the hot: 
season he left Calcutta for the Cape, making over charge of the Garden to Mr. Н. Т, 
Colebrooke, an accomplished botanist and a warm personal friend. Roxburgh’s 
voyage extended, however, beyond > the Cape to St, Helena, where he arrived on 
1 Only 11 letters for the whole period are preserved in the Roxburgh collection, viz., from Dinajpur, 1; from 
Goalpara, 4; from Kaliyachak and Nathpur in Purnea, 3; from Monghyr, 2; and from Patna, 1. 
? Henry Thomas Colebrooke, who, among the many men of outstanding ability whose services it was the good 
fortune of the Honourable Company to command at the end of the 18th and the opening of the 19th centuries, 
was by no means the least remarkable, though mainly famous as a scbolar, historian and antiquarian, was а true 
