118 BOTANY OF INDIA. 



the direction of Ur. Hamilton, well known by his Travels, 

 his account of the fishes of the Ganges, and his commentary 

 on the Hortus Malaharkus and Herbarium Amboynensc, the 

 number of species amounted to 3500.* 



Of Dr. WaUich, the present superintendent, we must not 

 in this place speak as the feelings of private friendship 

 might otherwise dictate. He entered upon his arduous 

 office in 1815, and his indefatigable energy and scientific 

 perception have only been equalled by the devotedness with 

 which he gave himself up to the duties of his situation. His 

 exertions, it has been observed, have rarely been exceeded 

 in any country, and certainly have never been paralleled in 

 a tropical climate. " At his suggestion, the directors of the 

 East India Company placed the garden-establishment upon 

 a footing far surpassing any thing of the kind known in 

 Europe. The spot of ground is no less than five miles in 

 circumference, and upwards of three hundred gardeners and 

 labourers are employed in the charge of it. Gardens in 

 connexion with it have been formed in other remote parts 

 of the Indian possessions ; collectors have been sent out to 

 discover new and especially useful plants, and the residents 

 and other gentlemen attached to science were invited to 

 send the vegetable productions of their respective districts 

 to Calcutta, both in a living and dried state ; and among 

 these the honourable Colonel Gardner, for a long time the 

 company's resident at Sylhet, furnished most extensive and 

 ■valuable collections.! 



The result of this enthusiasm has been a most noble and 

 extensive collection, not only of living plants, which have 

 been freely distributed, but of preserved specimens, which 

 ■were transmitted from time to time to the company's mu- 

 seum. The herbaria, in fact, communicated by various 

 individuals from all parts of India, and amassed by Dr. 

 Wallich himself in his excursions to Nepaul, to Singapore 

 and Penang, to the kingdom of Oude, the province of Rohil- 

 cund, the valley of Deyra, &c., and lastly, to the court of 

 Ava, the coasts of Martaban and Tenesserim, became so 

 extensive as to contain nearly nine thousand species, and 

 an almost incalculable number of duplicates. 



A voyage to Europe having been pronounced indispensa- 



*Hook. Bot. Misc., vol. ii. T Ibid. 



