PREFACE. ili 
Garden. The piece of land thus selected measures more than three hundred acres in 
extent, and is of rather irregular shape. It consists of a rather narrow strip running 
along the right bank of the Hooghly for about a mile and a half, but expanding towards 
its lower extremity into a large square block. The upper part of this piece of land 
was in the hands of some villagers, “who had no other title than possession to produce 
as giving them right of tenure.” These squatters appear to have been compensated and 
turned out. The lower part of the land (where it expands into a square block) had 
been the site of an old fort or outpost, and it is marked in old charts of the Hooghly 
river as ‘‘thana.” A creek appears to have run up through this piece in the direction 
of the great Banian, which appears even then to have been rather a large tree. 
Colonel Kyd, whose office at this time was that of Military Secretary to Government, 
was appointed Honorary Superintendent of the Garden, a post which he retained until 
his death. He never lived within the Garden. In fact there was no dvwelling-house 
within its limits until his successor, Dr. Roxburgh, built the present Superintendent’s 
house in 1795. Colonel Kyd probably,. as was the fashion of the day, had a town 
house in Calcutta. But he appears to have passed a good deal of his time at Shalimar; 
and in his will he. directed that he should be buried in his gurden there. The part 
of the Botanic Garden nearest to Colonel Kyd’s house was devoted to the planting 
of teak trees, in accordance with the Company’s earnest desire to supply themselves 
with timber for ship-building. The experience of thirty-four years having shown that 
good teak timber cannot be successfully raised on the muddy soil of the Gangetic 
delta, this part of the garden (extending to about 40 acres) was in the year 1820 
given up by Government to the Lord Bishop of Calcutta (Dr. Middleton) as the site 
for a Christian College. .The Garden was thus reduced to its present area of 270 
acres. During the hot season of 1793 Colonel Kyd appears to have become very sick, 
and to have known that he was about to die; for on the 18th of May he made a 
new will, which was filed in the Supreme Court of Calcutta on the 10th of June 
1793, Colonel Kyd having died on. the 26th of May. The will is so. interesting, and 
throws so many lights on Kyd's character, that I venture to print part of it as an 
appendix to this brief memoir. By this will the bulk of Colonel Kyd’s property was 
left to his relative Alexander Kyd, then a Major in the Bengal Engineers. In spite 
of the instructions given in his will, Colonel Kyd was buried in the South Park 
Street Cemetery in Calcutta. The tomb is covered by an oblong platform of masonry, 
and is described as being situated immediately to the right on entering the gate; but; 
as it is marked by -no tablet or monument, it is not now distinguishable. A beautiful 
marble urn by Banks the sculptor was, however, in 1795 erected to his memory in the 
Botanic Garden on a site selected by Dr, Roxburgh, This um is still in excellent 
preservation and is. much admired. _ It. stands upon a marble pedestal, on which this 
inscription ‘is carved—‘ Roberto Kyd, mil, trib. horti Fundatori:. posuit A. K. MDCCXCYV.? 
