244 CALCUTTA BOTANIC GARDENS. Chap. XXVII. 



I devoted a few days to the Calcutta Botanic Gardens, 

 where I found my kind friend Dr. Falconer established, 

 and very busy. The destruction of most of the palms, and 

 of all the noble tropical features of the gardens, during 

 Dr. Griffith's incumbency, had necessitated the replanting 

 of the greater part of the grounds, the obliteration of 

 old walks, and the construction of new -. it was also 

 necessary to fill up tanks whose waters, by injudicious 

 cuttings, were destroying some of the most valuable parts of 

 the land, to drain many acres, and to raise embankments 

 to prevent the encroachments of the Hoogly : the latter 

 being a work attended with great expense, now cripples 

 the resources of the garden library, and other valuable 

 adjuncts ; for the trees which were planted for the purpose 

 having been felled and sold, it became necessary to buy 

 timber at an exorbitant price. 



The avenue of Cycas trees {Cycas circinalis), once the 

 admiration of all visitors, and which for beauty and 

 singularity was unmatched in any tropical garden, had 

 been swept away by the same unsparing hand which 

 had destroyed the teak, mahogany, clove, nutmeg, and 

 cinnamon groves. In 1847, when I first visited the 

 establishment, nothing was to be seen of its former beauty 

 and grandeur, but a few noble trees or graceful palms 

 rearing their heads over a low ragged jungle, or spreading 

 their broad leaves or naked limbs over the forlorn hope 

 of a botanical garden, that consisted of open clay beds, 

 disposed in concentric circles, and baking into brick under 

 the fervid heat of a Bengal sun. 



The rapidity of growth is so great in this climate, that 

 within eight months from the commencement of the 

 improvements, a great change had already taken place. 

 The grounds bore a park-like appearance ; broad shady 



