April, 1848. HEALTHINESS OF CLIMATE. llii 



and produce, stock, &c, by the originator and a few 

 friends ; a measure attended with eminent success. 



In estimating in a sanitory point of view the value 

 of any health-station, little reliance can be placed on 

 the general impressions of invalids, or even of residents ; 

 the opinion of each varies with the nature and state 

 of his complaint, if ill, or with his idiosyncracy and dis- 

 position, if well. I have seen prejudiced invalids rapidly 

 recovering, in spite of themselves, and all the while 

 complaining in unmeasured terms of the climate of 

 Dorjiling, and abusing it as killing them. Others are known 

 who languish under the heat of the plains at one season, 

 and the damp at another; and who, though sickening 

 and dying under its influence, yet consistently praise a 

 tropical climate to the last. The opinions of those who 

 resort to Dorjiling in health, differ equally ; those of active 

 minds invariably thoroughly enjoy it, while the mere 

 lounger or sportsman mopes. The statistical tables afford 

 conclusive proofs of the value of the climate to Europeans 

 suffering from acute diseases, and they are corroborated by 

 the returns of the medical officer in charge of the station. 

 With respect to its suitability to the European constitution 

 I feel satisfied, and that much saving of life, health, and 

 money would be effected were European troops drafted 

 thither on their arrival in Bengal, instead of being 

 stationed in Calcutta, exposed to disease, and temptation 

 to those vices which prove fatal to so many hundreds. 

 This, I have been given to understand, was the view 

 originally taken by the Court of Directors, but it has 

 never been carried out. 



I believe that children's faces afford as good an index 

 as any to the healthfullness of a climate, and in no part of 

 the world is there a more active, rosy, and bright young 



