158 



Notice of the Scientijic labors of 



[No. 34, 



mulberry, and other valuable products, at his own expense, a pro- 

 ject which met with the warm approval of the Government. He, at 

 the same time, pointed out the inadequacy of the allowances, scarcely 

 exceeding 200 Rupees per mensem, allotted to him under the instruc- 

 tions of the Court of Directors. The justice of his representation was 

 fully admitted by the Right Honorable S. R. Lushington, and he 

 was permitted to draw an extra allowance of 500 Rupees per men- 

 sem, in addition to the regimental pay and allowances of his rank, al- 

 ready sanctioned by the Court ; subject however to a refund of the 

 excess, in the event of the measure not meeting with the approval of 

 the Honorable Court, which eventually it did not. 



These matters apparently so favorably arranged, Dr. Christie set 

 out on his return to the Hills ; proposing, in the first place, to com- 

 mence operations there, and, in the ensuing cold season, to prosecute 

 his geological researches as far south as Cape Comorin. He was not 

 permitted however to realize any portion of his plans. On the 28th 

 October, soon after his arrival at Ootacamund, an attack of jungle 

 fever, contracted in passing through the Goodaloor jungle at the 

 base of the Neilgherries, showed itself in a complete prostration of 

 the whole nervous system; a symptom on which no remedy seemed to 

 have the slightest influence ; and he sunk on the 3d November, after 

 seven days illness, at the early age of 32. 



Little remains to be added to this sketch of one, the sudden close 

 of whose career cut short a course of projected labors, ere an op- 

 portunity had been afforded of estimating the full value of the qua- 

 lifications brought to bear upon them. To his friends he was en- 

 deared by many of those amiable qualities which are best appreciat- 

 ed in private life. To a kind and obliging disposition he added a 

 singularly modest and unassuming deportment, and a mild and gen- 

 tle address. His talents appeared to be rather solid than brilliant. 

 Their application was characterized by patience, method, and perse- 

 verance ; qualities of peculiar value in a field where neither collate- 

 ral aid, nor facilities of research, were available. The value of these 

 natural qualifications was enhanced by the nature and extent of 

 his acquired advantages. In the words of Professor Jameson, " Dr. 

 Christie's enthusiasm in the cause of science was of the purest and 

 most enthusiastic nature ; and his acquirements in natural history were 

 never surpassed by any British Naturalist who visited India. He 

 was master of the practical and theoretical details and views of meteo- 

 rology, hydrology, geology, mineralogy, and zoology ; and, in botany, 



