324 LAST DAYS IN SIKKIM 
patriarchal countenances,' he adds, * though a close prison 
and heavy threats are not 'pleasant, still I fancy such books as 
Gonfalonieri's and Andry ale's are indebted to a doleful imagina- 
tion for much of their interest.' 
Though for some months he confessed to being ' over- 
whelmed with Sikkim politics,' a return to his own pursuits 
was made all the pleasanter by the knowledge that his action 
was approved by Lord Dalhousie, who wrote him ' the kindest 
letter that ever gentleman penned,' and that, while the news- 
papers reflected on the conduct of all others concerned, he 
' alone came off with high credit.' 
For nearly three months he and Thomson were hard at 
work — ' for hard work it really is ' — preparing the collections 
to go home, filling up gaps where specimens had been lost, 
and completing the Sikkim flora by a visit to the foot of 
the hills. Thomson, fresh from exploration and botanising 
in the North-west Himalayas, was astonished by the magni- 
tude of the collections, which by March ' form a huge mass, 
some 100 men's loads, and I am sure you will be pleased with 
them.' 
Altogether my collections are very handsome, though 
what with the Eajah's tricks and the horrible climate I 
have lost a great many of my large things, as Palm 
plants and fruits, &c., which were to have been dried 
whole for Museum specimens ; these I am replacing as 
fast as I can, and Thomson being in the jungles, get on 
very well. 
The latter was with the military, surveying the new boundary 
and choosing healthy positions for outposts. The forests 
continued to supply new plants. One budget contained seeds 
of 1000 species ; others equally large followed. There were 
100 kinds of woods, including all the Pines and most of the 
Rhododendrons. 
My specimens of Palms were each twelve feet long, and 
the new ones I am getting are as large, but the old ones 
almost all rotted though kept in a room with a constant fire 
during last rains. 
