Norwich and Halesworth, 1785-1820. xxiii 
Kinnordy in Forfarshire, with whom a close intimacy and 
correspondence on Hepaticae had long existed. Returning 
they passed through Manchester for the purpose of seeing 
Mr. Hobson 1 , a packer in a warehouse, who with only the 
works of Withering, Hudson, and the ‘ Muscologia Hibernica * 
had acquired a critical knowledge of British mosses that 
surprised his visitor, who says of him : ‘ I never saw a man 
possessed of more enthusiasm than this poor fellow.’ 
Taking up his residence in Halesworth, my father was for 
the next four years seldom long without interesting and often 
distinguished botanical visitors. Early in 1816 he had stay- 
ing with him, preparing to accompany Earl Amherst as 
medical attendant in his embassy to China, Dr. Clarke Abel 2 , 
a young Norwich friend, whom he had recommended to 
Sir Joseph Banks for that appointment. Dr. Abel returned 
in 1817 and again stayed with my father at Halesworth, 
writing up his journal for publication and naming his plants. 
In the same year M. de Candolle spent some days with 
him, of which the following account is given in the writer’s 
own words 3 : — 
‘ J’allai par les voitures publiques d’abord a Halesworth ou 
demeurait M. Hooker. II me regut avec beaucoup d’amitie 
discover the beginning of my father’s intimacy with Mr. Lyell. It commenced 
when the latter lived at Bartley Lodge, in the New Forest, which he diligently 
explored for Hepaticae. In the introduction to the British Jungermanniae 
Mr. Lyell is mentioned as having suggested alterations in the arrangement of the 
species adopted by Lamarck and de Candolle in the Flore Franfaise. He was 
elected F.L.S. in 1813. 
1 Edward Hobson, who died in 1830, was the author of two volumes 8vo of 
Specimens of British Mosses. 
2 Clarke Abel, M.D., F.L.S., had practised for a short time as surgeon in 
Norwich, when his devotion to natural history led him to seek employment 
abroad. After returning from China he entered the service of the East India 
Company and went to Calcutta, where he won the regard of Dr. Roxburgh at the 
Botanical Gardens. He died at Cawnpore in 1826. His description of the 
tame orang-outang in the Asiatic Researches is classical, as are his works 
on the wild dog of the Himalaya and the crocodile of the Ganges. His Narrative 
of a Journey in the Interior of China (London, 1818) gives an account of the 
misfortunes of the embassy. 
3 M^moires et Souvenirs d’ Augustin-Pyramus de Candolle, edits par lui-meme 
et publies par son fils, p. 272. Gen&ve, 1862. 
