Portrait of Aden Tchebu Lama. Sketched by Lieut. H. Maxwell. Fig. 64. Silver chain and hooks, ornamented with turquoises, used to fasten women’s cloaks. Fig. 65. Horns of the Showa stag of Tibet (_Cervus wallichii_). Sketched by Lieut. H. Maxwell. Fig. 66. Rajah’s house at Tumloong, in the foreground the cottage in which Dr. Campbell was confined, with the Dewan’s retinue passing. This is partly executed from memory. Fig. 67. Tibetan tobacco-pipe and tinder-pouch, with steel attached. Fig. 68. Lepcha sepoys, the right hand figures, and Tibetan ones on the left. Fig. 69. Dr. Falconer’s residence, Calcutta Botanic Gardens; from Sir L. Peel’s grounds, looking across the Hoogly. Fig. 70. View in the Jheels of Bengal, with Khasia mountains in the distance. Fig. 71. Living bridge, formed of the aerial roots of figs. Fig. 72. Dewan’s ear-ring of pearl and turquoises. Fig. 73. Waterfalls at Mamloo, with fan-palms. Fig. 74. Kollong rock. Fig. 75. Chela, on the Boga-panee river. Fig. 76. Nonkreem village, with boulders of denudation. Fig. 77. Bellows of iron smelters in the Khasia mountains. Fig. 78. Old bridge at Amwee. Fig. 79. Stones at Nurtiung. Fig. 80. _Dipterocarpus turbinatus,_ gurjun or wood-oil tree. [Illustration: Dhurma Rajah’s Seal] To CHARLES DARWIN, F.R.S., etc. This volume is dedicated, by his affectionate friend, J. D. HOOKER Kew, _Jan_. 12_th_, 1854 PREFACE Having accompanied Sir James Ross on his voyage of discovery to the Antarctic regions, where botany was my chief pursuit, on my return I earnestly desired to add to my acquaintance with the natural history of the temperate zones, more knowledge of that of the tropics than I had hitherto had the opportunity of acquiring. My choice lay between India and the Andes, and I decided upon the former, being principally influenced by Dr. Falconer, who promised me every assistance which his position as Superintendent of the H.E.I.C. Botanic Garden at Calcutta, would enable him to give. He also drew my attention to the fact that we were ignorant even of the geography of the central and eastern parts of these mountains, while all to the north was involved in a mystery equally attractive to the traveller and the naturalist. On hearing of the kind interest taken by Baron Humboldt in my proposed travels, and at the request of my father (Sir William Hooker), the Earl of Carlisle (then Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests) undertook to represent to Her Majesty’s Government the expediency of securing my collections for the Royal Gardens at Kew; and owing to the generous exertions of that nobleman, and of the late Earl of Auckland (then First Lord of the Admiralty), my journey assumed the character of a Government mission, £400 per annum being granted by the Treasury for two years.