4 MARCH 1854, Page 23

BOOKS.

HOOKER'S HIMALAYAN JOURNALS.*

ON looking at a map of India, the reader will see that the Hima- layan range drops in a South-easterly direction from its most Northerly point, till it approaches Calcutta at a distance of less than four hundred miles. The region which lies in a direct line North from the City of Palaces is Sikkim, a comparatively small district placed between Nepaul and Bhootan, and under so- called British protection. The climate is moister than in the more Northerly portions of the Himalaya, and its highest peaks must yield in altitude to those of other parts of the range ; but as some of the elevations are upwards of 20,000 feet, and Dr. Hooker experienced a fall of snow on the 28th July, they are quite high and cold enough. When the loftier passes are reached, and the explorer looks upon or enters the table-land of Thibet, be has the dry searching winds, the peculiar people, and the peculiar animals of Tartary. In this district Dr. Hooker was employed between two and

three years, (1848-18500 exploring botanizing, observing, and often contending with the local authorities, who under the direc- tion of the Dewan, or prime minister of Sikkim, threw obstacles in his way. His volumes also contain a narrative of his tour from Calcutta to Dorjiling, our station in Sikkim, and a final excursion to Silhet and Khasia, lying East of Calcutta through the delta of the Ganges. The subjects of Dr. Hooker's volumes are personal adventures, the incidents of travel in wild and scarcely known regions, de- scriptions of man and nature.AaCombined with these are accounts of the botany and geology orthe districts he is passing through, disquisitions on such scientific points as singular facts may give rise to, and a narrative of the daily journey almost of the nature of an itinerary. There is thus a sort of separate interest in the matter of the book. The general reader cares little for names or facts that suggest nothing to his mind; the intermixture of popu- lar with botanical, geological, or geographical information, may divert the attention of the scientific student. Perhaps a memoir geographically divided into sections, with a distinct personal nar- rative, would have been the most effective mode of presentation. The continual intermixture of unconnected topics, coupled with a daily detail of route, though geographically necessary, induces a sense of tiredness in the reader. This feeling, however, arises rather from the length of the work than from anything fatiguing in the parts. A narrative of nearly eight hundred pages requires to be lightened by every artifice of composition. This remark only applies to the volumes as a whole and for con- tinuous reading. The Himalayan Journals are a vast storehouse of deeply interesting facts, curious, instructive, and varied in sub- ject. Dr. Hooker is not only a naturalist of wide experience, extending from the frozen to the torrid zones ; he is also a surgeon and a sailor, with the living associations which those professions generally impart. His range of sympathies are wider than the Roman's ; embracing animals, plants, rocks, and earths, as well as man. Hence, almost every spot he passes over offers somethine.b of interest. Even the half-reasoning elephant, observed as he has

been by all observers, furnishes a new theme.

"After breakfast, Mr. Williams and I started on an elephant, following the camp to Gym, twelve miles distant. The docility of these animals is an old story, but it loses so much in the telling, that their gentleness, obedience, and sagacity, seemed as strange to me as if I had never heard or read of these attributes. The swinging motion under a hot sun is very oppressive, but compensated for by being so high above the dust. The mahout or driver guides by poking his great toes under either ear, enforcing obedience with an iron goad, with which he hammers the animal's head with quite as much force as would break a cocoa-nut, or drives it through his thick skin down to the quick. A most disagreeable sight it is to see the blood and yellow fat oozing out in the broiling sun from these great punctures. Our elephant was an excellent one, when he did not take obstinate fits, and so docile as to pick uppieces of stone when desired, and with a jerk of the trunk throw them over his head for the rider to catch, thus saving the trouble of dis- mounting to geologize.

"The latter part of the journey I performed on elephants during the heat of the day, and a more uncomfortable mode of conveyance surely never was adopted ; the camel's pace is more fatiguing, but that of the elephant is ex- tremely trying after a few miles, and is so injurious to the human frame that the mahouts (drivers) never reach an advanced age, and often succumb Young to spine diseases, brought on by the incessant motion of the vertebral column. The broiling heat of the elephant's black back, and the odour of its oily driver, are disagreeable accompaniments, as are its habits of snorting water from its trunk over its parched skin, and the consequences of the great bulk of green food which it consumes."

The moisture of the 'lower portions of the Nepaulese Himalaya induces a number of insect troubles from which the drier and more Northerly parts of the range are comparatively free. Here is an example of a pleasant excursion.

Himalayan Journals; or Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Ne- Paul Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, &c. By Joseph Dalton Hooker, M.D., F.B.S. With Maps (Ind Illustrations. In two volumes. Published by Mur- ray. "The weather continued very hot for the elevation, (4000 to 5000 feet,) the rain brought no coolness, and for the greater part of the three marches between Singtam and Chakoong, we were either wading through deep mud, or climbing over rocks. Leeches swarmed in incredible profusion in the streams and damp grass, and among the bushes : they got into my hair, hung on my eyelids and crawled up my legs and down my back r repeatedly took upwards of a hundred from my legs, where the small ones used to collect in clusters on the instep : the sores which they produced were not healed for five months afterwards, and I retain the scars to the present day. Snuff and tobacco leaves are the best antidote, but when marching in the rain, it is impossible to apply this simple remedy to any advantaze. The best plan I found to be rolling the leaves over the feet, inside the stockings, and powder- ing the legs with snuff.

"Another pest is a small midge, or sand-fly, which causes intolerable itching and subsequent irritation, and is in this respect the most insufferable torment in Sikkim ; the minutest rent in one's clothes is detected by the acute senses of this insatiable bloodsucker, which is itself so small as to be barely visible without a microscope. We daily arrived at our campaigning ground streaming with blood, and mottled with the bites of peepsas, gnats, midges, and mosquitos, besides being infested with ticks."

The higher regions, of course, are free from these pests, and on the Southern side almost from specimens of animal life which in Thibet are somewhat more numerous. Here is a picture of deso- lation in the Donkia pass, and a more animated view from the mountain Bhomtso.

"Before leaving I took one more long look at the boundless prospect ; and, now that its important details were secured, I had leisure to reflect on the impression it produced. There is no loftier country on the globe than that embraced by this view, and no more howling wilderness; well might the Singtam Soubah and every Tibetan describe it as the loftiest, coldest, windiest, and most barren country in the world. Were it buried in everlast- ing snows, or burnt by a Tropical sun, it might still be as utterly sterile ; but with such sterility I had long been familiar. Here the colourings are those of the fiery desert or volcanic island, while the climate is that of the Poles. Never, in the course of all my wanderings, had my eye rested on a scene so dreary and inhospitable. The 'cities of the plain' lie sunk in no more deathlike sea than Cholamoo lake, nor are the tombs of Petra hewn in more desolate cliffs than those which flank the valley of the Tibetan Arun.

"No village or house is seen throughout the extensive area over which the eye roams from Bhomtso, and the general character of the desolate land- scape was similar to that which I have described as seen from Donkia Pass (p. 124.) The wild ass grazing with its foal on the sloping downs, the hare bounding over the stony soil, the antelope scouring the sandy fiats, and the fox stealing along to his burrow, are all desert and Tartarian types of the animal creation. The shrill whistle of the marmdt alone breaks the silence of the scene, recalling the snows of Lapland to the mind : the kite and raven wheel through the air, a thousand feet over head, with as strong and steady a pinion as if that atmosphere possessed the same power of resistance that it does at the level of the sea. Still higher in the heavens, long black V shaped trains of wild geese cleave the air, shooting over the glacier- crowned top of Kinchinjhow, and winging their flight in one day, perhaps, from the Yam to the Ganges, over 500 miles of space, and through 22,000 feet of elevation. One plant alone, the yellow lichen, (Borrera,) is found at this height, and only as a visitor; for Tartarlike, it emigrates over these lofty slopes and ridges, blown about by the violent winds. I found a small beetle on the very top, probably blown up also, for it was a flower-feeder, and seemed benumbed with cold."

Scattered throughout the volumes as occasions arise, are va- rious questions as to the distribution and limitation of plants, and the geological operations of nature. The sum of these is, that the variety and adaptability of nature is greater than is generally sup- posed, and that the speculations of geologists are probably too bold and rash ; effects being produced by quicker and simpler means than is often assumed. The delta of the Ganges furnishes an in- stance of the great variety of objects that a slight submergence and a subsequent elevation would cast up, and the coal-fields of Bard- wan an example to avoid hasty conclusions.

"To the geologist the Jhecls and Sunderbunds are a most instructive re- gion, as whatever may be the mean elevation of their waters, a permanent depression of ten to fifteen feet would submerge an immense tract, which the Ganges, Burrampooter, and Soormah would boon cover with beds of silt and sand. There would be extremely few shells in the beds thus formed, the Southern and Northern divisions of which would present two very dif- ferent floras and faunas, and would in all probability be referred by future geologists to widely different epochs. To the North, beds of peat would be formed by grasses, and in other parts, Temperate and Tropical forms of plants and animals would be preserved in such equally-balanced proportions as to confound the palaeontologist; with the bones of the long-snouted alligator, Gangetic porpoise, Indian cow, buffalo, rhinoceros, elephant, tiger, deer, boar, and a host of other animals, he would meet with acorns of several species of oak, pine-cones and magnolia fruits, rose seeds, and Cycas nuts, with palm nuts, screw-pines, and other Tropical productions. On the other hand, the Sunderbunds portion, though containing also the bones of the tiger, deer, and buffalo, would have none of the Indian cow, rhinoceros, or elephant; there would be different species of porpoise, alligator, and deer, and none of the above-mentioned plants, (Cyan, oak, pine, magnolia, and rose,) which would be replaced by numerous others' all distinct from those of the Jheels, and many of them indicative of the influence of salt water, whose proximity (from the rarity of sea-shells) might not otherwise be suspected.

• •

"I cannot, however, think that botanical evidence of such a nature is suffi- cient to warrant a satisfactory reference of these Indian coal-fields to the same epoch as those of England or of Australia ; in the first place, the out- lines of the fronds of ferns and their nervation are frail characters if em- ployed alone for the determination of existing genera, and much more so of fossil fragments : in the second place, recent ferns are so widely distributed, that an inspection of the majority affords little clue to the region or locality they come from : and in the third place, considering the wide difference in latitude and longitude of Yorkshire, India, and Australia, the natural con- clusion is, that they could not have supported a similar vegetation at the same epoch. In fact, finding similar fossil plants at places widely different in latitude, and hence in climate, is, in the present state of our knowledge,

rather an argument against than for their having existed contemporaneously. .

"Specific identity of their contained fossils may be considered as fair evi- dence of the contemporaneous origin of boils; but amongst the many collections of fossil plants that I have examined, there is hardly a specimen belonging to any epoch, sufficiently perfect to warrant the assumption that species to which it belonged can be again recognized. The botanical evidences which geologists too often accept as proofs of specific identity are such as no botanist would attach any importance to in the investigation of existing plants. The faintest traces assumed to be of vegetable origin are habitually made into genera and species by naturalists ignorant of the structure, affini- ties, and distribution of living plants; and of such materials the bulk of so- called systems of fossil plants is composed."

However important natural investigations may be, and however striking descriptions of scenery, man' after all, is the great attrac- tion; and our traveller's objects led him among a poor and simple people, removed, through the inhospitable nature of their country, or the ignorance and tyranny of their rulers, from most of the arts and conveniences of civilized life or the knowledge of civilized men. What arts they possess seem mainly to have been in- troduced by religion—that form of Budhism which has its head in the grand Lama of Thibet, the Pope of the Indo-Chinese world. As with Romanism during the middle ages, the arts and knowledge of the priesthood have been exercised for their own convenience and benefit rather than for the advancement of the people ; and in the Nepaulese Himalaya and Thibet the people were not enough instructed to profit by what they saw. The Lamas resemble the Rotnish clergy, too, in many other respects. They have convents for men and women, vows of celibacy, dispensations, holy places, pilgrimages, penances, and a long gradation of priests. Two cuts of costumes introduced by Dr. Hooker into his text have a strong general resemblance to the highest orders of Romish priests. Their services are very like those of the Papal Church ; and they apply art to aid devotion, though with more laxity or liberality than the Romanists display.

" Changachelling temples and choits crown a beautiful rocky eminence on the ridge, their roofs, cones, and spires peeping through groves of bamboo, rhododendrons, and arbutus ; the ascent is by broad flights of steps cut in the mica-slate rocks, up which shaven and girdled monks, with rosaries and long red gowns, were dragging loads of bamboo stems, that produced a curi- ous rattling noise. At the summit there is a fine temple, with the ruins of several others, and of many houses ; the greater part of the principal temple, which is two-storied and divided into several compartments, is occupied by families. The monks were busy repairing the part devoted to worship, which consists of a large chamber and vestibule of the usual form ; the out- side walls are daubed red, with a pigment of burnt felspathic clay, which is dug hard by. Some were painting the vestibule with colours brought from Lhassa, where they had been trained to the art. Amongst other figures was

one playing on a guitar, a v common symbol in the vestibules of Sikkim temples. I also saw an angel playing on the flute, and a snake-king offering fruit to a figure in the water, who was grasping a serpent. Amongst the figures I was struck by that of an Englishman, whom, to my amusement and the limner's great delight, I recognized as myself. I was depicted in a flowered-silk coat instead of a tartan shooting-jacket, my shoes were turned up at the toes, and I had on spectacles and a tartar cap, and was writing notes in a book. On one side a snake-king was politely handing me fruit, and on the other a horrible &onion was writhing.

"A crowd had collected to see whether I should recognize myself, and when I did so the merriment was extreme. They begged me to send them a supply of vermilion, gold-leaf, and brushes ; our so-called camel's- hair pencils being much superior to theirs' which are made of marmot's

hair. re

"The head Lama, my jolly fat friend of the 20th of December, came to breakfast with me, followed by several children—nephews and nieces, he said ; but they were uncommonly like him for such a distant relationship, and he seemed extremely fond of them, and much pleased when I stuffed them with sugar."

The spectacles excited attention and imitation elsewhere.

"I descended to the Kulhait river, on my route back to Dorjiling, visiting my very hospitable tippling friend the Kajee of Lingcharn on the way down : he humbly begged me to get him a pair of spectacles, for no other object than to look wise, as he had the eyes of a hawk : he told me that mine drew down universal respect in Sikkim, and that I had been drawn with them on in the temple at Chaneachelling, and that a pair would not only wonderfully become him, but afford him the most pleasing recollections of myself. Happily, I had the means of gratifying him, and have since been told that he wears them on state occasions."

The Rajah, the nominal ruler of Sikkim, was a mild saintly person, who had nearly reached the state of spiritual abstraction which Budhism desiderates. He was consequently in the hands of his Dewan, a sharp, active, intriguing fellow, and for Sikkim a man of energy. His ignorance of the world and of diplomatic usage, however, was so great that he laid violent hands upon Dr. Campbell, the resident at Dorjiling, when travelling in Sikkim with Dr. Hooker, in order to obtain redress of some grievances and extort a treaty from the Company ; Doctor Hooker too was de- tained with his official friend, but not so stringently. As the drama progressed, the Dewan became alarmed, though to the wry last he did not thoroughly understand his predicament. Strange to say, he was, so far as we were concerned, permitted to get off scot free. The Indian Government and Lord Dal- housie, in whose suite Dr. Hooker had gone out, threatened vengeance ; troops were moved up to Dorjiling ; but when all seemed ready, the general in command pronounced the country "impracticable for a British army," and Napier, on reference to him, is said to have confirmed this opinion. It seems an odd con- clusion, that British troops could not act where other men could live and move ; but the singular part of the judgment is the omis- sion to inquire into the obstacles to be overcome. These, accord- ing to Dr. Hooker, were some twenty-five muskets, which con- stituted the national artillery of Sikkim, and for which musketeers would certainly have been wanting. However, the Rajah did not altogether escape ; for a district of his most profitable land, lying convenient, was "annexed," and the Dewan lost his place. The volumes are illustrated by two good maps, a number of coloured plates and a profusion of wood-cuts, which reflect great credit on 'Dr. Hooker's talent as a draughtsman, and impress the reader by means of the visible image.