Darjeeling
October 20. 1848 *1
My dear Father
I wish you could have been with me this morning & seen the motley group of natives arranging with Campbell & myself the preliminaries towards my trip to the snows. -- of various tribes colors & callings such as one rarely sees any of & still more rarely all together: I must however begin at the beginning & tell you that Campbell has at last wrenched a reluctant assent from the Rajah of Sikkim to my visiting his snowy mts. In my last I informed you of his having returned a rude & flat refusal to Ld. D[alhousie]'s request in[sic] my behalf: & also of his having stationed 80 men at one pass, & 25 at two others, to intercept my exit from our territories into his, where his intentions were to capture my serv[an]ts: but lay no hands on myself: these Campbell insisted on being withdrawn, under penalty of dismissing the Rajah's representative (giving the Ambass[ador] his letter in short) & they were so. C[ampbell] also gave the R[ajah]. 8 days to consider about change his mind or have his conduct reported to head quarters with recommendations for condign punishment. Ten days past & no word, when the R[ajah]'s agent, or minister if you will, (Vakeel is the technical term) was told that should no message arrive before the coming post horn the letter to Lord D[alhousie] should be sent.

The answer was that advices had arrived to the effect that permission was given provided Dr C[ampbell]. pledge his word that this should be my only visit & that a similar request should never be made hereafter. Such conditions were peremptorily rejected as not only derogatory in the highest degree, but insuring me the worst reception. They were again dismissed in disgrace to read their advices again, which they did & returned this morning with unconditional permission. This was followed by a long lecture on the impropriety of their conduct; the danger they had been in offending our government, & wound up with a comparison of their conduct with that of an independent power the R[ajah]. of Nepaul [Nepal], who had sent to Darjeeling an officer & guard to escort me in Nepaul, with instructions to provide me with carriage for my traps & food for my people.
All this was a curtain affair of course, as it would not have done to let the Ghorkas or others witness our scurvy treatment by the Sikkim Rajahs Emissaries. The latter no doubt had their instructions from the first to deliver the rude refusal & if that answered the purpose good & well, if not to propose the other alternative seriatim & if defeated in all to give in with as bad a grace as might be. This hard & disagreeable work over we

all met in the verandah & the Salaams passed between myself & the characters to whom I should have liked to introduce you. First there was the Rajah's Vakeel a portly tall & muscular Thibetan [Tibetan], clothed in a long red robe like a cardinals, looped across down the middle, & round his neck & down his shoulders hung a rosary. His face was not strongly Chinese at all, stern, grave & stolid, thoroughly obstinate & impracticable: thin lips, a good chin, flat thin arched nose & narrow nostrils, high cheek bones & forehead cold grey eyes & handsome brows -- no beard or moustache & a nut brown but not bronzed complexion: his years must be above 60 & his hair was thin scant & grizzled -- a stiff black scull[sic] cap with high brim standing up all round & rather set off the repelling look he maintained. Taken to pieces he might be described as a funny mixture of the old woman from his beardless face, the Lama priest from his dress & Rosary; & lively well do to[sic] Landsman deported from some Swiss canton to resist to the uttermost the demands of a dangerous neighbour power. Unflinching during under opposition & unscrupulous in makeshifts, of the always the bear, often the bully, ever the sturdy opponent of the overtures of his antagonist even when designed for his own good. These qualities together with an unblushing effrontery & consummate

skill in fabrication, & a large interest in the monopoly of Sikkim trade, rendered[?] him a fit tool for the Rajah. Beaten at all points he has to give in, & then he stands showing neither sulks nor smiles, just respectful enough to avoid censure & no more. A real character stands at his elbow an little old withered Thibetan, leaning on his long Bamboo bow, simply clothed in a woollen robe, his long grey hair floating in the wind; not bowed with age, of mild expression & stone blind: he is a Seneschal to the party devoted to his country, & the companion of Rajah's deputations to the Political agent of the powerful government whose advances his master rejects. When he speaks, & this is very seldom (& as it is always in his own half Chinese tongue which no Englishman can interpret it) the brother[?] of his story passes from tongue to tongue -- he is evidently the oracle of the party: his placid looks & grey hairs would lead me to confide in him & address him as Father: but I have a grim suspicion that his views narrow as his years grown on, that he was bereaved of his best & brightest sense before our power showed itself in these hills; & that his crafty companions have taken advantage of this & done no more than leave him in the dark as to our deal. Power to punish but wish to reward & encourage.

The attendants upon these, the Rajah's representatives, (& their own for being holding a a large sharer in the monopoly of the Sikkim trade, the Vakeel has more interest than his master in excluding strangers), were short, stout, thick-set Bhoteas, clad in purple worsted dressing gowns fastened round the middle by a belt, bare headed & footed very dirty & ill favoured with--all. Next companions to these are my Nepal guards, just arrived to accompany me to the Nepal frontier & conduct me from thence: The Havildar, (corporal I believe) is a small fine boned man with little hands & small wrists & ankles, of the Kawass tribe, who boast descent from the Rajpoots & are generally in Nepal the slaves of the Rajah's body, sometimes soldiers, & more rarely rise to the rank of gentleman. He looks business like & trusty, is very handsome, swarthy with small moustache, broad forehead, bright open eye, good nose, handsome mouth & small prominent chin -- a pretty little turban sits nattily on his head, of black, woven with silver thread & the numbers of his corps worked in silver on front, right over it a red mark on his forehead which represents his caste amongst Hindus. The coat is a loose rover like jacket -- of purple with silk braid in front, over a white undergarment of cotton, open down the left right breast & exposing his chest & long neck. A checked cummerbund is twisted folded many times round his middle from his nether garments, which are short, loose & broad -- what with his jaunty dress, careless air & roving eye he would pass for a sea freebooter -- (out of Coopers *2 novels for instance but less mannered & theatrical & more real than the trailed out coxcombs of that author, who are the prototypes of Mr T.P. Cooke, rather than real fire eaters). The Ghorkha Sepoys are immense fellows, stout & brawny, of curious cast of feature, heavy jointed & rather small eyed: they wear small linen skull--caps over their long carefully combed & jet black hair, which falls hangs in heavy folds down the side of the head: they wear, too, scarlet loose jackets, very light & gaudy, with a cookery stench & the cummerbund & heavy iron sword at their side. It would take pages to describe the various groups of bystanders; mild Lepchas in striped cotton, long naked--limbed Ghorkhas, of model muscle & saucy air; & Bhoteas of all shades of Chinese feature; & Bhootanese [Bhutanese] or subjects of the Dhurma Rajah, being with one another in rags, dirt, hideous ugliness & quaint ornaments; some deeply scarred with small pox & the pits such receptacles of blackness that their visages looked as if peppered with duck--shot -- most have turned up eyes, very prominent cheek bones projecting baboon mouth & large teeth: nearly all are of villainous countenance, of singularly low forehead & bad cut of head; the predominance of the animal propensities (vide the phrenologist) being well displayed from the

custom of clipping close the hair. These cis Himalayan Bhooteas whether of Sikkim, or worse still of Bhootan [Bhutan], are as uncouth a race (short not to be of savages like the Australian or Fijian) as I ever beheld. A little sprinkling of Hindus & Musselmen chiefly our servants with the above comprises the native oriental population, amongst them all were Mrs Campbell's beautiful children, holding by our hands & as indifferent to the wild races about them as an English child scared by the sight of an English beggar man.
And now I dare say you will be ready to ask, what confidence I can expect to repose with, reasonable prudence is such a gauge -- & this is easily answered. I take no money, & my plant papers & instruments are poor plunder. The people, though so averse to foreigners, do neither rob nor injure: were they inclined to, the Rajah's power over his people & his mortal dread of us, would be a sufficient protection. Further I have the Nepalese guard before whom for my shame they must be polite & attentive & in whom as acting under the orders of their Gov[ernmen]t. The most implicit reticence may be reported for the Ghorkas when under orders or in confidential employ is the soul of honor & of politeness too. Lastly as they will not get a rup[ee] of pay till they bring me back safe & what they will receive then will be a fortune to each, they will consult their own interests as well as mine: so I expect devoted service from my guard: for it is their pride to devote themselves under such orders & auspices; compromises will form what Lepchas I may take; passive obedience from such of the Rajah's men as may accompany me, perhaps a little obstinacy & presumptuous interference at first & incidence, which I can better check with ridicule & exposure before the Ghorkas than by any other means -- The Bhootea porter will keep one eye on me & the other on the Rajah's men & serve both masters if they can.
My great aim is so to conduct this attempt that it may be followed by another attended. & to avoid suspicion. This will be difficult. Sikkim: for the first few marches I shall make few or no observations except of barometer &c in my tent: the only explanation they a a Bhotea can harbour of which is my desire to take the country. In Nepal I may do as I like the Ghorkha having no orders to stop my observing : but in Sikkim I cannot touch a stone or pull a plant without disturbing the Gods, in other words exciting suspicion. I go however ostensibly as a Botanist & I will warrant that before 2 days are over every man jack of them will be collecting for me. I have always found frankness & openness good policy with any nation, especially if

combined with a reasonable amount of personal vanity which I abundantly possess & pre assumption of superiority, & above all a liberally flattering opinion of the people openly expressed.
The Sikk Rajah's people just offered attendants carriers & porters & then withdrew the offer; which I am glad of, as the latter will be my own people & have a double interest in behaving well: they after some hesitance give me a guide, he looks a good man enough & Campbell has seen him repeatedly, he is to accompany us in Nepal too if I like & this will depend on what sort of servant I find him: I have no fear of managing one & all when the Rajah's own myrmidons are out of sight, for the natives like us & profit by our advances.
My route for 5 marches nearly due N[orth] of this, to the foot of Kinchin [Kanchenjunga] crossing 4 or 5 mountain ridges running E[ast] & W[est],& each some 4 -- 6000 ft I suppose divided by as many broad narrow rapid streams. I then ascend Kinchin to a village called Jongri on the S[outh] W[est] face of the Mt & about a days march from the perpetual snow, the latter I presume about 15--16000 ft & perhaps Jongri 12000. Thence I strike W[est] crossing barren spurs of K[inchin]., till I come to one enormous spur, which runs south & is the boundary of Sikkim & Nepal. There will be neither firewood or brushwood on these 3 marches from Jongri to Nepal frontier, here the Ghurkha guard becomes my guard & I descend considerably, going N[orth. W[est]. over valley ridges from Kinchin & Valleys some bare & some wooded, for 4 days or so, till I reach the Kangliachem pass to Thibet [Tibet], I have no expectation of crossing the ghat, the season is late coming to the heavy rains & snows. (the Ghorka guard may say with truth "I shall compromise our gov[ernmen]t by allowing you") the Rajah of Sikkim will probably have informed the Lhassa authorities & placed guards there & finally he himself has a property at the back of Kinchin which he would not like me to see.
On the second March from this Darjeeling I am on ground untrodden by any European & I expect it will be very curious to trace the limits of vegetation on the narrow successive parallel ridges I cross in pushing straight on to the enormous snowy mass in front, which must modify the climate of the ridges progressively as I approach it. From the last valley at the base of K[inchin]. & above the Jongri & beyond I shall trace vegetation from the forest region to perpetual snow. From thence W[est]. I shall there will be spur after spur of K[inchin]. to cross all reaching nearly the perpetual snow. In Nepaul I shall again reach vegetation but soon again to surmount it at the Kangliachem pass.
I hope to start on Wednesday & be away 30 days, there may be opport[unity] of writing by travellers "en route" to Darj[eeling].: if so I will write you, if not you have nothing to fear & none to be disappointed. I cannot tell you how comfortable I feel at the prospect of realizing the fondest dream I ever harboured as a traveller& botanist. After all my toils with Lord D[alhousie]. -- tickling Campbell -- bullying the Rajah -- I have been pooh poohed by one party, looked on as a visionary as[sic] another & a very useful tool

by a third, who say you have not a ghost of a chance yourself of getting gov[?] & Rajahs permission, but you will prepare the way for a future. Lord Auckland, Campbell, Falconer, Hodgson, worst of all Sir Herbert Maddock. Hodgson tried all his friendships & they are most intimate, to move, all looked on with no hope some of them giving me the comfortable assurance that all my efforts would do good though not to myself. Sir H. Maddock luckily went to Ceylon *3, had he got Lord D[alhousie]s ear it would have been all up. He has now returned to be President in Council in Lord D[alhousie]'s absence. -- Campbell has certainly fought the battle well, with great forbearance & firmness & is now as thoroughly devoted to me as it is possible to be. Mrs Campbell is rummaging *4 her larder & storeroom for my comfort; making a veil for my face & providing me with fleecy hosiery &c. Certainly C[ampbell]. has fought from behind the Ajaxian shield of the Gov[ernor]. Gen[eral]. the tone of whose letters shows as kind an interest in me as determination to forward my views & C[ampbell] has also had a heavy rowel in the shape of your teasing son himself. However I take your good motto & "never look the gift horse in the mouth". Though C[ampbell]s original neglect is still a mystery, nothing can exceed his zeal & ardour in my cause & we have been great friends ever since he threw off his political mask the assumption of which of which before me, in my position, was in the last degree ridiculous.
Now I have written you a famously egotistical letter, we bargained for unreserved correspondence & you see I fulfil my promise -- I only beg that you will make not public any of it which holds in it such bright prospects of success towards the snow: in which if I am disappointed much chagrin will accompany my reverting to the contents of this same letter. I never mention Bentham, Harvey, Berkeley &c in my letters, nor have written to them. I still intend to but know that you freely communicate all such intelligence as this is, & as from me -- my affectionate regards to them all. Also please send this to Darwin who as not being a botanist you may forget -- Best love to all yr most aff[ectionate] son J D Hooker [signature]
P.S. *5 The Sikkim authorities men now object to the Ghokha guard, & are silenced by being told that they are my men & that I won't leave them in the lurch. This shews[sic] what I expected that the presence of the Ghorkha is a grand check.
My Lepcha servants are crazy to go with me -- I refused them on account of the expense. I cannot permit their importunity; they are such good creatures & their desire shews[sic] that perfect confidence[sic] in me & my movements is the feeling amongst the natives -- I have given in & bought blankets & warm clothing for 6 of them.