application for official leave to proceed to India; and from the hour
of my accepting the Borneo commission with which he honoured me, he
displayed the most active zeal in promoting its fulfilment.
He communicated to me his views as to the direction in which I should
pursue my researches, furnished me with official and other
information, and provided me with introductions of the most essential
use.] was dead; the interest in Borneo had in a great measure
subsided; H.M.S. "Maeander," to which I had been attached for service
in Labuan, had left the Archipelago; reports of the unhealthy nature
of the coast had excited alarm; and the results of my researches in
the Himalaya had proved of more interest and advantage than had been
anticipated. It was hence thought expedient to cancel the Borneo
appointment, and to prolong my services for a third year in India;
for which purpose a grant of £300 (originally intended for defraying
the expense of collecting only, in Borneo) was transferred as salary
for the additional year to be spent in the Himalaya.

The portion of the Himalaya best worth exploring, was selected for me
both by Lord Auckland and Dr. Falconer, who independently recommended
Sikkim, as being ground untrodden by traveller or naturalist.
Its ruler was, moreover, all but a dependant of the British
government, and it was supposed, would therefore be glad to
facilitate my researches.

No part of the snowy Himalaya eastward of the northwest extremity of
the British possessions had been visited since Turner's embassy to
Tibet in 1789; and hence it was highly important to explore
scientifically a part of the chain which, from its central position,
might be presumed to be typical of the whole range. The possibility
of visiting Tibet, and of ascertaining particulars respecting the