Natural History of Kanchenjunga

Joseph Dalton Hooker was a pioneer plant geographer. After returning from the Antarctic and working on fossil plants as a member of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, he sought an opportunity to study the vegetation of mountains in the tropics. In 1847, helped by a small grant from the Treasury, he sailed for India. In 1848-49, from headquarters at Darjeeling in the north-eastern Himalayas, he explored Sikkim and eastern Nepal, reaching the Tibetan passes. Hooker’s versatility and keen observation in many fields is shown in his Himalayan Journals, first published in 1854: this is an outstanding travel book appealing to scientists in many fields. Of his extensive collections of plants the Rhododendrons were especially notable and many species were for the first time introduced into cultivation in England. He also carried out a detailed topographical survey of the area and this formed the basis for subsequent official maps.