In 1846, Joseph Dalton Hooker a botanist, biogeographer and traveler obtained a government grant for the trip to India. And as fate would have it, he was granted free passage on the ships taking Lord Dalhousie, the newly-appointed Governor General, to India. After visiting Calcutta, Hooker came to Darjeeling where he met Brian Houghton Hodgson, an expert on Nepalese culture, Buddhism and collector of Sanskrit manuscripts who was also a passionate naturalist. The two became close friends and Hodgson helped Hooker prepare for his trip into the Himalaya. [snip] http://beacononline.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/personalities-hooker-sir-joseph-dalton/#more-34763 --- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar