changed the scene of his labours from the south to the north-east of Hindoostan,
being appointed, in 1802, to accompany the embassy to Nepal, conducted by
Captain Knox. In the course of this journey, and his subsequent residence in
Nepal, he made large additions to his former collections of rare plants; which,
with descriptions and numerous drawings, he transmitted to Mr J. E. Smith.
It was during this period also that he collected the greater part of the materials
for his "History of Nepal," which he published in 1818, some years after he
had retired from the Company's service. On his return from Nepal he was ap-
pointed surgeon to the governor-general, and he employed such leisure time as
lie had for the study of natural history, in superintending the menagerie founded
by the Marquis Wellesley, and in describing the animals which it contained. Of
Lord Wellesley Dr Buchanan always spoke in terms of high admiration and devoted
attachment ; he considered his government in India as being not less wise and
beneficent, than it was eminently successful. Undoubtedly India owes much
to this distinguished nobleman; and it would have been happy, both for her
native population, and her merchant princes, had her government been always
intrusted to men of such practical capacity and unblemished integrity. In 1805,
Dr Buchanan accompanied his noble patron to England; and, in the following
year, was again sent to India by the court of directors, for the purpose of
making a statistical survey of the territory under the presidency of Fort William,
which comprehends Bengal Proper and several of the adjoining districts. With
this Laborious undertaking he was occupied for upwards of seven years, after
which he returned to Calcutta; and, on the death of Dr Roxburgh, in 1814,
succeeded him as superintendant of the botanical garden, having been appointed
successor to that respectable botanist by the Court of Directors so early as 1807.
But he was now exhausted with long continued exertion: his services had been
liberally rewarded by the East India Company; an independant and honourably
acquired fortune relieved him from the necessity of encountering any longer the
hardships incident to his former mode of life, among tribes half-civilized, and
often somewhat less than half-friendly, and exposed to the malignant influence
of Indian climate; and he naturally wished to enjoy the close of a busy life,
free from the responsibility and inquietudes of public service, in some peaceful
retirement in his native land.
While he was preparing for his voyage home, he was deprived, by the Marquis of Hastings, of all the botanical drawings which had been made under his inspection, during his last stay in India, and which he intended to have deposited with his other collections in the library of the India house. This circumstance he greatly regretted, as he feared that the drawings would thus be totally lost to the public. "To me," says Dr Buchanan, in a paper which was published among the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, "to me, as an individual, they were of no value, as I preserve no collection, and as I have no occasion to convert them into money."
On his arrival in England in 1815, he presented to the court of Directors his collection of plants and minerals, some papers on the geography of Ava, several genealogical tables, nine hundred Indian coins, gold and silver a collection of Indian drugs, his notes on Natural History, a few drawing and about twenty curious Hindoo MSS. He then proceeded to Scotland, where he I to enjoy the fruits of his toil in quiet. On his arrival, he found his elder brother, Colonel Hamilton, involved in pecuniary difficulties, from which he could only be partially relieved by the sale of such parts of the family estates as had not been entailed. Dr Buchanan, who was himself next heir, Colonel Hamilton having no children, agreed to pay his brother's debts, which amounted altogether to upwards of £l5,000. His brother soon after died abroad, whither
