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BUCHANAN, FRANCIS, M.D.
author of Travels in the Mysore, a History of Nepal, &c. was born at
Branziet, in Stirlingshire, February 15th, 1762. He was the third son of
Dr. Thomas Buchanan of Spital, who afterwards succeeded as heir of entail
to the estate of Leney, in Perthshire, and Elizabeth Hamilton heiress of
Bardowie, near Glasgow. As a younger brother he was, of course, destined
to a profession. He chose that of his father; and after the finishing the
elementary parts of his classical education with considerable credit, at
the Grammar School of Glasgow, he commenced his medical studies at the
university, where he remained till he had received his diploma.
Glasgow college has always
enjoyed a high reputation for literature and ethics; but, with the
exception, perhaps, of the department of anatomy, its fame, as a medical
school, has never equalled that of Edinburgh. During the latter part of
the eighteenth century especially, the capital enjoyed a reputation for
medical science scarcely inferior to that of any medical school in Europe.
Its degrees were eagerly desired by students from all parts of Great
Britain, and from many parts of the continent, and its diploma was
available in almost every part of the world as a powerful letter of recommendation.
Buchanan was anxious to secure for himself the advantage of pursuing his
professional studies under the eminent professors, who, at that time, more
than sustained the high reputation which Edinburgh college had already
acquired. Here he remained till he received his degree in 1783. He soon
after was appointed assistant-surgeon on board a man-of-war, a situation
from which he was afterwards obliged to retire on account of ill health.
He now spent some years at
home, in the country, his health being so bad as to disqualify him for all
active exertion, till 1794, when he received an appointment as surgeon in
the East India Company's service, on the Bengal establishment. The voyage
to India completely restored his health, and on his arrival he was sent
with Captain Symes on his mission to the court of Ava. In the course of
his medical studies, Dr. Buchanan had paid particular attention to botany,
and its cognate branches of natural science; and during his present visit
to the Birman Empire, he had an opportunity of making some valuable
collections of the plants of Pegu, Ava, and the Andaman Islands, which,
together with several interesting drawings, he transmitted to the court of
directors, by whom they were presented to Sir Joseph Banks. On his return
from Ava, he was stationed at Luckipoor, near the mouth of the
Burrampooter, where he remained two years, principally occupied in
describing the fishes found in the neighbourhood.
In 1798, he was employed by
the board of trade at Calcutta, on the recommendation of Dr. Roxburgh,
superintendant of the botanical garden, to visit the district of Chatigang
and its neighbourhood, forming the chief part of the ancient kingdom of
Tripura. The extensive and well-watered districts of India beyond the
Ganges, afforded him a wide and rich field for pursuing his favourite
study. The numerous specimens which he collected in this interesting
country were also transmitted to Sir Joseph Banks, and added to his
collection. Part of the following year, Dr. Buchanan spent in describing
the fishes of the Ganges, of which he afterwards published an account.
In 1800, he was employed by
Marquis Wellesley, then governor-general of India, to examine the state of
the country which the company's forces had lately conquered from Tippoo
Sultan, together with the province of Malabar. The results of his
inquiries in the Carnatic and Mysore he afterwards, on his return to
England, in 1807, published under the patronage of the court of directors.
This work, " Travels in the Mysore," &c., extending to three
large quarto volumes, illustrated with maps and drawings, contains much
valuable information concerning the agriculture, laws, customs, religious
sects, history, &c., of India generally, and particularly of
the interior dependencies of Madras. In criticising the work the Edinburgh
reviewers observe, "Those who will take the trouble to peruse Dr.
Buchanan's book, will certainly obtain a far more accurate and correct
notion of the actual condition and appearance of India, and of its
existing arts, usages, and manners, than could be derived from all the
other books relating to it in existence." The reviewer adds still
more valuable praise - a praise not always deserved by travellers in
countries comparatively little known - when he acknowledges that
"every thing the author has seen is described perspicuously,
unaffectedly, and, beyond all question, with the strictest veracity."
Edinburgh Review, vol xiii. Oct. 1808.
Soon after Dr. Buchanan had
finished his survey of the Mysore country, he 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, be 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 be 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 appointed surgeon to the governor-general, and he
employed such leisure time as he 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 drawings, and about twenty
curious Hindoo MSS. He then proceeded to Scotland, where he hoped 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 £15,000. His
brother soon after died abroad, whither he had gone in the hope of
recovering his health, and Dr. Buchanan, succeeding him in his estates,
adopted his mother's family name of Hamilton.
He now fixed his residence
at Leney, where he amused himself with adding to the natural beauties of
one of the loveliest spots in Perthshire, such improvements as a
cultivated taste and an ample fortune enabled him to supply. In this sweet
retirement he still found pleasure in prosecuting the studies and
scientific pursuits which had engrossed the busier part of his life. His
garden occupied much of his attention; he introduced into his grounds many
curious plants, shrubs, and flowers; he contributed largely to the
scientific journals of the day, particularly the Edinburgh Philosophical
Journal, the Edinburgh Journal of Science, the transactions of the
Linnaean Society of London, the Memoirs of the Hibernian Natural History
Society, and the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Also in
the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society are several papers taken
from his statistical survey of the provinces under the Presidency of Fort
William, deposited in the Library of the East India Company: these papers,
at the instance of Dr. Buchanan were liberally communicated to the
Society, accompanied with explanations by Henry Thomas Colebrooke, Esq.,
one of the Directors. In 1819, he published his History of the Kingdom of
Nepal, already mentioned, and in the same year a Genealogy of the Hindoo
Gods, which he had drawn up some years before with the assistance of an
intelligent Brahman. In 1822 appeared his Account of the Fishes of the
Ganges, with plates.
Dr. Buchanan was connected
with several distinguished literary and scientific societies. He was a
member of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta - a fellow of the Royal Society,
the Linnaean Society, and Society of Antiquaries of London - an ordinary
member of the Society of Scottish Antiquaries - a fellow of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh - member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland, &c. &c. In 1826, he was appointed a deputy
lieutenant for Perthshire, and took a warm interest in the politics of the
day. His own principles were Tory, and he was not a little apt to be
violent and overbearing in discussion with men of the opposite party. But
although hasty in his temper and violent in his politics, Dr. Buchanan was
of a generous and liberal disposition: he was extremely charitable to the
poor, warm in his personal attachments, and just and honourable in his
public capacity of magistrate. He married late in life, and fondness for
the society of his children, joined with studious habits, left him little
leisure or inclination for mixing in the gayeties of the fashionable
world. He lived, however, on terms of good understanding and easy
intercourse with his neighbours.
His own high attainments
and extensive information eminently qualified him for enjoying the
conversation and appearing to advantage in the society of men of liberal
education, and to such his house was always open. His intimate
acquaintance with oriental manners, geography, and history, made his
conversation interesting and instructive; his unobtrusive manners, his
sober habits, his unostentatious and unaffected hospitality made him an
agreeable companion and a good neighbour; while the warmth and steadiness
of his attachments rendered his friendship valuable. The following high
estimate of his character we find in Dr. Robertson's statistical account
of the Parish of Callander, so early as the year 1793. 'The most learned
person who is known to have belonged to this parish is Dr. Francis
Buchanan, at present in the East Indies. In classical and medical
knowledge he has few equals, and he is well acquainted with the whole
system of nature.' Dr. Buchanan carried on an extensive correspondence
with men of eminence in the literary and scientific world; he repeatedly
received the public thanks of the Court of Directors, and of the
Governor-General in council, for his useful collections and his
information on Indian affairs; and when his former patron Marquis
Wellesley went as Lord Lieutenant to Ireland he was solicited to accompany
him in an official capacity – an offer which his declining health and
love of domestic quiet induce him to decline. Dr. Buchanan died, June
15th, 1829, in the 67th year of his age.
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