Mr. Thewrewk refers further to a letter of a Hungarian artist, Mr. Schoefft, from Pest, who lived in India and knew Csoma well. The letter was written in March 1842. An extract of it is appended:—
“I was on very friendly terms with Csoma during my stay in Calcutta, where I found to my satisfaction that the people of that city had much clearer ideas about Hungary than before, for which, doubtless, we are indebted to Csoma. Nevertheless, the truth must be told, that I never saw a more strange man than him. He lives like a hermit among his Tibetan and other works, in the house of the Asiatic Society, which he seldom leaves. Of an evening he takes slight exercise in the grounds, and then he causes himself to be locked up in his apartment; it therefore invariably happened that when, during my evening rides, I called on him, it was necessary for me always to wait a while till the servants produced the keys to unlock the door of his apartment. He was cheerful; often merry, his spirits rose very considerably when we took the opportunity of talking about Hungary. Altogether, I found him very talkative, and if he once started on this strain there was no getting to the end of it. Often, when speaking of our native land, or discussing the subject concerning the origin of the Hungarians, our pleasant conversation was protracted till after 10 o’clock. I began to suspect, however, that he would never see his native land again, being then already advanced in age, and yet he proposed remaining for ten years longer in the country, to enable him to glean whatever he could find in the old writings, and such a secluded, one would almost call it a prison life, might soon undermine the powers of any constitution and leave but a mere shadow of an existence.”
Besides the aged Professor Szabó, there is yet another living witness who knew Csoma face to face, namely, the [[142]]Rev. S. C. Malan, D.D., Oxford, now Rector of Broadwindsor, Dorset. He was connected with the Bishops’ College of Calcutta, and during his short stay there, as secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, was on intimate terms with the subject of this memoir.
Dr. Malan says[2] as to Körösi, “I never think of him without interest and gratitude. I had heard of him and seen his Tibetan Grammar and Dictionary before leaving England.
“One of my early visits was to the Asiatic Society’s house, Calcutta, where Csoma lived as under-librarian. I found him a man of middle stature, much weather-beaten from his travels, but kind, amiable, and willing to impart all he knew.…
“I happened to be the only person who was troubling himself about Tibetan; he and I became very good friends during the whole, alas! too short, stay in India. And when we parted he gave me the whole of his Tibetan books, some thirty volumes. I value such relics highly, and still use the same volume which I used to turn over with him.”
These volumes, forty in number, are now the property of the Royal Hungarian Academy of Sciences, through the kindness of Dr. Malan, the donor.[3]
There is a more recent letter from Dr. Malan to the writer, giving his opinion about a likeness of Csoma, and which is quoted at the end. [[143]]