Through the Indian Government Csoma’s death was notified to the authorities in England, and we find that Prince Eszterházy wrote to the directors of the East India Company thanking them for their communication of the sad event, and inquiring at the same time whether the Asiatic Society of Bengal would feel disposed to put the Transylvanian authorities in possession of any papers that may have been found among Csoma’s writings relating to special researches concerning the history of the Hungarians in ancient times.

This letter of the Ambassador was transmitted to Calcutta, but led to no result. Csoma left no formal will. His memorandum of the 9th of February, by which he appointed the Asiatic Society the sole heir of all his money, books, &c., was not admitted as a valid testamentary document. The Administrator-General, therefore, submitted a statement on the 8th of June 1843, according to which the estate appears to have consisted of 3000 sicca and 2000 Government rupees, besides 26 Dutch ducats; the Administrator-General adding, “I shall be obliged by your forwarding the money to the Government for transmission to the Honourable Court of Directors for information of the next kin of the deceased.”

On his first arrival in Calcutta, in February 1854, as medical officer on the Bengal Establishment of the [[164]]Honourable East India Company, the writer, through the introduction of Mr. Arthur Grote of the Bengal Civil Service, obtained admission to the Administrator-General’s office, where a small iron box, with the name of Alexander Csoma de Körös painted on, was placed before him, containing papers of the late Tibetan traveller. He prepared a list of its contents at that time, being fortunate enough not to have neglected the opportunity that offered, as three years later, on renewing his inquiry, he learnt that the box in question could not again be found; its contents had been destroyed with other similar unclaimed documents. The following is the list prepared in 1854:—

Only a few more words remain to be added. Before all, an apology is due from the writer of this biography for mentioning incidents which refer to himself alone.

In the year 1856, and as long as Dr. Collins remained civil surgeon of Darjeeling, he took a kindly interest in Csoma’s monument in the station cemetery; and later, when the writer was fortunate enough to be appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir William Grey, to the medical charge of the Sanatorium, it was a special delight to him to have the privilege of being able to look after his illustrious compatriot’s tombstone.

In February 1883 he again visited Darjeeling during his short temporary sojourn in Bengal, and was agreeably surprised to find that the monument over Csoma’s grave had been entirely rebuilt. A few seasons back the [[166]]heavy rains in the hills caused a landslip on the mountain-side on which the station cemetery stands, and Csoma’s monument sustained damage. This was soon restored by order of the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Ashley Eden, and the grave is now placed on the list of those public monuments in India which are under the immediate care of the Public Works Department.

The writer begs to express again his sincere acknowledgments to the Council of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and to the Under-secretary of the Foreign Department, Mr. Durand, for placing copies of several documents at his disposal, without which it would have been impossible to fill up the gaps hitherto existing in the biography of the Hungarian traveller. In the library of the Asiatic Society there were six original letters in Csoma’s handwriting; three of these have been most courteously transmitted, through the late lamented Dr. MʻCann,[1] to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Hungary, to be preserved as relics in the archives at Budapest. A similar magnanimity towards the same learned body was manifested a year earlier by Mr. B. H. Hodgson, whose name so often occurs in these pages, by sending him two original letters of Csoma, which are published in chapter vii. Besides these his thanks are due to Mr. Arthur Grote, to Dr. Rajendrolála Mitra, and to his friend Dr. George King, for kind assistance. In Hungary, Mr. Paul Gyulai, Emil Thewrewk de Ponor, Bishop Szász, Madame Szabó de Borgáta, Baron Nicholas Horváth, Professor Budenz, and others furnished valuable data for the preparation of this memoir, all of whom have placed the writer under deep obligation.

Regarding the portrait which faces the title-page, the Reverend Dr. Malan wrote as follows on the 15th of October 1883:—

“I thank you for giving me the pleasure of seeing [[167]]Csoma’s likeness. It reminds me very well of him, although it is younger than when I saw him; he was then weather-beaten, and looked older than this picture, but he wore no beard when I knew him.[2] I hope you will have the likeness photographed, then may I beg a copy of it, for I always remember him with gratitude and pleasure; I used to delight in his company, he was so kind and so obliging, and always willing to impart all he knew. He was altogether one of the most interesting men I ever met.”