The travels and publications of Joseph Hooker, author of the "Himalayan Journals," are inextricably tied to British colonialism and Empire-building. Travelling in his role as director of the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, he collected about 7,000 species in India and Nepal, added 25 new rhododendron species to Kew (creating a rhododendron craze among British gardeners), and brought over samples of both rubber and quinine from the Amazon. Hooker dedicated these " Journals "to his close friend Charles Darwin. Contents of this work--reprinted here in two parts--include many pictures and foldout maps of the areas covered by his travels.