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54 JAMES BACKHOUSE.
was to Westbury, where they pin-posed remaining for the niglit. In
the course of a short conversation, 1 mentioned who I was, and that I
was in searcli of a s];)lendid liliaceous crimson flower, wliich had been
described to me, and which I had not seen, Mr. Backhouse at once
told me that it was the BlmuJfordia, and that he had found it abun-
dantly on llocky Cape, and also at Port Darcy. It at once led to a
botanical conversation, and from that period till the present a warm
friendship has existed between us. The little knowledge I possess I
may say I derived solely from Mr. Backhouse, whose assistance I can-
not sufficiently acknowledge. He added largely to my collections, as
my specimens to you show, and his knowledge of the botany of this
region sui-passes by far that of all others, except, perhaps, the great
Brown, for whom I have a profound veneration. I sincerely hope that
one who has done so much, and who may indeed receive the praise for
the little I have done, will not long be left without having his name
given to some genus in this land, and it ought to be^ genus of no in-
significant character, one of the princes of the forest, like 178 (if not a
Faffus), or some of the coniferous trees I found on the western moun-
tains. His botanical knowledge is, however, one of the least remark-
able traits in his character. His general goodness and amiability will
long endear him to every inhabitant of these colonies, connected as he
was with everything good, devoting his time to the cause of Christianity
and temperance. I can only as one say that many of his words have
sunk deep in my heart, and that I shall always cherish his name with
the fondest recollection."
The genus selected by Sir Wra. Hooker to bear Mr. Backhouse's
name was a fine Myrtaceous shrub, with curious conspicuous petal-like
calyx-segments, gathered by hiiuself in New South Wales, which is oc-
casionally but not frequently grown in greenhouses. Professor Har-
vey (who, at the time of his visit to the Cape Colony, filled the office of
treasurer to the colony) desired to join in standing sponsor for the
name, and Backhousia wa§ duly characterized, and figured at tab. 4133
of the ' Botanical Magazine ;' up to the present time, three species
have been discovered.
Mr. Backhouse returned to J'^ngland in 1841, and his companion
went back to Van Diemen's Land, and settled there till his death.
During the twenty-seven years that intervened between his return from
the Cape and his death, a large proportion of his time was spent in