From Leonard Darwin to Emma Darwin 10 November [1874]

Dear mother

We have been sticking to work pretty hard since last mail, I dont think that I have ever been into Christchurch since; we have had two or three luncheon parties and that is all we have seen of the outside world, but now we have decided to have noone else here until the fatal day is over. I feel a little more easy about the photography as we have already had some good photos, but what I am afraid of is the weather. It is either cloudy or else blowing very hard with a clear sky—the wind coming right in the direction which we want to look at the sun, and it is almost sure to shake the instruments  We have all got horses as the only decent means of getting exercise; at least I have only tried one or two horses and cant get one yet that suits. The one I am trying now is said to be given to ""pig leaping"" which I believe means a mild sort of buckjumping; I dont think he is likely to suit as I am sure a ""pig jump"" would finish me, and besides the reformatory boys are frightened to ride him and so I cant get him exercised. One of the boys here was a stable boy or jockey so that we have no trouble with the horses as we make all the boys act as slaves. They all look very nice boys but I believe they are or were an arrant set of little scoundrels. The girls were worse  One of them was sent here for a habit of stopping people in the streets with a long story about some fish which would go bad if she could not pay the railway fare; and then, when she got some money, instead of giving it to her parents as she ought to have done, she used to go down to Port Lyttleton for a lark by herself. So the parents delivered her over to the authorities. I have had my last lark before the Transit of Venus, another Christchurch ball; I did not care so much for as when I was fresh from 92 days at sea; and I got in very late, and did not get much dancing. I like the people here very much and I expect my time in America will suffer from visits here. There has not been any mail in for a long and I am looking forward for home news now every day; by the time you get this I expect you will have heard whether it was a cloudy day here on the 9^th. I dont expect to be nervous as my work lasts so long; except for one thing; looking out for $\frac{1}{2}$ a minute before the time of contact and telling them when to begin to take the photos which I am afraid will be an awful moment. Goodbye mother—

Your affec son | Leonard Darwin