From Leonard Darwin to Emma Darwin 8 and 13 January [1875]

Dear Mother

Here I am at Wellington with the pleasing knowledge that all my English letters are in a little steamer close by on the way down to Christchurch and I suppose I shall have to wait an age to get them. I have come up here partly for fun and partly for work as we want to find the difference of longitude between this place and Burnham, and I am going to do two or three nights observing at a small government observatory here. It has been cloudy every night as yet which is a nuisance as I want to get the work done and enjoy myself. I am living at the club here, a very comfortable place; it seems the regular plan to have a sleeping club at all the towns here, I believe because the hotels are so bad. Wellington is a very pretty place situated at the end of a long inlet from the sea, but from Wellington it looks more like an inland lake, with hills coming down nearly straight into the water. But it is such a dusty place; there is always a wind blowing and the dust is like flying gravel. The citizens of Wellington gave a Ball to the new Governor and as it was cloudy I managed to go; I hardly knew any body in the room but as it was a sort of state affair I went in uniform and that helped me on wonderfully  It was given in the threatre which is built with the view to giving balls and the whole floor lifts up by hydraulic machinery so as to come to the level of the stage. I have managed to see a little of the country about, a picnic and a few walks; the tree ferns are as beautiful as possible, especially when seen from the top, shewing out among the other darker foliage  I was very much surprised to see such a number of English plants even on a hill about 5 miles away from Wellington; the commonest plants near the path were thistles and clover, and I have seen several English butterflies. I can hardly write my letter for the club kitten, I have taken her off my head about 10 time and there she is again purring away like a steam engine.

Jan 13

I find the mail going sooner than I had expected so I will tell you my plans as near as possible. There is to be a Congress of Transit of Venus observers at Melbourne in the middle of Feb and I am to have the honour of representing the British expedition  Palmer has been asked by the N.Z government to make a tour of inspection and report on the state of the surveys of all the Provinces. It is a delightful thing for him as he will see the whole of NZ without any expenses. This will take him some time and prevent his going to Melbourne in time  I shall stay a little time in Melbourne and then go on to Sydney and then catch the San Fransico mail probably about March 30^th. as I shall not be in time for the Feb mail. I dont know what the War Office people will say about my being so long away. The worst they can do is to stop my pay, but I dont think they will even do that. I am very glad of this congress as it gives me an excuse to see Australia and it seems a pity to be out in this part of world without seeing as much as possible. I am going back to Christchurch to finish packing and I may find time for a suplementary mail there.

Goodbye dear Mother

Your affec son | Leonard Darwin