From H. E. Darwin to Emma Darwin 12 [August 1864]

Dearest [Mamay]

I was very glad to have y^r. letter with a tol. account of things. How glad you must be of a little quiet & peace. We got through our journey very well & I feel rather more tired now than I did then though not to signify at all.

I shan't bathe today as I don't think it suits an incipient headache & shan't do much of any kind. I can't tell whether I like Ilfracombe or not yet—it is rather bare to the 1^st sight, but they say you find very nice walks. It is a bad place for Uncle Ras as nothing is very near. Such a road from Barnstaple a steady Hill up for 8 miles, & then a sharp [one] down for the remaining 3—we had a good pair of horses & so didn't mind but the ''buses must have been very disagreable. I suppose everybody knows the time they come by but it looked most awful to see them both very heavily loaded dash down the hill at 12 miles an hour. and as the hill is sharp zigzags [use] be to you if you are the wrong side of the road. This is a regular lodging house without many comforts. Lizzie & I have a good big bed which is the chief thing to be desired, & not much room for any thing else—they ask us to stay a fortnight—i.e. the end of their stay but as it puts