To Victor Marshall   25 August 1879

My dear M^r. Marshall

I cannot leave tomorrow morning this delightful place without thanking you cordially for all your kindness.¹ Your permission for me to wander over your estate & grounds has made all the difference in my enjoyment, & in the good which the visit has done me.

I can call your garden nothing less than paradise.— We have used your carriage several times & your coachman has been most obliging.— We went one very long expedition to Grasmere, home by Ambleside. The three miles between these two places is the most splendid drive which I ever took. Nevertheless I am a staunch Conistonite & feel indignant if anyone prefers Grassmere or Ambleside to Coniston.— Pray tell M^rs. Marshall that we disobeyed orders & went to Furness; & we were punished, for the day was dark & gloomy. On our return we said that a walk along your Terrace was worth half-a-dozen Furness Abbeys; & in the afternoon I proved the truth of this by taking 2 or 3 turns along the Terrace, & though the afternoon was dull they gave me intense pleasure.—²

Now I am going to be impertinent: when you return I beseech you to look at four clumps of young & unhealthy fir-trees (& which I cannot think will ever grow vigorously from not growing on a slope) in the field in front of the verandah of the hotel; they sadly spoil the view, & if universal maledictions would have killed them, the poor things would now all stand withered skeletons.

Forgive me scribbling at such length. Everyone here joins me in thanking you & M^rs. Marshall most truly. When you come to London, if you & M^rs. Marshall can spare the time, pray pay us a visit at Down. In case we sh^d. not hear when you are in London, I hope that you will be so good as to inform us.

Believe me my dear M^r. Marshall | Yours sincerely | Charles Darwin