Ɛpsilon

From B. J. Sulivan   20 May 1880

Bournemouth

May 20/80

My dear Darwin

Thank you very much for sending me the book, which I now return.1 It was indeed interesting. It is singular that we never heard of their visit to the Patagonians, and especially so that at Port Louis, where they had seen them, we heard nothing of them. It must have been before our last visit there as they saw our tender, evidently, at the West Island, though they call her by her old name “Unicorn”.2

I shall pick out from the magazines of the last year a few pages showing the progress made with our Mission and send them to the publishers at New York for Mr. Field who may be able to forward them to Mr. Coan if still alive3

I have not been so well lately as I feel sometimes the old weakness in right leg and foot and frequent slight headaches. We hope this summer to spend two months at the old Hydropathic Establishment at Blarney, hoping it may us all some good   My wife walking more stiffly than ever & my eldest daughter not allowed to go out of house except in a carriage or chair as her weak knee gets no better.4

Hamond & his wife have been with us lately.5 he had spent the Spring at Falmouth with much benefit to a weak chest, & Cough.

Our kind regards to Mrs. Darwin, and all your party. | Believe me | yours very sincerely | B. J. Sulivan

2
Titus Coan and William Arms had been in Patagonia from 14 November 1833 to 25 January 1834 to assess whether a mission might be established there; they were in Port Louis, Falkland Islands, from 5 to 12 February 1834, and on 15 February 1834 they saw the Unicorn, a vessel that Robert FitzRoy had purchased and renamed the Adventure, which was engaged in surveying the islands (Coan 1880, pp. 234–41).
3
The South American Missionary Magazine regularly reported on the mission station in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. Henry Martyn Field had written the introduction to Coan 1880.
4
St Ann’s Hill Hydropathic Establishment, near Blarney, Ireland, was established in 1843; it is described in Parratt 1889, pp. 149–51. Sulivan had described his own lameness as well as that of his wife, Sophia Sulivan, and his eldest daughter, Sophia Henrietta Sulivan, in his letter of 9 June 1879 (see Correspondence vol. 27).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12612,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12612