Ɛpsilon

To B. J. Sulivan   30 September [1881]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.)

Sept. 30th—

My dear Sulivan

Your grape case is a mystery, quite beyond my comprehension.—2

I am very sorry to hear a somewhat poor account of your health; but I earnestly hope that with rest you may get up to your former standard.— Whenever you feel strong enough, I very much hope that you will come here & stay & sleep, & not pay us a mere call. We are generally at home, & though I cannot stand much conversation or amusement of any kind, yet I shd. enjoy seeing you again very much indeed.

It is wonderful what you tell me about the survival of so many of the old Beagles, & I always like much to hear any news of them. Poor FitzRoy what a lamentable end was his.—3

I have no news to tell you of myself. I feel very old, but am able to go on working a little at Natural History, but do not suppose that I shall be able to do much more of any interest to naturalists.

We suffered lately a heavy loss in the death of my brother.4

My dear Sulivan | Your old friend | Charles Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from B. J. Sulivan, 29 September 1881.
3
In his letter of 29 September 1881, Sulivan had discussed the longevity of those who had been on the Beagle voyage. The captain, Robert FitzRoy, had committed suicide in 1865 (see Correspondence vol. 13, letter to J. D. Hooker, 4 May [1865]).
4
Erasmus Alvey Darwin had died on 26 August 1881.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13365,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13365