Ɛpsilon

To ?1   31 [January 1875–82]2

Down, | Bekenham, Kent | Railway Station | Orpinton. S.E.R.

Junio 31

Mi distinguido Senor

Yo siento mucho — — — que Beckenham (no sea/esté el3 puerto de comercio,)4 a 7 largas millas de este lugar. Es mejor asunto — — — — — Orpington. — — South Eastern Ry — el — esta — 4 millas de mi casa. Yo estoy no del todo sorprendido de que vuestro — por mi clima retardado. Si cuando las tardes/puesta de sol5 sean mas avanzada vuestro 14° tendra un — — — — vida, hasta las 5 la visita del sol 14 — tan feliz verlo crecer— Yo recuerdo.

Miquerido señor | Vuestro — — —

Translation

1
For a translation of this letter, see Appendix I. This letter is known only from a partially illegible handwritten translation into Spanish, which was printed in Romero de Tejada 1982. The original, at one time in the Museo Nacional de Antropológico (formerly the Museo Anatómico o Antropológico) in Madrid, is no longer extant. The translator seems to have found the English also partially illegible or incomprehensible.
2
The date is established on the assumption that the translator misread ‘Jan’ as ‘June’ (June only has thirty days). The address seems to have been transcribed (although with spelling mistakes) from printed notepaper that CD used from late 1874.
3
‘Este el’ (there is, there be) was written below ‘no sea’ (it is not, it be not): the verbs are both subjunctives.
4
Square brackets in original ms. The text was written below three dashes.
5
‘Puesta de sol’ (sunset) was written above ‘tardes’ (afternoons).

To ?1   31 [January 1875–82]2

Down, | Bekenham, Kent | Railway Station | Orpinton. S. E. R.

June 31

My dear Sir

I am very sorry — — — that Beckenham (be not 3 a commercial port,)4 at 7 long miles from this place. It is better — — — — — Orpington. — — South Eastern Ry — it — is — 4 miles from my house. I am not at all surprised that your — delayed because of the weather. If when the afternoons/sunset5 become longer your 14° will have a — — — — life, the visit of the sun until 5. 14 — so happy to see it grow — I remember.

My dear Sir | Yours — — —

Translation

1
For a transcription of this letter in its original Spanish, see Transcript. This letter is known only from a partially illegible handwritten translation into Spanish, which was printed in Romero de Tejada 1982. The original, at one time in the Museo Nacional de Etnología (formerly the Museo Antropológico) in Madrid, is no longer extant. The translator seems to have found the English also partially illegible or incomprehensible.
2
The date is established on the assumption that the translator misread ‘Jan’ as ‘June’ (June only has thirty days). The address seems to have been transcribed (although with spelling mistakes) from printed notepaper that CD used from late 1874.
3
‘Este el’ (there is, there be) was written below ‘no sea’ (it is not, it be not): the verbs are both subjunctives.
4
Square brackets in original ms. The text was written below three dashes.
5
‘Puesta de sol’ (sunset) was written above ‘tardes’ (afternoons).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13889A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13889A