Ɛpsilon

To W. E. Darwin   22 [September 1858]

Down.—

22d

My dear William

We got your rather short note this morning. I am surprised at your having killed even one bird, for I suppose it was nearly the first on the wing you ever shot at, & partridges are not very easy birds, I think.— We had terrible bother with your mare; she was so terrified that she tried to leap a door 8 ft high (so Parslow reports) & got her front legs over. Parslow saw her leap like a flash of lightning over a five-bar gate & go off into endless space; but she was caught near Southend.—1 I have sent Sam Jones over with her these two days; for she would not eat there ie Beckenham: but oddly enough she is pretty quiet as long as anyone is with her, & Jones sat on her back, whilst a tram went under a bridge on which she was.—2 I hope we shall anyhow improve her; & I am as loth as you can be to part with her.—

We can guess about your linen; but please write to Ernest3 & ask what plate & knives & forks you ought to have, as Parslow could get better & cheaper articles than you could.—4 I have not yet arranged about the Bank; & if I do not go to London, I must send you in registered letter some money.— I am not sure whether it would not be simplest plan for you to have account at Union Bank, for they could send you money in registered letters & you could, I shd. think pay any largish account, as your tutor’s bill by a draft on your London Banker, which sounds very grand.—

Pouter5 is pretty hearty again & very eager over Homoptera, Hemiptera & Orthoptera! & he relishes much these big word. Franky is mad over beetles, & he froths at the mouth sometimes in telling me his success.6 We have been very anxious about Lizzie; who for several days has had weak, irregular pulse with other symptoms exactly like the others; but today she is extraordinarily well; but I fear it will return.—7 How strange & unhappy it is that now we have had five children all failing in precisely the same way.—8

I am very hard at work on the abstract of my Book, which will make a large-sized pamphlet.

Do not forget Donkeys & Horses stripes.—9

If you go out shooting look at Birds’ feet & see if any dirt sticks to them: I want to collect such dirt, & see if by any splendid chance a plant would come up, for then could I not carry seeds across the sea!—10

Farewell | My dear old man | Yours affect | C. Darwin

N.B | Tell us, as soon as you know certainly when you go to Cambridge.—

1
Joseph Parslow was the butler at Down House. CD recorded a payment of £31 10s. on 21 August 1858 in his Account book (Down House MS) for a new horse. Southend is a small village in Kent close to Eltham.
2
Samuel Jones entered CD’s employ in 1858 in connection with caring for the horses: there are several entries in CD’s Account book (Down House MS) in 1858 and 1859 for wages paid to Jones. In 1858 a ‘tram’ was a small cart or barrow on which coal was transported: ‘a narrow framework of wood mounted on four low wheels’ (OED).
3
Ernest Hensleigh Wedgwood, William’s cousin, had entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1856 (Alum. Cantab.). They had attended Rugby School together.
4
William was preparing to take up residence at Christ’s College, Cambridge. On 8 September 1858, he left Down for the village of Forncett, Norfolk, to resume his tutorials with William Greive Wilson for a short time (Emma Darwin’s diary). CD paid £11 10s. on 10 October 1858 for ‘plate for William’ (CD’s Account book (Down House MS)).
5
Probably a nickname for Leonard Darwin, 8 years old.
6
Francis Darwin, aged 10.
7
Elizabeth Darwin, aged 11. On 19 September 1858, Emma Darwin recorded in her diary: ‘Lizzy poorly since Monday’.
8
CD had come to believe that his children had inherited his ill-health. See Correspondence vol. 5, letters to W. D. Fox, 24 [October 1852] and 17 July [1853]; and vol. 6, letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 September [1857].
10
For CD’s researches into the means of geographical dispersal, see Correspondence vols. 5 and 6. The results are given in Origin, pp. 356–65. See also letter to T. C. Eyton, 11 October [1858].

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.2 on the wing] interl
1.4 (so Parslow reports) 1.5] interl
1.6 over a] ‘over’ interl
2.7 bill] interl
6.1 Birds’] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-2328,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-2328