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From John Gould   [13 April] 1838

My Dear Sir/

I received with much pleasure the token of your friendship wh you have sent me this morning in the way of dram-Bottle and shall treasure it up untill I reach the wilds of the beautiful country I anticipate much pleasure in exploring.1 Your Gift will there daily remind me of your friendship and the many pleasures we have shared in our favourite persuits

[G] Nat history,2 etc, will—also—be of be interest to me as an evidence that our intercourse has been productive of none but the most [ amicable] feelings, that your [two words illeg] [ eyes the blessing of friends] [illeg] Ever yr J. G. To C. Darwin Esq

Good Friday 1838

Draft

1
Gould left for Australia on 16 May 1838. The dram bottle was actually a silver-cased compass, now in the possession of a descendant; it was inscribed by CD to John Gould and dated 1838.
2
Gould is probably referring to Zoology; he had undertaken to provide descriptions for Birds.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-409A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-409A