Ɛpsilon

To [Frederick Wollaston Hutton]1   8 December [1864]

Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.

Dec. 8th

Dear Sir

It would have given me sincere pleasure to have communicated to you any information on the Albatross, but I am sorry to say that I have no notes on the periods when they were abundant off Cape Horn.—2

With my regret. Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin

Endorsement: ‘1864’

1
Hutton is identified as the recipient from the fact that the Canterbury Museum records that the letter was donated by him, from the endorsement, which appears to be in Hutton’s hand, and from the subject matter (see n. 2, below).
2
No letter requesting this information from CD has been found. Hutton probably wrote to CD in connection with the paper Hutton was preparing on the birds of the South Pacific, which contains descriptions of several species of albatross (see Hutton 1865, pp. 278–84). CD’s publications contain only one reference to Diomedeidae, or birds of the albatross family (see Volcanic islands, p. 90). His ornithological notes, made on board the HMS Beagle between 1832 and 1836, also contain only one reference to the albatross (see Ornithological notes, p. 247).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4710,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4710