TALBOT8014

Melbury ¹
28 Dec^r

My dear Henry

I recommend you & your party to come to the Evershot Station by the 4.55. Train – a carriage shall meet you there at 5. You will find here M^r & M^rs Hobhouse, ² Gaisfords ³ sister – they are neighbours of ours at Redlynch ⁴ –

I had also asked Walter Strangways ⁵ to come, but his Father ⁶ has since been taken ill & I fear will not recover which of course will prevent him.

I hear from Kew that they have got from N. Zealand some fine grasses, equal to the so-called Pampas Grass.

A happy Xmas to all

Yr aff^te uncle
W^m

The Mundys ⁷ & Nicholls ⁸ are gone but you will find Mary ⁹ here.

I have a shoot or you might call it a plume of Pinus tenuifolia from Abb^{y 10} which raises water like a siphon by capillary attraction & drops it into a saucer below