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Darwin Correspondence Project

To A. A. L. P. Cochrane   [after 7 June 1873]1

Leith Hill Place, Dorking

[regretfully declining his offer of making a voyage on the Admiral’s ship to pursue his study of Natural History,2 explaining that poor health prevents him from undertaking the expedition and that his days of travel are at an end (“ . . . The glorious enjoyment of new scenes for observation is for ever over for me, & I must rest contented with past memories …”) and expressing his warm thanks and appreciation for the offer

“Charles Darwin”]

Footnotes

The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from A. A. L. P. Cochrane, 7 June 1873.
CD had been invited to join Cochrane on the ship Respulse for an expedition to South America and the north Pacific (see letter from A. A. L. P. Cochrane, 7 June 1873).

Summary

Is obliged because of health to decline the invitation [see 8938] to make a voyage on the Admiral’s ship. "… I must rest contented with past memories …"

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-8938A
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Arthur Auckland Leopold Pedro Cochrane
Sent from
Leith Hill Place, Dorking
Source of text
Sotheby’s (dealers) (20–1 July 1988)
Physical description
ALS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8938A,” accessed on 19 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8938A.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 21

letter