From P. G. King 19 April 1863
Goonoo Goonoo N.S.W
Apl 19/63.
My dear Mr. Darwin
You cannot think with what pleasure I received a note from you by the last Mail enclosing a Photograph of yourself—.1 It was a Strange feeling that came over me as I identified one by one the now well remembered features of what you must permit me to call yr. dear old face. And as I ga⟨ze⟩ upon your likeness r⟨emini⟩scences of my youth appear to come back to me.2 I fancy I see you in your old corner behind the mizen-mast with neither room to bend or turn still pursuing your studies in Natural History with unwonted zeal, but I will not bore you with these reminiscences suffice it to say that few things have given me greater pleasure lately ⟨th⟩an the opportunity you have ⟨given⟩ me of reproducing in my minds eye the very expression of your eye & mouth.
I am so sorry to think you suffer so much from ill health but you are living on to a good age at any rate, and I trust the Scientific world will not lose you yet.
Accept my dear friend the best wishes of yr. old Shipmate | Philip Gidley King
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Summary
CD’s photograph evokes PGK’s reminiscence of CD in the Beagle.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-4109
- From
- Philip Gidley King
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Goonoo Goonoo, New South Wales
- Source of text
- DAR 169: 27
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp damaged
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4109,” accessed on 8 May 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4109.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 11