Dear Darwin

I am off for Marocco on the 1^st. & shall be glad of any commands from you. I go partly to try & bake out my rheumatism, partly in faint hope of connecting the Atlantic Flora with the African,¹ & (perhaps most of all) to taste the delights of savagery again. I have for some time projected such a trip with G. Maw, who is intelligent, pleasant, a capital plant hunter & grower, & fair Geologist— lately J. Ball has all but thrust himself into our party, & though I had rather have been alone with Maw, still Ball is so old a friend, & so good a man, that we shall take him with pleasure.²

Lord Granville has applied to the Sultan for permission & escorts for self & Maw to visit the highest peaks S. of the city of Marocco—but this permit is not yet arrived, & probably will not be granted.³ We take P. & O. to Gibraltar, thence cross to Tangiers & botanize there as far as we can go with safety under the ægis of Sir J. D. Hay—(the Minister), our future movements will depend on circumstances: if there is a chance of the Greater Atlas we shall take the steamer to Mogador & thence head Eastwards—⁴ We shall not be gone many weeks, & as the success of the whole project is dubious, I do not care to have much talked about it. I expect Alpine Maroccan Botany to be the most novel & interesting of any W. of Central Asia in the Old World. Of course we take Tents Saddles & such like, Soups, Tea, old watches, musical boxes &c—no end of paper for drying plants & so forth.⁵

I am busy clearing off arrears & prospective work,—& have not read your book yet—very much because every one asks me & worries me about it—& it is safest to say I have not even looked into it— I shall take it with me.⁶

Have you seen Cunninghams volume,?— it seems very dreary to me, but I have only read some 100 pages.⁷

I am very sorry to hear that Henrietta is not strong yet.⁸

Ever yr affly | J D Hooker