I mention this in case they should be stowed beneath geological specimens and thus escape your notice, perhaps some spirit may be wanted in them.

If a box arrives from B.Ayres with a Megatherium head the other unnumbered specimens, be kind enough to tell me, as I have strong fears for its safety.

We arrived here the day before yesterday; the views of the distant mountains are most sublime and the climate delightful; after our long cruise in the damp gloomy climates of the south, to breathe a clear dry air and feel honest warm sunshine, and eat good fresh roast beef must be the summum bonum of human life.

I do not like the look of the rocks half so much as the beef, there is too much of those rather insipid ingredients, mica, quartz and feldspar.

Our plans are at present undecided; there is a good deal of work to the south of Valparaiso and to the north an indefinite quantity.