| Description | He has not heard from Louisa for some time, but her drawings have arrived. He outlines the letters received in the last two mails, with news of the deaths of Mr [Richard] Jones and Mrs Crichton. William discusses time and work, and informs her that although he has just moved into a house at Beauleah, he will be moving again as his current one is too far from his station. He took the current house in order to share with Maguire, who was learning languages, but had 'too fast associations' for William. William has taken up pig-sticking. The glass dish and plate have arrived, the very things required. He has sent a long box containing a peacock's tail, eagle, skate's tail, snakeskin and other items, with a bill of lading for Alick [Alexander Stewart Herschel], giving agent and shipping details. He now has all the work he wished for and describes his magistrate, Dodgson, contrasting him with Craster. William has been doing collecting work and was obliged to find out what to do with the money, which is to be sent off and re-weighed. He describes his new house, which is near the magistate's at the station. He sketches the roof ventilator and describes a hail storm: 'the hail fell so fast that we had ice for dinner'. Cumming sent hailstones from twenty miles away which had been carried in blankets through the sun and yet were ice-bricks, one 10 1/2 inches by 6 1/5 inches around. Tom and Margaret Cowrie have adopted him since his uncle left. |