T. 44.] TO W. J. HOOKER. 415 



Berlanclier's plants up to end of Composite. Also I 

 have done, along with Torrey, the botany of several 

 expeditions across the continent for railroad surveys, 

 which are soon to be published. Work goes slowly 

 and I grow old. This little holiday will not be a bad 

 thing for me, though it puts me back a little. 



TO W. J. HOOKER. 



CAMBRIDGE, October 23, 1855. 



Now that I am quietly settled at home again, my 

 episode seems almost like a dream, a very pleasant 

 one, however, since it gave me the pleasure of seeing 

 once more some most valued and near friends. I was 

 absent only six weeks and one day, of which twenty- 

 two days were passed upon the water. 



I found all well here on my return, but I was 

 deeply grieved to learn the news of our beloved friend 

 Dr. Torrey 's bereavement. It was about a month ago 

 that the companion of his life, almost from his youth, 

 was removed to a better world, after an illness of only 

 a few days. . . . She was one of the most actively 

 good, self-denying persons I ever knew. There are 

 many to mourn at her departure out of her own fam- 

 ily, especially among the poor and the distressed. . . . 

 She was one of my earliest and best friends, one to 

 whom I owe more than to almost any person ; and I 

 feel the loss as I should that of a near and dear rela- 

 tive. 



I wrote you a line, with some inclosures, while at 

 sea, and posted it at Halifax, N. S. . . . 



When I send the package from Holton, l I wish 



1 Isaac F. Holton, M. D., 1813-1874; teacher and professor of 

 natural science in Vermont, and missionary pastor in Illinois. Pub- 

 lished in 1857 Neiv Granada, Twenty Months in the Andes. 



