JET. 54.] TO W. J. HOOKER. 531 



[March 18.] 



. . . Rothrock is going with Kinnicut this week, to 

 Northwestern America, Norton's Sound, etc., to ex- 

 plore on telegraph route close along the Arctic Circle. 

 Any pines there you want ? . . . 



March 29. 



. . . No, Mrs. Gray did not go to inauguration ball. 

 But she has had a good time. Her brother, the gen- 

 eral, took her from Fortress Monroe, where she went, 

 up to the front and close to rebel lines ; where she 

 had the honor of having a rebel shell thrown at her ! 



I expect her home again to-morrow. 



No, I don't get a curator, and I want one sadly. 

 Yet it is as well Fendler did not come, as it might 

 have been difficult for me to pay him. He, however, 

 is just the man I want here, to take charge of her- 

 barium and garden. . . . 



TO W. J. HOOKER. 



CAMBRIDGE, April 24, 1865. 



Mr. Wright is about to return to Cuba, to have one 

 year more of exploration there, and especially to visit 

 Turquino, the highest mountain of the island, and 

 some other parts which are still promising. 



He will now be able - - as he is always most ready 

 to attend to the gathering of seeds of palms, or 

 other seeds, or things you may want at Kew. He 

 has now some good and kind friends in the country, 

 and deserves them, for he is one of the most hearty, 

 single-minded, and disinterested persons I ever knew, 

 as well as an admirable collector ; but being rather 

 rough in exterior, he does not like to come into con- 

 tact with official people, unless properly accredited. 

 But if armed with official instructions to British con- 



