M.T. 27.] TO MRS. TORREY. 81 



This morning I have been botanizing, and have se- 

 cured for the doctor some specimens (clusters of 

 Eshcol) of this goodly land. So be prepared for a 

 very favorable report. My pen is abominable, and 

 I have not another moment. 



(DETROIT), 8.30, Monday evening, August 20. 



A pleasant afternoon ride brought me back again 

 to this place, where my first care was to run to the 

 post office, nothing doubting that I should find a let- 

 ter ; but I was wof ully disappointed, and yet it is the 

 20th of the month ! This is too bad. Do beseech the 

 doctor to write ; and especially if I should be detained 

 here until the fourth or fifth day of next month, as I 

 fear may be necessary, ask him to write every other 

 day until you hear from me again. 



I am glad to get back here again on one account. 

 The fare here, which is no great matter, I assure you, 

 is excellent compared with the hotel at Ann Arbor. 

 Indeed, I have not taken my place at a single dinner- 

 table for ten days without being reminded of Charles 

 Lamb and his memorable essay on Roast Pig. Here 

 he might riot in his favorite dish (which is in my 

 opinion wretched stuff), as one of the aforesaid juve- 

 nile quadrupeds, with a sprig of parsley in his mouth, 

 has been regularly presented to my eyes ever since I 

 left the State of New York. I am sadly bothered as 

 to the course I should take. I suppose I might be 

 able to leave here on Thursday of this week, and, stay- 

 ing over Sabbath at Oswego (making no stay at the 

 Falls), arrive at my father's Tuesday evening, and at 

 New York on Friday morning. But before I could 

 reach New York, Mr. Davis, according to his appoint- 

 ment, would be at Detroit, and it is possible that a 



