CHARLESTON 41 



sweet, out-of-door fragrance made one forget, spite of the 

 wood fire on the hearth, that it was winter by the calendar. 

 The days, passed almost wholly in the woods or on the 

 verandah, closed with evenings spent not infrequently in 

 discussions upon the scientific ideas and theories of the 

 day, carried often beyond the region of demonstrated facts 

 into that of speculative thought.'* 



The few characteristic letters which follow were written 

 during these winters at Charleston and on the journey 

 home in 1852 when Agassiz went to Washington to deliver 

 a course of lectures at the Smithsonian Institution. 



TO MRS. THOMAS G. GARY 



Charleston^ December 22, 1851 

 We have just returned from a visit at Sullivan's Is- 

 land, where I have left Agassiz very busy and happy 

 with some exceedingly thin, scrawly looking monsters 

 with no bodies, and amazingly long legs, which af- 

 forded him immense satisfaction. He had intended 

 returning to town with me, till these emaciated gen- 

 tlemen were brought in from the beach, and of course 

 against such attractions I had nothing to plead. We 

 passed, however, a very charming day there, with 

 reading, gathering shells, sketching a monster, hunt- 

 ing, according to the different tastes of the company. 

 The town is as empty as Boston in the middle of 

 August — everybody gone to the plantation for the 

 Christmas festivities, and we expect to leave tomor- 

 row or the next day for Belmont, where we shall pass 

 the week. During Christmas the town is absolutely 

 given up to the blacks, and if any of the white pop- 



