LETTER TO JAMES D. DANA. 451 



study of the marine animals for which his po- 

 sition on the sea-^oast gave him such opportu- 

 nities as he had never before had. The next 

 letter shows how fully his time was occupied, 

 and how fascinating this new field of observa- 

 tion was to him. The English is still a little 

 foreign. He was not yet quite at home in 

 the language which he afterward wrote and 

 spoke with such fluency. 



TO JAMES D. DANA. 



EAST BOSTON, September, 1847. 



. . . What have you thought of me all 

 this time, not having written a single line 

 neither to you nor to Professor Silliman after 

 the kind reception I have met with by your 

 whole family? Pray excuse me and consider, 

 if you please, the difficulty under which I la- 

 bor, having every day to look after hundreds 

 of new things which always carry me beyond 

 usual hours of working, when I am then 

 so much tired that I can think of nothing. 

 Nevertheless, it is a delightful life to be al- 

 lowed to examine in a fresh state so many 

 things of which I had but an imperfect 

 knowledge from books. The Boston market 

 supplies me with more than I can examine. 



Since I had the pleasure of seeing you I 



