LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 121 



To N. B. Ward, Esq. 



London, June 18, 1840 

 I arrived here last evening from Ostend, after a delightful 

 ramble through Italy and some of the better parts of Switzer- 

 land, returning home by the Rhine and Belgium. I enjoyed it 

 much ; but often regretted that I had not laid myself out' for col- 

 lecting plants as I went along. Had I made preparations I might 

 easily have added a few hundred interesting things to my herb- 

 arium. It was particularly pleasant to gather in the wild state 

 several of our garden flowers, and to see whole wildernesses of 

 myrtle and asphodel. Then, on the higher Alps, great patches 

 of Gentiana acaulis, and the still more brilliant alpina (is it ?) ; 

 Primula farinosa, and auricula, with a great many other bright 

 little things, spangling the ground and often peeping out from 

 the snow. 



The relaxation enjoyed during this visit home had so far 

 re-established Mr. Harvey's health, as to lead not only himself 

 but his friends to hope that, at the expiration of his leave of 

 absence, he might safely resume his official duties at Cape 

 Town ; and that, being now, in a good degree, inured to the 

 climate, he might, by avoiding over-fatigue and unnecessary 

 exposure, pass through the summer months without any ill 

 consequences. His situation as Colonial Treasurer was too 

 important and advantageous to be lightly surrendered, and he 

 therefore again prepared to take leave of his friends for a return 

 to a foreign home, which, except for its botanical attractions, 

 had become increasingly distasteful to him. 



To a Cousin. 

 r Dublin, July 5, 1840. 



My passage is taken, and baggage shipped, and I leave 

 this in four days from the present time. You may wonder at 

 my writing so merrily, but fortunately the heart of man is made, 

 if not of india-rubber, of something nearly as elastic ; and 

 Hope tells a flattering tale sometimes, which one is too ready to 

 believe. She tells me just now that I shall return in a few 

 years, and pictures pleasant ones in my own green land. I go 

 in cheerfulness and content, intending to use my best endeavours 



