354 'DESCENT OF MAN '—EXPRESSION. [1873. 



at the time deeply immersed in the manuscript of ' Insect- 

 ivorous Plants.' Thus he wrote to Mr. Wallace (Novem- 

 ber 19), " I never in my lifetime regretted an interruption so 

 much as this new edition of the ' Descent.' " And later (in 

 December) he wrote to Mr. Huxley : " The new edition of 

 the c Descent ' has turned out an awful job. It took me ten 

 days merely to glance over letters and reviews with criticisms 

 and new facts. It is a devil of a job." 



The work was continued until April 1, 1874, when he was 

 able to return to his much loved Drosera. He wrote to 

 Mr. Murray: — 



" I have at last finished, after above three months as hard 

 work as I have ever had in my life, a corrected edition of the 

 1 Descent,' and I much wish to have it printed off as soon as 

 possible. As it is to be stereotyped I shall never touch it 

 again." 



The first of the miscellaneous letters of 1873 refers to a 

 pleasant visit received from Colonel Higginson of Newport, 

 U.S.] 



C. Darwin to Thos. Wentworth Higginson. 



Down, February 27th [1873]. 



My dear Sir, — My wife has just finished reading aloud 

 your i Life with a Black Regiment,' and you must allow me 

 to thank you heartily for the very great pleasure which it has 

 in many ways given us. I always thought well of the negroes, 

 from the little which I have seen of them ; and I have been 

 delighted to have my vague impressions confirmed, and their 

 character and mental powers so ably discussed. When you 

 were here I did not know of the noble position which you had 

 filled. I had formerly read about the black regiments, but 

 failed to connect your name with your admirable undertaking. 

 Although we enjoyed greatly your visit to Down, my wife 

 and myself have over and over again regretted that we did 

 not know about the black regiment, as we should have greatly 

 liked to have heard a little about the South from your own lips. 



Your descriptions have vividly recalled walks taken forty 



