1824-33 VISIT TO PARIS 51 



of these two men has been compared with that of 

 Turner and Claude in painting. Turner, it was 

 said, is independently great, though it is doubtful 

 if without the works of Claude ' he would ever 

 have painted that marvellous bit of cloud which 

 hangs side by side with Claude's chef d'oeuvre 

 in the National Gallery.' 



Richard Owen to Mr. Clift 



Hotel du Jardin du Roi : 



Rue Copen. No. 4, Paris. 

 August 2, 1 83 1. 



' My dear Sir, — My absence would assure you 

 that I was in time for the steamer, having got on 

 board ten minutes before she sailed ; she lay just 

 below melancholy old London Bridge, and I saw 

 the tents erected preparatory to the fete of her 

 rival and prophetic of her own (fate !). I need 

 not say how much I enjoyed the sail down the 

 river, or dwell on the interesting objects that suc- 

 cessively presented themselves. When I passed 

 the Deptford chalk I thought of you, but was too 

 far off to distinguish any fossil bones sticking out. 

 Twenty men-of-war lay off Sheerness. Just before 

 sunset, which was very fine, I saw a Delphinus 

 tursio ? rolling onwards to the Thames. The 

 moon produced a very fine effect as it rose out of 

 the Zuyder Zee, scattering a flood of light over 

 the flickering waves, whilst around it the haze 

 appeared to reflect a glow of light like a distant 



E 2 



