
          Pontrilas House, Oct. 4th. 1850


 Dear Dr. Torrey,


 Dr. Gray being hard at work with Mr. 
 Bentham, has commissioned me to write for him to 
 you, & ask you where the Eriogoneae can be that you 
 notified Mr. Bentham you had sent to Sir Wm. Hooker. 
 They have not yet arrived, & they wish to know how they 
 were sent. To trace if possible the cause of the delay.


 We arrived here last Tuesday Evening, & are quietly established 
 for the present in this rural & quaint old house. 
 There is something quite imposing for an American, in 
 living in a house built 300 years ago! Mr. & Mrs. Bentham 
 are charming people, & receive us most kindly. and Dr. 
 Gray & Mr. Bentham are already deep in Exploring Expedition 
 Plants.


 We had a delightful tour on the continent, though 
 we were obliged, to our great disappointment, to give up the 
 Italian Lakes & the Tyrol for want of time. I do not know 
 when Dr. Gray last wrote to you, but I think not since we 
 left Munich, so I may be safe from repetition if I say anything 
 about our visit to Holland. Martins was very kind 
 to us in Munich. Came all the way from Schleidorf, where 
 he was staying with his family, to see us, and we only 
 regretted that we had not more time there. For there is 
 so very much to see in the galleries, & churches, &c.
        