My dear Sir

I understand from my son that you wish to hear about my short geological tour with Prof: Sedgwick in North Wales during the summer of 1831; but it is so long ago that I can tell you very little.¹ As I desired to learn something about Geology Prof: Henslow asked Sedgwick to allow me to accompany him on his tour & he assented to this in the readiest & kindest manner²   he came to my Father’s house at Shrewsbury, & I remember how spirited & amusing his conversation was during the whole evening; but he talked so much about his health & uncomfortable feelings, that my father who was a doctor thought that he was a confirmed hypochondriac.³ We started next morning, & after a day or two he sent me across the country in a line parallel to his course, telling me to collect specimens of the rocks & to note the stratification.⁴ In the evening he discussed what I had seen; & this of course encouraged me greatly & made me exceedingly proud; but I now suspect that it was done merely for the sake of teaching me, & not for anything of value which I could have told him. I remember one little incident: we left Conway⁵ early in the morning, & for the first two or three miles of our walk he was gloomy & hardly spoke a word. He then suddenly burst forth “I know that the damned fellow never gave her the sixpence; I’ll go back at once” & turned to return to Conway. I was amazed for I never heard before, or since, anything like an oath from him.

On inquiry I found that he was convinced that the waiter had not given to the chambermaid the sixpence which he had left for her. He had no reason whatever excepting that he thought the waiter an “ill looking fellow.” On my hinting that he could hardly accuse a man of theft on such grounds, he consented to proceed; but for some time he grumbled & growled. At last his brow cleared & we had a delightful day; & he was as energetic as on all former occasions in climbing the mountains.

We spent nearly a whole day in Cwm Idwal examining the rocks carefully, as he was very desirous to find fossils.⁶ I have often thought of this day as a good instance of how easy it is for any one to overlook new phenomena, however conspicuous they may be. The valley is glaciated in the plainest manner the rocks being mammillated; deeply scored, with many perched boulders & well defined moraines; yet none of these phenomena were observed by Prof: Sedgwick, nor of course by me. Nevertheless they are so plain, that as I saw in 1842 the presence of a glacier filling up the valley would have rendered the evidence less distinct.⁷ Shortly afterwards I left Prof. Sedgwick & struck across the country in another direction, & reported by letter what I saw. In his answer he discussed my ignorant remarks in his usual generous & frank manner.⁸ I am sorry to say that I can tell you nothg more about our little tour—

I find that I have kept only one letter from Prof. Sedgwick, which he wrote after receiving a copy of my Origin of Species. His judgement naturally does not seem to me quite a fair one; but I think that the letter is characteristic of the man, & you are at liberty to publish it if you should so desire⁹

Believe me my dear Sir | Yours sincerely | Charles Darwin