My dear Darwin

Here we are, homeward bound, but moored here by the amazing kindness of the people for a longer time than we expected; enjoying ourselves very much indeed.¹

We went to S^t Petersburgh in two stages, stopping only at Berlin & there for 3 nights; our Hotel was opposite the Pertz’s,² who were most attentive & hospitable.— I saw also a good deal of Peters,³ who is a capital fellow, & has, as you know, been much in England. At the Museum there was a very badly stuffed specimen of a new & small species of Gorilla from East Africa, & that it was the only novelty I saw. At S^t. Petersburgh I found many friends, including some cousins of my Mothers, who had married into Russian families, & one of whom, being an ADC to the Emperor, was immensely useful to us; nothing indeed can exceed the kindness of these Scandinavians & Scythians—⁴

At the Academy I was much interested with old Brandt the Zoological Director who declares that all the Bos’ses longifrons & Co are one species—that there is but one fossil Elephant, & that the Dinotherium is simpliciter a mammoth!⁵ he believes in you with a vengeance, & I hope I do not misinterpret his ideas— I saw the Rhinoceros tichorhinus with skin & hair on head & feet found in East Russia—⁶ I was not aware, or had forgotten, that this animal had been found with the soft parts preserved.. The Mammoth is certainly a magnificent thing: the skin is preserved in huge masses. But the Syremi Stelleri ⁷ (I cannot spell the name) of which they have a complete skeleton is even more interesting; the texture of all the bones is like the hardest ivory & the proportion of bone to size of animal I should think exceeds that of any other animal: this & its curious organization rendered it to my eyes the most curious thing I ever saw. The Birds & beasts at the Academy are most admirably stuffed & set up, & the series of varieties of Rodents &c is most instructive in the variability point of view. With the mineralogical Gallery at the School of Mines I was disappointed— Von Baer was not at S^t. P., he has gone to live at Dorpat, old Admiral Lutke & Bunge the Botanist were by far the most interesting men I saw—⁸

With S^t. P. I was a good deal disappointed, it is huge, tasteless, & void of all national architecture, except the churches which are Sublime, & the choral services celestial: beside these our emasculated Anglican services, with its halting imagery & puling intonation is contemptible;—if we are to have music & gesticulation & incense & gold & jewels, give them me hot & strong, & the Russo-Greek X is the place for my money. The altar Screens & chapels are literally ablaze with jewels & every jewel given, is a full & perfect sacrifice for some real stunning crime sin or misdemeanor committed by this most immoral people.

The Palaces are gorgeous, but one gets quite sick of French decoration, & endless cabinets of diamonds & rubies.— The streets are Enormous & horribly paved, distances are tremendous, living very expensive & the place terribly unhealthy.— I never saw such sickly children & I am assured that the mortality exceeds the births by 6000 per annum   immigration of French & Germans keeps up the popⁿ.

The Exposition was very fair, but the arrangements extremely bad.— The Emperor⁹ was most polite, received a lot of us at his palace of Tsarkoe Selo¹⁰ showed us himself over the private apartments that were of Historic interest, gave us two dejeuners, & at the end decorated a dozen or so of the savants & expositors— as I declined a Decoration, he has sent me a pair of beautiful Jasper Vases from a private mine he has in Tomsk, which he reserves for such purposes. I was sorely puzzled what to do about the Decoration, not wishing to be rude on one hand, & on the other, anxious to avoid it, lest my motives in coming, after the refusal of Low to send me, should be misunderstood—so I said that as we could not wear foreign decorations at our Court, I would decline, adding that to English men of science they were not of the same Value as to Foreigners.—¹¹ His functionaries were most civil about it— & he consequently sent me the Vases &c to my two compatriots, Murray & Hogg,¹² each a malachite table.

With Moscow we were enchanted—& could have spent weeks there with pleasure— it is as eminently national as S^t. P. is the contrary.

We left last Tuesday by steamer sailing through the wooded glaciated isles of the Gulf of Finland & Baltic, all the way to this most lovely city—the most enchanting I ever was in. Andersson¹³ was on the Quay to meet us & has persuaded me to stay till the meeting of the Academy on Wednesday, when we leave for Copenhagen, & shall thence go to Hamburgh & home by steamer next week.

Here I have seen much of the officers of the Spitzbergen Expeditions—most interesting men— they hope next year to go to Nova-Zembla.¹⁴

Andersson would go again to the Galapagos for 6 months with a schooner from Guayaquil¹⁵ if he could raise £500— I should think we could do this   it would be a splendid thing to do & he is a capital man.

The weather has been cold & comfortless but suitable on the whole for travelling. Mrs Hooker¹⁶ has stood it perfectly & enjoyed herself amazingly, she sends love to you all—please add mine.

Ever my dear Darwin | Yours affec | J D Hooker

Clement Wedgwood & his wife¹⁷ arrived before we left & we spent a very happy day altogether