did last month, and which I hope reached you. I rather expected to
have received the photograph I wrote to you for by the last mail. I
wish you would indite some good long letters by return of post, as
it will probably be the last, or very nearly so, that I shall get
from you for many months. It seems very likely that I shall be
leaving Melbourne in March, to accompany the expedition for the
exploration of the interior of this continent. It is calculated
that we shall be away for about three years. It may be more, but it
is not likely to be much less. IT IS NOT YET CERTAIN that I shall
go. In fact, nothing is decided, not even who will be the leader;
but I thought it would be as well to mention it to you now, as your
answer to this cannot reach me until March. But remember that my
going away need not prevent your writing frequently; for it is
likely there will be occasional means of communication with
Melbourne for the first six months, and Professor Neumayer will
take every opportunity of forwarding my letters. It is quite
possible that I may not go, but it is more likely that I shall, as
Professor N. is very anxious that I should, to make magnetic and
meteorological observations, and he is on the Exploration
Committee. If you have not been able to get the books I wrote for,
for myself, you may as well leave them for the present. I have been
indulging greatly in operas lately. I can understand that sort of
music better than high-flown oratorios. The operatic company at the
Theatre Royal is not first-rate, but as good as we can expect to
have in a new colony like this. The pieces they have given are Il
Trovatore, Lucia di Lammermoor, Lucrezia Borgia, and La Sonnambula;
the latter is a delightful one, but they cannot manage it
satisfactorily, some of the songs are so difficult of execution.

Please to give my love, etc., etc.