Transcribe Ward, Henry A. Copy of letter to Brooks, Lewis. (1877-02-06)

</u Suakin > the port of Nubia and </u Mopowah > the port of Abyssinia; </s the Now I return latter quite at the lower (southern) end of the Red > Whenever I return by same steamer the whole length of the Red Sea to Suez at its northern ends and, crossing to Cairo and Alexandria, sail for Europe and America. I hop ego reach home by the middle of April. You will note that my present trip is a great change and curtailing of my original plan. </s and trip >My reason for the change is the </u lack of time > to carry out the first plan. </s I finish my > As I mentioned to you in a previous letter, my most </u certain > and important collecting ground, for all departments of the Virginia cabinet were to be had in Europe, from localities and dealers with whom I had long been conversant. I worked steadily and patiently at my programme, or list of needed specimens, until I reached the southern point of Europe (Mepina in Sicily) about three weeks ago. When I saw that it would be quite impossible for me to go to India - to really do anything there -and to get back </s at > to </s Rochester > America at the time that my Virginia Cabinet imperatively </u requires > me there. So I decided to cross the Mediterranean, spend a fortnight in Egypt and a Month on the Red Sea - at good collecting points,- and then return direct Rome. This is an </u intense > disappointment to me, and in some respects a mortification. I have dreamed for years of the ^pleasure of the^Indian portion of this trip and deemed it, too, of the greatest importance to my business interests