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.
Your affectionate brother,
WILLIAM J. WILLS.
. . .
The following reply to his mother alludes to the circumstance, which
she had mentioned, of an aurora borealis, having appeared in
England. This completes his letters for 1859.
Flagstaff Observatory, December 18th, 1859.
MY DEAR MOTHER,
Your letter of the 17th of October arrived here by the Columbian
only three or four days after time, which is a wonderful piece of
punctuality for that miserable old tub. I am glad that you were so
much pleased with the sketch of the Observatory that I sent you. I
now forward a photograph made by a friend of mine, which will
convey a better idea than the other of the appearance of our
habitation, etc.
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