Written from Wargrave, Henley on Thames, [Oxfordshire]. Manuscript. A page is missing.
He has not answered Robinson's letter as the contents were not ready and are still not ready; ‘The North British Review’ require of him a review of ‘Baker’s Nile Expedition’ in a hurry, and he has no time to spare; he writes an acknowledgement lest Robinson think him discourteous, but he would have liked to have sent some remarks to see if they are worthy of publication, especially a list of hardy but beautiful roses suitable for poor folk like himself; he can return from Africa for a few moments to tell Robinson the few he settled on, which Robinson can amend [there follows a list of names including ‘Cabbage’, ‘Moss’, ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’, ‘Queen of the Bourbons’, ‘General Jacqueminot’]; he would like Robinson to hint to his readers that briar roses should barely be pruned as they flower on old wood [the remainder of the letter is missing, but a postscript at the top of the first page is signed Henry Kingsley]
Undated [c.1874; ‘Ismailia - A Narrative Of The Expedition To Central Africa For The Suppression Of Slave Trade, Organised By Ismail, Khadive Of Egypt’ / by Samuel Baker was published in 1874]