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5 Jun 57 Peter on board 'Tynemouth' Mother 1, Hyde Park Place ______________________________________________________________________________________________
Dartmouth
Friday evening *
My dear Mother
As we leave tomorrow at 10 a.m., I must just add a few words to my letter of this morning.
Dartmouth is a severely pretty place. I do not think I have ever seen a more pretty prospect than that we have from our ship. The Harbour is completely land locked & the town is the most old fashioned antiquated place I have ever seen in England.
I have the rifle all safe on board after subscribing to the carriage down & the stout, I forgot to tell you in my letter of this morning, is also on board. Both will be landed in the Mauritius* safely.
I only hope we shall have as fine a Passage as we had down channel. Scarcely any body was ill. Of course I was not.
Good bye again to every body
Your affect Son
Peter G Laurie
* Friday evening – The envelope was franked 'Ju-8 1857', a Monday
* the Mauritius – Peter was sailing to Hong Kong on the ‘Tynemouth’, calling at Cape Town, Mauritius, Calcutta, Singapore and Shanghai – as well as other unrecorded brief stops. He seems to have had no responsibilities on board and merely travelled as a passenger in the hope of finding employment in India or China