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Dear Sister Anne,

    With this is a scrap of letter that I wrote to Eliab this morning, but it failed of getting to the Post office at that time. I wrote to him at Westfield as you will see by this request, but I think it extremely doubtful if he gets it at all there, even if he should go to Westfield at all.  Most likely he will be back at Bangor before this letter will reach Westfield. I think I have written to you pretty abundantly since I have heard from you at all.  In fact if Eliab is there when you get this letter you may consider it as written to him especially, and expect to write to me some yourself; as with my pressure of business, and lack of conveniences, it can hardly devolve upon me to do all the writing.  Just consider my case:  The country is almost barbarous.  The houses generally poorer than every thing you ever saw:  Even Wealthy Menlast two words underlined  {that is men owning their hundreds of acres of Corn & Wheat, and heads of Cattle, horses, & hogs, almost literally unnumbered, will live here in one room log houses, really poorer than a decent man would keep his hogs in at the East.  The only lights at night is a burning rag in a dish of hog fat, perhaps! and every other thing in the same proportion.  To be sure we intend to carry a supply of indispensiblesunderlined with us.  My usual writing apparatus is a little desk or box, on my knees and I usually select the log barn, {probably would be called at the East a penunderlined rather than even a barnunderlined; a real Yankee barn for a stopping place would be a luxury indeed { or get under our big baggage wagon to write.  Then again the matter of timeunderlined for writing is a material matter.  We intend to work in the field as much of the time as men can work;  then all the rest of the time is just about enough to do up the necessary writing & calculations.  The men usually drop down & sleep in bed or floor, generally with their clothes on.  They enjoy themselves and are extra healthy in this way.  After finishing my writing, I bathe thoroughly, and sleep usually in the Wagon or perhaps barn floor, or open Porch on a straw bed & fixings which I keep in the wagon for my especial benefit.  In the matter of food we are especially lucky  You see the food of "Suckers"underlined consists regularly of three things.  Corn bread, smoked hog, and strong Coffee.  Last year the corn crop was cut off