Letter from Robert Stephenson to his stepmother

St. Ana Silver Mines
near Mariquita June 20th 1826

Mrs George Stephenson Forth Street
Newcastle upon Tyne England

My Dear Mother


A letter from England is to me in my present situation like meeting an old acquaintance, and they are rendered so much the more interesting from the scarcity of them, but I will not make you uncomfortable by commencing all my letters with complaints as I believe I have done hitherto with all my friends but I will say nothing more about it, as the period is fast approaching when neither seas or foreign lands shall divide me from my home or my kind parents. My dear father's letter Nhich I received a few days ago, was an affectionate one, and when he spoke of his head getting grey, and finding himself descending the hill of life I could not refrain from giving way to feelings which overpowered me, and prevented me reading on. Some, had they seen me, would perhaps call me childish; but I would tell them that such feelings and reflections as crossed me at that moment are unknown to them, they are unacquainted with the love and affection due to attentive parents, which in me seems to have become more and more acute as the distance and period of my absence has increased. You say you long to see me in England, believe me dear Mother the wish is mutual. It is impossible for me to describe to you precisely my situation: for my own credit I am almost obliged to stay till I receive consent from the Directors to leave, on the other hand I wish most sincerely to reach home to take the weight of business off my fathers back which he so justly complains of; his situation I can readily imagine is a very unpleasant one; but he must endeavour to keep up his spirits a little longer with a hope that he will see me if my voyage from this country should be a speedy one. The account of the opening of the Darlington Railroad pleased me much the description of the scene in West Auckland took me there in a moment. I can imagine the coaches, gigs & people running about in all directions, every one with a gay countenance - I need not tell you how delightful I would have been to have witnessed the performance of the Brusselton Engine with the long Patent Rope which they talk about in the newspaper. I have wondered what the patent Rope was I suppose it is something new since I left: indeed the accounts which I have been able to catch in this country about the grand inventions which have lately come to light in England, quite puts me in bad spirits. I sometimes think that I shall not be able to make up the ground which I have lost and my father in one of his letters tells me I shall be a long way in the background when I return, but we will see - If you have got great things to show me I have got great things to tell you, and perhaps after all I shall have a balance in my favour. When I consider the vast space of country which I have already travelled over, and that which I must yet do to get home, I feel astonished, and yet can scarcely believe I have been two years from home; my mind has been so taken up with new scenes, new people, new customs and in short new every thing that the time has slipped away without my knowing how, yet if I had been asked when I landed

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on the American shores if it were possible for anyone to have seen as much in so short a time I would have said it was impossible. Many interesting circumstances have arisen and as many disagreeable ones, but I am now much more comfortably situated than I was shortly after my arrival - When we first entered this small village, there was not a house to put our heads into sufficient to shelter us from the rain and vermin; but we have built several new ones, constructed entirely of wood. The one in which I am now writing is of this description and is very comfortable it contains three rooms, one for taking our meals in, another for sleeping and the remaining one for an Office, the situation of it is strikingly beautiful, being on the summit of a small hill which commands an extensive view on all sides, but there is nothing near me like unto England, on all sides it is an immense forest of fine trees, which are always green, no· winter being known in these climates, the leaves are always gradually falling, but they are immediately succeeded by fresh green leaves. The ground descends suddenly from the front of our house for about a mile in which small distance the fall is no less than 800 feet. From the bottom of this descent the ground rises rapidly to the height of 1000 feet forming a mountain ridge, which is covered to the very summit with strong trees that are always green. Beyond this small ridge of hills rise others still higher and higher until their tops are covered with everlasting snow, and where not a spot of vegetation is to be seen, all being white with snow and ice - No one has ever been able to go to the top of this mighty mountain, which is at least eighteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. From this short and imperfect description of the view from the front of our little cottage you may conceive how different it is from any thing you are accustomed to see in England indeed it has been well remarked that in these Southern countries the face of nature is completely changed, nay the constitution of man undergoes a great change, he changes his ruddy complexion which is natural to him in the North, for a paleness which would be said in England to indicate bad health, but it is not the case for though my colour may have changed, I still enjoy good health and feel myself equal to almost any exertion -

Before I close my letter I must give you an account of a great earthquake which we have had in this neighbourhood & which has thrown the people into terrible confusion - it happened on ...... about½ past ten at night - we were just preparing to go to bed, when we felt the ground begin to move beneath us; the plastering of the walls fell down, and the beams of the roof began to crack; Having been so accustomed with small Earthquakes, we knew in a moment what was the matter and of course we all ran immediately in the street, where we found the inhabitants. some singing psa[lms], some on their knees, and some prostrate on the ground calling ou[t] in prayers to the Almighty to spare them - In almost a minute all was quiet, but the people continued during the greater part of the night walking the streets in small parties singing & praying - No houses were thrown down in Mariquita, but in Honda which is a large town about 12 miles off many are severely damaged and unfit for anyone to enter - Bogota has suffered considerably, two churches were instantly level with the ground and scarcely a house has escaped without a great deal of injury. The cathedral in Bogota is a beautiful & splendid building is expected to fall - A Town named Tepaquira situated 19 Miles from Bogota is said to be completely destroyed; we have not heard how far the shock extended to the East, but bad news are feared, as several populous towns exist at no great distance from Bogota in that direction - We were very fortunate in the vicinity of Mariquita as I hear of no houses being thrown down, though several are injured, especially in Honda in which place the

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Governor has been obliged to leave his house and reside in a small thatched cottage - which are deemed the safest as they are generally made of wood and bound together by strings which renders them like a basket and well fitted for dwellings in hot countries - I have already mentioned in my fathers letter you need not write me after you receive this -

My kind respects to all your family particularly to Ed: Storey to whom I enclosed a letter in one I wrote to you about 4 or 5 months ago.

Believe Me Dear Mother Yours
affectionately
Rob:
Stephenson (I will write again soon)