Ɛpsilon

From John Evans   28 January 1878

Nash Mills, | Hemel Hempsted.

Jany 28. 1878

Dear Mr. Darwin

I venture to ask your kind assistance in carrying out some cave-explorations in Borneo, which Mr. Everett, with whose name I think you are acquainted, is willing to undertake— He proposes to devote a year to the exploration, and estimates his expenses at about £370 which I have agreed to find for him— The produce of his work is in the first instance to go to the British Museum and any duplicates that they may not require will be allotted by a Commee. The Royal Society has voted me £50 from the Donation Fund, and I hope to get a similar amount from the British Association, but there is still a large sum to raise by private subscription which I hope to manage—1 I think that Huxley has already mentioned the subject to you, and I hope that you will not think me troublesome in thus making application to you—2 It seemed to me too good an opportunity to be lost, but I cannot well bear the whole expense myself, though I do not like to go abegging. I suppose that you have seen Gaudrey’s new book with which I am sure that you will be pleased—3

Believe me | yours most truly | John Evans

Charles Darwin Esq LL.D. F.R.S.

1
Arthur Hart Everett was commissioned by the Royal Society of London and the British Association for the Advancement of Science to explore caves in Borneo; his findings were published in Everett et al. 1880; see also Report of the 49th Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; held at Sheffield (1879): 149–55). His expedition was funded by grants of £50 each from the Royal Society and British Association, and a private subscription of £200. Human remains were found but they were not of sufficient antiquity to shed light on the origins of the human race, which was one of the objects of the expedition.
2
No letter has been found in which Thomas Henry Huxley mentioned this subject.
3
CD had received Albert Gaudry’s Les enchaînements du monde animal dans les temps géologiques: mammifères tertiaires (Series in the animal world over geological time: tertiary mammals; Gaudry 1878) at the end of December 1877 (Correspondence vol. 25, letter to Albert Gaudry, 28 December 1877).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11337,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11337