To J. A. H. de Bosquet   [before 3 November 1856]1

great rogues & not to be trusted.— The skins (though I fear there is little chance of your hearing of these breeds) could be sent through Bookseller & I could somehow manage to repay you.

I shd. very much like also to have one of your good Carriers (old Cock bird) skinned.—

Could you find out for me authentically at what rate Carriers have flown long distances such as 200, or 300 or 400 miles; telling me the names of places whence flown & where to.—

Forgive all this immense trouble if you can, & believe me with every feeling of friendliness,

Your’s very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

I sincerely hope the specimens will reach you safely.

1
The recipient and the date of the letter are suggested by the letter being preserved in the collection of the American Philosophical Society together with the letter to J. A. H. de Bosquet, 9 September [1856], and by CD’s reference in the letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 3 November [1856], to having written to a geologist in Maastricht for information about finnikin pigeons. Bosquet and CD had corresponded when CD was preparing his monographs on cirripedes (see Correspondence vol. 5). Bosquet had recently sent CD drawings of sessile cirripedes he had discovered in Secondary formations (see letter to J. A. H. de Bosquet, 9 September [1856]).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 &] over full stop
1.2 these] altered from ‘them’
2.1 your] over ‘the’
2.1 (old cock bird)] interl
3.1 authentically] interl
3.1 flown] after del ‘ever’
3.2 or 400] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-2031,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-2031