WCP1296

[1]

Welburn. York.

25 Sept. 1873.

My dear Wallace

I have delayed so long replying to your letter that I fear such scanty information as I can afford you may arrive too late to be of use. August & Septr are usually my worst months, & this year has not been exceptional, except that I have had more intestinal hemorrhage than usual, which is aggravated when I write with a pen. I had a bad fit earlier on, when I sent off in a hurry the books you had kindly lent me, fearing I might rapidly get worse & then be unable to send them at all. You will however pardon my slowness, knowing the cause.

I do not know how you c[oul]d have got the impression that Tarapoto was inhabited by a pure white race, for the red very much predominates there, & the white exists mostly as a very slight tinge indeed, and pure scarcely ever. I have very full notes on the site, climate, inhabitants, productions, &c. of Tarapoto, and I enclose three loose leaves of my notes — made on the spot, in 1856 — which may serve to correct your notions about the sort of people who inhabit it. Please return them soon.

It is in towns near the Pacific coast where a notable proportion of the inhabitants are, and always have been, pure white. To Quito and other towns in th and west of the Andes, great numbers of Spaniards had emigrated before the end of the 16th century — whole families — men, women & children; whereas to the eastern side of S. America — Brazil, Venezuela, ^&c. the emigrants were for the most part men only, & such of them as remained in the country naturally took such women as they c[oul]d get — that is red or black, there being no other choice.

[2] On separate sheets I have written out a few notes bearing on the present state of the populations of the western side of Equatorial America, of which you can make what use you like, & from which you will of course make your own deductions. My own impression is that it is not the white but the mixed populations of S. America that have deteriorated, & the main cause of this you will find in my 6th paragraph. As to the possibility of Europeans becoming thoroughly acclimatised even in the plains of Equatorial America, I cannot have a moment's doubt. Surely there is less difference between the climate of Southern Europe & the Amazon than between Nor that of Norway & Greece; & yet no one would deny that the inhabitants of the two latter countries would mostly survive an interchange of site. Surely the gods & heroes of ancient Greece were Northmen — blue-eyed, yellow-haired.

What do the opponents of the possibility of acclimatisation say to the case of our domesticated animals? The domestic fowl is very fertile in the Andes, at all heights where man can exist; but it is equally so in the hot, damp forests of the Uaupés, where you & I have devoured numbers of them. I only wish I had a few of them here just now, at the price of a ha'porth¹ of fish-hooks, as we used to buy them.

When you have fully considered the question, perhaps you will tell me the result of you enquiries & cogitations. Perhaps I may see a copy of your article when it is printed.

I have tried in vain to get a sight of your article in M^cMillan [MacMillan's Magazine]². A lady friend who used to take it has given up. But I have seen brief reviews in the Spectator, Record, &c. — too brief to give any notion of what its drift really is.

[3] I begin to fear that the combat with Superstition is endless, & will have to be renewed in each succeeding age. I can scarcely believe my eyes when I read of these stupid pilgrimages to Paray-le-Monial³ & elsewhere. Truly, as your friend Ridsdale⁴ used to say, "'tis an idiotic world!"

I am much interested in all you tell me about your garden &c. I think you w[oul]d have rain enough after you wrote to me. We have never had any lack of it here all the year, and the 3 days just passed have been the finest not only in autumn but in summer too.

It seems a pity to have to change your residence again, but life itself is merely a perpetual change. I have been trying myself to get into a little hut of my own, and have had two offered me, neither of which was quite to my taste. I have the chance of another which would really suit, but it will not be at liberty for many months yet.

Many thanks for the pamphlets you have sent me at various times. I read the one on the Prevention of Poverty⁵ with much interest, and heartily agree with much of its contents, although it hardly goes to the root of the matter.

I trust you keep pretty well, and that Mrs. W.[allace]⁶ and the children⁷ are thriving. I think you said they had become acclimatised to Grays, as I hope they may to whatever colour turns up next.

Believe me, Dear Wallace, | Ever affect[ionatel]y yours, | Rich[ar]^d Spruce. [signature]

Do the little insects called Thrips by gardeners all belong to one genus, & what is it? Please send me a named specimen of one or two kinds.

Over⁸

[4] I have taken to smoking again, to soothe my pains, but I cannot get any Latakia tobacco at either Malton or York. When you are next in town will you please buy me 4oz. of it and send it by post. I will gladly repay the cost. I cannot now get the smallest parcel by Rail under 2/6.

W[oul]d you also please enquire the price of Cigarettes (paper) of genuine material, if one were to buy a few hundreds of them at a time?