WCP1720

Letter (WCP1720.1603)

[1]

Singapore

Feb. 7th. 1862

To P. L. Sclater Esq.1 Secretary to the Zoological Society of London.2

Dear Sir

About 2 months back I received information, when in the interior of Sumatra, that there were two live Paradise Birds3 in Singapore. I immediately determined to come & enquire about them & accordingly proceeded to this place a full month earlier than I had intended. They were in the hands of a European Merchant who was well aware of their value & asked an exorbitant price. As however they seemed in excellent health, had [2] been in Singapore 3 months & in possession of a Bugis trader4 a year before that, I determined if possible to obtain them.

After protracted negotiations I have purchased them for $400 (nearly £100), & tomorrow I take them on board the steamer for Europe.

I was afraid to let it be known that a free passage had been offered me with them, as the demands would then have risen proportionally. I therefore obtained a promise to sell before applying to the manager of the P. & O. Company, when I was much surprised & disappointed to find that no order for a free passage had been sent out, but merely instructions to take care of the Birds if sent on board.

Under these circumstances I was at first inclined to give up any idea of completing the purchase, but on mature consideration [3] I thought that you would certainly blame me for want of confidence in the offers made me by yourself, & the promise of a free passage repeatedly made me through Mr. Sam[uel]. Stevens.5 I have had no official notice of my terms having been accepted by the Zool[ogical]. Soc[iety]. except that in one of your letters you say "I suppose Stevens has told you that the Zoological Society has accepted your terms for Birds of Paradise", but I presume from this that a resolution to that effect exists on the Books of the Society.

My intention is to stay at Malta & send a Telegram asking instructions, but post this letter here, to show that the Birds are purchased for [4] the Zoological Society.

I remain Dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

1
Sclater, Philip Lutley (1829-1913). British lawyer and zoologist, specialising in ornithology; secretary to the Zoological Society of London, 1859-1902.
2
The Zoological Society of London, founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1826 to promote the science of zoology (Turnbull, C. M. 2015. Raffles, Sir (Thomas) Stamford Bingley (1781-1826). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. <https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/23010> [accessed 21 September 2018]).
3
Identified by ARW as the Lesser Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea papuana) in: Wallace, A. R. 1869. The Malay Archipelago, 2 vols. London, UK: Macmillan & Co. [vol. 2, p. 241-243]; but now known as Paradisaea minor Shaw, 1809 (BirdLife International. 2017. Paradisaea minor (amended version of 2016 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22706245A118814616. <http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22706245A118814616.en> [accessed 21 September 2018]).
4
The Bugis or Buginese, a people of southern Celebes (Sulawesi), Indonesia, with a long history of trading between islands (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2018. Bugis. People. Encylopaedia Britannica <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bugis> [accessed 21 September 2018]).
5
Stevens, Samuel (1817-1899). British entomologist and dealer in natural history specimens; agent of ARW.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1720.1603)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Brunnen, Claire [2012-02-16] Transcription checked by Jenkins, Helen [2012-04-13] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Watt, Helen [2018-09-21]

Please cite as “WCP1720,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 30 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1720