Ɛpsilon

WCP3585

Letter (WCP3585.3484)

[1]

Godstone.

24 Decr 1858

My dear Sir1

Thanks for the manuscript which I return herewith —

It is interesting Sadong is a low country but excellenly [sic] well calculated for lowland Rice — Sarawak strongly [illeg.] with it — [2] Wallace misses the cause of slow progressive state of increase amongst the Dayaks[.]

The tendency to extinction with this race as with all others is breeding in and in — Castigation by enforced intercourse might cure this evil — and a martial on [illeg.] spirits — [3] — rapes of the Sabines renewed would do it — one step forward would do it — thanks for your good wishes –

I am quite cheery but a man should regard the signs of death as well as of weather and as coolly —

Yours my dear Sir | very faithfully | J Brooke2 [signature]

Dr. Norton Shaw

[4]3

1
Shaw, Henry Norton (d. 1868). British Royal Navy Surgeon and Diplomat; Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, London 1849-63.
2
Brooke, James (1803-1868). British. The first White Rajah of Sarawak from 1842-1868.
3
In Shaw’s handwriting, "18598 / Sir James Brooke Rec: Jany 3".

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP3585.3484)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by O'Dell, Sandra [2015-06-10] Transcription checked by Benny, Ruth [2015-06-10] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2019-03-01] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2026-04-18]

Please cite as “WCP3585,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP3585