WCP6631

[1] [p. 346]

'Ternate, Moluccas, Oct, 6th 1858: —

Mr. Bartlett¹ and the Crystal Palace Directors have curious ideas about getting live Birds of Paradise, and talk of sending them by dozens as if they were Cockatoos or Lories. Just state the following facts to Mr. Bartlett. 1st. The natives of Aru and New Guinea do not know the nest-breeding-place of the Birds of the Paradise. 2nd. The few that have been obtained alive have been accidental, wounded birds in almost every case. 3rd. Perhaps one Bird of Paradise in ten years is obtained alive. 4th. At least £25 would be asked for them here in the Moluccas — perhaps more — and would be eagerly paid by any of the Dutch officials for presents to send to Java. 5th. In about three hundred years that Europeans have been in the Archipelago and trade carried on with New Guinea and Aru, why have they never reached England or Europe but in one instance? 6th. Let the Directors offer £250 for one male bird, and have it well advertised in Macassar and all the parts of the Moluccas, with a free passage to the [2] [p. 347] person bringing it home, and perhaps in the course of the next twenty years they may get one.'²