WCP684

[1]

Waterloo Place

Weymouth

till tomorrow only

28/Aug[ust]/[19]03

A.R. Wallace Esq.

Dear Sir

I shall be most pleased to give you any information concerning Brit[ish]. Guiana that is in my power. I should unhesitatingly say that a post under the Government as a gold officer in one of the districts would be most [2] suitable. The work is very light & most of the gold officers do not know how to fill in the time species[?] the pay is very small £120-£150 or something like that but I do not know for certain. The chief duty of a gold officer is to weigh all the gold that is taken out from the "places" before taken into Georgetown in order that the Gov[ernmen]t are not cheated over the amount dutiable. Licences have to be issued & so on. I have a friend far in the interior diamond mining but [3] I don’t fancy he would employ your friend. Then there is a g German Syndicate (I know the manager) working a "wash drum" for gold at Amai but I think it is doubtful whether a post could be found there. Perhaps a post could be obtained timber cutting at Grunheart Camp, Essequibo Railway; a letter to the manager would elicit a yes or no. I should strongly recommend your friend to get employment if he can, in the North West of Brit[ish]. Guiana. No one knows anything about the region of the delta of the Indies[?] [4] & many striking form [manuscript burned] doubtless to be obtained there as the ^typical Venezuala fauna there then mixes with the Guiana. The Climate is more healthy also, & abnormal rainfall, & floods are very rare. My collection on the Potaro history[?] of the Essequibo have experienced fearful floods & rainfall in the past 18 months & his collection has been very small. Omai on the Essequibo is a splendid locality for moths & perhaps the German Syndicate could find employment. The climate is bad however, or one should say Anopheles are Common!

Yours very sincerely | W.J. Kaye [signature]