WCP6926

[1]

Broadstone, Wimborne.

Nov^r. 24th, 1906

Dear Mr. Slater

I receive the box of books quite safely this morning. I see, what I mistook for a fresh portion of "Journal", are letters to Kew, which are headed "Journals".

I see now that the actual "Journals", both of the Rio Negro & Orinoco journey, and of the Voyage from Tarapoto to Baños, which your daughter copied out, are so full of unimportant details of daily trivial events, that they will really have to be rewritten, incorporating all the important and interesting passages in Spruce's [2] own words,— and also giving larger extracts from all the letters describing vegetation &c. scenery, & interesting events or adventures. For this purpose I should like to have all the letters Spruce wrote when on the Rio Negro & in the Andes, to any persons at home, besides those to Sir. W. Hooker, Mr. Bentham, and Mr Smith at Kew, and to Mr Teesdale.

You sent me a long list of letters you have, written to Spruce. Do you know if he wrote any of these persons from the Amazon?

In this list I see W.A. Leighton, E.Illingworth, J.Backhouse, W.G.Smith, J.R.Jackson, Kew, & [3] some others that he may have known sufficiently before going abroad to write to them from there. Were any of these letters ^{(which you have)} written to him while he was abroad? If so he probably wrote to them; & even if some these ^persons are dead then friends may have kept the letters. If you can tell me of any such, I would write to them or to their family, if they are dead.

Letters are very useful because they are not so scrappy as the "Journals" noted down day by day & often made under difficulties.

Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]