WCP744

Letter (WCP744.916)

[1]1

Broadstone,

<Wimborne> [MS damaged]

Oct[ob]er. 25th. <1905>2

My dear Fred3

After finishing your long <and> [MS damaged] interesting account of your adventures <in> [MS damaged] Tucuché,4 I felt very much inclined to [MS damaged] you in earnest for so recklessly <endangering> [MS damaged] your health and even your life. But [MS damaged] the necessary interval caused by own [MS damaged] affairs & the publication of my book [MS damaged] me to miss one mail, I feel that you <have> [MS damaged] probably been punished enough, and [MS damaged] that youth must have its excitements [MS damaged] all risks. I think you will have <learned> [MS damaged] that climbing mountains does not <pay> [MS damaged] when performed alone. I know the <fascination> [MS damaged] of it, but the only way for a <naturalist to> [MS damaged] do any good at such work is to [MS damaged] the highest convenient station <where there> [MS damaged] is wood & water, and thence [MS damaged] top with net and collecting box [MS damaged] possible good was it to [MS damaged] to the top? [MS damaged] [2] [MS damaged] a good photo and there is usually [MS damaged] distinctive in a tropical mountain [MS damaged] Your camera should never be [MS damaged] except at home, or near home to [MS damaged] <take> single striking objects or small [MS damaged] <groups>. What you sent me from your [MS damaged] collecting station (the Carr’s estate)5 were [MS damaged] of them sufficiently distinctive to [MS damaged] of any interest.

Your dreadful boils and ulcers were, [MS damaged] <I> am sure, due, primarily to poor innutrition [sic] [MS damaged] <food>. They never come to healthy well- [MS damaged] nourished people. I really hope you [MS damaged] <are> now quite well again, and have [MS damaged] delayed going to Santa Catalina6 [MS damaged] that account. Mrs. Boynton’s7 good [MS damaged] will be the best cure for you, [MS damaged] it is probably quite as healthy there [MS damaged] Trinidad.

[MS damaged] even less agreeable subject [MS damaged] <It is> certainly a very [3] nasty one, but I really think you [MS damaged] better not take any notice of it, [MS damaged] when you do write next to him, [MS damaged] say quietly, that as you seem to be [MS damaged] dissatisfied it will be best to part.8 [MS damaged] you have any more Trinidad <collections> [MS damaged] I would send them to him, asking [MS damaged] him to forward you the proceeds <as> [MS damaged] soon as he can dispose of them. [MS damaged] ask Mr. Kaye9 to tell him that you [MS damaged] him a small present only.

I hope you will not require to <send> [MS damaged] your collections to America, I expect [MS damaged] S[outh]. American insects and birds are [MS damaged] commoner in American collections <than> [MS damaged] in English, and probably even <lower in> [MS damaged] price. However, on receipt of <yours> [MS damaged] I wrote to Mr. Karl Jordan10 at [MS damaged] <and> have today had a reply from [MS damaged] Ernst Hartert11 (the bird [MS damaged]) being on the <continent?> [MS damaged] [4]12 [MS damaged] trouble with Janson,13 and your [MS damaged] to send things direct to them, and [MS damaged] then to ascertain whether Mr. Rothschild14 [MS damaged] <will> take a set or a selection of your [MS damaged] <butt[erflie]s.> &c & birds from Santa Catalina, [MS damaged] <and> if so, what price he is willing to pay [MS damaged] <for> them. The letter is so important that [MS damaged] <I will> send you a copy of all the more [MS damaged] <important> part of it; and it seems to [MS damaged] <me> that if S[anta]. Catalina is really a [MS damaged] district — and I think it must be — [MS damaged] <you> will be pretty safe to trust to their <collection> producing you a great deal [MS damaged] <more> than all your collections from [MS damaged] <Trinidad> have done. For all lepidoptera15 [MS damaged] <including> moths large and small, I think [MS damaged] offer a fair price which will pay [MS damaged] Of course if you ever get [MS damaged] known country, where many [MS damaged] are new and rare, the [MS damaged] higher. [5]16 Having a little spare time I will [MS damaged] few words about the bird-collecting. [MS damaged] will have found already if Santa <Catalina> [MS damaged] turns out not a good locality for insects of [MS damaged] orders, you will want every hour of your [MS damaged] for them, and it will not pay you yourself to <collect> [MS damaged] them birds, except perhaps to get a few as <samples> [MS damaged] of your skinning. There you will be [MS damaged] close at home, going out say for one [MS damaged] <hour> from 5.30 to 6.30 am. which I always <find> [MS damaged] best for birds. On every skin put a <label> [MS damaged] something like the enclosed, the numbers [MS damaged] referring to a Note book, in which you [MS damaged] colour of all soft parts, — habits, food [MS damaged] contents of stomach &c. A copy of this [MS damaged] can send to Mr. Rothschild with each [MS damaged] of birds. The numbers refer to the [MS damaged] (not specimens).

I forget whether you have a [MS damaged] shot gun. If so you should [MS damaged] (always the same) [MS damaged] [6] [MS damaged] about half a thimble full, [MS damaged] same quantity of small shot, to [MS damaged] <shoot> the numerous birds which frequent [MS damaged] low bushes or the ground in the thick [MS damaged] <forests> or second-growths, and which you [MS damaged] have usually to shoot at 5 or 6 yards distance [MS damaged] <sometimes> less, where an ordinary charge [MS damaged] would blow them to pieces. You must try [MS damaged] <how> little will do, and will be surprised how little noise [MS damaged] <it> will make. The same charge is good [MS damaged] <for> humming-birds, but I hope there are [MS damaged] some blow-pipe shooters who will get them for you using clay pellets.

For the other barrel to shoot birds on tops [MS damaged] <of> trees there must be a full charge, with No. 1 [MS damaged] M. A. shot. In order to prepare for [MS damaged] <campaign> against the birds you must [MS damaged] get some Indian or half-breed hunter [MS damaged] you, paying him a trifle for [MS damaged] bird he brings you. There are [MS damaged] such men and boys to [7] be found who delight in hunting of [MS damaged] and Capt[ai]n B[oynton]17. will tell you how much [MS damaged] must pay them for the birds to satisfy them. Then, they <will> [MS damaged] be immensely interested in seeing you [MS damaged] skin and put them up, and you will be able to teach your hunter how to [MS damaged] a bird as well as you can. When he <can> [MS damaged] do this well you will pay him a trifle [MS damaged] each bird he skins. Then you will [MS damaged] to send him to some places near [MS damaged] Sierra18 where he can get rare kinds, [MS damaged] them himself, put a little cotton inside [MS damaged] bring them to you next day. A little [MS damaged] later, when he can also put them up [MS damaged] nicely — which he will probably soon [MS damaged] learn to do, he can go away for [MS damaged] days in various directions and <bring> [MS damaged] back skins, which you can then [MS damaged] a little, or if necessary fill [MS damaged] look as good as your own. [MS damaged] all my servants, which [MS damaged] [8]19 [MS damaged] they came in home in the afternoon with a dozen or 20 birds, [MS damaged] large, & some begining [sic] to putrefy. Mammals [MS damaged] your hunter will catch & skin for you [MS damaged] will no doubt be able to utilise your [MS damaged] to advantage when he sees how good [MS damaged] <they> are. If you get a regular order from [MS damaged] Mr. Rothschild for sets of birds, you will [MS damaged] able to keep one or two hunters employed [MS damaged] even to engage one as a servant to [MS damaged] with you on any distant excursions for [MS damaged] week or a months. But do not think [MS damaged] <about> that till you have well-worked Santa [MS damaged] <Catalina>. I have never seen one of your [MS damaged] bird-skins, & therefore cannot say anything [MS damaged] <except> to warn you against hard stuffing — a skin [MS damaged] filled with well-beaten cotton-wool being [MS damaged] better. Tying up the beak with a fine [MS damaged] thread through the nostrils to preven[t] gaping [MS damaged] as it dries is also an improvement, [MS damaged] know.

Yours very sincerely | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

[9]20

Letter from Mr. Ernst <Hartert> [MS damaged]

After saying that they have had large <collections> [MS damaged] the Orinoco and cannot therefore promise to take a complete set of lepidoptera [MS damaged] Santa Catalina — he goes on —

"But Mr. Rothschild will be pleased <to> [MS damaged] make a selection of what we can do from the lepidoptera (butterflies and <moths>) [MS damaged] from Santa Catalina. If your young [MS damaged] makes a good collection of moths <the> [MS damaged] selection from them will most <probably> [MS damaged] almost amount to a complete "set" <taken> [MS damaged] For the selected specimens Mr. Rothschild is willing to pay one shilling21 each <specimen> [MS damaged]

"Of birds we have received large <collections> [MS damaged] from the lower Orinoco from Ciudad <Bolivar>22 [MS damaged] upwards, from the Caura River23 and [MS damaged] the Delta.24 But before promising [MS damaged] about them we must see a few [MS damaged] skins so as to see if we [MS damaged] you have any please let [MS damaged] as soon as <convenient> [MS damaged] [10] [MS damaged] neighbourhood of Santa Catalina will [MS damaged] an un interesting one for birds, but [MS damaged] the skins are satisfactory we would [MS damaged] <probably> find some useful ones among [MS damaged] <them>. If Mr. Fred[erick]. Birch could find [MS damaged] time to go to the Sierra Imataca25 he [MS damaged] would probably get there some interesting [MS damaged] <birds>. Probably these mountains will [MS damaged] be found to be the home of certain [MS damaged] rare forms which are hitherto only [MS damaged] known from single specimens or so, [MS damaged] picked out from Orinoco trade skins [MS damaged] which in former years used to be shipped to England viȃ Trinidad. [MS damaged] I should not be surprised if the [MS damaged] <Sierra> Imataca were the home of the [MS damaged] and wonderful Humming Bird [MS damaged] <Hylonympha> macrocerca!26 Salvin’s27 idea [MS damaged] come from some part of Brazil [MS damaged] <founded[?]>

[MS damaged] birds he would do [11] well to pay special attention to the [MS damaged] forest birds, especially Formicariidae,28 Dendrocolaptidae29 etc., and the <Humming> [MS damaged] Birds. Perhaps he can get us an [MS damaged] <Harpia> Harpyia [sic]30 — eagle. We have none!"

Tring, 23.10.1905.

P. S. I have also written to Mr. [MS damaged] about his taking sets of Beetles, & have waited till post-time but have no letter from him yet.

A[lfred]. R[ussel]. W[allace].

1
This letter has been damaged, perhaps by fire, causing some loss of text at the outer edge of the pages and top and bottom corners, but has been repaired and mounted on plain paper. The repository reference number "61" appears at the top of the page and another reference number "418751" at the foot.
2
Year deduced from sequence of correspondence between ARW and Birch in 1905.
3
Birch, Frederick R. ("Fred") (1877-?). Born in Wavertree, Liverpool, he apparently met ARW some time in the 1897. He set off on a largely unsuccessful expedition to Trinidad in 1904 and travelled to New Hampshire in 1906. In 1907 he emigrated with his wife to Brazil, where he worked as a professional collector of natural history specimens. They returned to England in 1913.
4
El Tucuche (936 m) is the second highest peak in Trinidad’s northern range.
5
Not identified.
6
Santa Catalina is located in the Delta Amacuro region of Venezuela (Orinoco delta).
7
The wife of Captain Boynton (see Endnote 17).
8
This probably concerns a letter from his agent, Oliver Erichson Janson (see Endnote 13). Birch and he were in dispute over accounts, as discussed by ARW in WCP741 and previous letters.
9
Kaye, W. J. (no dates found). Entomologist based in Trinidad. Author (1921) A Catalogue of the Trinidad Lepidoptera Rhopalocera (butterflies) Department of Agriculture, Trinidad and Tobago.
10
Jordan, Heinrich Ernst Karl (1861-1959). German entomologist. In 1893 he began work at the Walter Rothschild’s Museum at Tring, specialising in Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Siphonaptera.
11
Hartert, Ernst Johann Otto (1859-1933). German ornithologist and ornithological curator of Rothschild’s private museum at Tring 1892-1929.
12
The B[ritish] M[useum] N[atural] H[istory] Entomology Library's stamp and the author's number "4" appear at the head of the page.
13
Janson, Oliver Erichson (1850-1925). English entomologist who specialised in Coleoptera. He was the son of Edward Wesley Janson (1822-1891) and took over the family natural history and publishing business established in 1852, selling books and specimens.
14
Rothschild, Lionel Walter, 2nd Baron Rothschild, (1868-1937). British banker, politician and zoologist. Founder of the private Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum, now under the control of the British Museum (Natural History) and known as the Natural History Museum at Tring.
15
Order of insects that includes moths and butterflies.
16
The repository reference number "62" appears at the head of the page, together with the author's number "5" and the date "Oct[obe]r. 26th". A further reference number "418751" appears at the foot of the page on the mount.
17
Birch appears to have been staying with Captain and Mrs. Boynton in Port of Spain, Trinidad, while recovering from illness and before leaving for Santa Catarina, Venezuela.
18
This may refer to the Sierra Nevada de Mérida, the highest mountain range in Venezuela.
19
The B[ritish] M[useum] N[atural] H[istory] Entomology Library's stamp appears at the head of the page.
20
The repository reference number "63" appears at the head of the page and a further reference number "418751" at the foot on the mount.
21
£0.05.
22
Capital of Venezuela’s south-eastern Bolivar State, located where the Orinoco River narrows to about 1.6 km in width. It is the first bridging point across the river, and is a major river port for the eastern regions of Venezuela.
23
A tributary of the Orinoco River, located in Bolívar State in Venezuela.
24
Delta of the Orinoco River, Venezuela.
25
Sierra Imataca is a town in the Delta Amacauro State of Venezuela. The Imataka mountains run to the South in Bolívar state.
26
Hylonympha macrocerca, the scissor-tailed hummingbird is a species in the family Trochilidae, the only member of the genus Hylonympha. It is found only in Venezuela.
27
Salvin, Osbert (1835-1898). English naturalist, ornithologist and herpetologist, best known for co-authoring Biologia Centrali-Americana (1879-1915) with Frederick DuCane Godman, a 52-volume encyclopedia on the natural history of Central America.
28
A family of small passerine birds of subtropical and tropical Central and South America known as formicariids.
29
The family Dendrocolaptidae, known as woodcreepers, are now generally placed as Dendrocolaptinae, a sub-family of the ovenbird family, Furnariidae.
30
The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a neotropical species, the largest and most powerful raptor found in the Americas.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP744.916)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by O'Dell, Sandra [2018-08-15]

Please cite as “WCP744,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 9 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP744