PART VII

CHARACTERISTICS

APPENDIX: LISTS OF WALLACE'S WRITINGS

INDEX

LIST OF PLATES IN VOLUME I

A.R. WALLACE (1912)

A.R. WALLACE (SINGAPORE, 1862)

A.R. WALLACE'S MOTHER

A.R. WALLACE SOON AFTER HIS RETURN FROM THE EAST

Alfred Russel Wallace

Letters and Reminiscences

INTRODUCTION

In Westminster Abbey there repose, almost side by side, by no conscious

design yet with deep significance, the mortal remains of Isaac Newton

and of Charles Darwin. "'The Origin of Species,'" said Wallace, "will

live as long as the 'Principia' of Newton." Near by are the tombs of Sir

John Herschel, Lord Kelvin and Sir Charles Lyell; and the medallions in

memory of Joule, Darwin, Stokes and Adams have been rearranged so as to

admit similar memorials of Lister, Hooker and Alfred Russel Wallace. Now

that the plan is completed, Darwin and Wallace are together in this

wonderful galaxy of the great men of science of the nineteenth century.

Several illustrious names are missing from this eminent company;

foremost amongst them being that of Herbert Spencer, the lofty master of

that synthetic philosophy which seemed to his disciples to have the

proportions and qualities of an enduring monument, and whose

incomparable fertility of creative thought entitled him to share the

throne with Darwin. It was Spencer, Darwin, Wallace, Hooker, Lyell and

Huxley who led that historic movement which garnered the work of Lamarck

and Buffon, and gave new direction to the ceaseless interrogation of

nature to discover the "how" and the "why" of the august progression of

life.

Looking over the long list of the departed whose names are enshrined in

our Minster, one has sorrowfully to observe that contemporary opinion of

their place in history and abiding worth was not infrequently astray;

that memory has, indeed, forgotten their works; and their memorials

might be removed to some cloister without loss of respect for the dead,

perhaps even with the silent approval of their own day and generation

could it awake from its endless sleep and review the strange and

eventful course of human life since they left "this bank and shoal of

time." But may it not be safely prophesied that of all the names on the

starry scroll of national fame that of Charles Darwin will, surely,

remain unquestioned? And entwined with his enduring memory, by right of

worth and work, and we know with Darwin's fullest approval, our

successors will discover the name of Alfred Russel Wallace. Darwin and

Wallace were pre-eminent sons of light.

Among the great men of the Victorian age Wallace occupied a unique

position. He was the co-discoverer of the illuminating theory of Natural

Selection; he watched its struggle for recognition against prejudice,

ignorance, ridicule and misrepresentation; its gradual adoption by its

traditional enemies; and its final supremacy. And he lived beyond the

hour of its signal triumph and witnessed the further advance into the

same field of research of other patient investigators who are disclosing

fresh phases of the same fundamental laws of development, and are

accumulating a vast array of new facts which tell of still richer light

to come to enlighten every man born into the world. To have lived

through that brilliant period and into the second decade of the

twentieth century; to have outlived all contemporaries, having been the

co-revealer of the greatest and most far-reaching generalisation in an

era which abounded in fruitful discoveries and in revolutionary

advances in the application of science to life, is verily to have been

the chosen of the gods.

Who and what manner of man was Alfred Russel Wallace? Who were his

forbears? How did he obtain his insight into the closest secrets of

nature? What was the extent of his contributions to our stock of human

knowledge? In which directions did he most influence his age? What is

known of his inner life? These are some of the questions which most

present-day readers and all future readers into whose hands this book

may come will ask.

As to his descent, his upbringing, his education and his estimate of his

own character and work, we can, with rare good fortune, refer them to

his autobiography, in which he tells his own story and relates the

circumstances which, combined with his natural disposition, led him to

be a great naturalist and a courageous social reformer; nay more, his

autobiography is also in part a peculiar revelation of the inner man

such as no biography could approach. We are also able to send inquirers

to the biographies and works of his contemporaries--Darwin, Hooker,

Lyell, Huxley and many others. All this material is already available to

the diligent reader. But there are other sources of information which

the present book discloses--Wallace's home life, the large collection of

his own letters, the reminiscences of friends, communications which he

received from many co-workers and correspondents which, besides being of

interest in themselves, often cast a sidelight upon his own mind and

work. All these are of peculiar and intimate value to those who desire

to form a complete estimate of Wallace. And it is to help the reader to

achieve this desirable result that the present work is published.

It may be stated here that Wallace had suggested to the present writer

that he should undertake a new work, to be called "Darwin and Wallace,"

which was to have been a comparative study of their literary and

scientific writings, with an estimate of the present position of the

theory of Natural Selection as an adequate explanation of the process of

organic evolution. Wallace had promised to give as much assistance as

possible in selecting the material without which the task on such a

scale would obviously have been impossible. Alas! soon after the

agreement with the publishers was signed and in the very month that the

plan of the work was to have been shown to Wallace, his hand was

unexpectedly stilled in death; and the book remains unwritten. But as

the names of Darwin and Wallace are inseparable even by the scythe of

time, a slight attempt is here made, in the first sections of Part I.

and Part II., to take note of their ancestry and the diversities and

similarities in their respective characters and environments--social and

educational; to mark the chief characteristics of their literary works

and the more salient conditions and events which led them,

independently, to the idea of Natural Selection.

Finally, it may be remarked that up to the present time the unique work

and position of Wallace have not been fully disclosed owing to his great

modesty and to the fact that he outlived all his contemporaries. "I am

afraid," wrote Sir W.T. Thiselton-Dyer to him in one of his letters

(1893), "the splendid modesty of the big men will be a rarer commodity

in the future. No doubt many of the younger ones know an immense deal;

but I doubt if many of them will ever exhibit the grasp of great

principles which we owe to you and your splendid band of

contemporaries." If this work helps to preserve the records of the

influence and achievements of this illustrious and versatile genius and

of the other eminent men who brought the great conception of Evolution

to light, it will surely have justified its existence.

PART I

I.--Wallace and Darwin--Early Years

As springs burst forth, now here, now there, on the mountain side, and

find their way together to the vast ocean, so, at certain periods of

history, men destined to become great are born within a few years of

each other, and in the course of life meet and mingle their varied gifts

of soul and intellect for the ultimate benefit of mankind. Between the

years 1807 and 1825 at least eight illustrious scientists "saw the

light"--Sir Charles Lyell, Sir Joseph Hooker, T.H. Huxley, Herbert

Spencer, John Tyndall, Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace and Louis

Agassiz; whilst amongst statesmen and authors we recall Bismarck,

Gladstone, Lincoln, Tennyson, Longfellow, Robert and Elizabeth Browning,

Ruskin, John Stuart Blackie and Oliver Wendell Holmes--a wonderful

galaxy of shining names.

The first group is the one with which we are closely associated in this

section, in which we have brought together the names of Charles Darwin

and Alfred Russel Wallace--between whose births there was a period of

fourteen years, Darwin being born on the 12th of February, 1809, and

Wallace on the 8th of January, 1823.

In each case we are indebted to an autobiography for an account of their

early life and work, written almost entirely from memory when at an age

which enabled them to take an unbiased view of the past.

The autobiography of Darwin was written for the benefit of his family

only, when he was 67; while the two large volumes entitled "My Life"

were written by Wallace when he was 82, for the pleasure of reviewing

his long career. These records are characterised by that charming

modesty and simplicity of life and manner which was so marked a feature

of both men.

In the circumstances surrounding their early days there was very little

to indicate the similarity in character and mental gifts which became so

evident in their later years. A brief outline of the hereditary

influences immediately affecting them will enable us to trace something

of the essential differences as well as the similarities which marked

their scientific and literary attainments.

The earliest records of the Darwin family show that in 1500 an ancestor

of that name (though spelt differently) was a substantial yeoman living

on the borders of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. In the reign of James I.

the post of Yeoman of the Royal Armoury of Greenwich was granted to

William Darwin, whose son served with the Royalist Army under Charles I.

During the Commonwealth, however, he became a barrister of Lincoln's

Inn, and later the Recorder of the City of Lincoln.

Passing over a generation, we find that a brother of Dr. Erasmus Darwin

"cultivated botany," and, when far advanced in years, published a volume

entitled "Principia Botanica," while Erasmus developed into a poet and

philosopher. The eldest son of the latter "inherited a strong taste for

various branches of science ... and at a very early age collected

specimens of all kinds." The youngest son, Robert Waring, father of

Charles Darwin, became a successful physician, "a man of genial

temperament, strong character, fond of society," and was the possessor

of great psychic power by which he could readily sum up the characters

of others, and even occasionally read their thoughts. A judicious use of

this gift was frequently found to be more efficacious than actual

medicine! To the end of his life Charles Darwin entertained the greatest

affection and reverence for his father, and frequently spoke of him to

his own children.

From this brief summary of the family history it is easy to perceive the

inherited traits which were combined in the attractive personality of

the great scientist. From his early forbears came the keen love of sport

and outdoor exercise (to which considerable reference is made in his

youth and early manhood); the close application of the philosopher; and

the natural aptitude for collecting specimens of all kinds. To his

grandfather he was doubtless indebted for his poetic imagination, which,

consciously or unconsciously, pervaded his thoughts and writings, saving

them from the cold scientific atmosphere which often chills the lay

mind. Lastly, the geniality of his father was strongly evidenced by his

own love of social intercourse, his courtesy and ready wit, whilst the

gentleness of his mother--who unfortunately died when he was 7 years

old--left a delicacy of feeling which pervaded his character to the very

last.

No such sure mental influences, reaching back through several

generations, can be traced in the records of the Wallace family,

although what is known reveals the source of the dogged perseverance

with which Wallace faced the immense difficulties met with by all early

pioneer travellers, of that happy diversity of mental interests which

helped to relieve his periods of loneliness and inactivity, and of that

quiet determination to pursue to the utmost limit every idea which

impressed his mind as containing the germ of a wider and more

comprehensive truth than had yet been generally recognised and accepted.

The innate reticence and shyness of manner which were noticeable all

through his life covered a large-heartedness even in the most careful

observation of facts, and produced a tolerant disposition towards his

fellow-men even when he most disagreed with their views or dogmas. He

was one of those of whom it may be truly said in hackneyed phrases that

he was "born great," whilst destined to have "greatness thrust upon him"

in the shape of honours which he received with hesitation.

From his autobiography we gather that his father, though dimly tracing

his descent from the famous Wallace of Stirling, was born at Hanworth,

in Middlesex, where there appears to have been a small colony of

residents bearing the same name but occupying varied social positions,

from admiral to hotel-keeper--the grandfather of Alfred Russel Wallace

being known as a victualler. Thomas Vere Wallace was the only son of

this worthy innkeeper; and, being possessed of somewhat wider ambitions

than a country life offered, was articled to a solicitor in London, and

eventually became an attorney-at-law. On his father's death he inherited

a small private income, and, not being of an energetic disposition, he

preferred to live quietly on it instead of continuing his practice. His

main interests were somewhat literary and artistic, but without any

definite aim; and this lack of natural energy, mental and physical,

reappeared in most of the nine children subsequently born to him,

including Alfred Russel, who realised that had it not been for the one

definite interest which gradually determined his course in life (an

interest demanding steady perseverance and concentrated thought as well

as physical enterprise), his career might easily have been much less

useful.

It was undoubtedly from his father that he acquired an appreciation of

good literature, as they were in the habit of hearing Shakespeare and

similar works read aloud round the fireside on winter nights; whilst

from his mother came artistic and business-like instincts--several of

her relatives having been architects of no mean skill, combining with

their art sound business qualities which placed them in positions of

civic authority and brought them the respect due to men of upright

character and good parts.

During the chequered experiences which followed the marriage of Thomas

Vere Wallace and Mary Ann Greenell there appears to have been complete

mutual affection and understanding. Although Wallace makes but slight

reference to his mother's character and habits, one may readily conclude

that her disposition and influence were such as to leave an indelible

impression for good on the minds of her children, amongst her qualities

being a talent for not merely accepting circumstances but in a quiet way

making the most of each experience as it came--a talent which we find

repeated on many occasions in the life of her son Alfred.

It is a little curious that each of these great scientists should have

been born in a house overlooking a well-known river--the home of the

Darwins standing on the banks of the Severn, at Shrewsbury, and that of

the Wallaces a stone's throw from the waters of the romantic and

beautiful Usk, of Monmouthshire.

With remarkable clearness Dr. Wallace could recall events and scenes

back to the time when he was only 4 years of age. His first childish

experiment occurred about that time, due to his being greatly impressed

by the story of the "Fox and the Pitcher" in Æsop's Fables. Finding a

jar standing in the yard outside their house, he promptly proceeded to

pour a small quantity of water into it, and then added a handful of

small stones. The water not rising to the surface, as it did in the

fable, he found a spade and scraped up a mixture of earth and pebbles

which he added to the stones already in the jar. The result, however,

proving quite unsatisfactory, he gave up the experiment in disgust and

refused to believe in the truth of the fable. His restless brain and

vivid imagination at this early period is shown by some dreams which he

could still recall when 82 years of age; whilst the strong impression

left on his mind by certain localities, with all their graphic detail of

form and colour, enabled him to enjoy over again many of the simple

pleasures that made up his early life in the beautiful grounds of the

ancient castle in which he used to play.

The first great event in his life was the journey undertaken by

ferry-boat and stage-coach from Usk to Hertford, to which town the

family removed when he was 6 years old, and where they remained for the

next eight years, until he left school.

The morning after their arrival an incident occurred which left its

trace as of a slender golden thread running throughout the fabric of his

long life. Alfred, with child-like curiosity about his new surroundings,

wandered into the yard behind their house, and presently heard a voice

coming from the other side of the low wall, saying, "Hallo! who are

you?" and saw a boy about his own age peering over the top. Explanations

followed, and soon, by the aid of two water-butts, the small boys found

themselves sitting side by side on the top of the wall, holding a long

and intimate conversation. Thus began his friendship with George Silk,

and by some curious trend of circumstances the two families became

neighbours on several subsequent occasions,[1] so that the friendship

was maintained until in due course the boys separated each to his own

way in life--the one to wander in foreign lands, the other to occupy a

responsible position at home.

After spending about a year at private schools, Alfred Wallace was sent

with his brother John to Hertford Grammar School. His recollections of

these school days are full of interest, especially as contrasted with

the school life of to-day. He says: "We went to school even in the

winter at seven in the morning, and three days a week remained till five

in the afternoon; some artificial light was necessary, and this was

effected by the primitive method of every boy bringing his own candle or

candle-ends with any kind of candlestick he liked. An empty ink-bottle

was often used, or the candle was even stuck on to the desk with a

little of its own grease. So that it enabled us to learn our lessons or

do our sums, no one seemed to trouble about how we provided the light."

Though never robust in health, he enjoyed all the usual boyish sports,

especially such as appealed to his imagination and love of adventure.

Not far from the school a natural cave, formed in a chalky slope and

partially concealed by undergrowth, made an excellent resort for

"brigands"; and to this hiding place were brought potatoes and other

provisions which could be cooked and eaten in primitive fashion, with an

air of secrecy which added to the mystery and attraction of the boyish

adventure.

It is curious to note that one destined to become a great traveller and

explorer should have found the study of geography "a painful subject."

But this was, as he afterwards understood, entirely due to the method of

teaching then, and sometimes now, in vogue, which made no appeal

whatever to the imagination by creating a mental picture of the peoples

and nations, or the varied wonders and beauties of nature which

distinguish one country from another. "No interesting facts were ever

given, no accounts of the country by travellers were ever read, no good

maps ever given us, nothing but the horrid stream of unintelligible

place names to be learnt." The only subjects in which he considered that

he gained some valuable grounding at school were Latin, arithmetic, and

writing.

This estimate of the value of the grammar-school teaching is echoed in

Darwin's own words when describing his school days at precisely the same

age at Shrewsbury Grammar School, where, he says, "the school as a means

of education to me was simply a blank." It is therefore interesting to

notice, side by side, as it were, the occupation which each boy found

for himself out of school hours, and which in both instances proved of

immense value in their respective careers in later life.

Darwin, even at this early age, found his "taste for natural history,

and more especially for collecting," well developed. "I tried," he says,

"to make out the names of plants, and collected all sorts of things,

shells, seals, franks, coins and minerals. The passion for collecting

which leads a man to be a systematic naturalist ... was very strong in

me, and was clearly innate, as none of my sisters or brothers ever had

this taste."

He also speaks of himself as having been a very "simple little fellow"

by the manner in which he was either himself deceived or tried to

deceive others in a harmless way. As an instance of this, he remembered

declaring that he could "produce variously coloured polyanthuses and

primroses by watering them with certain coloured fluids," though he knew

all the time it was untrue. His feeling of tenderness towards all

animals and insects is revealed in the fact that he could not

remember--except on one occasion--ever taking more than one egg out of a

bird's nest; and though a keen angler, as soon as he heard that he

could kill the worms with salt and water he never afterwards "spitted a

living worm, though at the expense, probably, of some loss of success!"

Nothing thwarted young Darwin's intense joy and interest in collecting

minerals and insects, and in watching and making notes upon the habits

of birds. In addition to this wholesome outdoor hobby, the tedium of

school lessons was relieved for him by reading Shakespeare, Byron and

Scott--also a copy of "Wonders of the World" which belonged to one of

the boys, and to which he always attributed his first desire to travel

in remote countries, little thinking how his dreams would be fulfilled.

Whilst Charles Darwin occupied himself with outdoor sport and

collecting, with a very moderate amount of reading thrown in at

intervals, Wallace, on the contrary, devoured all the books he could

get; and fortunately for him, his father having been appointed Librarian

to the Hertford Town Library, Alfred had access to all the books that

appealed to his mental appetite; and these, especially the historical

novels, supplemented the lack of interesting history lessons at school,

besides giving him an insight into many kinds of literature suited to

his varied tastes and temperament. In addition, however, to the hours

spent in reading, he and his brother John found endless delight in

turning the loft of an outhouse adjoining their yard into a sort of

mechanical factory. Here they contrived, by saving up all their pence

(the only pocket-money that came to them), to make crackers and other

simple fireworks, and to turn old keys into toy cannon, besides making a

large variety of articles for practical domestic purposes. Thus he

cultivated the gift of resourcefulness and self-reliance on which he had

so often to depend when far removed from all civilisation during his

travels on the Amazon and in the Malay Archipelago.

A somewhat amusing instance of this is found in a letter to his sister,

dated June 25th, 1855, at a time when he wanted a really capable man for

his companion, in place of the good-natured but incapable boy Charles,

whom he had brought with him from London to teach collecting. In reply

to some remarks by his sister about a young man who she thought would be

suitable, he wrote: "Do not tell me merely that he is 'a very nice young

man.' Of course he is.... I should like to know whether he can live on

rice and salt fish for a week on occasion.... Can he sleep on a

board?... Can he walk twenty miles a day? Whether he can work, for there

is sometimes as hard work in collecting as in anything. Can he saw a

piece of wood straight? Ask him to make you anything--a little card box,

a wooden peg or bottle-stopper, and see if he makes them neat and

square."

In another letter he describes the garden and live stock he had been

able to obtain where he was living; and in yet another he gives a long

list of his domestic woes and tribulations--which, however, were

overcome with the patience inculcated in early life by his hobbies, and

also by the fact that the family was always more or less in straitened

circumstances, so that the children were taught to make themselves

useful in various ways in order to assist their mother in the home.

As he grew from childhood into youth, Alfred Wallace's extreme

sensitiveness developed to an almost painful degree. He grew rapidly,

and his unusual height made him still more shy when forced to occupy any

prominent position amongst boys of his own age. During the latter part

of his time at Hertford Grammar School his father was unable to pay the

usual fees, and it was agreed that Alfred should act as pupil teacher

in return for the lessons received. This arrangement, while acceptable

on the one hand, caused him actual mental and physical pain on the

other, as it increased his consciousness of the disabilities under which

he laboured in contrast with most of the other boys of his own age.

At the age of 14 Wallace was taken away from school, and until something

could be definitely decided about his future--as up to the present he

had no particular bent in any one direction--he was sent to London to

live with his brother John, who was then working for a master builder in

the vicinity of Tottenham Court Road. This was in January, 1837, and it

was during the following summer that he joined his other brother,

William, at Barton-on-the-Clay, Bedfordshire, and began land surveying.

In the meantime, while in London, he had been brought very closely into

contact with the economics and ethics of Robert Owen, the well-known

Socialist; and although very young in years he was so deeply impressed

with the reasonableness and practical outcome of these theories that,

though considerably modified as time went on, they formed the foundation

for his own writings on Socialism and allied subjects in after years.

As one of our aims in this section is to suggest an outline of the

contrasting influences governing the early lives of Wallace and Darwin,

it is interesting to note that at the ages of 14 and 16 respectively,

and immediately on leaving school, they came under the first definite

mental influence which was to shape their future thought and action. Yet

how totally different from Wallace's trials as a pupil teacher was the

removal of Darwin from Dr. Butler's school at Shrewsbury because "he was

doing no good" there, and his father thought it was "time he settled

down to his medical study in Edinburgh," never heeding the fact that

his son had already one passion in life, apart from "shooting, dogs, and

rat-catching," which stood a very good chance of saving him from

becoming the disgrace to the family that his good father feared. So that

while Wallace was imbibing his first lessons in Socialism at 14 years of

age, Darwin at 16 found himself merely enduring, with a feeling of

disgust, Dr. Duncan's lectures, which were "something fearful to

remember," on materia medica at eight o'clock on a winter's morning,

and, worse still, Dr. Munro's lectures on human anatomy, which were "as

dull as he was himself." Yet he always deeply regretted not having been

urged to practise dissection, because of the invaluable aid it would

have been to him as a naturalist.

By mental instinct, however, Darwin soon found himself studying marine

zoology and other branches of natural science. This was in a large

measure due to his intimacy with Dr. Grant, who, in a later article on

Flustra, made some allusion to a paper read by Darwin before the Linnean

Society on a small discovery which he had made by the aid of a "wretched

microscope" to the effect that the so-called ova of Flustra were really

larvæ and had the power of independent action by means of cilia.

During his second year in Edinburgh he attended Jameson's lectures on

geology and zoology, but found them so "incredibly dull" that he

determined never to study the science.

Then came the final move which, all unknowingly, was to lead Darwin into

the pursuit of a science which up to that time had only been a hobby and

not in any sense the serious profession of his life. But again how wide

the difference between his change from Edinburgh to Cambridge, and that

of Wallace from a month's association with a working-class Socialistic

community in London to land surveying under the simplest rural

conditions prevalent amongst the respectable labouring farmers of

Bedfordshire--Darwin to the culture and privileges of a great University

with the object of becoming a clergyman, and Wallace taking the first

road that offered towards earning a living, with no thought as to the

ultimate outcome of this life in the open and the systematic observation

of soils and land formation.

But the inherent tendencies of Darwin's nature drew him away from

theology to the study of geology, entomology and botany. The ensuing

four years at Cambridge were very happy ones. While fortunate in being

able to follow his various mental and scientific pursuits with the

freedom which a good social and financial position secured for him, he

found himself by a natural seriousness of manner, balanced by a cheerful

temperament and love of sport, the friend and companion of men many

years his seniors and holding positions of authority in the world of

science. Amongst these the name of Professor Henslow will always take

precedence. "This friendship," says Darwin, "influenced my whole career

more than any other." Henslow's extensive knowledge of botany, geology,

entomology, chemistry and mineralogy, added to his sincere and

attractive personality, well-balanced mind and excellent judgment,

formed a strong and effective bias in the direction Darwin was destined

to follow.

Apart, however, from the strong personal influence of Henslow, Sedgwick

and others with whom he came much in contact, two books which he read at

this time aroused his "burning zeal to add the most humble contribution

to the noble structure of Natural Science"; these were Sir J. Herschel's

"Introduction to the Study of Natural Philosophy," and Humboldt's

"Personal Narrative." Indeed, so fascinated was he by the description

given of Teneriffe in the latter that he at once set about a plan

whereby he might spend a holiday, with Henslow, in that locality, a

holiday which was, indeed, to form part of his famous voyage.

By means of his explorations in the neighbourhood of Cambridge, and one

or two visits to North Wales, Darwin's experimental knowledge of geology

and allied sciences was considerably increased. In his zeal for

collecting beetles he employed a labourer to "scrape the moss off old

trees in winter, and place it in a bag, and likewise to collect the

rubbish at the bottom of the barges in which reeds were brought from the

fens, and thus ... got some very rare species."

During the summer vacation of 1831, at the personal request of Henslow,

he accompanied Professor Sedgwick on a geological tour in North Wales.

In order, no doubt, to give him some independent experience, Sedgwick

sent Darwin on a line parallel with his own, telling him to bring back

specimens of the rocks and to mark the stratification on a map. In later

years Darwin was amazed to find how much both of them had failed to

observe, "yet these phenomena were so conspicuous that ... a house burnt

down by fire could not tell its story more plainly than did the valley

of Cwm Idwal."

This tour was the introduction to a momentous change in his life. On

returning to Shrewsbury he found a letter awaiting him which contained

the offer of a voyage in H.M.S. _Beagle_. But owing to several

objections raised by Dr. Darwin, he wrote and declined the offer; and if

it had not been for the immediate intervention of his uncle, Mr. Josiah

Wedgwood (to whose house he went the following day to begin the shooting

season), who took quite a different view of the proposition, the

"Journal of Researches during the Voyage of H.M.S. _Beagle_," by Charles

Darwin, would never have been written.

At length, however, after much preparation and many delays, the

_Beagle_ sailed from Plymouth on December 27th, 1831, and five years

elapsed before Darwin set foot again on English soil. The period,

therefore, in Darwin's life which we find covered by his term at

Edinburgh and Cambridge, until at the age of 22 he found himself

suddenly launched on an entirely new experience full of adventure and

fresh association, was spent by Wallace in a somewhat similar manner in

so far as his outward objective in life was more or less distinct from

the pursuits which gradually dawned upon his horizon, though they were

followed as a "thing apart" and not as an ultimate end.

With Wallace's removal into Bedfordshire an entirely new life opened up

before him. His health, never very good, rapidly improved; both brain

and eye were trained to practical observations which proved eminently

valuable. His descriptions of the people with whom he came in contact

during these years of country life reveal the quiet toleration of the

faults and foibles of others, not devoid of the keen sense of humour and

justice which characterised his lifelong attitude towards his

fellow-men.

The many interests of his new life, together with the use of a pocket

sextant, prompted him to make various experiments for himself. The only

sources from which he could obtain helpful information, however, were

some cheap elementary books on mechanics and optics which he procured

from the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; these he studied

and "puzzled over" for several years. "Having no friends of my own age,"

he wrote, "I occupied myself with various pursuits in which I had begun

to take an interest. Having learnt the use of the sextant in surveying,

and my brother having a book on Nautical Astronomy, I practised a few of

the simpler observations. Among these were determining the meridian by

equal altitudes of the sun, and also by the pole-star at its upper or

lower culmination; finding the latitude by the meridian altitude of the

sun, or of some of the principal stars; and making a rude sundial by

erecting a gnomon towards the pole. For these simple calculations I had

Hannay and Dietrichsen's Almanac, a copious publication which gave all

the important data in the Nautical Almanac, besides much other

interesting matter useful for the astronomical amateur or the ordinary

navigator. I also tried to make a telescope by purchasing a lens of

about 2 ft. focus at an optician's in Swansea, fixing it in a paper tube

and using the eye-piece of a small opera-glass. With it I was able to

observe the moon and Jupiter's satellites, and some of the larger

star-clusters; but, of course, very imperfectly. Yet it served to

increase my interest in astronomy, and to induce me to study with some

care the various methods of construction of the more important

astronomical instruments; and it also led me throughout my life to be

deeply interested in the grand onward march of astronomical

discovery."[2]

At the same time Wallace became attracted by, and interested in, the

flowers, shrubs and trees growing in that part of Bedfordshire, and he

acquired some elementary knowledge of zoology. "It was," he writes,

"while living at Barton that I obtained my first information that there

was such a science as geology.... My brother, like most land-surveyors,

was something of a geologist, and he showed me the fossil oysters of the

genus Gryphæa and the Belemnites ... and several other fossils which

were abundant in the chalk and gravel around Barton.... It was here,

too, that during my solitary rambles I first began to feel the influence

of nature and to wish to know more of the various flowers, shrubs and

trees I daily met with, but of which for the most part I did not even

know the English names. At that time I hardly realised that there was

such a science as systematic botany, that every flower and every meanest

and most insignificant weed had been accurately described and

classified, and that there was any kind of system or order in the

endless variety of plants and animals which I knew existed. This wish to

know the names of wild plants, to be able to speak ... about them, had

arisen from a chance remark I had overheard about a year before. A lady

... whom we knew at Hertford, was talking to some friends in the street

when I and my father met them ... [and] I heard the lady say, 'We found

quite a rarity the other day--the Monotropa; it had not been found here

before.' This I pondered over, and wondered what the Monotropa was. All

my father could tell me was that it was a rare plant; and I thought how

nice it must be to know the names of rare plants when you found

them."[3]

One can picture the tall quiet boy going on these solitary rambles, his

eye becoming gradually quickened to perceive new forms in nature,

contrasting them one with another, and beginning to ponder over the

_cause_ which led to the diverse formation and colouring of leaves

apparently of the same family.

It was in 1841, four years later, that he heard of, and at once

procured, a book published at a shilling by the S.P.C.K. (the title of

which he could not recall in after years), to which he owed his first

scientific glimmerings of the vast study of botany. The next step was to

procure, at much self-sacrifice, Lindley's "Elements of Botany,"

published at half a guinea, which to his immense disappointment he found

of very little use, as it did not deal with British plants! His

disappointment was lessened, however, by the loan from a Mr. Hayward of

London's "Encyclopedia of Plants," and it was with the help of these two

books that he made his first classification of the specimens which he

had collected and carefully kept during the few preceding years.

"It must be remembered," he says in "My Life," "that my ignorance of

plants at this time was extreme. I knew the wild rose, bramble,

hawthorn, buttercup, poppy, daisy and foxglove, and a very few others

equally common.... I knew nothing whatever as to genera and species, nor

of the large number of distinct forms related to each and grouped into

natural orders. My delight, therefore, was great when I was ... able to

identify the charming little eyebright, the strange-looking cow-wheat

and louse-wort, the handsome mullein and the pretty creeping toad-flax,

and to find that all of them, as well as the lordly foxglove, formed

parts of one great natural order, and that under all their superficial

diversity of form was a similarity of structure which, when once clearly

understood, enabled me to locate each fresh species with greater ease."

This, however, was not sufficient, and the last step was to form a

herbarium.

"I soon found," he wrote, "that by merely identifying the plants I found

in my walks I lost much time in gathering the same species several

times, and even then not being always quite sure that I had found the

same plant before. I therefore began to form a herbarium, collecting

good specimens and drying them carefully between drying papers and a

couple of boards weighted with books or stones.... I first named the

species as nearly as I could do so, and then laid them out to be pressed

and dried. At such times," he continues--and I have quoted the passage

for the sake of this revealing confession--"I experienced the joy which

every discovery of a new form of life gives to the lover of nature,

almost equal to those raptures which I afterwards felt at every capture

of new butterflies on the Amazon, or at the constant stream of new

species of birds, beetles and butterflies in Borneo, the Moluccas, and

the Aru Islands."[4]

Anything in the shape of gardening papers and catalogues which came in

his way was eagerly read, and to this source he owed his first interest

in the fascinating orchid.

"A catalogue published by a great nurseryman in Bristol ... contained a

number of tropical orchids, of whose wonderful variety and beauty I had

obtained some idea from the woodcuts in Loudon's 'Encyclopedia.' The

first epiphytal orchid I ever saw was at a flower show in Swansea ...

which caused in me a thrill of enjoyment which no other plant in the

show produced. My interest in this wonderful order of plants was further

enhanced by reading in the _Gardener's Chronicle_ an article by Dr.

Lindley on one of the London flower shows, where there was a good

display of orchids, in which ... he added, 'and _Dendrobium Devonianum_,

too delicate and beautiful for a flower of earth.' This and other

references ... gave them, in my mind, a weird and mysterious charm ...

which, I believe, had its share in producing that longing for the

tropics which a few years later was satisfied in the equatorial forests

of the Amazon."[5]

For a brief period, when there was a lull in the surveying business and

his prospects of continuing in this profession looked uncertain, he

tried watchmaking, and would probably--though not by choice--have been

apprenticed to it but for an unexpected circumstance which caused his

master to give up his business. Alfred gladly, when the occasion

offered, returned to his outdoor life, which had begun to make the

strongest appeal to him, stronger, perhaps, than he was really aware.

Early in 1844 another break occurred, due to the sudden falling off of

land surveying as a profitable business. His brother could no longer

afford to keep him as assistant, finding it indeed difficult to obtain

sufficient employment for himself. As Wallace knew no other trade or

profession, the only course which occurred to his mind as possible by

which to earn a living was to get a post as school teacher.

After one or two rather amusing experiences, he eventually found himself

in very congenial surroundings under the Rev. Abraham Hill, headmaster

of the Collegiate School at Leicester. Here he stayed for a little more

than a year, during which time--in addition to his school work and a

considerable amount of hard reading on subjects to which he had not

hitherto been able to devote himself--he was led to become greatly

interested in phrenology and mesmerism, and before long found himself

something of an expert in giving mesmeric demonstrations before small

audiences. Phrenology, he believed, proved of much value in determining

his own characteristics, good and bad, and in guiding him to a wise use

of the faculties which made for his ultimate success; while his

introduction to mesmerism had not a little to do with his becoming

interested and finally convinced of the part played by spiritualistic

forces and agencies in human life.

The most important event, however, during this year at Leicester was his

meeting with H.W. Bates, through whom he was introduced to the absorbing

study of beetles and butterflies, the link which culminated in their

mutual exploration of the Amazon. It is curious that Wallace retained no

distinct recollection of how or when he met Bates for the first time,

but thought that "he heard him mentioned as an enthusiastic

entomologist and met him at the Library." Bates was at this time

employed by his father, who was a hosiery manufacturer, and he could

therefore only devote his spare time to collecting beetles in the

surrounding neighbourhood. The friendship brought new interests into

both lives, and though Wallace was obliged a few months later to leave

Leicester and return to his old work of surveying (owing to the sudden

death of his brother William, whose business affairs were left in an

unsatisfactory condition and needed personal attention), he no longer

found in it the satisfaction he had previously experienced, and his

letters to Bates expressed the desire to strike out on some new line,

one which would satisfy his craving for a definite pursuit in the

direction of natural science.

Somewhere about the autumn of 1847, Bates paid a visit to Wallace at

Neath, and the plan to go to the Amazon which had been slowly forming

itself at length took shape, due to the perusal of a little book

entitled "A Voyage up the River Amazon," by W.H. Edwards. Further

investigations showed that this would be particularly advantageous, as

the district had only been explored by the German zoologist, von Spix,

and the botanist von Martins, in 1817-20, and subsequently by Count de

Castelnau.

During this interval we find, in a letter to Bates, the following

allusion to Darwin, which is the first record of Wallace's high estimate

of the man with whom his own name was to be dramatically associated ten

years later. "I first," he says, "read Darwin's Journal three or four

years ago, and have lately re-read it. As the journal of a scientific

traveller it is second only to Humboldt's Narrative; as a work of

general interest, perhaps superior to it. He is an ardent admirer and

most able supporter of Mr. Lyell's views. His style of writing I very

much admire, so free from all labour, or egotism, yet so full of

interest and original thought."[6]

The early part of 1848 was occupied in making arrangements with Mr.

Samuel Stevens, of King Street, Covent Garden, to act as their agent in

disposing of a duplicate collection of specimens which they proposed

sending home; by this means paying their expenses during the time they

were away, any surplus being invested against their return. This and

other matters being satisfactorily settled, they eventually sailed from

Liverpool on April 20th in a barque of 192 tons, said to be "a very fast

sailer," which proved to be correct. On arriving at Para about a month

later, they immediately set about finding a house, learning something of

the language, the habits of the people amongst whom they had come to

live, and making short excursions into the forest before starting on

longer and more trying explorations up country.

Wallace's previous vivid imaginings of what life in the tropics would

mean, so far as the surpassing beauty of nature was concerned, were not

immediately fulfilled. As a starting-point, however, Para had many

advantages. Besides the pleasant climate, the country for some hundreds

of miles was found to be nearly level at an elevation of about 30 or 40

ft. above the river; the first distinct rise occurring some 150 miles up

the river Tocantins, south-west of Para; the whole district was

intersected by streams, with cross channels connecting them, access by

this means being comparatively easy to villages and estates lying

farther inland.

Before making an extensive excursion into the interior, he spent some

time on the larger islands at the mouth of the Amazon, on one of which

he immediately noticed the scarcity of trees, while "the abundance of

every kind of animal life crowded into a small space was here very

striking, compared with the sparse manner in which it is scattered in

the virgin forests. It seems to force us to the conclusion that the

luxuriance of tropical vegetation is not favourable to the production of

animal life. The plains are always more thickly peopled than the forest;

and a temperate zone, as has been pointed out by Mr. Darwin, seems

better adapted to the support of large land animals than the tropics."

We have already referred to the fact that at the very early age of 14

Wallace had imbibed his first ideas of Socialism, or how the

"commonwealth" of a people or nation was the outcome of cause and

effect, largely due to the form of government, political economy and

progressive commerce best suited to any individual State or country. The

seed took deep root, and during the years spent for the most part

amongst an agricultural people in England and Wales his interest in

these questions had been quickened by observation and intelligent

inquiry. It is no wonder, therefore, that during the whole of his

travels we find many intimate references to such matters regarding the

locality in which he happened to find himself, but which can only be

noticed in a very casual manner in this section. For instance, he soon

discovered that the climate and soil round Para conduced to the

cultivation of almost every kind of food, such as cocoa, coffee, sugar,

farinha (the universal bread of the country) from the mandioca plant,

with vegetables and fruits in inexhaustible variety; while the articles

of export included india-rubber, Brazil nuts, and piassaba (the coarse,

stiff fibre of a palm, used for making brooms for street sweeping), as

well as sarsaparilla, balsam-capivi, and a few other drugs.

The utter lack of initiative, or even ordinary interest, in making the

most of the opportunities lying at hand, struck him again and again as

he went from place to place and was entertained hospitably by hosts of

various nationalities; until at times the impression is conveyed that

apart from his initial interest as a naturalist, a longing seized him to

arouse those who were primarily responsible for these conditions out of

the apathy into which they had fallen, and to make them realise the

larger pleasure which life offers to those who recognise the

opportunities at hand, not only for their own advancement but also for

the benefit of those placed under their control. All of which we find

happily illustrated during his visit to Sarawak, in the Malay

Archipelago.

The whole of these four years was crowded with valuable experiences of

one sort and another. Some of the most toilsome journeys proved only a

disappointment, while others brought success beyond his most sanguine

dreams. At the end of two years it was agreed between himself and Bates

that they should separate, Wallace doing the northern parts and

tributaries of the Amazon, and Bates the main stream, which, from the

fork of the Rio Negro, is called the Upper Amazon, or the Solimoes. By

this arrangement they were able to cover more ground, besides devoting

themselves to the special goal of research on which each was bent.

In the meantime, Wallace's younger brother, Herbert, had come out to

join him, and for some time their journeys were made conjointly; but

finding that his brother was not temperamentally fitted to become a

naturalist, it was decided that he should return to England.

Accordingly, they parted at Barra when Wallace started on his long

journey up the Rio Negro, the duration of which was uncertain; and it

was not until many months after the sad event that he heard the

distressing news that Herbert had died of yellow fever on the eve of his

departure from Para for home. Fortunately, Bates was in Para at the

time, and did what he could for the boy until stricken down himself with

the same sickness, from which, however, his stronger constitution

enabled him to recover.

Perhaps the most eventful and memorable journey during this period was

the exploration of the Uaupés River, of which Wallace wrote nearly sixty

years later: "So far as I have heard, no English traveller has to this

day ascended the Uaupés River so far as I did, and no collector has

stayed at any time at Javita, or has even passed through it."

From a communication received from the Royal Geographical Society it

appears that the first complete survey of this river (a compass traverse

supplemented by astronomical observations) was made (1907-8) by Dr.

Hamilton Rice, starting from the side of Colombia, and tracing the whole

course of the river from a point near the source of its head-stream. The

result showed that the general course of the lower river was much as

represented by Wallace, though considerable corrections were necessary

both in latitude and longitude. "I am assured by authorities on the Rio

Negro region," writes Dr. Scott Keltie to Mr. W.G. Wallace, under date

May 21, 1915, "that your father's work still holds good."

In May, 1852, Wallace returned to Para, and sailed for England the

following July. The ship took fire at sea, and all his treasures (not

previously sent to England) were unhappily lost. Ten days and nights

were spent in an open boat before another vessel picked them up, and in

describing this terrible experience he says: "When the danger appeared

past I began to feel the greatness of my loss. With what pleasure had I

looked upon every rare and curious insect I had added to my collection!

How many times, when almost overcome by the ague, had I crawled into the

forest and been rewarded by some unknown and beautiful species! How

many places, which no European foot but my own had trodden, would have

been recalled to my memory by the rare birds and insects they had

furnished to my collection! How many weary days and weeks had I passed,

upheld only by the fond hope of bringing home many new and beautiful

forms from these wild regions ... which would prove that I had not

wasted the advantage I had enjoyed, and would give me occupation and

amusement for many years to come! And now ... I had not one specimen to

illustrate the unknown lands I had trod, or to call back the

recollection of the wild scenes I had beheld! But such regrets were vain

... and I tried to occupy myself with the state of things which actually

existed."[7]

On reaching London, Wallace took a house in Upper Albany Street, where

his mother and his married sister (Mrs. Sims), with her husband, a

photographer, came to live with him. The next eighteen months were fully

occupied with sorting and arranging such collections as had previously

reached England; writing his book of travels up the Amazon and Rio Negro

(published in the autumn of 1853), and a little book on the palm trees

based on a number of fine pencil sketches he had preserved in a tin box,

the only thing saved from the wreck.

In summing up the most vivid impressions left on his mind, apart from

purely scientific results, after his four years in South America, he

wrote that the feature which he could never think of without delight was

"the wonderful variety and exquisite beauty of the butterflies and birds

... ever new and beautiful, strange and even mysterious," so that he

could "hardly recall them without a thrill of admiration and wonder."

But "the most unexpected sensation of surprise and delight was my first

meeting and living with man in a state of nature--with absolute

uncontaminated savages!... and the surprise of it was that I did not

expect to be at all so surprised.... These true wild Indians of the

Uaupés ... had nothing that we call clothes; they had peculiar

ornaments, tribal marks, etc.; they all carried tools or weapons of

their own manufacture.... But more than all, their whole aspect and

manner was different--they were all going about their own work or

pleasure, which had nothing to do with white men or their ways; they

walked with the free step of the independent forest-dweller, and, except

the few that were known to my companion, paid no attention whatever to

us, mere strangers of an alien race! In every detail they were original

and self-sustaining as are the wild animals of the forest, absolutely

independent of civilisation.... I could not have believed that there

would have been so much difference in the aspect of the same people in

their native state and when living under European supervision. The true

denizen of the Amazonian forest, like the forest itself, is unique and

not to be forgotten."

The foregoing "impressions" recall forcibly those expressed by Darwin in

similar terms at the close of his "Journal": "Delight ... is a weak term

to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has

wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest. The elegance of the grasses,

the novelty of the parasitical plants, the beauty of the flowers, the

glossy green of the foliage ... the general luxuriance of the

vegetation, filled me with admiration. A paradoxical mixture of sound

and silence pervades the shady parts of the wood ... yet within the

recesses ... a universal silence appears to reign ... such a day as this

brings with it a deeper pleasure than he (a naturalist) can ever hope to

experience again,"[8] And in another place: "Among the scenes which are

deeply impressed on my mind, none can exceed in sublimity the primeval

forests undefaced by the hand of man; ... temples filled with the

various productions of the God of Nature; ... no one can stand in these

solitudes unmoved, and not feel that there is more in man than the mere

breath of his body."[9]

In complete contrast to the forest, the bare, treeless, and uninhabited

plains of Patagonia "frequently crossed before" Darwin's eyes. Why, he

could not understand, except that, being so "boundless," they left "free

scope for the imagination."

As these travels,[10] undertaken at comparatively the same age, represent

the foundation upon which their scientific work and theories were based

during the long years which followed, a glance at the conditions

governing the separate expeditions--both mental and physical--may be of

some value. The most obvious difference lies, perhaps, in the fact that

Darwin was free from the thought of having to "pay his way" by the

immediate result of his efforts, and likewise from all care and anxiety

regarding domestic concerns; the latter being provided for him when on

board the _Beagle_, or arranged by those who accompanied him on his

travels overland and by river. The elimination of these minor cares

tended to leave his mind free and open to absorb and speculate at

comparative leisure upon all the strange phenomena which presented

themselves throughout the long voyage.

A further point of interest in determining the ultimate gain or loss

lies in the fact that Darwin's private excursions had to be somewhat

subservient to the movements of the _Beagle_ under the command of

Captain Fitz-Roy. This, in all probability, was beneficial to one of his

temperament--unaccustomed to be greatly restricted by outward

circumstances or conditions, though never flagrantly (or, perhaps,

consciously) going against them. The same applies in a measure to

Wallace, who, on more than one occasion, confessed his tendency to a

feeling of semi-idleness and dislike to any form of enforced physical

exertion; but as every detail, involving constant forethought and

arrangement, as well as the execution, devolved upon himself, the latent

powers of methodical perseverance, which never failed him, no matter

what difficulties barred his way, were called forth. Darwin's estimate

of the "habit of mind" forced upon himself during this period may not

inaptly be applied to both men: "Everything about which I thought or

read was made to bear directly on what I had seen, or was likely to see;

and this habit of mind was continued during the five years of the

voyage. I feel sure that it was this training which enabled me to do

whatever I have done in science."

It may be further assumed that Darwin was better equipped mentally--from

a scientific point of view--owing to his personal intercourse with

eminent scientific men previous to his assuming this responsible

position. Wallace, on the contrary, had practically little beyond

book-knowledge and such experience as he had been able to gain by

solitary wanderings in the localities in which he had, by circumstances,

been forced to reside. His plan of operations must, therefore, have been

largely modified and adapted as time went on, and as his finances

allowed. To both, therefore, credit is due for the adaptability evinced

under conditions not always congenial or conducive to the pursuits they

had undertaken.

Although the fact is not definitely stated by Wallace, it may readily be

inferred that the idea of making this the starting-point of a new life

was clearly in his mind; while Darwin simply accepted the opportunity

when it came, and was only brought to a consciousness of its full

meaning and bearing on his future career whilst studying the geological

aspect of Santiago when "the line of white rock revealed a new and

important fact," namely, that there had been afterwards subsidence round

the craters, which had since been in action and had poured forth lava.

"It then," he says, "first dawned on me that I might perhaps write a

book on the geology of the various countries visited, and this made me

thrill with delight. That was a memorable hour to me; and how distinctly

I can call to mind the low cliff of lava, beneath which I rested, with

the sun glaring hot, a few strange desert plants growing near, and with

living corals in the tidal pools at my feet!"[11]

Another point of comparison lies in the fact that at no time did the

study of man or human nature, from the metaphysical and psychological

point of view, appeal to Darwin as it did to Wallace; and this being so,

the similarity between the impression made on them individually by their

first contact with primitive human beings is of some interest.

Wallace's words have already been quoted; here are Darwin's: "Nothing is

more certain to create astonishment than the first sight in his native

haunt of a barbarian, of man in his lowest and most savage state. One

asks: 'Could our progenitors have been men like these--men whose very

signs and expressions are less intelligible to us than those of the

domesticated animals; men who do not possess the instinct of those

animals, nor yet appear to boast of human reason, or at least of arts

consequent on that reason?' I do not believe it is possible to describe

or paint the difference between a savage and civilised man. It is the

difference between a wild and tame animal."[12]

The last words suggest the seed-thought eventually to be enlarged in

"The Descent of Man," and there is also perhaps a subtle suggestion of

the points in which Wallace differed from Darwin when the time came for

them to discuss this important section of the theory of Evolution. It

needed, however, the further eight years spent by Wallace in the Malay

Archipelago to bring about a much wider knowledge of nature-science

before he was prepared in any way to assume the position of exponent of

theories not seriously thought of previously in the scientific world.

In the autumn of 1853, on the completion of his "Travels on the Amazon

and Rio Negro," Wallace paid his first visit to Switzerland, on a

walking tour in company with his friend George Silk. On his return, and

during the winter months, he was constant in his attendance at the

meetings of the Entomological and Zoological Societies. It was at one of

these evening gatherings that he first met Huxley, and he also had a

vague recollection of once meeting and speaking to Darwin at the British

Museum. Had it not been for his extreme shyness of disposition, and

(according to his own estimation) "lack of conversational powers," he

would doubtless have become far more widely known, and have enjoyed the

friendship of not a few of the eminent men who shared his interests,

during this interval before starting on his journey to Singapore.

It was due to his close study of the Insect and Bird Departments of the

British Museum that he decided on Singapore as a new starting-point for

his natural history collections. As the region was generally healthy,

and no part of it (with the exception of the Island of Java) had been

explored, it offered unlimited attractions for his special work. But as

the journey out would be an expensive one, he was advised to lay his

plans before Sir Roderick Murchison, then President of the Royal

Geographical Society, and it was through his kindly interest and

personal application to the Government that a passage was provided in

one of the P. and O. boats going to Singapore. He left early in 1854.

Arrived at Singapore, an entirely new world opened up before him. New

peoples and customs thronged on all hands, a medley of nationalities

such as can only be seen in the East, where, even to-day, and though

forming part of one large community, each section preserves its native

dress, customs and religious habits. After spending some time at

Singapore he moved from place to place, but finally decided upon making

Ternate his head-quarters, as he discovered a comfortable bungalow, not

too large, and adaptable in every way as a place in which to collect and

prepare his specimens between the many excursions to other parts of the

Archipelago. The name is now indelibly associated with that particular

visit which ended after a trying journey in an attack of intermittent

fever and general prostration, during which he first conceived the idea

which has made Ternate famous in the history of natural science.

[Illustration: A.R. WALLACE Singapore, 1862]

One or two points in the following letters recall certain contrasts

similar to those already drawn between Darwin's impression of places and

people and those made on the mind of Wallace by practically the same

conditions. A typical instance is found in their estimate of the life

and work of the missionaries whom they met and from whom they received

the warmest hospitality. Their experience included both Protestant and

Roman Catholic, and from Darwin's account the former appeared to him to

have the more civilising effect on the people, not only from a

religious but also from the economic and industrial points of view.

In the "Journal" (p. 419) we find a detailed account of a visit to the

missionary settlement at Waimate, New Zealand. After describing the

familiar English appearance of the whole surroundings, he adds: "All

this is very surprising when it is considered that five years ago

nothing but the fern flourished here. Moreover, native workmanship,

taught by these missionaries, has effected this change--the lesson of

the missionary is the enchanter's wand. The house had been built, the

windows framed, the fields ploughed, and even the trees grafted, by the

New Zealander. When I looked at the whole scene it was admirable. It was

not that England was brought vividly before my mind; ... nor was it the

triumphant feeling at seeing what Englishmen could effect; but rather

the high hopes thus inspired for the future progress of this fine

island."

No such feeling was inspired by the conditions surrounding the Roman

Catholic missionaries whom he met from time to time. In an earlier part

of the "Journal" he records an evening spent with one living in a lonely

place in South America who, "coming from Santiago, had contrived to

surround himself with some few comforts. Being a man of some little

education, he bitterly complained of the total want of society. With no

particular zeal for religion, no business or pursuit, how completely

must this man's life be wasted."

In complete opposition to these views, passages occur in the following

letters which show that Wallace thought more highly of the Roman

Catholic than of the Protestant missionaries. In one place, speaking of

the former, he says: "Most are Frenchmen ... well-educated men who give

up their lives for the good of the people they live among, I think

Catholics and Protestants are equally wrong, but as missionaries I think

Catholics are the best, and I would gladly see none others rather than

have, as in New Zealand, sects of native Dissenters more rancorous

against each other than in England. The unity of the Catholics is their

strength, and an unmarried clergy can do as missionaries what married

men never can undertake."

As a sidelight on these contradictory estimates of the same work, it

should be borne in mind that Darwin had but recently given up the idea

of becoming a clergyman, and doubtless retained some of the instinctive

regard for sincere Christian Protestantism (whether represented by the

Church of England or by Nonconformists), while Wallace had long since

relinquished all doctrinal ideas on religion and all belief in the

beneficial effect produced by forms of worship on the individual.

Among the regions Wallace visited was Sarawak. Of one of his sojourns

here some interesting reminiscences have been sent to me by Mr. L.V.

Helmes. He says:

It was in 1854 that Wallace came to Sarawak. I was there then,

sent by a private firm, which later became the Borneo Company, to

open up, by mining, manufacture and trade, the resources of the

country, and amongst these enterprises was coal-mining on the

west. Wallace came in search of new specimens of animal and

especially insect life. The clearing of ancient forests at these

mines offered a naturalist great opportunities, and I gave Wallace

an introduction to our engineer in charge there. His collections

of beetles and butterflies there were phenomenal; but the district

was also the special home of the great ape, the orang-utan, or

meias, as the natives called them, of which he obtained so many

valuable specimens. Many notes must at that time have passed

between us, for I took much interest in his work. We had put up a

temporary hut for him at the mines, and on my occasional visits

there I saw him and his young assistant, Charles Allen, at work,

admired his beautiful collections, and gave my help in forwarding

them.

But it was mainly in social intercourse that we met, when Wallace,

in intervals of his labours, came to Ku-ching, and was the Rajah's

guest. Then occurred those interesting discussions at social

gatherings to which he refers in a letter to me in 1909, when he

wrote: "I was pleased to receive your letter, with reminiscences

of old times. I often recall those pleasant evenings with Rajah

Brooke and our little circle, but since the old Rajah's death I

have not met any of the party."

Wallace was in Sarawak at the happy period in the country's

history. It was beginning to emerge from barbarism. The Borneo

Company was just formed, and the seed of the country's future

prosperity was sown. Wallace, therefore, found us all sanguine and

cheerful; yet we were on the brink of a disaster which brought

many sorrows in its train. But the misfortunes of the Chinese

revolt had not yet cast their shadows before them. The Rajah's

white guests round his hospitable table; the Malay chiefs and

office-holders, who made evening calls from curiosity or to pay

their respects; Dyaks squatting in dusky groups in corners of the

hall, with petitions to make or advice to seek from their white

ruler--such would be the gathering of which Wallace would form a

part. No suspicion or foreboding would trouble the company; yet

within a few months that hall would be given to the flames of an

enemy's torch, and the Rajah himself and many of those who formed

that company would be fugitives in the jungle....

The Malay Archipelago, in the unregenerated days when Wallace

roamed the forests, and sailed the Straits in native boats and

canoes, was full of danger to wanderers of the white race. Anarchy

prevailed in many parts; usurping nobles enslaved the people in

their houses; and piratical fleets scoured the sea, capturing and

enslaving yearly thousands of peaceful traders, women and

children. The writer was himself in 1862 besieged in a Bornean

river by a pirate fleet, which was eventually destroyed by a

Sarawak Government steamer with the following result of the fight:

190 pirates and 140 captives were killed or drowned, and 250 of

the latter were liberated and sent to their homes; showing how

formidable these pirates were. But Wallace, absorbed in his

scientific pursuits, minded not these dangers, nor the hardships

of any kind which a roving life in untrodden jungles and feverish

swamps brings.

When Wallace left Sarawak after his fifteen months' residence in

the country, he left his young assistant, Charles Allen, there. He

entered my service, and remained some time after the formation of

the Borneo Company. Later, he again joined Wallace, and then went

to New Guinea, doing valuable collecting and exploring work. He

finally settled in Singapore, where I met him in 1899. He had

married and was doing well; but died not long after my interview

with him. He had come to the East with Wallace as a lad of 16, and

had been his faithful companion and assistant during years of

arduous work.--L.V.H.

The eight years spent by Wallace in this almost unknown part of the

world were times of strenuous mental and physical exertion, resulting in

the gathering together of an enormous amount of matter for future

scientific investigation, but counterbalanced unfortunately by more or

less continuous ill-health--which at times made the effort of clear

reasoning and close application to scientific pursuits extremely

difficult.

An indication of the unwearying application with which he went about his

task is seen in the fact that during this period he collected 125,660

specimens of natural history, travelled about 14,000 miles within the

Archipelago, and made sixty or seventy journeys, "each involving some

preparation and loss of time," so that "not more than six years were

really occupied in collecting."

A faint idea of this long and solitary sojourn in lonely places is

given in a letter to his old friend Bates, dated December 24th, 1860, in

which he says: "Many thanks for your long and interesting letter. I have

myself suffered much in the same way as you describe, and I think more

severely. The kind of _tædium vitæ_ you mention I also occasionally

experience here. I impute it to a too monotonous existence." And again

when he begs his friend to write, as he is "half froze for news."

As already stated, Wallace, at no time during these wanderings, had any

escort or protection, having to rely entirely upon his own tact and

patience, combined with firmness, in his dealings with the natives. On

one occasion he was taken ill, and had to remain six weeks with none but

native Papuans around him, and he became so attached to them that when

saying good-bye it was with the full intention of returning amongst them

at a later period. In another place he speaks of sleeping under cover of

an open palm-leaf hut as calmly as under the protection of the

Metropolitan Police!

Up to that time, also, he was the only Englishman who had actually seen

the beautiful "birds of paradise in their native forests," this success

being achieved after "five voyages to different parts of the district

they inhabit, each occupying in its preparation and execution the larger

part of a year." And then only five species out of a possible fourteen

were procured. His enthusiasm as a naturalist and collector knew no

bounds, butterflies especially calling into play all his feelings of joy

and satisfaction. Describing his first sight of the _Ornithoptera

croesus_, he says that the blood rushed to his head and he felt much

more like fainting than he had done when in apprehension of immediate

death; a similar sensation being experienced when he came across another

large bird-winged butterfly, _Ornithoptera poseidon_.

"It is one thing," he says, "to see such beauty in a cabinet, and quite

another to feel it struggling between one's fingers, and to gaze upon

its fresh and living beauty, a bright-green gem shining out amid the

silent gloom of a dark and tangled forest. The village of Dobbo held

that evening at least one contented man."

These thrills of joy may be considered as some compensation for such

experiences as those contained in his graphic account of a single

journey in a "prau," or native boat. "My first crew," he wrote, "ran

away; two men were lost for a month on a desert island; we were ten

times aground on coral reefs; we lost four anchors; our sails were

devoured by rats; the small boat was lost astern; we were thirty-eight

days on the voyage home which should have taken twelve; we were many

times short of food and water; we had no compass-lamp owing to there not

being a drop of oil in Waigiou when we left; and to crown it all, during

the whole of our voyage, occupying in all seventy-eight days (all in

what was supposed to be the favourable season), we had not one single

day of fair wind."

The scientific discoveries arising out of these eight years of laborious

work and physical hardship were first--with the exception of the

memorable Essay on Natural Selection--included in his books on the Malay

Archipelago, the Geographical Distribution of Animals, Island Life, and

Australasia, besides a number of papers contributed to various

scientific journals.

A bare catalogue of the places visited and explored includes Sumatra,

Java, Borneo, Celebes, the Moluccas, Timor, New Guinea, the Aru and Ké

Islands. Comparing this list with that given by Darwin at the close of

the "Journal," we find that though in some respects the ground covered

by the two men was similar, it never actually overlapped. The countries

and islands visited by the _Beagle_ came in the following order: Cape de

Verde Islands, St. Paul's Rocks, Fernando Noronha, South America

(including the Galapagos Archipelago, the Falkland Isles, and Tierra del

Fuego), Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Keeling Island,

Maldive coral atolls, Mauritius, St. Helena, Ascension. Brazil was

revisited for a short time, and the _Beagle_ touched at the Cape de

Verde Islands and the Azores on the homeward voyage.

The very nature of this voyage did not permit Darwin to give unlimited

time to the study of any particular spot or locality; but his accurate

observation of every detail, together with his carefully kept journal,

afforded ample scope and foundation for future contemplation. To

Wallace, the outstanding result may be summed up in the fact that he

discovered that the Malay Archipelago is divided into a western group of

islands, which in their zoological affinities are Asiatic, and an

eastern, which are Australian. The Oriental Borneo and Bali are

respectively divided from the Australian Celebes and Lombok by a narrow

belt of sea known as "Wallace's line," on the opposite side of which the

indigenous mammalia are as widely divergent as in any two parts of the

world.

To both men Darwin's estimate of the influence of travel may aptly apply

in the sense that from a geographical point of view "the map of the

world ceases to be a blank ... each part assumes its proper dimensions,"

continents are no longer considered islands, nor islands as mere specks.

Wallace's homeward journey was not so eventful as the previous one had

been, except for the unsuccessful efforts to bring back several species

of live birds, which, with the exception of his birds of paradise, died

on the way. On reaching London in the spring of 1862, he again made his

home with his married sister, Mrs. Sims (who was living in Westbourne

Grove). In a large empty room at the top of the house he found himself

surrounded with packing-cases which he had not seen for five or six

years, and which, together with his recent collections, absorbed his

time and interest for the first few weeks. Later, he settled down to his

literary work, and, with the exception of one or two visits to the

Continent and America, spent the remainder of his life in England--a

life full of activity, the results of which still permeate scientific

research.

PART I (_Continued_)

II.--Early Letters

[1854--62]

Of the few letters which have been preserved relating to this period, a

number have already been published in "My Life," and need not be

reprinted here. But in some cases portions of these letters have been

given because they bring out aspects of Wallace's character which are

not revealed elsewhere. The various omissions which have been made in

other letters refer either to unimportant personal matters or to

technical scientific details. The first of the letters was written

during Wallace's voyage to the Malay Archipelago.

* * * * *

TO G. SILK

_Steamer "Bengal," Red Sea. March 26, [1854]._

My dear George,-- ... Of all the eventful days of my life my first in

Alexandria was the most striking. Imagine my feelings when, coming out

of the hotel (whither I had been conveyed in an omnibus) for the purpose

of taking a quiet stroll through the city, I found myself in the midst

of a vast crowd of donkeys and their drivers, all thoroughly determined

to appropriate my person to their own use and interest, without in the

least consulting my inclinations. In vain with rapid strides and waving

arms I endeavoured to clear a way and move forward; arms and legs were

seized upon, and even the Christian coat-tails were not sacred from the

profane Mahometans. One would hold together two donkeys by their tails

while I was struggling between them, and another, forcing together their

heads, would thus hope to compel me to mount upon one or both of them;

and one fellow more impudent than the rest I laid flat upon the ground,

and sending the donkey staggering after him, I escaped a moment midst

hideous yells and most unearthly cries. I now beckoned to a fellow more

sensible-looking than the rest, and told him that I wished to walk and

would take him for a guide, and hoped now to be at rest; but vain

thought! I was in the hands of the Philistines, and getting us up

against a wall, they formed an impenetrable phalanx of men and brutes

thoroughly determined that I should only get away from the spot on the

legs of a donkey. Bethinking myself now that donkey-riding was a

national institution, and seeing a fat Yankee (very like my Paris

friend) mounted, being like myself hopeless of any other means of

escape, I seized upon a bridle in hopes that I should then be left in

peace. But this was the signal for a more furious onset, for, seeing

that I would at length ride, each one was determined that he alone

should profit by the transaction, and a dozen animals were forced

suddenly upon me and a dozen hands tried to lift me upon their

respective beasts. But now my patience was exhausted, so, keeping firm

hold of the bridle I had first taken with one hand, I hit right and left

with the other, and calling upon my guide to do the same, we succeeded

in clearing a little space around us. Now then behold your friend

mounted upon a jackass in the streets of Alexandria, a boy behind

holding by his tail and whipping him up, Charles (who had been lost

sight of in the crowd) upon another, and my guide upon a third, and off

we go among a crowd of Jews and Greeks, Turks and Arabs, and veiled

women and yelling donkey-boys to see the city. We saw the bazaars and

the slave market, where I was again nearly pulled to pieces for

"backsheesh" (money), the mosques with their elegant minarets, and then

the Pasha's new palace, the interior of which is most gorgeous.

We have seen lots of Turkish soldiers walking in comfortable

irregularity; and, after feeling ourselves to be dreadful guys for two

hours, returned to the hotel whence we were to start for the canal

boats. You may think this account is exaggerated, but it is not; the

pertinacity, vigour and screams of the Alexandrian donkey-drivers no

description can do justice to....--Yours sincerely,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO HIS MOTHER

_Singapore, April 30, 1854_.

My dear Mother,--We arrived here safe on the 20th of this month, having

had very fine weather all the voyage. On shore I was obliged to go to a

hotel, which was very expensive, so I tried to get out into the country

as soon as I could, which, however, I did not manage in less than a

week, when I at last got permission to stay with a French Roman Catholic

missionary who lives about eight miles out of the town and close to the

jungle. The greater part of the inhabitants of Singapore are Chinese,

many of whom are very rich, and all the villages about are almost

entirely of Chinese, who cultivate pepper and gambir. Some of the

English merchants here have splendid country houses. I dined with one to

whom I brought an introduction. His house was most elegant, and full of

magnificent Chinese and Japanese furniture. We are now at the Mission of

Bukit Tima. The missionary speaks English, Malay and Chinese, as well as

French, and is a very pleasant man. He has built a very pretty church

here, and has about 300 Chinese converts. Having only been here four

days, I cannot tell much about my collections yet. Insects, however,

are plentiful....

Charles gets on pretty well in health, and catches a few insects; but he

is very untidy, as you may imagine by his clothes being all torn to

pieces by the time we arrived here. He will no doubt improve and will

soon be useful.

Malay is the universal language, in which all business is carried on. It

is easy, and I am beginning to pick up a little, but when we go to

Malacca shall learn it most, as there they speak nothing else.

I am very unfortunate with my watch. I dropped it on board and broke the

balance-spring, and have now sent it home to Mr. Matthews to repair, as

I cannot trust anyone here to do it....

Love to Fanny and Thomas,--I remain your affectionate son,

ALFRED B. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO HIS MOTHER

_Bukit Tama, Singapore. May 28, 1854._

My dear Mother,--I send you a few lines through G. Silk as I thought you

would like to hear from me. I am very comfortable here living with a

Roman Catholic missionary.... I send by this mail a small box of insects

for Mr. Stevens--I think a very valuable one--and I hope it will go

safely. I expected a letter from you by the last mail, but received only

two _Athenoeums_ of March 18 and 25....

The forest here is very similar to that of South America. Palms are very

numerous, but they are generally small and horridly spiny. There are

none of the large and majestic species so abundant on the Amazon. I am

so busy with insects now that I have no time for anything else, I send

now about a thousand beetles to Mr. Stevens, and I have as many other

insects still on hand which will form part of my next and principal

consignment. Singapore is very rich in beetles, and before I leave I

think I shall have a most beautiful collection.

[Illustration: A.R. WALLACE'S MOTHER]

I will tell you how my day is now occupied. Get up at half-past five.

Bath and coffee. Sit down to arrange and put away my insects of the day

before, and set them safe out to dry. Charles mending nets, filling

pincushions, and getting ready for the day. Breakfast at eight. Out to

the jungle at nine. We have to walk up a steep hill to get to it, and

always arrive dripping with perspiration. Then we wander about till two

or three, generally returning with about 50 or 60 beetles, some very

rare and beautiful. Bathe, change clothes, and sit down to kill and pin

insects. Charles ditto with flies, bugs and wasps; I do not trust him

yet with beetles. Dinner at four. Then to work again till six. Coffee.

Read. If very numerous, work at insects till eight or nine. Then to bed.

Adieu, with love to all.--Your affectionate son,

ALFRED E. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO HIS MOTHER

_In the Jungle near Malacca. July, 1854._

My dear Mother,--As this letter may be delayed getting to Singapore I

write at once, having an opportunity of sending to Malacca to-morrow. We

have been here a week, living in a Chinese house or shed, which reminds

me remarkably of my old Rio Negro habitation. I have now for the first

time brought my "rede" into use, and find it very comfortable.

We came from Singapore in a small schooner with about fifty Chinese,

Hindoos and Portuguese passengers, and were two days on the voyage,

with nothing but rice and curry to eat, not having made any provision,

it being our first experience of these country vessels. Malacca is an

old Dutch city, but the Portuguese have left the strongest mark of their

possession in the common language of the place being still theirs. I

have now two Portuguese servants, a cook and a hunter, and find myself

thus almost brought back again to Brazil by the similarity of language,

the people, and the jungle life. In Malacca we stayed only two days,

being anxious to get into the country as soon as possible. I stayed with

a Roman Catholic missionary; there are several here, each devoted to a

particular part of the population, Portuguese, Chinese and wild Malays

of the jungle. The gentleman we were with is building a large church, of

which he is architect himself, and superintends the laying of every

brick and the cutting of every piece of timber. Money enough could not

be raised here, so he took a voyage _round the world!_ and in the United

States, California, and India got subscriptions sufficient to complete

it.

It is a curious and not very creditable thing that in the English

colonies of Singapore and Malacca there is not a single Protestant

missionary; while the conversion, education and physical and moral

improvement of the inhabitants (non-European) is entirely left to these

French missionaries, who without the slightest assistance from our

Government devote their lives to the Christianising and civilising of

the varied populations which we rule over.

Here the birds are abundant and most beautiful, more so than on the

Amazon, and I think I shall soon form a most beautiful collection. They

are, however, almost all common, and so are of little value except that

I hope they will be better specimens than usually come to England. My

guns are both very good, but I find powder and shot in Singapore

cheaper than in London, so I need not have troubled myself to take any.

So far both I and Charles have enjoyed excellent health. He can now

shoot pretty well, and is so fond of it that I can hardly get him to do

anything else. He will soon be very useful, if I can cure him of his

incorrigible carelessness. At present I cannot trust him to do the

smallest thing without watching that he does it properly, so that I

might generally as well do it myself. I shall remain here probably two

months, and then return to Singapore to prepare for a voyage to Cambodia

or somewhere else, so do not be alarmed if you do not hear from me

regularly. Love to all.--Your affectionate son,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO HIS MOTHER

_Singapore. September 30, 1854._

My dear Mother,--I last wrote to you from Malacca in July. I have now

just returned to Singapore after two months' hard work. At Malacca I had

a pretty strong touch of fever with the old Rio Negro symptoms, but the

Government doctor made me take a great quantity of quinine every day for

a week together and so killed it, and in less than a fortnight I was

quite well and off to the jungle again. I see now how to treat the

fever, and shall commence at once when the symptoms again appear. I

never took half enough quinine in America to cure me. Malacca is a

pretty place, and I worked very hard. Insects are not very abundant

there, still by perseverance I got a good number and many rare ones. Of

birds, too, I made a good collection. I went to the celebrated Mount

Ophir and ascended to the top. The walk was terrible--thirty miles

through jungle, a succession of mud holes. My boots did good service. We

lived there a week at the foot of the mountain, in a little hut built

by our men, and I got some fine new butterflies there and hundreds of

other new and rare insects. We had only rice and a little fish and tea,

but came home quite well. The height of the mountain is about 4,000

feet.... Elephants and rhinoceroses, as well as tigers, are abundant

there, but we had our usual bad luck in not seeing any of them.

On returning to Malacca I found the accumulations of two or three posts,

a dozen letters and fifty newspapers....

I am glad to be safe in Singapore with my collections, as from here they

can be insured. I have now a fortnight's work to arrange, examine, and

pack them, and then in four months hence there will be some work for Mr.

Stevens.

Sir James Brooke is here. I have called on him. He received me most

cordially, and offered me every assistance at Sarawak. I shall go there

next, as the missionary does not go to Cambodia for some months.

Besides, I shall have some pleasant society at Sarawak, and shall get on

in Malay, which is very easy, but I have had no practice--though still I

can ask for most common things. My books and instruments arrived in

beautiful condition. They looked as if they had been packed up but a

day. Not so the unfortunate eatables....--I remain your affectionate

son,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO G. SILK

_Singapore. October 15, 1854._

Dear G.,--To-morrow I sail for Sarawak. Sir J. Brooke has given me a

letter to his nephew, Capt. Brooke, to make me at home till he arrives,

which may be a month, perhaps. I look forward with much interest to see

what he has done and how he governs. I look forward to spending a very

pleasant time at Sarawak....

Sir W. Hooker's remarks are encouraging, but I cannot afford to collect

plants. I have to work for a living, and plants would not pay unless I

collect nothing else, which I cannot do, being too much interested in

zoology. I should like a botanical companion like Mr. Spruce very much.

We are anxiously expecting accounts of the taking of Sebastopol.

I am much obliged to Latham for quoting me, and hope to see it soon.

That ought to make my name a little known. I have not your talent at

making acquaintances, and find Singapore very dull. I have not found a

single companion. I long for you to walk about with and observe the

queer things in the streets of Singapore. The Chinamen and their ways

are inexhaustibly amusing. My revolver is too heavy for daily use. I

wish I had had a small one.--Yours sincerely,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO AN UNKNOWN CORRESPONDENT[13]

_Si Munjon Coal Works, Borneo. May, 1855._

One of the principal reasons which induced me to come here was that it

is the country of those most strange and interesting animals, the

orang-utans, or "mias" of the Dyaks. In the Sarawak district, though

scarce twenty miles distant, they are quite unknown, there being some

boundary line in this short space which, obeying the inexplicable laws

of distribution, they never pass. The Dyaks distinguish three different

kinds, which are known in Europe by skulls or skeletons only, much

confusion still existing in their synonymy, and the external characters

of the adult animals being almost or quite unknown. I have already been

fortunate enough to shoot two young animals of two of the species,

which were easily distinguishable from each other, and I hope by staying

here some time to get adult specimens of all the species, and also to

obtain much valuable information as to their habits. The jungle here is

exceedingly monotonous; palms are scarce and flowers almost wanting,

except some species of dwarf gingerwort. It is high on the trees that

flowers are alone to be found.... Oak trees are rather plentiful, as I

have already found three species with red, brown, and black acorns. This

is confirmatory of Dr. Hooker's statement that, contrary to the

generally received opinion, oaks are equally characteristic of a

tropical as of a temperate climate. I must make an exception to the

scarcity of flowers, however, tall slender trees occurring not

unfrequently, whose stems are flower-bearing. One is a magnificent

object, 12 or 15 ft. of the stem being almost hidden by rich

orange-coloured flowers, which in the gloomy forest have, as I have

before remarked of tropical insects under similar circumstances, an

almost magical effect of brilliancy. Not less beautiful is another tree

similarly clothed with spikes of pink and white berries.

The only striking features of the animal world are the hornbills, which

are very abundant and take the place of the toucans of Brazil, though I

believe they have no real affinity with them; and the immense flights of

fruit-eating bats which frequently pass over us. They extend as far as

the eye can reach, and continue passing for hours. By counting and

estimation I calculated that at least 30,000 passed one evening while we

could see them, and they continued on some time after dark. The species

is probably the _Pteropus edulis_; its expanded wings are near 5 ft.

across, and it flies with great ease and rapidity. Fruit seems so scarce

in these jungles that it is a mystery where they find enough to supply

such vast multitudes.

Our mode of life here is very simple--rather too much so, as we have a

continual struggle to get enough to eat. The Sarawak market is to a

great extent supplied with rice, fowls, and sweet potatoes from this

river, yet I have been obliged to send to Sarawak to purchase these very

articles. The reason is that the Dyaks are almost all in debt to the

Malay traders, and will therefore not sell anything, fearful of not

having sufficient to satisfy their creditors. They have now just got in

their rice harvest, and though it is not a very abundant one there is no

immediate pressure of hunger to induce them to earn anything by hunting

or snaring birds, etc. This also prevents them from being very

industrious in seeking for the "mias," though I have offered a high

price for full-grown animals. The old men here relate with pride how

many heads they have taken in their youth, and though they all

acknowledge the goodness of the present Rajah's government, yet they

think that if they could still take a few heads they would have better

harvests. The more I see of uncivilised people, the better I think of

human nature on the whole, and the essential differences between

so-called civilised and savage man seem to disappear. Here are we, two

Europeans surrounded by a population of Chinese, Malays, and Dyaks. The

Chinese are generally considered, and with some truth, to be thieves,

liars, and careless of human life, and these Chinese are coolies of the

very lowest and least educated class. The Malays are invariably

characterised as treacherous and bloodthirsty, and the Dyaks have only

recently ceased to think head-taking an absolute necessity. We are two

days' journey from Sarawak, where, though the Government is European,

yet it only exists by the consent and support of the native population.

Now I can safely say that in any part of Europe, if the same facilities

for crime and disturbance existed, things would not go on so smoothly

as they do here. We sleep with open doors and go about constantly

unarmed; one or two petty robberies and a little private fighting have

taken place among the Chinese, but the great proportion of them are

quiet, honest, decent sort of men. They did not at first like the

strictness and punctuality with which the English manager kept them to

their work, and two or three ringleaders tried to get up a strike for

short hours and higher wages, but Mr. G.'s energy and decision soon

stopped this by sending off the ringleaders at once, and summoning all

the Dyaks and Malays in the neighbourhood to his assistance in case of

any resistance being attempted. It was very gratifying to see how

rapidly they came up at his summons, and this display of power did much

good, for since then everything has gone on smoothly. Preparations are

now making for building a "joss house," a sure sign that the Chinese

have settled to the work, and giving every promise of success in an

undertaking which must have a vast influence on the progress of commerce

and civilisation of Borneo and the surrounding countries. India,

Australia, and every country with which they have communication must

also be incalculably benefited by an abundant supply of good coal within

two days' steam of Singapore. Let us wish success, then, to the Si

Munjon Coal Works!--A.R.W.

* * * * *

TO HIS SISTER, MRS. SIMS

_Sadong River Borneo]. June 25, 1855._

My dear Fanny,-- ... I am now obliged to keep fowls and pigs, or we

should get nothing to eat. I have three pigs now and a China boy to

attend to them, who also assists in skinning "orang-utans," which he and

Charles are doing at this moment. I have also planted some onions and

pumpkins, which were above ground in three days and are growing

vigorously. I have been practising salting pork, and find I can make

excellent pickled pork here, which I thought was impossible, as everyone

I have seen try has failed. It is because they leave it to servants, who

will not take the necessary trouble. I do it myself. I shall therefore

always keep pigs in the future. I find there will not be time for

another box round the Cape, so must have a small parcel overland. I

should much like my _lasts_, but nothing else, unless some canvas shoes

are made.

If the young man my mother and Mr. Stevens mentioned comes, he can bring

them. I shall write to Mr. Stevens about the terms on which I can take

him. I am, however, rather shy about it, having hitherto had no one to

suit me. As you seem to know him, I suppose he comes to see you

sometimes. Let me know what you think of him. Do not tell me merely that

he is "a very nice young man." Of course he is. So is Charles a very

nice boy, but I could not be troubled with another like him for any

consideration whatever. I have written to Mr. Stevens to let me know his

character, as regards _neatness_ and _perseverance_ in doing anything he

is set about. From you I should like to know whether he is quiet or

boisterous, forward or shy, talkative or silent, sensible or frivolous,

delicate or strong. Ask him whether he can live on rice and salt fish

for a week on an occasion--whether he can do without wine or beer, and

sometimes without tea, coffee or sugar--whether he can sleep on a

board--whether he likes the hottest weather in England--whether he is

too delicate to skin a stinking animal--whether he can walk twenty miles

a day--whether he can work, for there is sometimes as hard work in

collecting as in anything. Can he draw (not copy)? Can he speak French?

Does he write a good hand? Can he make anything? Can he saw a piece of

board straight? (Charles cannot, and every bit of carpenter work I have

to do myself.) Ask him to make you anything--a little card box, a

wooden peg or bottle-stopper, and see if he makes them neat, straight

and square. Charles never does anything the one or the other. Charles

has now been with me more than a year, and every day some such

conversation as this ensues: "Charles, look at these butterflies that

you set out yesterday." "Yes, sir." "Look at that one--is it set out

evenly?" "No, sir." "Put it right then, and all the others that want

it." In five minutes he brings me the box to look at. "Have you put them

all right?" "Yes, sir." "There's one with the wings uneven, there's

another with the body on one side, then another with the pin crooked.

Put them all right this time." It most frequently happens that they have

to go back a third time. Then all is right. If he puts up a bird, the

head is on one side, there is a great lump of cotton on one side of the

neck like a wen, the feet are twisted soles uppermost, or something

else. In everything it is the same, what ought to be straight is always

put crooked. This after twelve months' constant practice and constant

teaching! And not the slightest sign of improvement. I believe he never

will improve. Day after day I have to look over everything he does and

tell him of the same faults. Another with a similar incapacity would

drive me mad. He never, too, by any chance, puts anything away after

him. When done with, everything is thrown on the floor. Every other day

an hour is lost looking for knife, scissors, pliers, hammer, pins, or

something he has mislaid. Yet out of doors he does very well--he

collects insects well, and if I could get a neat, orderly person in the

house I would keep him almost entirely at out-of-door work and at

skinning, which he does also well, but cannot put into shape....--Your

affectionate brother,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO HIS MOTHER

_Sarawak. Christmas Day, 1855._

My dear Mother,--You will see I am spending a second Christmas Day with

the Rajah.... I have lived a month with the Dyaks and have been a

journey about sixty miles into the interior. I have been very much

pleased with the Dyaks. They are a very kind, simple and hospitable

people, and I do not wonder at the great interest Sir J. Brooke takes in

them. They are more communicative and lively than the American Indians,

and it is therefore more agreeable to live with them. In moral character

they are far superior to either Malays or Chinese, for though

head-taking has been a custom among them it is only as a trophy of war.

In their own villages crimes are very rare. Ever since Sir J. has been

here, more than twelve years, in a large population there has been but

one case of murder in a Dyak tribe, and that one was committed by a

stranger who had been adopted into the tribe. One wet day I got a piece

of string to show them how to play "scratch cradle," and was quite

astonished to find that they knew it better than I did and could make

all sorts of new figures I had never seen. They were also very clever

with tricks with string on their fingers, which seemed to be a favourite

amusement. Many of the distant tribes think the Rajah cannot be a man.

They ask all sorts of curious questions about him, whether he is not as

old as the mountains, whether he cannot bring the dead to life, and I

have no doubt for many years after his death he will be looked upon as a

deity and expected to come back again. I have now seen a good deal of

Sir James, and the more I see of him the more I admire him. With the

highest talents for government he combines the greatest goodness of

heart and gentleness of manner. At the same time he has such confidence

and determination, that he has put down with the greatest ease some

conspiracies of one or two Malay chiefs against him. It is a unique case

in the history of the world, for a European gentleman to rule over two

conflicting races of semi-savages with their own consent, without any

means of coercion, and depending solely upon them for protection and

support, and at the same time to introduce the benefits of civilisation

and check all crime and semi-barbarous practices. Under his government,

"running amuck," so frequent in all other Malay countries, has never

taken place, and with a population of 30,000 Malays, all of whom carry

their "creese" and revenge an insult by a stab, murders do not occur

more than once in five or six years.

The people are never taxed but with their own consent, and Sir J.'s

private fortune has been spent in the government and improvement of the

country; yet this is the man who has been accused of injuring other

parties for his own private interests, and of wholesale murder and

butchery to secure his government!...--Your ever affectionate son,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO HIS SISTER, MRS. SIMS

_Singapore.. February 20, 1856._

My dear Fanny,-- ... I have now left Sarawak, where I began to feel

quite at home, and may perhaps never return to it again; but I shall

always look back with pleasure to my residence there and to my

acquaintance with Sir James Brooke, who is a gentleman and a nobleman in

the noblest sense of both words....

Charles has left me. He has stayed with the Bishop of Sarawak, who wants

teachers and is going to try to educate him for one. I offered to take

him on with me, paying him a fair price for all the insects, etc., he

collected, but he preferred to stay. I hardly know whether to be glad

or sorry he has left. It saves me a great deal of trouble and annoyance,

and I feel it quite a relief to be without him. On the other hand, it is

a considerable loss for me, as he had just begun to be valuable in

collecting. I must now try and teach a China boy to collect and pin

insects. My collections in Borneo have been very good, but some of them

will, I fear, be injured by the long voyages of the ships. I have

collected upwards of 25,000 insects, besides birds, shells, quadrupeds,

and plants. The day I arrived here a vessel sailed for Macassar, and I

fear I shall not have another chance for two months unless I go a

roundabout way, and perhaps not then, so I have hardly made up my mind

what to do,--Your affectionate brother,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW, THOMAS SIMS

_Singapore. [Probably about March, 1856.]_

Dear Thomas,-- ... You and Fanny talk of my coming back for a trifling

sore as if I was within an omnibus ride of Conduit St. I am now

perfectly well, and only waiting to go eastward. The far east is to me

what the far west is to the Americans. They both meet in California,

where I hope to arrive some day. I quite enjoy being a few days at

Singapore now. The scene is at once so familiar and strange. The

half-naked Chinese coolies, the neat shopkeepers, the clean, fat, old,

long-tailed merchants, all as busy and full of business as any

Londoners. Then the handsome Klings, who always ask double what they

take, and with whom it is most amusing to bargain. The crowd of boatmen

at the ferry, a dozer begging and disputing for a farthing fare, the

Americans, the Malays, and the Portuguese make up a scene doubly

interesting to me now that I know something about them and can talk to

them in the general language of the place. The streets of Singapore on a

fine day are as crowded and busy as Tottenham Court Road, and from the

variety of nations and occupations far more interesting. I am more

convinced than ever that no one can appreciate a new country in a short

visit. After two years in the country I only now begin to understand

Singapore and to marvel at the life and bustle, the varied occupations,

and strange population, on a spot which so short a time ago was an

uninhabited jungle....--Yours affectionately,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO HIS SISTER, MRS. SIMS

_Singapore. April 21, 1856._

My dear Fanny,--I believe I wrote to you last mail, and have now little

to say except that I am still a prisoner in Singapore and unable to get

away to my land of promise, Macassar, with whose celebrated oil you are

doubtless acquainted. I have been spending three weeks with my old

friend the French missionary, going daily into the jungle, and fasting

on Fridays on omelet and vegetables, a most wholesome custom which I

think the Protestants were wrong to leave off. I have been reading Huc's

travels in China in French, and talking with a French missionary just

arrived from Tonquin. I have thus obtained a great deal of information

about these countries and about the extent of the Catholic missions in

them, which is astonishing. How is it that they do their work so much

more thoroughly than the Protestant missionaries? In Cochin China,

Tonquin, and China, where all Christian missionaries are obliged to live

in secret and are subject to persecution, expulsion, and often death,

yet every province, even those farthest in the interior of China, have

their regular establishment of missionaries constantly kept up by fresh

supplies who are taught the languages of the countries they are going to

at Penang or Singapore. In China there are near a million Catholics, in

Tonquin and Cochin China more than half a million! One secret of their

success is the cheapness of their establishments. A missionary is

allowed about £30 a year, on which he lives, in whatever country he may

be. This has two good effects. A large number of missionaries can be

employed with limited funds, and the people of the countries in which

they reside, seeing they live in poverty and with none of the luxuries

of life, are convinced they are sincere. Most are Frenchmen, and those I

have seen or heard of are well-educated men, who give up their lives to

the good of the people they live among. No wonder they make converts,

among the lower orders principally. For it must be a great comfort to

these poor people to have a man among them to whom they can go in any

trouble or distress, whose sole object is to comfort and advise them,

who visits them in sickness, who relieves them in want, and whom they

see living in daily danger of persecution and death only for their

benefit.

You will think they have converted me, but in point of doctrine I think

Catholics and Protestants are equally wrong. As missionaries I think

Catholics are best, and I would gladly see none others, rather than

have, as in New Zealand, sects of native Dissenters more rancorous

against each other than in England. The unity of the Catholics is their

strength, and an unmarried clergy can do as missionaries what married

men can never undertake. I have written on this subject because I have

nothing else to write about. Love to Thomas and Edward.--Believe me,

dear Fanny, your ever affectionate brother,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO HIS SISTER, MRS. SIMS

_Macassar. December 10, 1856._

My dear Fanny,--I have received yours of September, and my mother's of

October, and as I am now going out of reach of letters for six months I

must send you a few lines to let you know that I am well and in good

spirits, though rather disappointed with the celebrated Macassar.... For

the last fortnight, since I came in from the country, I have been living

here rather luxuriously, getting good rich cow's milk to my tea and

coffee, very good bread and excellent Dutch butter (3s. a lb.). The

bread here is raised with toddy just as it is fermenting, and it imparts

a peculiar sweet taste to the bread which is very nice. At last, too,

there is some fruit here. The mangoes have just come in, and they are

certainly magnificent. The flavour is something between a peach and a

melon, with the slightest possible flavour of turpentine, and very

juicy. They say they are unwholesome, and it is a good thing for me I am

going away now. When I come back there will be not one to be had....--I

remain, dear Fanny, your ever affectionate brother,

A.R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

H.W. BATES TO A.R. WALLACE

_Tunantins, Upper Amazon. November 19, 1856._

Dear Wallace,-- ... I received about six months ago a copy of your paper

in the _Annals_ on "The Laws which have Governed the Introduction of New

Species." I was startled at first to see you already ripe for the

enunciation of the theory. You can imagine with what interest I read and

studied it, and I must say that it is perfectly well done. The idea is

like truth itself, so simple and obvious that those who read and

understand it will be struck by its simplicity; and yet it is perfectly

original. The reasoning is close and clear, and although so brief an

essay, it is quite complete, embraces the whole difficulty, and

anticipates and annihilates all objections.

Few men will be in a condition to comprehend and appreciate the paper,

but it will infallibly create for you a high and sound reputation. The

theory I quite assent to, and, you know, was conceived by me also, but I

profess that I could not have propounded it with so much force and

completeness.

Many details I could supply, in fact a great deal remains to be done to

illustrate and confirm the theory: a new method of investigating and

propounding zoology and botany inductively is necessitated, and new

libraries will have to be written; in part of this task I hope to be a

labourer for many happy and profitable years. What a noble subject would

be that of a monograph of a group of beings peculiar to one region but

offering different species in each province of it--tracing the laws

which connect together the modifications of forms and colour with the

_local_ circumstances of a province or station--tracing as far as

possible the actual _affiliation_ of the species.

Two of such groups occur to me at once, in entomology, in Heliconiidæ

and Erotylidæ of South America; the latter I think more interesting than

the former for one reason--the species are more local, having feebler

means of locomotion than the Heliconiidæ....--Yours very truly,

HENRY WALTER BATES.

* * * * *

TO H.W. BATES

_Amboyna. January 4, 1858._

My dear Bates,--My delay of six months in answering your very

interesting and most acceptable letter dated an ideal absurdity put

forth when such a simple hypothesis will explain _all the facts_.

I have been much gratified by a letter from Darwin, in which he says

that he agrees with "almost every word" of my paper. He is now preparing

for publication his great work on species and varieties, for which he

has been collecting information twenty years. He may save me the trouble

of writing the second part of my hypothesis by proving that there is no

difference in nature between the origin of species and varieties, or he

may give me trouble by arriving at another conclusion, but at all events

his facts will be given for me to work upon. Your collections and my own

will furnish most valuable material to illustrate and prove the

universal applicability of the hypothesis. The connection between the

succession of affinities and the geographical distribution of a group,

worked out species by species, has never yet been shown as we shall be

able to show it. In this Archipelago there are two distinct faunas

rigidly circumscribed, which differ as much as those of South America

and Africa, and more than those of Europe and North America: yet there

is nothing on the map or on the face of the islands to mark their

limits. The boundary line often passes between islands closer than

others in the same group. I believe the western part to be a separated

portion of continental Asia, the eastern the fragmentary prolongation of

a former Pacific continent. In mammalia and birds the distinction is

marked by genera, families, and even orders confined to one region; in

_insects_ by a number of genera and little groups of peculiar species,

the _families_ of insects having generally a universal distribution.

* * * * *

_Ternate, January 25, 1858._

I have not done much here yet, having been much occupied in getting a

house repaired and put in order. This island is a volcano with a sloping

spur on which the town is situated. About ten miles to the east is the

coast of the large Island of Gilolo, perhaps the most perfect

entomological _terra incognita_ now to be found. I am not aware that a

single insect has ever been collected there, and cannot find it given as

the locality of any insects in my catalogues or descriptions. In about a

week I go for a month collecting there, and then return to prepare for a

voyage to New Guinea. I think I shall stay in this place two or three

years, as it is the centre of a most interesting and almost unknown

region. Every house here was destroyed in 1840 by an earthquake during

an eruption of the volcano....

What great political events have passed since we left England together!

And the most eventful for England, and perhaps the most glorious, is the

present mutiny in India, which has proved British courage and pluck as

much as did the famed battles of Balaclava and Inker-man. I believe that

both India and England will gain in the end by the fearful ordeal. When

do you mean returning for good? If you go to the Andes you will, I

think, be disappointed, at least in the number of species, especially of

Coleoptera. My experience here is that the low grounds are much the most

productive, though the mountains generally produce a few striking and

brilliant species....--Yours sincerely,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO F. BATES

_Ternate. March 2, 1858._

My dear Mr. Bates,--When I received your very acceptable letter (a month

ago) I had just written one to your brother, which I thought I could not

do better than send to you to forward to him, as I shall thereby be able

to confine myself solely to the group you are studying and to other

matters touched upon in your letter. I had heard from Mr. Stevens some

time ago that you had begun collecting exotic Geodephaga, but were

confining yourself to one or two illustrations of each genus. I was

sure, however, that you would soon find this unsatisfactory. Nature must

be studied in detail, and it is the wonderful variety of the species of

a group, their complicated relations and their endless modification of

form, size and colours, which constitute the pre-eminent charm of the

entomologist's study. It is with the greatest satisfaction, too, I hail

your accession to the very limited number of collectors and students of

exotic insects, and sincerely hope you may be sufficiently favoured by

fortune to enable you to form an extensive collection and to devote the

necessary time to its study and ultimately to the preparation of a

complete and useful work. Though I cannot but be pleased that you are

able to do so, I am certainly surprised to find that you indulge in the

expensive luxury of from three to seven specimens of a species. I should

have thought that in such a very extensive group you would have found

one or, at most, a pair quite sufficient. I fancy very few collectors of

exotic insects do more than this, except where they can obtain

additional specimens by gift or by exchange. Your remarks on my

collections are very interesting to me, especially as I have kept

descriptions with many outline figures of my Malacca and Sarawak

Geodephaga, so that with one or two exceptions I can recognise and

perfectly remember every species you mention....

Now with regard to your request for notes of habits, etc. I shall be

most willing to comply with it to some extent, first informing you that

I look forward to undertaking on my return to England a "Coleoptera

Malayana," to contain descriptions of the known species of the whole

Archipelago, with an essay on their geographical distribution, and an

account of the habits of the genera and species from my own

observations. Of course, therefore, I do not wish any part of my notes

to be published, as this will be a distinctive feature of the work, so

little being known of the habits, stations and modes of collecting

exotic Coleoptera, ...

You appear to consider the state of entomological literature flourishing

and satisfactory: to _me_ it seems quite the contrary. The number of

unfinished works and of others with false titles is disgraceful to

science....

I think ... on the whole we may say that the Archipelago is _very rich_,

and will bear a comparison even with the richest part of South America.

In the country between Ega and Peru there is work for fifty collectors

for fifty years. There are hundreds and thousands of Andean valleys

every one of which would bear exploring. Here it is the same with

islands. I could spend twenty years here were life long enough, but feel

I cannot stand it, away from home and books and collections and

comforts, more than four or five, and then I shall have work to do for

the rest of my life. What would be the use of accumulating materials

which one could not have time to work up? I trust your brother may give

us a grand and complete work on the Coleoptera of the Amazon Valley, if

not of all South America....--Yours faithfully,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO HIS MOTHER

_October 6, 1858._

My dear Mother,-- ... I have just returned from a short trip, and am now

about to start on a longer one, but to a place where there are some

soldiers, a doctor and engineer who speak English, so if it is good for

collecting I shall stay there some months. It is Batchian, an island on

the south-west side of Gilolo, about three or four days' sail from

Ternate. I am now quite recovered from my New Guinea voyage and am in

good health.

I have received letters from Mr. Darwin and Dr. Hooker, two of the most

eminent naturalists in England, which has highly gratified me. I sent

Mr. Darwin an essay on a subject on which he is now writing a great

work. He showed it to Dr. Hooker and Sir C. Lyell, who thought so highly

of it that they immediately read it before the Linnean Society. This

assures me the acquaintance and assistance of these eminent men on my

return home.

Mr. Stevens also tells me of the great success of the Aru collection, of

which £1,000 worth has actually been sold. This makes me hope I may soon

realise enough to live upon and carry out my long cherished plans of a

country life in old England.

If I had sent the large and handsome shells from Aru, which are what you

expected to see, they would not have paid expenses, whereas the cigar

box of small ones has sold for £50. You must not think I shall always do

so well as at Aru; perhaps never again, because no other collections

will have the novelty, all the neighbouring countries producing birds

and insects very similar, and many even the very same. Still, if I have

health I fear not to do very well. I feel little inclined now to go to

California; as soon as I have finished my exploration of this region I

shall be glad to return home as quickly and cheaply as possible. It

will certainly be by way of the Cape or by second class overland. May I

meet you, dear old Mother, and all my other relatives and friends, in

good health. Perhaps John and his trio will have had the start of me....

* * * * *

TO H.W. BATES

_Ceram, November 25, 1859._

Dear Bates,--Allow me to congratulate you on your safe arrival home with

all your treasures; a good fortune which I trust is this time[14]

reserved for me. I hope you will write to me and tell me your projects.

Stevens hinted at your undertaking a "Fauna of the Amazon Valley." It

would be a noble work, but one requiring years of labour, as of course

you would wish to incorporate all existing materials and would have to

spend months in Berlin and Milan and Paris to study the collections of

Spix, Natterer, Oscolati, Castituan and others, as well as most of the

chief private collections of Europe. I hope you may undertake it and

bring it to a glorious conclusion. I have long been contemplating such a

work for this Archipelago, but am convinced that the plan must be very

limited to be capable of completion....--I remain, dear Bates, yours

very sincerely,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO H.W. BATES