Alfred Russel Wallace 



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^ 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 contem- 

 plating such a work for this Archipelago, but am convinced 

 that the plan must be very limited to be capable of comple- 

 tion. . . . — I remain, dear Bates, yours very sincerely, 



Alfred E. Wallace. 



To H. W. Bates 



Ternate. December 24, 1860. 



Dear Bates, — Many thanks for your long a-nd interesting 

 letter. I have myself suffered much in the same way as you 

 describe, and I think more severely. The kind of twdium 

 vitce you mention I also occasionally experience here. I 

 impute it to a too monotonous existence. 



, 1 A reference to the loss of his earlier collection (p. 29). 



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