Stirling, Matthew W., Dr., 
Filed: S.I.- Nat. Geog. Soc. 
Sxned. - 1951. 
i 
? 
February 8, 1951 
Dr. M. W. Stirling, 
c/o Mr. Ge orge Bennett, 
United Fruit Company* 
Cristobal, Canal Zone. 
Dear Matt and Marion: 
Your letter of February 2nd gives me more or less the news 
I had expected relative to access to the Caribbean shores of 
western Panama. 
The only thing that makes a hard bench harder for sleeping 
purposes is a boil on the back of the neck, as I can testify from 
personal observation. 
Matters are moving along here finally on The Hill and our 
hearings before the appropriations committee come on Tuesday 
afternoon next. In the meanwhile I have become entangled with 
the meeting of the Advisory Board of the Arctic Institute of 
North America and have to be there on Friday, February 16. 
With what I see of winter outside the window at the moment and 
what I anticipate I will find in Montreal, I should be in fair shape 
to take off immediately on my return for Panama. 
Administrative matters, however, are such that it will not 
be possible for me to be completely out of touch with the office 
for the period of 6 or 7 weeks as was the case last year. Because 
of this and because of a delay in getting away, I have very 
reluctantly had to revise my plans and give up the contemplated 
work in your area that I had had in mind. Perrygo and I should 
be down sometime between the 20th and the 25th. I have written 
General Kiel to ask if we can have a command car, or some 
similar type of transportation, and with this I will expect to cover 
some of the area in the eastern end of the highlands immediately 
west of the Zone. There are several places there now open where 
there is good forest and where work has not been done. It will 
be useful to visit these before the jungle is completely cleared. 
I would like also to get down for a few days to Punta Mala, as 
the brief visit I had there in 1948 was only sufficient to get me 
interested in the region. This will give opportunity also to 
