Dr.Alexander ?\fetmore, 
U.S.Nat .Museum, 
A. Wfc. i MOFifc | 
JAN -ft 194! 
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B eachwood, H. J.,Jan.5>1941. 
Washington,D.C., 
Dear Doctor Wetmore: 
Yours of the 2nd. at hand,and it is with much pleasure that 
I learn of the completion of arrangements for our Colombian trip. 
The sailing date and all other arrangements proposed by you 
are entirely satisfactory to me,and you may depend that I shall do 
all in my power to make the expedition a successful one and a 
pleasant one for you,in so much as I may be able to do so. 
In regard to the suspension of sailings to Santa Marta by the 
United Fruit Co.,I think it is due to the fact that they have just 
about abandoned that division. In a recent letter from my brother-in- 
law at Santa Marta he casually remarked that the government was 
endeavoring to stimulate other forms of agriculture,etc. to help out 
the planters who had been in bananas,so that I take it that the 
United Fruit Co is just about washed up down there. 
However,that is of no great moment for us,since there are 
nightly trips made by a large steam launch between Barranquilla and 
Cienega,then from there to Santa Marta by train (20 kilometers). 
It only makes it more inconvenient,having to make so many transfers 
of our baggage,etc. Also it would have been much simpler to have passed 
the customs in Santa Marta than in Barranquilla. 
The Passport which. I used in Mexico was returned to you,in your 
office,for delivery to the State Department. Doubtless it is on file 
there and may be secured for this trip. 
As to guns,I see no need of making any change from the program 
of last year,and you may apply for entry for the 22 pistol and the 
38 cal.Colt revolver. 
I,too,have been thinking seriously about the advisibility of 
taking a light-weight tent with us,also one of the Abercrombie and 
Fitch aluminum cooking outfits,such as I always carried in South 
America. I am still awaiting more detailed information concerning 
actual conditions in the mountains we plan to visit in eastern 
Giajira,which information I should receive by the end of this month. 
However,I do think that we should take a tent and cooking outfit,as 
they will be especially useful in the mountains south of the Sierra 
Nevada,which must be very sparsely settled,since it is only about 
25 years since it was first penetrated by the Franciscan missionaries 
from Riohacha. 
I will be glad to go to Washington at any time you think desir¬ 
able. I would suggest sometime early in February. I shall go by train 
this time,since I get entirely too much driving by automobile these 
days,about 65 miles a day,to and from my work. 
If anything further of interest develops,I will advise you at once. 
Yours very sincerely, 
d 
