La Libertad, 
Cpmayagua,Rondmras, 
June 23,1953, 
Lear Mr.Ames: 
Your letter of June First received this morning,' To say 
that- I an very much surprised by the contents is purti g it very mildly,rou 
give me quotations from a letter you say you wrote me April 9th,-I have never 
received that letter-in which you say that you advise me that I am to collect 
on a per specimen basisjyet in your letter,.just two days later,April 11th. you 
advise me to accept the proposition of ‘collecting on the saem basis of pay 
as that of last year with the additional *500.OO-which you even suggest that 
it (the *500.00) be devided between myself and my assistant- saying that you 
having *500.00 sent to me at onee-T received it- and that another check for 
around ^1,000.00 would be sent me July First. T replied to this that T would 
IBeSSSpS; collect for you during the next twelev 
last yearjwith the *500.00 increase. Mow you 
saying that you can not pay the *3,600.00 for 
refused to collect* for other institutions and 
etL that T had 
I had aggreed 
were 
months under the terras as that of 
come along with another letter 
this year. This after I have 
private parties because T consider- 
signed a contract with you which was binding to both parties and 
to devote all my time to -collecting specimens for the Arboretum 
and The Museum of Corriapaative Toology, t would not collect and prepare specimens, 
as I have been collecting and preparing them for you and sell them at the prices 
you tell me that you are prepared to pay.You make no provision for the cost of 
postage-A considerable item-nor for the specimens prepared in liquid. The cost 
of alcohol alone will average f)ne Dollar for -each shipment. -or do you have 
anything to say about the return of funds I may have to expend for materials 
wnoch I am compelled to buy loyally. 
I know that you have had collectors in many parts of the world 
but I do not believe that you have ever collected in any country where conditions 
are just like those of Interior Honduras. TTr hen aou were in this country you 
had all the facilities of the United Fruit r, ompany at your command, yen were in 
the coast country,where T am sure there are more Orchids to be found than in the 
mountains. You know nothingof the difficulties of mountain travel,obtaining mules, a 
or of getting food that a white man can eat. Many times T have had to eat beans, 
and corn cakes and wash them down with black coffee, three times a day-Not for 
just one day but for a week at a time- nor do you know what it is to go out day 
after day and get soaking wet in these tropical rains. up to the time I started 
collecting for you there wer less than 100 species of Orohida know n from 
Honduras. How could you or any other man know that there were 100 or 1,000 
different species to be found in the country. You mearly took a gambel that the 
country had many new species-T have found many-but now that they are not coming 
in as fast or plentiful as you had hoped you want to call the deal off. I have, 
tried to avoid sending duplicates,in large numbers, always searching for somethinpl 
new. With the exception of a few weeks of sickness and others of reolution I In /e| 
ddvoted every hour of my time to the work. 
When I wrote you that I wanted to go to San Pedro Sula and work 
back to the south you said"Ho." I changed my route and it is true that the 
results h: ve not been as favorable as T had hoped. Hut maybe had T been allowed 
to parts of the country from which T had had favorable reports the results 
t<! 
go 
talk with 
may have been better. During the past year it has been my custom to 
persons who were,more or less familiar with the flora of the differant localities 
and have mapped my routes accordingly, uo you think that,were J collecting on the 
per specimen basis, t would allow the purchaser of my specimens to dictate as to 
the territory I worked. T most surely would go where I thought the most specimen! 
