Transcribe Hornaday, W. T. Letter to the Ward, Henry A. (1878-12-22)

scientific man, has often sent skulls & skels to England, & I have no doubt his specimens would be up to the mark. They would of course be </u fresh >, Please write to the Dr. as soon as convenient & tell him something, as I told him you would seeing that I will never meet him again. Your Establishment has established quite a reputation for you & itself in Borneo, I can tell you. Oh yes, about

    </u The Sarawak Museum . > I enclose a cutting from the

Sarawak Gazette which has set the Gov't offices all agog., and </u may> be the means of developing great things by and by. The Rajah is now in England & I did not get to see him at all, </u darn > the luck . But his presiding officer talked for him (</u not > at my solicitation atall), said the Rajah wants a Museum </u badly >, but does not know at all how to go to work to get it. They wanted advice from me and I gave it as carefully as I could. They caught my ideas at once, & are going to talk the matter up with the Rajah as soon as possible. I advised them to get a good man from England ( </u or America >, a hard working. capable fellow, & set the thing going. told them they would have to have to give $2000. per year for such a man that Prof. Ward could furnish the man if necessary, a man capable every way, almost. and far better trained as a Museum builder than </u any > thing they could get in England. I put it in such a way that they did not in the least look upon it as though I were trying to put up a job on them. Mind now they might </u never > buy a single specimen of you because the Gov't is too poor for that. Their museum would be purely Bornean. I confess that I really don't see how you would be greatly benefitted (directly) in the matter but I leave you to find that out for yourself. On general principles I agitate for a museum. connect you with it as closely as possible & leave the rest with you. It may prove an anchor to windward for some of us boys sometime. I advised the President to advise H H's the Rajah write to you on the subject as you knew better how to build a great museum out of nothing than any living man. (If the Rajah ever writes you, address him always as </u Your Highness > , and "Rajah" simply at the beginning of a letter. I will get his address for you without delay for you may see some reason for taking the initiative.) The officers told me nothing in particular can be done until His Highness returns in March. The Sarawak gov't did me a good many favors & saved me a good