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

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Hornaday Orient Expedition_1878_12_22_e.jpg

2. (3 letters in one)
deal of precious money at a critical time, and on learning I
of course expressed my willingness to do anything in my power
for them and also offered the benefit of any advise Prof
Ward could give them about their Museum. They allowed
me the use of the Gov't House at Salling 3 months. free gratis:
& on leaving Sarawak I said I wished to show my gratitude in
some substantial way & asked which they would prefer I should
do: deposit $25. in cash for the benefit of the Museum, or send
to the Museum a complete collection of the corals of Singapore, 20
or 25 varieties, carefully selected. They jumped at the latter, of course,
and so that is one bit of work I have to do before I leave here. The
corals will cost all told, perhaps $10 to $15. Shall put in a Nep-
tunes cup also if possible. They treated me kindly indeed
from first to last, and I must make them some return.
Resident of Sarawak Proper, is
vigorously collecting mias skins & skeletons & sending to Jam-
rach, & occasionally (?) to Gerrard also. So far he has sent
about 15 I believe, all during the present year. He kept it
well secret from me, but the facts came to me. Couldn't find out
what he gets. Each skel & skin ( i.e. both together) cost Croker
$8. to $10. on the ground. All come from Salling & are prepared by
a Malay man who used to come & watch me on the sly, for
hours at a time. Before I went there he did work.
When I left he had got preservatives from Crocker, and did
his specimens up exactly like your own collector. I could scarcely keep from pitching him into the river.
In spite of all I could do he found out all about it, for a fellow
can't skin mias in his bed room, not hide 40 skins & 40 skels
under a bushel. No use it couldn't be helped. Since I went
to Sarawak everybody has begun to collect mias & now Lou,
Dick, Harry & the Dr. are all at it. all going to send them to
London. the luck! But they will soon get sick of it for none
of them but Cocker will ever realize a by it., and I fancy you
will hereafter find many medium & small mias skels & skins
in London to be had for the asking . Jawrael is to have a
lot. Everett says none but the very specimens are saleable
at price in London, which is a crumb of comfort.
 There is an English naturalist named coming
out here to spend some years (4 or 5) in this Archipelago, and

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                                                   2. (3 letters in one)

deal of precious money at a critical time, and on learning I of course expressed my willingness to do anything in my power for them and also offered the benefit of any advise Prof Ward could give them about their Museum. They allowed me the use of the Gov't House at Salling 3 months. free gratis: & on leaving Sarawak I said I wished to show my gratitude in some substantial way & asked which they would prefer I should do: deposit $25. in cash for the benefit of the Museum, or send to the Museum a complete collection of the corals of Singapore, 20 or 25 varieties, carefully selected. They jumped at the latter, of course, and so that is one bit of work I have to do before I leave here. The corals will cost all told, perhaps $10 to $15. Shall put in a Nep- tunes cup also if possible. They treated me kindly indeed from first to last, and I must make them some return. Resident of Sarawak Proper, is vigorously collecting mias skins & skeletons & sending to Jam- rach, & occasionally (?) to Gerrard also. So far he has sent about 15 I believe, all during the present year. He kept it well secret from me, but the facts came to me. Couldn't find out what he gets. Each skel & skin ( i.e. both together) cost Croker $8. to $10. on the ground. All come from Salling & are prepared by a Malay man who used to come & watch me on the sly, for hours at a time. Before I went there he did work. When I left he had got preservatives from Crocker, and did his specimens up exactly like your own collector. I could scarcely keep from pitching him into the river. In spite of all I could do he found out all about it, for a fellow can't skin mias in his bed room, not hide 40 skins & 40 skels under a bushel. No use it couldn't be helped. Since I went to Sarawak everybody has begun to collect mias & now Lou, Dick, Harry & the Dr. are all at it. all going to send them to London. the luck! But they will soon get sick of it for none of them but Cocker will ever realize a by it., and I fancy you will hereafter find many medium & small mias skels & skins in London to be had for the asking . Jawrael is to have a lot. Everett says none but the very specimens are saleable at price in London, which is a crumb of comfort.

     There is an English naturalist named </u Forbes > coming

out here to spend some years (4 or 5) in this Archipelago, and