To Thomas Belt 6 January [1868]1
Down.
Jan. 6
My dear Sir
I well remember your very interesting observations, and I have since collected many analogous facts, but when I shall have time and strength to publish I do not at all know. I thank you for your obliging offer, but I cannot at present think of any particular facts in relation to Nicaragua.2 I include, however, some queries on a subject, which greatly interests me; and if you could interest yourself I should be especially obliged for any answer in regard to Negroes or American Indians.3 You would have to read the queries several times over, and you will find it curiously difficult to observe; for any emotion excites some sympathy in observer’s mind and this at the moment makes the point to be forgotten. I should be grateful for a letter with even a single question answered. I have had many answers but hardly any about negroes—the less civilised the better.4 I sincerely hope that you will enjoy fairly good health, and be successful in your Expedition,5 and I remain
My dear Sir | yours very faithfully | Charles Darwin.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Marginalia: Charles Darwin’s marginalia. Edited by Mario A. Di Gregorio with the assistance of Nicholas W. Gill. Vol. 1. New York and London: Garland Publishing. 1990.
ODNB: Oxford dictionary of national biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000. (Revised edition.) Edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. 60 vols. and index. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Summary
Asks about expression of emotion among Negroes and American Indians in Nicaragua. Queries enclosed.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6546
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Thomas Belt
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 143: 77
- Physical description
- C 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6546,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6546.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16