From Bartholomew James Sulivan 2 February [1855]1
Blackheath.
Feby. 2
My dear Darwin
I am indeed sorry to hear you have had so much sickness2
The only vegetables I ever saw on the shores of Falklands that had come from Main land were trees of all sizes, chiefly the birch; those were so numerous on all the shores facing the SW that we regularly supplied both Arrow & Philomel3 with fuel which pretty well cleared all the accessible parts of the coast. Most of the trees had been laying for years. they were clean of bark and quite seasoned some had roots to them others broken off probably branches of large trees torn of by Williwaws—4
I recollect Beagles paint being spoilt as you say but I do not recollect whether it was by seeds or dust—
The Snipe at Falklands leave in winter—but I do not recollect any strange birds coming there. The most extraordinary thing of that kind I have seen was a Woodcock on board the Merchant ship we returned from Falklands in. We could not catch it and at last it struck the ship & fell in the Sea. It was in the SE trades in the Month of August when Woodcocks ought to be far North— I do not recollect the exact position but it was more than 500 miles from any land & that the Western Islands.5 from any other land it must have been more than 1000 miles
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Emma Darwin (1915): Emma Darwin: a century of family letters, 1792–1896. Edited by Henrietta Litchfield. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1915.
OED: The Oxford English dictionary. Being a corrected re-issue with an introduction, supplement and bibliography of a new English dictionary. Edited by James A. H. Murray, et al. 12 vols. and supplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1970. A supplement to the Oxford English dictionary. 4 vols. Edited by R. W. Burchfield. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1972–86. The Oxford English dictionary. 2d edition. 20 vols. Prepared by J. A. Simpson and E. S. C. Weiner. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1989. Oxford English dictionary additional series. 3 vols. Edited by John Simpson et al. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1993–7.
Summary
The only mainland vegetation he saw on Falkland Island shores were trees. Remembers no strange birds there, but on journey home saw a woodcock more than 500 miles from the nearest land.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-1551
- From
- Bartholomew James Sulivan
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Blackheath
- Source of text
- DAR 205.2: 251
- Physical description
- inc †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 1551,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-1551.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 5
