From Edward Blyth 13 September 1869
21 Chalcot Crescent, | Regent’s Pk,
Sept 13 /69
Dear Mr Darwin,
I find that I have an unanswered letter from you dated so long back as May 28th—1 Meanwhile, I have been much away, & have had much trouble to undergo, entirely through the misconduct of others. You ask me about the mandrils at Antwerp, & I have since passed more than a fortnight at Antwerp,2 as you will probably have seen by the last three Nos. of the Field, for which paper I write now instead of Land and Water, to my own great pecuniary advantage.3 One reason that I did not reply to you before was that I rather expected to revisit Antwerp, but I found that the mandrils, parents & infant, were all dead, & I could get no satisfactory answer to your queries. When I saw the animals they were half-concealed in deep straw, which answered the purpose of a garment. My impression is that both wild boar and elephant are polygamous, but I could not undertake to speak positively.4 However, I think that there is hardly a doubt that such is the case. I was exceedingly ill treated by a vulgar upstart Glass, who calls himself “manager” of the Land & Water concerning ⟨th⟩e [getter] up of the paper. His object was to put J K. Lord in my place, & he succeeded, for I could brook his impertinence no longer, & besides I had no end of trouble in getting paid by him for my contributions.5 Now I receive considerably more than double from the Field.
Trusting that this will find you better in health, I remain | Yours Sincerely | E. Blyth
Footnotes
Bibliography
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
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
Gives some observations and opinions on the appearance and behaviour of mandrills.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6887
- From
- Edward Blyth
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- London, Chalcot Crescent, 21
- Source of text
- DAR 160: 225
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6887,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6887.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 17