Dear Sir,—

I am about to describe to you a few facts which may possibly be of use to you in your speculations. I have not seen your book on species,¹ only the “Descent of Man”   I cannot get the former here, and in the latter I cannot see that you are acquainted with what I am about to relate or I should not trouble you with a letter.

Sheep and Goats.

One of my friends here has not a case of twin lambs from 1500 ewes of the merino breed.

The fattailed sheep of the Cape very rarely drop twins. If herbage be very plentiful before rutting-time and continue so twin lambs are not at all uncommon.

Goats ewes frequently drop three, four, and even five kids. It is very curious that the ovarian vesicles should thus act in harmony with the greater or less quantity of herbage, as if their action were a foresight of what is to come. I can comprehend abortion during a drought but it rarely happens, though I cannot explain to myself how it is that impregnation of more than one vesicle does not take place.²

Bustards.

One of the above is very common here; it lives in the flats amongst the sheepbush and feeds upon it. I have shot several but could find no difference in plumage between cock and hen.³

My friends here have told me that there is none. That is not an isolated fact amongst birds, but these koraan or bustards lay but one egg.

I have in the Spring of the year seen them in pairs only, and in the Autumn three together, one of which is certain to be the young bird.

A friend of mine who has been here some forty years has told me that he has constantly seen these twos and threes together according to the times of year. The bird is about as large as a pheasant.⁴

Baboons.

Here they abound and live upon the mountains where they eat roots &c. They are not carnivora though so splendidly provided with canine teeth.⁵

Every sheep-farmer here hates to see a solitary, large old male wandering about. It is this old gentleman who is epicurean in feeding, and he will kill a lamb to enjoy the luxury of lapping the milk out of the lamb’s stomach which he cleverly opens with his teeth and claws.

These canine tusks of his have been the cause of his banishment from his wives and friends, because they have grown so large and upwardly and inwardly curved that to a large extent they prevent him from biting, and thus the young males find out that they can bite sharper than their progenitors. Selection no doubt comes in to play for a good purpose for these old gentlemen would probably procreate a feebler progeny than the young ones.

Yours sincerely, | Clipson Wray, M.D. M.R.C.S.

C. Darwin, Esqr.