To T. N. Staley 13 January [1874]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent.
Jan. 13th
My Lord
I hope that you will forgive the liberty which I take in addressing you. From your interesting article on the Sandwich Islds in the Geograph. Journal 1868,2 I have thought that you would perhaps be so good as to give me some information, if in your power.
Firstly, it seems generally admitted that the natives have largely decreased since the time of Cook,3 & what I especially want to know is whether a statement which I have seen quoted from Mr. Bishop4 (I believe a Missionary) is correct, viz that the women of late years have become decidedly less fertile, & that a very large proportion of the children which are born die early.
Secondly, I suppose no census has ever been taken, so that the proportion between the males & females cannot be told.5 But if there is reason to believe that males are in considerable excess over females, I shd. much like to learn whether it is true that in old times female infanticide was much practised; so that mothers which bore several daughters used to kill a considerable proportion of them, as has been the habit with so many savages.— Whether or not you can spare time & are inclined to assist me; I trust that you will forgive my intrusion.— With much respect | I remain Your Lordship’s | Obedient servant | Charles Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Bishop, Artemas. 1838. An inquiry into the causes of decrease in the population of the Sandwich Islands. Hawaiian Spectator 1: 52–66.
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.
Staley, Thomas. 1868. On the geography and recent volcanic eruption of the Sandwich Islands. [Read 22 June 1868.] Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London 38: 361–9.
Summary
Has read TNS’s article ["On the geography and recent volcanic eruption of the Sandwich Islands", J. R. Geogr. Soc. 38 (1868): 361–9].
Asks for information on decline in population and infanticide in the Sandwich Islands. Seeks corroboration of A. Bishop’s reports.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9239
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Thomas Nettleship Staley
- Sent from
- London, Queen Anne St, 6 Down letterhead
- Source of text
- The Hawaiian Historical Society (MS B St1)
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9239,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9239.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22