My dear Sir,

I received your kind reply to my notes, which was very gratifying to me. I have to note some errors which I am afraid slipped into my paper, but am not quite certain.¹

I think I wrote after P. Zochalia “the only purely S. African form”. If I did it was a mistake.² Amongst the plants which I have noticed as presenting a deceptive resemblance to orchids is the “Impatiens Capensis”, a plant which loves moisture & shade, & appears very attractive to small hairy Diptera with a long proboscis. I am afraid this plant got misplaced amongst the labiates, which I allow is a gross error on my part, & one which made me blush when I discovered it.³

My friend, M^r. MacOwan of Grahamstown has suggested to me that it would be more correct to name the Bonatea “Darwiniana” as more according to the Botanical Codes.⁴

I have sent the list of Questions relative to the Native Races to D^r. Grimmer of Colesberg, where most Hottentots & Bushmen are to be found, so far as concerns the Colony,—to the Rev^d. Tiyo Soga, a Kafir missionary beyond the borders, to Charles Brownlee Esqre the Gurka Commissioner, to D^r. Macarthey of the Katberg Convict Station, to Henry Bowker Inspector of the Mounted Police, & to some friends in Natal.⁵

Enclosed I send you some answers written by Christian Gaika, constable here & brother to the Chief Sandilli.⁶

I am sorry to say it is very difficult to get those, who best know the Kafirs to write replies. Intelligence is at such a low stage here, that it is the exception to find scientific enquiries treated otherwise than with contempt.

I wrote out some copies & gave them to some farmers in the neighbourhood, but they have never taken any trouble with the subject.

With respect to the muscle the French call ‘Grief Muscle’ I was a little puzzled, as I thought that the ‘corrugator’ drew the eyebrows together & downward, while ‘Frontalis’ raised & opened them out.⁷

With respect to both Kafir & Hottentot children the lips are much protruded when they are displeased & sulky, & I have noticed the same in Kafir adults, of both sexes.⁸

In great grief it is a common gesture amongst Kafirs to place the palms of both hands on the head.

When I have finished my observations I will send you fuller particulars, & will now come to the object of this letter.

I read the notes in the Linnean Soc: Journal on the action of the stamens in Indigofera & medicago.— I had several times tried the larger flowering leguminous plants here with pieces of Horse hair & pins, but to no effect.⁹

I have now I believe to add another order in which there are special contrivances for crossing different flowers, viz “Polygaleæ”.¹⁰ I am not certain, but think this is a novelty. I have tried several Polygalas at different times, but could never succeed.

While out collecting a few weeks ago I gathered on the mountain a Muraltia, which appears to me to be “Muraltia ericæfolia” D.C. var: β. curvifolia. It hardly quite agrees with Harvey’s description,¹¹ but from the specimens I have gathered appears to vary slightly even on the mountain according to its situation. When I brought my plants home for drying I was struck with the different positions of the stamens in different flowers & with Medicago Sativa fresh in my memory I inserted a small pin, & was delighted to see the whole bundle of stamens protruded from the enveloping carina, & start up violently against the two posterior petals. My drawings were made from plants which had been sometime in water, & so the action is hardly so intensely displayed as in growing plants.¹²

The bundle of stamens is held down in the fleshy concave case of the carina, the stigma being considerably below the anthers. As far as I could see with the unassisted eye it appeared to me that in the fresh flowers a minute quantity of juice spirted up with the stamens, but before closing this I hope to visit the top of the mountain & ascertain it with a glass. As the anthers only open at the apex, & the pollen is shot out in an upward direction it seems highly probable that none of the plant’s own pollen can fall on the stigma. I noticed that almost all the plants lower blossoms had been visited, & I noticed a moderate sized grey Dipterous Insect & bees buzzing round the plants. It struck me also—at a time of the year when so few plants in this neighbourhood are in flower—that its ⁠⟨⁠    ⁠⟩⁠ it appears ⁠⟨⁠    ⁠⟩⁠ with white ⁠⟨⁠    ⁠⟩⁠ resembling it in foliage ⁠⟨⁠    ⁠⟩⁠ might not be a ⁠⟨⁠    ⁠⟩⁠ perhaps be essential to it ⁠⟨⁠    ⁠⟩⁠¹³ do how attractive heaths are to bees. I have made some dissections of the flower in mature & immature conditions under the microscope. In the mature specimens the stamens invariably started up on the incision being made with the knife, but in the immature ones they appeared to be held down by the closely adhering edges of the carinal case.

You will notice in my drawing that the thick bundle of spiral vessels beneath the ovary sends off a far larger quantum to the posterior petals than to the carina & that they are curved at a much sharper angle than on the other side. (I have only made very rough diagrammatic tracings of my drawings) I am inclined to think that when the pin is inserted it pushes against the two petals, & also against the base of the stamens, so that the anthers are pushed upwards through the opening of the carinal sheath, & then the spiral vessels having been thus stretched act in the manner of a steel spiral spring, & produce the action observed. As I have not concluded my dissections, I only venture this as a suggestion.

The plants appear full of seed.

I do not know whether it will strike you as it does me, but it seems to me that this is a case analogous to the apparent similarity of adaptations between the Orchids & Asclepiads.¹⁴ In this case we have adaptations of a similar nature in two most distinct orders. The strikingly Papilionaceous resemblance in the Polygalas proper with their large & conspicuous keel & alæ, seems to me carried out in an inferior degree in the muraltias, whose analogues would seem to be Amphithaleas.¹⁵ The Medicagos nigra & laciniata & one species of Clover have somewhat similar actions in their stamens here.

Since writing the above I have again visited the mountain. On examining the flowers with a glass I found that I was in error, & must have mistaken the pollen for the juice. Almost all the flowers on many dozens of plants had been visited by insects, & it was difficult to find a blossom with the flowers unaltered. As it was a warm day I observed bees in plenty especially a small species, which I captured in the act of loosening the stamens. I found on further examination that a slight pressure on the tips of the petals was sufficient to make the stamens leap out of their carinal case.

I am expecting shortly to leave Bedford, but whether I go to Cape Town or Natal is yet uncertain.

I have since living here often thought of your remarks on Colonies in the Voyage of the Beagle.¹⁶ It is the exception here to meet agreeable associates & one has to fall back on books for company.

I send enclosed a small packet of Locust Dung. It has been suggested to me that certain obnoxious grasses have been carried from different parts of the colony by these insects. I have my doubts on the subject, but you could more easily ascertain whether any seeds of African plants are contained in it in England than I could here.

Trusting that your health may long permit us to enjoy the fruits of your interesting labours | I am, my dear Sir | faithfully yours, | J. P Mansel Weale.

P.S. I may remark that in cases of extreme fear Kafirs are unable to control their bowels, but freely void both fæces & urine. I once saw a Kafir seized by a powerful colonist by the throat, & half choked, when the above unpleasant results occurred most freely, & I have often heard of similar cases. I have been told but have never witnessed the fact myself that Kafirs will turn pale under extreme terror.

A Kafir when he has committed any offence & is trying to screen it will look sideways towards the ground, & every now & again, when he thinks you are not observing look slyly up as if to gather what impression his story has made on you. I remember noticing a somewhat similar habit in a little Chinese girl we had in the house, when I was living in England.