ROYAL GARDENS KEW May 7/[18]77
Copy
Dear Sir George*1 Our friend Feilden takes quite a wrong view of his position. 1. I consulted him upon all the details of the Treasury proposal[?] before they were settled & he gladly acceded to them in writing. 2. When I went with him to the Treasury he personally accepted them & expressed his satisfaction. 3. Formally & in writing Officially he subsequently confirmed his acceptance (not in a "moment of weakness") 4. The Treasury cannot be, as he supposes, under the impression

that he is on leave from the War Office, for, in my presence, & against my advice, he refused to Mr [1 word illeg.], to have leave applied for, by the Treasury assuring Mr L. that he would have plenty of time to come up to town either at Aldershot or Woolwich daily if necessary. 5. The Treasury engagement[?] in no way interfered with his giving you any & all information. I explained this to Mr [1 word illeg.], before[?] [3 words crossed out, illeg.] him his position towards you & took your [1 word illeg.]. 6. Dr Gunther's right to publish one the Fish*2 (there are but 2 or 3 of them fish [1 word illeg.] by the Expedition [4 words crossed out, illeg.]) independently, rested, (as Feilden himself told me)

on his having received them it from him [1 word crossed out, illeg.] a wholly independent source[?] -- I offered Capt[ain] Feilden to get the Treasury's permission for [1 word crossed out, illeg.] Gunthers & other Reports being published by the authors provided copies were taken by or handed to Capt[ain]. F. for the final Treasury Report. 7. Capt[ain] Feilden & Capt Mr Hart's duties consisted in & working out what portions they chose themselves (Capt F. undertook Mammals Bird & Geology (excl. Palaeontology)) & separating the rest;-- & sending these for report to specialists approved by the R. S., to whom they were to give all information as to dates habits dates &c &c -- & the collecting these specialist Reports & transmitting them to the

Treasury on one joint Report on the Nat. Hist of the Expedition. 8. In all this Capt[ain]. F. & Mr Hart were to be aided by Kew, the B. M. & Geolog Mus. 9. The Reports being a "Credit to the Nation" did not depend on Capt R being a scientific naturalist [1 word crossed out, illeg.] were a kindly meant & Mr Hart complimentary phrase obviously applying to the extent & value of the collections they made, as set forth by the contributions to the Report. by themselves & others. 10 [1 word crossed out, illeg.] On receiving Capt[ain]. F.' refusal to proceed & his then throwing the whole [1 word crossed out, illeg.] burthen of the matter on me, I wrote to Dr Gunther, simply asking how the Reports were getting on -- his answer (May 3d) is not in accordance with Capt[ain] Feildens statement to you -- it is "besides Fish, [1 word illeg.], Crustacea & & sponges x x x Capt[ain] F. deposited

other parts of his collection in the Geological Dept. which I understood him to reserve for his own examination. Over these I have at present no control, nor do I know any thing of the Reports on them, giving however Capt[ain] F. every facility or assistance in accordance with the desire of the Treasury." *3Now, I have taken the whole of the [1 word illeg.], & [2 words illeg.] fossil plants & the deep sea soundings [2 words illeg.] off his hands, Mr [1 word illeg.] the Insects, [1 word illeg.] the Geology & Mineralogy[?]. The Fishs molluscs crustaceans sponges are all done, & all at no trouble whatever to him. The R. S. has taken a world of trouble with Treasury, Admiralty & War Office & the [1 word crossed out, illeg.] recommendation of [1 word illeg.] naturalist & what is Feilden's return for all this gratuitous aid. In return for all the aid so willingly afforded by Kew, the B. M. & Geolog. Mus. Capt F. now writes to you he says "how can a poor wretch like me be expected to fight with such swells"*4 of which swells not one has uttered an unkind thought or word of him & again, speaking I suppose of the R. S. or Treasury it makes a poor "[1 word crossed out, illeg.] collector answerable for every thing" -- & again

It might perhaps be better that we have not Feilden with us on Thursday. lest this [1 word illeg.] you think best.

referring to Prof. Hendry & myself he says they "think that I am an impostor -- I know that they are very much disappointed with the results" -- & this after I have told himself over & over again; & told every one else too, that the Natural History results are most creditable & will throw great light on the biology of the regions visited. All this shows that Capt[ain] F. has got a complete kink twist in the [7 words illeg.]

myself in a complete [1 word illeg.] dilemma -- & it remains to cast about as to what is best done If you can conveniently meet me at B. H. Burlington House on Thursday at 2.30 I should indeed be glad & if Feilden would come too it would be best. I feel no ill will against the poor fellow, though I do feel that he has not treated me well in every way I have no ill will against the poor fellow who is vacillating nervous & disappointed. but for the credit of the Expedn these Reports must be got out & sent in to the Treasury by Feilden with or without Hart, not least in his name[?] if he persists in his line of conduct. If he wont work I must, as I [1 word illeg.] have in the interests of Kew the RS & the Expedition. Very sin[cerel]y y[our]s | Jos. D. Hooker[signature] Endnotes
1. Potentially Sir George Darwin, the second son of Charles Darwin who worked in the fields of geology and astronomy. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and professor at the University of Cambridge 2. The wording in the following set of brackets is written vertically up the right hand margin of page 2, and is marked for insertion at this point. 3. The wording in the following paragraph is written on page 6, and is marked for insertion at this point. 4. The wording "of which swells not one has uttered an unkind thought or word of him" is written on page 6, and is marked for insertion at this point.