e settled down to his
literary work, and, with the exception of one or two visits to the
Continent and America, spent the remainder of his life in England--a
life full of activity, the results of which still permeate scientific
research.

PART I (_Continued_)

II.--Early Letters

[1854--62]

Of the few letters which have been preserved relating to this period, a
number have already been published in "My Life," and need not be
reprinted here. But in some cases portions of these letters have been
given because they bring out aspects of Wallace's character which are
not revealed elsewhere. The various omissions which have been made in
other letters refer either to unimportant personal matters or to
technical scientific details. The first of the letters was written
during Wallace's voyage to the Malay Archipelago.

* * * * *

TO G. SILK

_Steamer "Bengal," Red Sea. March 26, [1854]._

My dear George,-- ... Of all the eventful days of my life my first in
Alexandria was the most striking. Imagine my feelings when, coming out
of the hotel (whither I had been conveyed in an omnibus) for the purpose
of taking a quiet stroll through the city, I found myself in the midst
of a vast crowd of donkeys and their drivers, all thoroughly determined
to appropriate my person to their own use and interest, without in the
least consulting my inclinations. In vain with rapid strides and waving
arms I endeavoured to clear a way and move forward; arms and legs were
seized upon, and even the Christian coat-tails were not sacred from the
profane Mahometans. One would hold together two donkeys by their tails
while I was struggling between them, and another, forcing together their
heads, would thus hope to compel me to mount upon one or both of them;
and one fellow more impudent than the rest I laid flat upon the ground,
and sending the donkey staggering after him, I escaped a moment midst
hideous yells and most unearthly cries. I now beckoned to a fellow more
sensible-looking than the rest, and told him that I wished to walk and
would take him for a guide, and hoped now to be at rest; but vain
thought! I was in the hands of the Philistines, and getting us up
against a wall, they formed an impenetrable phalanx of men and brutes
thoroughly determined that I should only get away from the spot on the
legs of a donkey. Bethinking myself now that donkey-riding was a
national institution, and seei