Charles Darwin Admires the Courage in Pursuit of Science of James Orton, One of the Foremost American Naturalists of the Victorian Era

One of a handful of letters Darwin ever wrote to Orton, and perhaps the only one in private hands

James Orton was an important American naturalist whose pioneering expeditions to the then-untamed and treacherous Amazon region revolutionized the knowledge of South America. He modeled his explorations on Darwin’s researches, and dedicated the published accounts of the expedition to Darwin. Darwin considered him a colleague.

In 1867 Orton was selected by Williams College to lead his first expedition to South America. The expedition was co-funded by Williams and Orton himself, and the Smithsonian Institution donated the scientific instruments needed and arranged to have the specimens returned to the United States. With this project, Orton began the series of detailed journals of his expeditions, most of which display his keen observations of the world around him and his natural talents for the written word.

This expedition, in which he braved dangers to cross South America from west to east, by way of the Quito, the Nabo, and the Amazon Rivers, proved to be extremely significant, both to Orton and to the scientific community at large. On this expedition, he discovered the first fossils ever found in the valley of the Amazon, and his specimens of flora, fauna, fossils, minerals and anthropological artifacts were proudly displayed in numerous institutions throughout the United States, including New York’s Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. In 1870 he wrote of his journey and findings in The Andes and the Amazon; or Across the Continent of South America, which was the first book to substantively describe and outline the naturalist experience of South America. According to Appleton’s Cyclopedia of American Biography, Orton was ”the best authority on the subject of the geology and physical geography of the west coast of South America and the Amazon Valley”, and Orton’s biographer noted “…authorities hold to be the best book about South America.”

This was the book Orton dedicated to Darwin, the dedication reading: “To Charles Darwin, whose profound researches have thrown so much light upon every department of science…these sketches of the Andes and the Amazon are, by permission, most respectfully Dedicated.” Darwin thought that the book was important, and responded to Orton’s letter informing him of the dedication by writing, “…I assure you that I am greatly pleased at the honour which you intend to confer on me by dedicating your new work to me. You seem to have had a most interesting expedition, & I am very glad that you intend to publish a general account of the results. Your discovery of marine shells high up the Amazons possesses extreme interest…I shall be very curious to read a full account of the wingless grebe-like bird which you have discovered, & of the great deposit of bones…”

In the spring of 1873 Orton organized and personally financed his second expedition to South America, this time traveling in the opposite direction from his first expedition. This second journey, which took him up the Amazon from Para to Lima and Lake Titicaca, proved just as significant as the first, and led to the revised edition of his book, published in 1876. He again dedicated the work to Darwin and sent him a copy, also informing Darwin that he was making another expedition back to the Amazon.

“You show wonderful spirit in going again to the Amazon“

This is Darwin’s response. Letter Signed, on Down, Beckenham, Kent Railway Station letterhead, two pages, Kent, June 19, 1876, to Orton thanking him for the copy of Orton’s revised book, but more importantly, praising his courage for returning again to the wilds of South America. “I am very much obliged to you for your great kindness in having sent me the new edition of your work ‘The Andes etc,’ which I see is much enlarged. I have no doubt that it will interest me as much as did the first edition. I have re-read with pride the dedication which is so honourable to me. You show wonderful spirit in going again to the Amazon, & I hope that you may be in every way successful.“

Darwin’s own great, 5-year voyage of discovery on the HMS Beagle had led him to South America and the Galapagos Islands west of Ecuador. During the voyage he faced the known perils of the sea, and the unknown perils of sickness and potentially hostile natives. He had returned to England with an illness that gave him much trouble over the rest of his life. No one knew better than Darwin that curiosity, and the explorations that result from it, can be dangerous. He had displayed courage in the pursuit of science and paid the price, and he admired the courage in others who did the same. Thus, Darwin’s heartfelt remark about Orton’s spirit came from his own experience.

If Darwin had a premonition that it took courage to again challenge the Amazon, he proved right. In mid-October of 1876, Orton embarked on his third expedition. About twenty miles from the Beni River in Bolivia, Orton’s escorts mutinied, taking with them most the supplies. Orton was struck on the head and suffered severe hemorrhaging during the scuffle. His remaining party began to make its way back home, paddling 260 miles up the Mamoré River, 100 miles on the Yacuma River, and then 200 miles by mule to Lake Titicaca. This epic journey led them through the high Andes where they “…traveled between glaciers which rose a thousand feet on either side of them. Because of the bitter cold the men dismounted and walked to prevent frostbite.” Finally, on September 24, 1877, they reached the shore of Lake Titicaca. They boarded the schooner Aurora, which took them across the lake on a 24 hour journey to Puno, Peru. Unfortunately, the strain and sickness had been too much for Orton to bear, and he died on September 25, 1877, at age 47.

The Darwin Correspondence Project at Cambridge University in England lists just three letters from Darwin to Orton, and none are after 1870. They are apparently unaware of the existence of this letter, and our research indicates it is un-cited and thus unpublished. Whether any other letters of Darwin to Orton remain in private hands is unknown.