Professor
William Cawley
Texas A&M University - College Station- Texas - USA
6-5-1986
Dear
Professor Cawley,
I
was very pleased to receive your letter of April 24th 1986 and I
realise what it is like keeping up with the correspondence as mine lagged
somewhat during last year as I had normally simple operation on my eye to
remove a cataract and a lens implant. However I suffered complications over
quite a lengthy period. However it would appear that things are getting back
to normal and I’m catching up on the backlog.
First
of all I’m pleased to hear that Professor Carter is keeping well: I have
corresponded with him over a number of years discussing the origins etc. His
letters have always been a delight and my image of him was as you describe
him, a jovial type of person. By the way if you happen to run into him again,
you might mention he sent me a letter with comments on my latest paper.
He
used some of my material as a basis for an article he wrote for The
Ellsworth American, a newspaper from Maine, I think it is on pre-Columbian
chickens. He has been most helpful during my studies.
I’m
glad you have a copy of Cockfighting all
over the world. I feel Finsterbusch brought forward a wealth of
information regarding the differences between the Bankivoids and Malay. He was
a great student of the game fowl and anyone would find it hard to dispute his
arguments.
I’m
enclosing two of the papers in the series of Origin, Evolution etc. The series
will not be done in chronological order but the overall the result should fit
together.
I
would appreciate your comment on these papers and perhaps you may have
something to add. I have completed the manuscript for the next in the series,
entitled The Gallus species. It discusses the Jungle Fowls and suggests the
Malay, Asiatics (Cochin, Brahma and Langshan) are distinct species when
considered against Gallus Bankiva.
I
am hoping to publish this during 1986. I will certainly send you a copy when I
do.
My
researches have been done privately and I have to publish the papers at my own
expense as well as typing the stencils and printing them on a duplicator. A
printer friend of mine does the plates and covers.
You
may find the Bone Recoveries of
interest for as you will observe the recent information from China somewhat
scrams up the picture when considered against earlier documentation. However
there is still a lot to be learnt.
Dr
Green, University of Auckland (New Zealand), has recently been digging on
Watom Island and in a letter from him he says more bone has been recovered
there again.
Also
Professor Higham of the University of Otago (New Zealand) has been back to NE
Thailand again. I am writing to hear what he may unearthed over there this
time. I was invited to prepare a paper on my researches covering the Asia and
Pacific region by Professor Solheim editor of Asian
Perspectives, a journal on prehistory and anthropology of that region and
published by the University of Hawaii. I have sent the manuscript over and
after some editing etc it hopefully will be suitable for publication.
Unfortunately my researches are confined to collecting the documented material
on the subject and putting it together. I don’t have any opportunity of
doing field work for I am not involved with any academic institution.
I
have bred exhibition chickens for many years, compiled and published a book on
the Pekin (Cochin) Bantam. Whilst doing this I found that the whole subject of
the origin, evolution etc of the chicken became quite interesting and
challenging so carried on with the work which I have found most satisfying. I
have some good friends who have provided me with relevant material but as you
can imagine being down under here in Australia it takes lots of letters
overseas to gather this material.
However
when the material is pieced together I feel it does help somewhat. There are
still a lot of gaps to fill in yet however.
I
have just turned 65 and have been retired from my normal work for a few years
so I will have to keep at it for. I also would like to publish the breed
histories of our Australian created breeds, i.e. Australian Game, Australian
Pit Game, Australorp and Langshan. Our Langshan is different to yours in the
US (Ref. ABA Bantam Standard 1981 - 5th edition) under Chinese Langshan. I have the material on hand,
but have had difficulty with funding for the publishing. My approaches for a
Government Grant has had a negative result. However I will continue on as best
I can and hope one day a philanthropist will turn up.
I
would appreciate your comments on my work as I think it was Loyl Stromberg who
advised me I should make contact as you had been doing study in this field:
the distribution of the chicken when eventually get to it should prone
interesting: Apparently the pre-Colombian situation in the Americas is still
not cleared up.
I
feel Thor Heyerdahl’s sea voyages proved that diffusion could have occurred
East to West across both the Atlantic and Pacific pre-Columbian but there
still doesn’t seem to be any positive evidence with respect to chickens.
All for now.
Sincerely
yours,