Up to the year 1856 no correspondence had passed between Wallace and Darwin, so far, at least, as the former could remember, for he says, in a letter dated Frith Hill, Godalming, December 3, 1887 (written to Mr. A. Newton): "I had hardly heard of Darwin before going to the East, except as connected with the voyage of the _Beagle_.... I saw him _once_ for a few minutes in the British Museum before I sailed. Through Stevens, my agent, I heard that he wanted curious _varieties_ which he was studying. I _think_ I wrote about some varieties of ducks I had sent, and he must have written once to me.... But at that time I had not the remotest notion that he had already arrived at a definite theory--still less that it was the same as occurred to me, suddenly, in Ternate in 1858." It is clear, therefore, that the essay written at Sarawak formed the first real link with Darwin, although not fully recognised at the time. In May, 1857, Darwin wrote to Wallace: "I am much obliged for your letter ... and even still more by your paper in the _Annals_, a year or more ago. I can plainly see that we have thought much alike and to a certain extent have come to similar conclusions.... I agree to almost every word of your paper; and I dare say that you will agree with me that it is very rare to find oneself agreeing pretty closely with any theoretical paper." He concludes: "You have my very sincere and cordial good wishes for success of all kinds, and may all your theories succeed, except that on Oceanic Islands, on which subject I will do battle to the death."