0:00:05 > 0:00:07I'm travelling in the footsteps of one of the great forgotten
0:00:07 > 0:00:11heroes of natural history, Alfred Russel Wallace.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14I first heard about Wallace when I was trekking through the jungles
0:00:14 > 0:00:19of Indonesia 15 years ago and I've been fascinated by him ever since.
0:00:19 > 0:00:20I guess you could say
0:00:20 > 0:00:23he's the missing link in the story of evolution.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Wallace was the most prolific collector of the Victorian age.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33He discovered 5,000 new species.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35Wallace would have had you, mate!
0:00:36 > 0:00:39But he was so much more than just a bug collector.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41Along with Charles Darwin,
0:00:41 > 0:00:45he came up with one of the greatest scientific ideas of all time,
0:00:45 > 0:00:50the theory of evolution by natural selection.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53They each made their discovery independently.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56But unlike Darwin, Wallace came from humble origins
0:00:56 > 0:00:58and got there against all odds.
0:01:01 > 0:01:02I'm Bill Bailey...
0:01:02 > 0:01:03Ding, ding.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06..and I'm on an extraordinary adventure to show you how Wallace
0:01:06 > 0:01:09made this momentous breakthrough.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14I'll be meeting curious creatures...
0:01:16 > 0:01:18That was amazing!
0:01:18 > 0:01:21..and immersing myself in the world of the Victorian explorer...
0:01:21 > 0:01:23Look at this.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25..with a bit of traffic calming on the side.
0:01:25 > 0:01:26That's it, come on.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30I want to put Wallace back on the map, because Darwin wasn't
0:01:30 > 0:01:34the only one to discover the driving force of evolution.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36It's a total injustice
0:01:36 > 0:01:39and I'm on a mission to get Wallace the recognition he deserves.
0:01:59 > 0:02:05Alfred Russel Wallace set sail from England in 1854,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09destined for the little-known Malay Archipelago.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14He would spend eight years exploring some of the thousands of islands
0:02:14 > 0:02:17that now make up Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25In his early 30s, he was an untrained bug collector,
0:02:25 > 0:02:27but he had big ideas.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36His quest was to solve the great mystery of the age,
0:02:36 > 0:02:38the origin of species.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45So far, I've retraced the first two years of his epic journey,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48which took him deep into the heart of Borneo.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Here, he discovered hundreds of amazing new species,
0:02:56 > 0:03:03including the first-ever - and fantastical - flying frog.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05Wow! Look at that!
0:03:06 > 0:03:09And he'd published a scientific paper
0:03:09 > 0:03:13setting out his idea that all species evolved from earlier forms.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18He still hadn't figured out what made it happen,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21but his travels so far had convinced him
0:03:21 > 0:03:25this was the clearest explanation for life on Earth.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31It was like a keen amateur astronomer writing to Stephen Hawking,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34saying, "Dear Stephen, I've worked out the theory of everything.
0:03:34 > 0:03:35"I await your prompt response."
0:03:38 > 0:03:40But his paper was ignored by the powers that be,
0:03:40 > 0:03:47including the great Charles Darwin, who dismissed it as nothing new.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51So after two years of mud and leeches in the jungles,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Wallace was more determined than ever to discover
0:03:54 > 0:03:55how evolution actually worked.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05In January 1856, he left Borneo and sailed more than 3,000 kilometres
0:04:05 > 0:04:10via Singapore, Bali and Lombok to the island of Sulawesi.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Initially this was just a stopover as he ventured east,
0:04:18 > 0:04:23but the creatures on Sulawesi were so curious and unique,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25he returned a further three times.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31This amazing island is where I pick up his story.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38And with the help of my guide Bobby,
0:04:38 > 0:04:40I'm searching for a tree-dwelling creature that would become
0:04:40 > 0:04:44a key piece of his evolutionary puzzle.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52So Bobby, how do you find a bear cuscus?
0:04:52 > 0:04:53Well, I can smell.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58- You can smell them?- Yes, yes, I can smell. The pee is very stinky.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00- The pee?- Yes, very stinky.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04- Right, so it's a very strong, pungent smell, yeah?- Very strong yes.- Oh right, OK.
0:05:06 > 0:05:07See if you can sniff one out.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15Oh, up here. Just here, yeah.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20- Oh, yeah. Got it.- You got it?- Yeah.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24That's the first time I've ever seen one of these creatures, a bear cuscus.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27And they are quite extraordinary. They're unique.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29You only find them here in Sulawesi.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33I've seen other kinds of cuscus throughout Indonesia
0:05:33 > 0:05:36but this one is the only one that moves around during the day
0:05:36 > 0:05:38so it's a lot easier to see.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45His face resembles quite a cross sloth.
0:05:45 > 0:05:51You know...sloths are quite benign, almost sort of sleepy-looking.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54But these look just like they're angry about something.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58And in fact these are supposed to be active during the day
0:05:58 > 0:06:00but, I mean, that's not really active, is it?
0:06:00 > 0:06:03I mean, he scratched his ear once,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05that's really at the low end of active.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12What excited Wallace about this lazy cuscus
0:06:12 > 0:06:15is it's a marsupial, a relative of Australian
0:06:15 > 0:06:21mammals like kangaroos, that carry their young in pouches.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24And these weren't the only Australian creatures on this island.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29He also came across Australian birds like cockatoos.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33Wallace was starting to see a pattern.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37From his travels so far, he knew that on the western islands
0:06:37 > 0:06:42there were Asian animals, monkeys, orang-utans, elephants,
0:06:42 > 0:06:46and yet now he'd encountered Australian creatures.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52To Wallace, this was compelling evidence that he'd sailed
0:06:52 > 0:06:55over some kind of frontier, which marked a meeting point
0:06:55 > 0:07:00of two great animal groups, Asian and Australian.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04This dramatic boundary would become known as the Wallace Line.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11It would take him years to realise the significance
0:07:11 > 0:07:14of this discovery, but it would become his greatest ammunition
0:07:14 > 0:07:21to challenge the established ideas of the church, and science.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25And there's an animal here that can help me explain
0:07:25 > 0:07:27just what he was up against.
0:07:29 > 0:07:34They live inside strangler fig trees and only emerge after dark.
0:07:40 > 0:07:41Tarsiers.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48Tarsiers have huge eyes. Each one is bigger than its brain.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Aw! They look cute, don't they?
0:07:54 > 0:07:58Don't let the big eyes fool you. These are vicious little killers.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22That was amazing. It came flying over my shoulder like a little gremlin shot out of a cannon.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25I told you they were ruthless, vicious hunters.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28The tarsier, nemesis of the grasshopper.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Victorian scientists believed all creatures were made by God.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40So God would create tarsiers with big eyes
0:08:40 > 0:08:42and tarsiers would remain exactly the same,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45generation after generation,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48until their habitat changed and they went extinct.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51Then God would create a new model of the tarsier,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54ideally adapted to the new environment.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57This idea was called Natural Theology.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00But Wallace thought differently.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02And this was the big question -
0:09:02 > 0:09:07were they just the latest version of tarsier created by God,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10or had they evolved from smaller-eyed ancestors?
0:09:10 > 0:09:15Wallace was convinced that species changed gradually over time,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17and he was determined to prove it.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23But the jungles of Indonesia were a punishing place to gather evidence.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Living in remote villages, Wallace had no choice but to go native.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35So to get a sense of what life was like, Bobby's cooked me
0:09:35 > 0:09:40a dish that Wallace nibbled on while he was here in Sulawesi.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Right, so, Bobby, what is this?
0:09:42 > 0:09:46- This is fruit bat.- Oh, right. And what does that taste like, then?
0:09:46 > 0:09:48Just like rat.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51- BILL LAUGHS - Oh, right. It tastes like rat.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56That wasn't exactly that helpful, but here goes.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02All right, then. Cheers, cheers.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Mmm!
0:10:10 > 0:10:12You know, if I'm following in Wallace's footsteps,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15he was offered a fricassee of bats in the local village.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17You know...a lot of things.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19He skinned a lot of birds and ATE a lot of birds
0:10:19 > 0:10:23and then once it got so bad, he actually said that, er,
0:10:23 > 0:10:27he had to make a small parakeet do for two meals, so you know, they were slim pickings.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30But he was in remote parts of the world,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32he couldn't be picky about his food.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34So neither can I.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40Mmm! Couldn't trouble you for some HP Sauce?
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Ketchup?
0:10:43 > 0:10:44BILL LAUGHS
0:10:44 > 0:10:46That's about it, I guess!
0:10:50 > 0:10:54When he wasn't eating potential specimens, Wallace
0:10:54 > 0:10:58was sending them home to sell to museums and private enthusiasts.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00Look at this.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03I caught one.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07And in August 1856, he sent a duck and a jungle fowl
0:11:07 > 0:11:11to a new and esteemed acquaintance, a certain Mr Charles Darwin.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Darwin had contacted Wallace out of the blue,
0:11:15 > 0:11:20asking for specimens to help with his studies on evolution.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Wallace was thrilled.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26But to Darwin, Wallace was just one of many collectors assisting him.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33Darwin was already famous for his voyage around the world on the Beagle.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38He was wealthy, Cambridge-educated and connected.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Wallace was an outsider,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44whose feckless father had squandered the family money,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47forcing him to leave school at 14 and earn a living.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50But their lives were on a collision course
0:11:50 > 0:11:53that would come to rock Darwin's world.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00The longer Wallace spent on Sulawesi,
0:12:00 > 0:12:01the more it puzzled him.
0:12:01 > 0:12:07The cuscus and tarsiers weren't the only curiosities.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10So many bizarre creatures here were unique,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12found nowhere else in the world.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20And it was on this very beach more than 150 years ago
0:12:20 > 0:12:27that Wallace encountered one of the strangest of all, Sulawesi macaques.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33They really are quite odd-looking creatures, small, compact,
0:12:33 > 0:12:37jet-black fur, and as Wallace wrote, about the size of a spaniel.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41They've got this strange hair and big foreheads
0:12:41 > 0:12:44and a permanent look of surprise on their faces.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46They really are peculiar-looking creatures.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52What?
0:12:53 > 0:12:56OK, so maybe there is a passing resemblance.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03He wrote how they would stare at him in astonishment as he went collecting.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07Ten o'clock, monkey incoming.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17We've obviously attracted a bit of attention here.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21We've got the whole family's turned up to have a look at us.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30And they haven't lost that natural curiosity.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50This one's just checking me out!
0:13:51 > 0:13:55I've obviously been accepted as part primate.
0:13:58 > 0:14:04Wallace had encountered other species of macaques on his travels.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06All were brown, and had tails.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12But their cousins on Sulawesi were black and tailless.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17And they had mohicans.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22Wallace wanted to understand why these monkeys,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25and the other creatures here, were so different.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28Something about this island drove species to change.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36He was convinced the answer lay in the seas surrounding the island.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38When he looked at his map,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41he noted that Sulawesi was surrounded by very deep waters.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46Wallace believed these deep seas
0:14:46 > 0:14:50had imprisoned the animals on the island.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53The creatures here had been isolated for millions of years.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59This long period of isolation was the key to explaining
0:14:59 > 0:15:02the startling strangeness of the creatures here.
0:15:02 > 0:15:08On Sulawesi, evolution had thrown up some bizarre-looking oddballs,
0:15:08 > 0:15:12which is true I suppose of any isolated rural community.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22For Wallace, this was powerful evidence
0:15:22 > 0:15:27to support his view that species changed gradually over time.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32Animals isolated on islands became distinct new forms.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36Wallace was getting closer to figuring out
0:15:36 > 0:15:38the driving force for evolution.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43To add to his excitement, eight months after dispatching
0:15:43 > 0:15:48the duck to his hero Charles Darwin, he received a reply.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Darwin offered encouraging words,
0:15:52 > 0:15:59but failed to mention he'd already discovered how evolution works.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02In fact, he'd cracked it nearly 20 years earlier
0:16:02 > 0:16:06but hadn't published a word and had told only a few close friends.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Since returning from his Voyage of the Beagle, Darwin had settled into
0:16:13 > 0:16:18home life and had been sketching out his theory of natural selection.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20But the years had gone by, and being such a perfectionist
0:16:20 > 0:16:24he was still reluctant to publish. He needed more evidence.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28So he took the advice of the eminent botanist Joseph Hooker
0:16:28 > 0:16:31and began an in-depth study of a whole group of animals
0:16:31 > 0:16:35to give his voice greater authority on the subject of species.
0:16:35 > 0:16:36Darwin chose barnacles -
0:16:36 > 0:16:40small, manageable, perfect for the stay-at-home naturalist,
0:16:40 > 0:16:44and after eight years of painstaking work,
0:16:44 > 0:16:47Darwin was now the world expert in barnacles,
0:16:47 > 0:16:49as you would indeed hope to be.
0:16:49 > 0:16:55But Darwin's friends in the scientific elite were getting jittery.
0:16:55 > 0:17:00They feared he might be scooped to publishing his theory.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03One of his closest allies was Charles Lyell,
0:17:03 > 0:17:08another wealthy scientist, Oxford educated and world renowned.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13In 1856, Lyell urged Darwin to re-read the Sarawak Law,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16the paper Wallace had written two years earlier in Borneo.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23In it, Wallace used the analogy of an evolutionary tree to explain
0:17:23 > 0:17:27how similar species are related through common ancestors.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32Darwin could now see Wallace was onto something.
0:17:32 > 0:17:37So he wrote him a letter that has been aptly described as a polite trespass notice.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41I'll read you this section here.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45"This summer will make the 20th year (!) since I opened
0:17:45 > 0:17:49"my first notebook on the question of how and in what way
0:17:49 > 0:17:52"do species and varieties differ from each other.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54"I am now preparing my work for publication,
0:17:54 > 0:17:58"but I find the subject so very large that though I have written many chapters,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01"I do not suppose I will go to press for another two years.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06"I have never heard how long you intend staying in the Malay Archipelago."
0:18:06 > 0:18:10Well, to me, in today's language, it's clear what this says.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14"I've been working on this for 20 years, this is my patch - back off!
0:18:14 > 0:18:16"And by the way - don't hurry back!"
0:18:18 > 0:18:23For Darwin, the race to publish his theory was on.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25He feared that Wallace,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28the lowly bug collector with no formal training, could beat him
0:18:28 > 0:18:31to one of the greatest scientific theories of all time.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41Wallace, on the other hand,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44was oblivious to the fact he was even in a race.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48He was simply delighted to be in correspondence with the great Charles Darwin.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57But Wallace couldn't afford to spend his time theorising.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59He had more pressing matters to deal with.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01As a freelance collector,
0:19:01 > 0:19:05he was completely reliant on the money his specimens would make
0:19:05 > 0:19:10when sold to museums back home, and his funds were in a desperate state.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17Wallace was skint, and unless he could find some way of earning
0:19:17 > 0:19:21money sharpish, he was going to have to return home, accept failure,
0:19:21 > 0:19:23which would have been a crushing blow,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25since he was so tantalisingly close
0:19:25 > 0:19:28to unravelling the origin of species, this mystery of mysteries.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Wallace took a huge gamble.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43He decided to go in search of highly prized birds of paradise.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46These birds held near mythical status.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51Locals believed they'd descended from heaven.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53If he could find them,
0:19:53 > 0:19:57he would make enough money continue his intellectual quest.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00It was birds of paradise or bust.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04And certainly no European had ever seen them in the wild,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06never seen their legendary dancing displays.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10So for Wallace, this was a powerful double incentive -
0:20:10 > 0:20:13to be the first European to see these dazzling marvels of nature
0:20:13 > 0:20:16and to capture one, well, that would earn him a fortune back home,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19not to mention the huge boost to his reputation.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22So for Wallace, the naturalist and the collector,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25finding birds of paradise was the ultimate prize.
0:20:27 > 0:20:32What he couldn't have known was that the islands on which the birds lived
0:20:32 > 0:20:34would provide a major breakthrough
0:20:34 > 0:20:37in his understanding of the origin of species.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43Like Wallace, I'm going in search of birds of paradise.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46My quest is to find Wallace's standardwing,
0:20:46 > 0:20:50the species he described as his greatest discovery.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55My search takes me 300 kilometres east
0:20:55 > 0:20:58to the volcanic island of Ternate,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01the heart of an ancient kingdom ruled by a sultan.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Before Wallace could begin his search for birds of paradise,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10he had to seek the sultan's permission.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15I'm travelling there to do the same,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19and I can see why Wallace fell in love with this place.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23Very little has changed in the times since Wallace was here.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Occasionally, the volcanoes will blow their top
0:21:26 > 0:21:29but other than that, this is the scene which would have
0:21:29 > 0:21:32greeted Wallace as he sailed towards Ternate.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Wallace describes the town as a tropical haven,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45surrounded by lush fruit trees.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49These days, it's home to around 160,000 people...
0:21:53 > 0:21:55..most of them in one vehicle.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Ternate was Wallace's base for numerous collecting trips over three years.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05Ho, hey!
0:22:05 > 0:22:07And the people here haven't forgotten him.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13So before my appointment at the sultan's palace,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16I'm going in search of any reminders of his time here.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22There's an alleyway named after him.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Well, it's better than nothing, I suppose.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29And then something quite extraordinary.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Hah! Hah-ha ha!
0:22:35 > 0:22:40Wow! This is brilliant. This is Wallace-based graffiti.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43I don't think there's anywhere else in the world you would see this.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47And this is academic graffiti.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51Complimentary graffiti, and it's actually quite witty as well because
0:22:51 > 0:22:57it says, "Alfred Russel Wallace, ilmuan Ternate, kelahiran Inggris".
0:22:57 > 0:23:02And that means Ternate scientist born in England.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10The Ternate graffiti artists are claiming Wallace for their own.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20So after a quick scrub-up and securing the only Panama hat
0:23:20 > 0:23:24this side of the Wallace line, I'm off to the palace.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Right, then. Let's go.
0:23:59 > 0:24:00In Wallace's day,
0:24:00 > 0:24:05the sultan of Ternate was an eccentric, one-eyed octogenarian
0:24:05 > 0:24:07who ruled over a vast swathe of islands
0:24:07 > 0:24:10stretching hundreds of kilometres.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14If Wallace wanted to explore them, he needed the sultan's permission.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17So he'd bring a gift to curry favour.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32I've bought the sultan a tin of biscuits from Harrods.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35I'm not sure whether that's an appropriate gift for a sultan.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37It might be a bit rubbish.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41He might normally get a speedboat or a helicopter or something.
0:24:41 > 0:24:47So that could be a bit lame by comparison, but, um...I dunno.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50They are nice biscuits. I mean, they're REALLY nice biscuits.
0:24:50 > 0:24:51You know.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58Eventually I'm summoned.
0:25:08 > 0:25:09Please sit down.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26Are you from the government, or...?
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Me? No, I'm actually an actor.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31HE SPEAKS IN LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:25:33 > 0:25:35- You make jokes?- Yes!
0:25:35 > 0:25:40- Why don't you make jokes after this...- Yes, I was going to make... - ..with our mayor?
0:25:40 > 0:25:42THEY ALL LAUGH
0:25:44 > 0:25:49The first time Wallace visit Ternate, this is the place he comes.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53- Yes?- This is the place. - He came here?- Yes.- I see.
0:25:53 > 0:25:58Do you think the people of Ternate, there is a sense of pride, they are proud of this...
0:25:58 > 0:26:00Especially me.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04- Especially you?- Uh, yeah. Very proud about Wallace, what he has done.
0:26:04 > 0:26:05Yes. Yes.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09- They do not do that in England.- No!
0:26:09 > 0:26:10It's a pity.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14It is. It's a terrible pity. It's an injustice.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16Injustice, yeah.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18I've never met a sultan before,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21but he seems like a decent chap so in front of his crown,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24I ask for approval to search for birds of paradise.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26May we have your permission to explore the area?
0:26:26 > 0:26:30Yes. Of course you can, I'll give you my letter.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34- So we just show them this letter and say the sultan...- Yes. - ..said it was OK?
0:26:34 > 0:26:35Is on duty from the sultan.
0:26:37 > 0:26:38OK.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43It was a little bit sort of formal at the beginning.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47Everyone was standing around in this kind of phalanx and he's sitting on a throne.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50It's slightly awkward talking to someone on a throne.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53I felt like I was about ten years old
0:26:53 > 0:26:57talking to the headmaster about running in the corridors
0:26:57 > 0:27:01for the first five minutes and then sort of relaxed a little bit
0:27:01 > 0:27:03and then we talked about Wallace
0:27:03 > 0:27:05and he was very, very voluble
0:27:05 > 0:27:09and very kind of expansive about Wallace, which was brilliant.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14With permission from the palace,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17I now need to find a seaworthy vessel
0:27:17 > 0:27:19to take me to the birds of paradise.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23That will require some serious negotiation.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29Wallace was short of money and on his many trips between the islands,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32he had to haggle with the local boat owners to get the best price,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36and that's exactly what I'm going to do with this chap over here. I'm going to drive a hard bargain.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43Except I'm a bit rubbish at haggling. I'm liable to say,
0:27:43 > 0:27:48"Mm, that sounds perfectly reasonable," at the first price he suggests.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Wallace writes how it is absolutely necessary to offer very little,
0:27:52 > 0:27:56as the natives are never satisfied till you add a little more.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05BILL AND BOAT OWNER CONVERSE IN LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:28:10 > 0:28:14He wants two million. That's quite a lot.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16I'm going to go in low. Go 500,000.
0:28:16 > 0:28:17BILL SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:28:21 > 0:28:23He wants 1.5.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25BILL SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:28:27 > 0:28:31I've told him it's my birthday. Sometimes works.
0:28:32 > 0:28:38OK. We settle on one million rupiah, about £60.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40The old birthday trick - works every time!
0:28:44 > 0:28:47It's a two-hour crossing to the island of Halmahera.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54Even today, if you're travelling around Indonesia,
0:28:54 > 0:28:57you're going to have to get on a little boat like this at some point
0:28:57 > 0:29:00and in Wallace's time he had no choice - this was the only means
0:29:00 > 0:29:04of transport between the islands and Wallace was terrified of boats.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10An anchor broke free, a crew would be stranded on an island
0:29:10 > 0:29:13for weeks at a time, rats would eat the sail,
0:29:13 > 0:29:18they encountered storms, tsunamis, even a venomous snake got on board.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21Yet it's a measure of the man, he never complained,
0:29:21 > 0:29:22he stuck to his task,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25such was his determination and strength of purpose.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30Wallace's obsessive collecting meant
0:29:30 > 0:29:32he was constantly island-hopping.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38Over the eight years of his expedition,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40he sailed over 22,000 kilometres.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48His findings supported what he'd seen on Sulawesi.
0:29:48 > 0:29:53Isolated animals became new and distinct species.
0:29:53 > 0:29:58Islands are natural laboratories for evolution.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01By choosing Indonesia, with 17,000 of them,
0:30:01 > 0:30:06Wallace had chanced upon one of the best spots on Earth
0:30:06 > 0:30:08to study how species change.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19But this was also a dangerous, lawless corner of the world,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23and his plans to find birds of paradise were scuppered by pirates.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27They were part of the notorious Bugis tribe
0:30:27 > 0:30:31whose fearful reputation has led some to believe their name is
0:30:31 > 0:30:33the origin of the mythical bogeyman.
0:30:33 > 0:30:38And he writes with typical Victorian understatement.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41"The natives were of course dreadfully alarmed,
0:30:41 > 0:30:44"as these marauders attack their villages, burn and murder
0:30:44 > 0:30:47"and carry away women and children for slaves."
0:30:47 > 0:30:49Well, that would make you a bit tense, wouldn't it?
0:30:49 > 0:30:52I mean, can you imagine what it was like for him
0:30:52 > 0:30:56150 years ago, out here in this remote part of the world, alone?
0:30:56 > 0:31:02The pirates were eventually captured and executed - so that told 'em!
0:31:02 > 0:31:05But Wallace was back on course for birds of paradise.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Like Wallace, I'm heading deep into the interior
0:31:12 > 0:31:17on a journey that will reveal more about this remarkable man.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20I'm searching for his greatest treasure,
0:31:20 > 0:31:26the standardwing that, admittedly, doesn't sound that exciting.
0:31:26 > 0:31:31Other birds of paradise have names far more befitting of their beauty,
0:31:31 > 0:31:34the red bird of paradise, the king bird of paradise,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36the superb bird of paradise,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38the magnificent bird of paradise,
0:31:38 > 0:31:42so the standardwing sounds a bit plain by comparison,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46just your basic wing, yes, like your standard wing.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49It's misleading, because it's anything but.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52The dugout canoes could only take Wallace so far.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56After that, he'd have to hike miles on foot.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00He wrote of one trek how the constant walking in water
0:32:00 > 0:32:04destroyed his shoes, and forced him to walk in his stockings,
0:32:04 > 0:32:08so he reached his jungle hut quite lame.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10You know, this is quite amazing terrain.
0:32:10 > 0:32:15We've just walked down a waterfall which actually, surprisingly,
0:32:15 > 0:32:18was not that slippy underfoot.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21This is really the only way to do it - barefoot.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25This is the kind of journey that Wallace would have made
0:32:25 > 0:32:28right into the interior to see these birds of paradise,
0:32:28 > 0:32:31and all I can say is, I hope they're worth it.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37The best way to find birds of paradise is to search
0:32:37 > 0:32:41for their display tree, since they use the same tree every morning.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48What about this one?
0:32:48 > 0:32:52And my guide, Janis, says he knows where the tree is.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54That's it, that's...that one there.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56- HE SPEAKS NATIVE LANGUAGE - You sure?
0:32:56 > 0:33:00But I'm beginning to wonder - he might just be winding me up.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03- This one? - HE SPEAKS NATIVE LANGUAGE
0:33:07 > 0:33:08What about this one?
0:33:08 > 0:33:10HE SPEAKS NATIVE LANGUAGE
0:33:11 > 0:33:14Well, this isn't going quite as well as I'd hoped.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18But Janis assures me if I return the following day before dawn,
0:33:18 > 0:33:21the bird's raucous calls will guide me in.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34So it's a very early start.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46Well, it's been about a 20-minute trek into the jungle up this muddy path in darkness.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48It's about 6 o'clock in the morning
0:33:48 > 0:33:50and the forest's really starting to come alive
0:33:50 > 0:33:54and I think the birds are very close so we're going to check them out.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00And sure enough, the birds make themselves heard.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10It's an extraordinary thing.
0:34:14 > 0:34:19It's a real privilege to see these in the wild. It's very, very rare to get this opportunity.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21And in fact, since Wallace's time,
0:34:21 > 0:34:24they've only been spotted a handful of times.
0:34:24 > 0:34:30To see one is...just an extraordinary, rare privilege.
0:34:32 > 0:34:38All those months of hardship, the trekking, the boat disasters -
0:34:38 > 0:34:42all of that would have just faded away when he saw these birds.
0:34:44 > 0:34:50It's incredible the lengths the males will go to to impress a female.
0:34:50 > 0:34:55It's barely light and the jungle is full of their nasal barks.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58All the males have their own individual call.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01It's like they're trying to out-do each other.
0:35:05 > 0:35:11It's like, "You've got a wark-wark-wark. All right - I've got a WAURK-WAURK-WAURK!"
0:35:11 > 0:35:13Their name, the standardwing,
0:35:13 > 0:35:15comes from the long, white feathers
0:35:15 > 0:35:19that look a bit like military standards or flags.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24For Wallace, seeing these birds of paradise -
0:35:24 > 0:35:28these entirely NEW birds of paradise - must have been
0:35:28 > 0:35:31an extraordinary culmination of his quest.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35I mean, he came here to see these birds, to collect them,
0:35:35 > 0:35:37but to find an entirely new one,
0:35:37 > 0:35:42unlike any other bird of paradise, must have exceeded his wildest expectations
0:35:42 > 0:35:46and in fact he writes to his agent Stevens in a state of gibbering excitement,
0:35:46 > 0:35:49"I consider this my greatest discovery yet.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53During his eight years away,
0:35:53 > 0:35:58Wallace collected five different species of birds of paradise.
0:36:00 > 0:36:05He was the first European to see their wildly ostentatious displays.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12As a collector, he knew they'd make him money.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14But as a naturalist,
0:36:14 > 0:36:18birds of paradise filled him with a deep sense of wonder.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28He wrote, "I thought of the long ages of the past,
0:36:28 > 0:36:31"during which the successive generations of this little creature
0:36:31 > 0:36:37"had run their course, year by year being born, and living and dying
0:36:37 > 0:36:41"amid these dark and gloomy woods, with no intelligent eye to gaze upon
0:36:41 > 0:36:46"their loveliness, to all appearance such a wanton waste of beauty.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49"This consideration must surely tell us
0:36:49 > 0:36:52"that all living things were not made for man."
0:36:53 > 0:36:56And I totally understand what he means.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59Having seen these birds in these dark and gloomy woods,
0:36:59 > 0:37:02they're just such a surreal and unexpected delight.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05It's like stumbling across an ancient society performing
0:37:05 > 0:37:08a secret ritual.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12But his search for birds of paradise also revealed
0:37:12 > 0:37:17a greater truth and his most powerful evidence to destroy
0:37:17 > 0:37:20the existing view of creation, Natural Theology.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26As he explored further east around New Guinea,
0:37:26 > 0:37:29he noted more and more Australian animals.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36Marsupial cuscus. Flamboyant cockatoos.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Emu-like cassowaries
0:37:40 > 0:37:42and even kangaroos.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50But these weren't ordinary kangaroos hopping around on the ground,
0:37:50 > 0:37:53these were a hundred feet up in the jungle canopy.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56They were behaving more like monkeys.
0:37:56 > 0:37:57And as Wallace noted,
0:37:57 > 0:38:00they weren't particularly well-adapted for climbing trees.
0:38:00 > 0:38:05Well, large, hind legs, big tail - it's not ideal, is it?
0:38:05 > 0:38:08But Wallace wanted to know what on earth were they doing here.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15According to Natural Theology,
0:38:15 > 0:38:20God made animals perfectly adapted to their habitat and climate.
0:38:20 > 0:38:26So there should be just one set of jungle animals across the archipelago.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34For Wallace, this was a conundrum.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36Why were there monkeys in the jungles of Borneo,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39kangaroos in the jungles of New Guinea?
0:38:39 > 0:38:43The habitat, the climate were the same, but the animals were completely different.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45Perhaps there was more than one god.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48Perhaps there was a god for Borneo and a god for New Guinea.
0:38:48 > 0:38:49But what about Sulawesi?
0:38:49 > 0:38:52That had its own unique set of oddities. And why stop there?
0:38:52 > 0:38:54Why not thousands of gods,
0:38:54 > 0:38:57each creating feverishly away throughout the archipelago?
0:38:57 > 0:39:00The argument started to sound ridiculous.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02For Wallace, it was clear.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05Natural Theology did not have the answers.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08In fact, it was crumbling under the weight of its own absurdity.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13It was a bold, courageous claim to make.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16That was Wallace - if the facts didn't fit,
0:39:16 > 0:39:19he wasn't afraid to speak out.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21Now he had some explaining to do.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25If Natural Theology couldn't predict the distribution of animals,
0:39:25 > 0:39:26then what could?
0:39:31 > 0:39:35Just as he'd found in Sulawesi, the answer came from the seas.
0:39:37 > 0:39:42His maps clearly showed the sea depths across the archipelago.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46In the east, shallow seas linked Australia, New Guinea
0:39:46 > 0:39:48and the surrounding islands.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51And in the west, there were also shallow seas
0:39:51 > 0:39:55between Borneo, Sumatra and mainland Asia.
0:39:56 > 0:40:03But in the middle, around Sulawesi, the waters were much deeper.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07Wallace believed this was key to explaining distribution.
0:40:07 > 0:40:08At some point in the recent past,
0:40:08 > 0:40:12areas linked by shallow seas must have been connected.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17Suddenly, everything fell into place.
0:40:18 > 0:40:23A distant ancestor of the kangaroo bounced from Australia to New Guinea
0:40:23 > 0:40:26when these two islands were one great landmass.
0:40:26 > 0:40:31Cockatoos, cuscus and cassowaries did the same.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35From the west, Asian animals like elephants,
0:40:35 > 0:40:39tigers and orang-utans worked their way over great land bridges
0:40:39 > 0:40:43linking the mainland, Borneo and Sumatra.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47And when conditions changed, the creatures became trapped on islands.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52But in the middle, the waters were so deep
0:40:52 > 0:40:55that there had never been land bridges.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59Wallace suggested these islands were populated by castaways
0:40:59 > 0:41:02that had floated there on great rafts of vegetation,
0:41:02 > 0:41:05and because they were isolated for far longer,
0:41:05 > 0:41:08they had developed into more unique forms.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14It was such a simple theory,
0:41:14 > 0:41:17but it explained all the patterns of animal distribution
0:41:17 > 0:41:22he observed in his years travelling across the archipelago.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25And right down the middle, dividing these two great animal families,
0:41:25 > 0:41:29Asian and Australian, runs the Wallace Line
0:41:29 > 0:41:30and, to this day,
0:41:30 > 0:41:34it marks the most dramatic boundary of animal life on the planet.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42To Wallace, this was also crucial evidence to explain the origin of species.
0:41:44 > 0:41:50He now knew similar animals on neighbouring islands must share common ancestors.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55But one great mystery remained - what drove species to change?
0:42:00 > 0:42:06By late 1857, Wallace was heading for Ternate in high spirits.
0:42:08 > 0:42:13His prized birds of paradise had collected a staggering £1,000,
0:42:13 > 0:42:16the equivalent of tens of thousands in today's money.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19Wallace could continue his expedition
0:42:19 > 0:42:21and for once, he travelled in style.
0:42:27 > 0:42:33"At 6am, a cup of tea or coffee is provided for those who like it.
0:42:34 > 0:42:39"At 7 to 8, there is a light breakfast of tea, eggs and sardines.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45"At 10, Madeira, gin and bitters are brought on deck as a whet to the
0:42:45 > 0:42:47"substantial 11 o'clock breakfast,
0:42:47 > 0:42:50"which differs from dinner only in the absence of soup.
0:42:54 > 0:42:59"Cups of tea and coffee are brought around 3pm.
0:42:59 > 0:43:00"Gin and bitters again at 5.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07"A good dinner with beer and claret at 6.30,
0:43:07 > 0:43:08"concluded by tea and coffee at 8."
0:43:11 > 0:43:12BILL CHORTLES
0:43:17 > 0:43:22After months of hardship, when often he had nothing much to eat
0:43:22 > 0:43:26but the odd scrawny bird, this was sheer luxury for Wallace.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29He wrote at the time in a rather matter of fact way
0:43:29 > 0:43:34of bouts of fever, being eaten alive by insects, dysentery,
0:43:34 > 0:43:38ulcers, pustules on his legs so bad he couldn't walk,
0:43:38 > 0:43:41but even through the Victorian understatement,
0:43:41 > 0:43:43it seethes with discomfort.
0:43:43 > 0:43:48So here he was, for once treating himself, living like a lord,
0:43:48 > 0:43:52plenty of money in this pocket, he was on a high
0:43:52 > 0:43:56and judging by the amount of alcohol he put away, drunk out of his mind!
0:44:00 > 0:44:03Wallace arrived in Ternate in January 1858.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09This was the first time he didn't have financial worries.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12He'd earned time to think.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17The question he asked himself was always the same -
0:44:17 > 0:44:19what drives species to change?
0:44:24 > 0:44:26But the good times weren't to last.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32The months in the jungle had taken their toll.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38Wallace fell desperately ill.
0:44:39 > 0:44:45Vicious bouts of malarial fever kept him confined to his hut for weeks.
0:44:45 > 0:44:51His body was weak, but his mind was racing.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01Perhaps he was contemplating his own mortality.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04Or maybe he was wondering why he had survived
0:45:04 > 0:45:06while others around him had not.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09Whatever it was, something made him
0:45:09 > 0:45:12recall the work of the Reverend Thomas Malthus.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Malthus was a controversial scholar
0:45:17 > 0:45:21famous for his theories on human populations.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24He believed numbers should increase exponentially,
0:45:24 > 0:45:29but are kept in check by a lethal combination of disease, accidents,
0:45:29 > 0:45:30war and famine.
0:45:30 > 0:45:32Eurgh! Bleurgh! Argh! Eurgh!
0:45:34 > 0:45:39As his fever raged, Wallace had a flash of inspiration.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43Surely these same controls must also act on animals?
0:45:43 > 0:45:46Suddenly the key question became obvious.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51"Why do some live and some die?"
0:45:52 > 0:45:56Wallace's years of meticulous observation had shown him that
0:45:56 > 0:46:00in the struggle for existence, tiny variations matter
0:46:00 > 0:46:03and that even the slightest advantage
0:46:03 > 0:46:05could mean the difference between life and death.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08The flying frog with the biggest feet
0:46:08 > 0:46:11would have a better chance of evading predators.
0:46:11 > 0:46:16The tarsier with the largest eyes would find the most food at night.
0:46:16 > 0:46:18The beetle with the most powerful jaws
0:46:18 > 0:46:21would best defend itself against rivals
0:46:21 > 0:46:25and the butterfly with the best camouflage would be more likely to survive.
0:46:29 > 0:46:33Wallace wrote, "Then it suddenly flashed upon me
0:46:33 > 0:46:39"that this self-acting process would necessarily improve the race,
0:46:39 > 0:46:43"because in every generation, the inferior would inevitably be killed off,
0:46:43 > 0:46:50"and the superior would remain, that is, the fittest would survive."
0:46:52 > 0:46:55This eureka moment, this epiphany,
0:46:55 > 0:47:00changed for ever our understanding of the natural world
0:47:00 > 0:47:02and the way we see life on Earth.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12This fevered flash of inspiration took place
0:47:12 > 0:47:18in February 1858, almost four years after his journey began.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22Wallace knew immediately he had cracked it,
0:47:22 > 0:47:27the driving force for evolution - natural selection.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30His constant search for patterns in nature, and his meticulous
0:47:30 > 0:47:36eye for detail, had finally unlocked the great mystery of the age.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41Imagine you're Wallace for a minute.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44You've just come up with possibly the greatest idea
0:47:44 > 0:47:48in the history of science, evolution by natural selection.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52Thousands of miles away in London, fame and status await,
0:47:52 > 0:47:54the chance to stand shoulder-to-shoulder
0:47:54 > 0:47:56with the greatest scientific thinkers of the age.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00To be accepted at last. Well, what would you do?
0:48:00 > 0:48:04Most of us would get on the first boat and sail home into scientific stardom.
0:48:04 > 0:48:05But not Wallace.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15He wrote a letter to Charles Darwin, England.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20He could have sent his theory straight for publication.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23But he wanted a second opinion.
0:48:23 > 0:48:24He had no way of knowing
0:48:24 > 0:48:27he was sending it to the only person in the world
0:48:27 > 0:48:29who had already come up with exactly the same idea.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37And he just posted it off. The theory of evolution.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40One of the greatest thoughts ever to occur in the human mind,
0:48:40 > 0:48:42just popped it in the post.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44And in the letter he wrote,
0:48:44 > 0:48:47"I hope this is as new to you as it is to me, and that it
0:48:47 > 0:48:50"would supply the missing factor to explain the origin of species."
0:48:50 > 0:48:51The missing factor?
0:48:51 > 0:48:55The key, the mechanism that explained the theory of evolution.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59He just posted it off like it was a gardening tip
0:48:59 > 0:49:04and that's the true nature of Wallace, an innocent, naive maybe,
0:49:04 > 0:49:06but for him, fame was secondary
0:49:06 > 0:49:10to the love and appreciation of the natural world.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18Wallace's letter took months to arrive in England.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22When Darwin read it, it sent him into meltdown.
0:49:22 > 0:49:27Here was the outline of his own theory, precise and clear.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30A scoop on his decades of work.
0:49:30 > 0:49:32Darwin contacted his close friend,
0:49:32 > 0:49:35the eminent geologist Charles Lyell,
0:49:35 > 0:49:39who'd warned him more than two years earlier to hurry up and publish
0:49:39 > 0:49:42before someone beat him to it.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46Darwin wrote bitterly to Lyell, "Your words have come true with
0:49:46 > 0:49:50"a vengeance that I should be forestalled."
0:49:50 > 0:49:54He wrote of Wallace's paper, "I never saw such a striking coincidence.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58"If Wallace had my sketch written out in 1842 he could not have
0:49:58 > 0:50:02"made a better short abstract."
0:50:02 > 0:50:06You could hear the despair in Darwin's voice when he wrote,
0:50:06 > 0:50:10"All my originality, whatever that may amount to, will be smashed."
0:50:12 > 0:50:19Lyell and distinguished botanist Joseph Hooker cooked up a plan.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22They would present Wallace's Ternate letter
0:50:22 > 0:50:28along with two excerpts from Darwin's work never intended for publication.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31And Darwin's name would be placed first,
0:50:31 > 0:50:35to ensure that he was seen as the originator of the idea.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38Darwin agonised over it.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41He called the whole thing a "trumpery affair" saying
0:50:41 > 0:50:45he would rather burn his whole book than he or any other man think
0:50:45 > 0:50:48he behaved in such a paltry spirit.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52Yet in the end, he went along with it.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56They never even asked Wallace's permission to publish.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00The establishment weren't going to let their man lose priority,
0:51:00 > 0:51:04so they cooked up this connivance, which has been described at best
0:51:04 > 0:51:10as a delicate arrangement, or at worst, an ethically reprehensible cover-up.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17The Darwin-Wallace Theory of Natural Selection
0:51:17 > 0:51:20was announced to the world in London in July 1858.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26Wallace was still away searching for birds of paradise.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29He didn't find out for another three months,
0:51:29 > 0:51:33when letters from Darwin and Hooker arrived in Ternate.
0:51:33 > 0:51:38Just over a year later in 1859, Darwin's hastily written book
0:51:38 > 0:51:43On The Origin Of Species was published.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47A new word entered the scientific vocabulary - Darwinism.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50But it could have been very different.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53What would have happened if Wallace had not sent his paper to Darwin,
0:51:53 > 0:51:56and had instead sent it straight for publication?
0:51:56 > 0:52:01Well, now we'd be talking about Wallace's theory of evolution.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05To me it's clear. Wallace was robbed.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10And having travelled in his footsteps,
0:52:10 > 0:52:14the injustice now seems even greater.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18My journey's taught me that Wallace really did get there against all odds.
0:52:20 > 0:52:25Even today, the islands he visited are really hard to get to.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28He was fearless, living with headhunting tribes
0:52:28 > 0:52:32and enduring incredible hardships.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36But my expedition has also given me an idea of what drove him on.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41The sense of adventure,
0:52:41 > 0:52:46of discovery and of sheer delight at the beauty of the natural world.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50And it's that I think which I realise is what sustained Wallace
0:52:50 > 0:52:54throughout those long years of hardship and isolation
0:52:54 > 0:52:58and now I have an even greater respect for this courageous,
0:52:58 > 0:53:00unassuming and remarkable man.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14Wallace's story doesn't end there.
0:53:14 > 0:53:19When he finally arrived home in 1862, after eight years away,
0:53:19 > 0:53:23he was at last welcomed into scientific society.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26He wasn't bitter about Darwin taking the credit.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28For the self-taught amateur,
0:53:28 > 0:53:32it was enough to be able to walk tall amongst the great and the good.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36And when he finally wrote up the story of his adventures
0:53:36 > 0:53:39in his superb travelogue The Malay Archipelago,
0:53:39 > 0:53:42his fame spread far beyond scientific circles.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45And guess who he dedicated it to?
0:53:45 > 0:53:47Yeah, Charles Darwin.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50"Not only as a token of personal esteem and friendship, but also
0:53:50 > 0:53:55"to express my deep admiration for his genius and his works."
0:53:55 > 0:53:59And when Darwin read Wallace's book, he wrote to him, saying,
0:53:59 > 0:54:02"That you have returned alive is wonderful after
0:54:02 > 0:54:04"all your risks and sea voyages.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09"Of all the impressions that I have received from your book, the
0:54:09 > 0:54:12"strongest is that your perseverance in the cause of science was heroic."
0:54:14 > 0:54:16His book was an overnight success.
0:54:16 > 0:54:21It is one of the greatest travel journals ever written,
0:54:21 > 0:54:24and incredibly has never been out of print.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30In his lifetime, honours were heaped upon him,
0:54:30 > 0:54:34Including the Order of Merit from King Edward VII,
0:54:34 > 0:54:36the highest award bestowed upon a civilian.
0:54:38 > 0:54:39Taxi!
0:54:41 > 0:54:44And when he died, he wasn't just a famous naturalist,
0:54:44 > 0:54:49he was one of the most famous people in the world. So why has Wallace been forgotten?
0:54:49 > 0:54:52Is it just because Darwin wrote the big tome on evolution,
0:54:52 > 0:54:55and history favours one name over two?
0:54:55 > 0:54:56Or is there some other reason?
0:54:58 > 0:55:03It might just be me, but I sometimes wonder if, even today,
0:55:03 > 0:55:06there isn't a closing of ranks from the scientific establishment,
0:55:06 > 0:55:11keen to keep Darwin on a pedestal, and Wallace in the shadows.
0:55:11 > 0:55:16I've had academics come sidling up to me and surreptitiously say,
0:55:16 > 0:55:20"If you want any information about Wallace, here's my business card."
0:55:22 > 0:55:26Like they're still wary of publicly giving Wallace his due.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32But now, after years of championing his cause,
0:55:32 > 0:55:37and fittingly on the centenary of his death, it's my chance to
0:55:37 > 0:55:40put Alfred Russel Wallace back where he rightfully belongs.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43When I first began my Wallace journey many months ago,
0:55:43 > 0:55:47I came here to the Natural History Museum, and whilst Darwin was
0:55:47 > 0:55:51pride of place in the Central Hall, Wallace was nowhere to be seen.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59So tonight in front of a distinguished audience,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02including members of Wallace's family,
0:56:02 > 0:56:05I've been invited to unveil his portrait alongside Darwin's statue.
0:56:08 > 0:56:14So hello, friends of the museum, fellow Wallace aficionados.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16Thank you for being here tonight.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18I hope that this visible presence,
0:56:18 > 0:56:24here in this magnificent building will spark renewed interest
0:56:24 > 0:56:30in Wallace's extraordinary life and works, and maybe as
0:56:30 > 0:56:36he did with me, inspire people to make their own voyages of discovery.
0:56:36 > 0:56:42So welcome back to the Natural History Museum
0:56:42 > 0:56:44Alfred Russel Wallace.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48APPLAUSE
0:56:59 > 0:57:03With Wallace back in his place, I can catch up with
0:57:03 > 0:57:07Sir David Attenborough, who saw me off on my journey all those months ago.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11- You've gone along Wallace's tracks for a long way.- Yes.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14- I mean you, you've been most of his journey.- Yes, we did.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17We saw actually one of Wallace's flying frogs in Borneo.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Oh, did you? I've never seen them fly.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24What did you do, throw it up in the air and see whether it flew?
0:57:24 > 0:57:26He needed quite a lot of encouragement,
0:57:26 > 0:57:30and I thought, this really won't look very good if I just chuck him
0:57:30 > 0:57:37up in the air, so I sort of encouraged him, and he did, he leapt and glided through the air.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40And some of the, the Sulawesi macaques as well, they were just extraordinary.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43- Oh, with the funny...- With the mohicans.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46And um, I was accepted by the troop.
0:57:46 > 0:57:48Oh, it's just something about you?
0:57:48 > 0:57:50I think it's something about me.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53I think they saw a family resemblance, perhaps.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57Anyway, great to talk to you and thank you so much.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00- Congratulations.- Thank you.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03Well, this is it.
0:58:03 > 0:58:09This has been an extraordinary Wallace journey, started here,
0:58:09 > 0:58:14took me halfway round the world, and now we've come back full circle.
0:58:14 > 0:58:17I can't help feeling a great sense of achievement
0:58:17 > 0:58:21and I know he was a shy and unassuming man,
0:58:21 > 0:58:25but I bet he would be thrilled to be back where he belongs.
0:58:52 > 0:58:55Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd