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Berkeley 4, California
October 18, 1951

Mr. D. N. Lillevand
W. R. Grace & Co.
2 Pine Street
San Francisco
California

Dear Mr. Lillevand:

Confirming our conversation I am requesting the carrying without
freight charges from San Francisco to Valparaiso Chile of one
Chevrolet carry-all, property of the State of California, University of California.

This automobile will be used from November to March or longer in
Chile (possible in Peru and Argentina also) to assist greatly in
my plant collecting and other investigations of the character and
distribution of the vegetation of western South America.

Beginning in 1935 my assistants and I have been in South America
five times and have collected plants and mapped vegetation from
the equator to Magellan Strait on both flanks of the Andes. This
research program has attracted world-wide attention because of the
scientific importance of the information we have accumulated and the
plant specimens obtained in South America which we have distributed
to other botanical institutions in this country and abroad. In
addition it has contributed to the improvement of agriculture on
the west coast of South America.

The forthcoming expedition like previous expeditions has been de-
signated by the University of California "The University of California
Botanical Garden Expedition to the Andes". The Regents of the Uni-
versity have received large donations of funds for my South American
research program from private individuals, the Rockefeller Foundation,
the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the American Philosophical
Society, the American Academy of Arts and Science, the Royal Horti-
cultural Society of London, the Institute Darwinion Buenos Aires, etc.

In appreciation of what my work has meant to South American republics
I have been honored by governments and by membership in the leading
scientific societies of Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentine and Uruguay
and by honorary degrees and professorships in numerous South American
universities. For the forthcoming expedition the Chilean Government
is cooperating by remission of duties and granting me the equivalent
of diplomatic status.

I trust that I have made clear the scientific importance of the
research program toward the success of which the use of an automobile
in South America will contribute. In the circumstances I hope that
a concession can be made to permit the transportation of the above
mentioned automobile without cost.

THG:T Sincerely,