Introduction
I first read about Ali Wallace in 2016. A friend forwarded me a journal titled ‘I Am Ali Wallace’: The Malay Assistant of Alfred Russel Wallace. Because of that journal, I bought two books about Alfred Russel Wallace.
The first was The Malay Archipelago by Alfred Russel Wallace. Published by Dover Publications, Inc in 1962 . The second was The Annotated Malay Archipelago, edited by John van Wyhe. Published by NUS Press in 2014.
The third book I bought, unintentionally, was To Explain the World: The Discovery of Modern Science by Steven Weinberg. I had hoped to learn more about the history of science. To my surprise, the book also discussed Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin, albeit briefly. Lucky me.
What’s the goal of this article? I want you, my readers and visitors to the tangankraf.com website, to learn more about Ali Wallace. I’m sure many articles have already been written about him. I’m simply adding mine to the algorithm, so that more people can easily find such stories and read about them online. I hope this article encourages you to dig deeper and perhaps pick up the books and journal I’ve mentioned.
I intend to keep this article brief. A long summary of some sort. With some surface-level detail. I’ll now introduce three names, interconnected in some way. Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Ali, Wallace’s Malay assistant from Sarawak. Also known as Ali Wallace. But first, let’s talk about the theory of natural selection.
What is the Theory of Natural Selection
Natural selection is nature’s way of driving evolution. Plants and animals best suited to their environment survive longer and reproduce more. Helpful traits get passed down. Less useful ones fade away over generations.
Here’s how it works:
- All living things have small genetic differences
- Those with helpful traits (better camouflage, stronger digestion) are more likely to survive
- They pass these traits on to their offspring
- Over time, these traits become common in the population
This simple process explains why we see such diversity in life. Over generations, species evolve to better fit their environment. When enough changes build up, entirely new species can emerge. Nature continuously “selects” what works best.
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace’s eight-year expedition through the Malay Archipelago (1854–1862) was one of the greatest scientific adventures in history. With the help of local assistants, he collected 125,660 specimens, discovered hundreds of new species, and identified the zoological boundary now known as the Wallace Line.
Most remarkably, his observations in these remote islands led him to independently develop the theory of natural selection — one of the most important ideas in science. Wallace (1823–1913) was a British explorer, naturalist, and geographer. Born in Wales, he worked as a surveyor and teacher before becoming a collector.
In 1848, inspired by stories of exploration, Wallace and his friend Henry Walter Bates travelled to the Amazon to study species origins. They funded their work by selling specimens. After four years, Wallace lost almost everything when his ship caught fire and sank on the way home. Undeterred, he set off again in 1854. This time to the Malay Archipelago (modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia).
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin (1809–1882) transformed our understanding of life. His ideas on evolution and natural selection were radical then but form the foundation of modern biology today.
Though now honoured as one of Britain’s greatest scientists, Darwin’s theory initially clashed with religious beliefs and stirred controversy. Born in Shrewsbury, he showed curiosity about nature from an early age, often exploring outdoors and collecting specimens.
His most famous work, On the Origin of Species (1859), introduced the theory of evolution by natural selection. It explained how life changes over time — challenging traditional views of creation and reshaping scientific thought.
How Darwin and Wallace Discovered Natural Selection
Darwin developed his theory in secret for 20 years, slowly gathering evidence. Meanwhile, Wallace independently reached the same conclusion in 1858 while exploring Asia.
They knew each other slightly. Wallace had sent Darwin bird specimens and shared his ideas, recognising Darwin as a leading figure. Darwin was stunned to see Wallace’s theory mirror his own unpublished work from 1838.
To settle the matter fairly, scientists Charles Lyell and Joseph Hooker arranged for both men’s papers to be presented jointly at the Linnean Society in 1858. The event drew little attention, but it prompted Darwin to publish his groundbreaking On the Origin of Species in 1859.
I am Ali Wallace
The heading above is taken from the journal that inspired this article. The full title is ‘I am Ali Wallace’: The Malay Assistant of Alfred Russel Wallace, written by John van Wyhe and Gerrell M. Drawhorn. So, who was Ali Wallace?
Wallace’s expedition in the Malay Archipelago (1854–1862) relied heavily on his Malay assistant, Ali. Hired as a cook in Sarawak in 1855, Ali quickly became Wallace’s most trusted collector, skilled in shooting birds and preparing specimens. He was Malay and Muslim, about fifteen years old when first hired. In his autobiography, Wallace wrote:
“Soon learnt to shoot birds, to skin them properly, and latterly even to put up the skins very neatly. Of course, he was a good boatman, as are all Malays, and in the difficulties or dangers of our journeys he was quite undisturbed and ready to do anything required of him.”
Ali’s journey began in Borneo. He rose from servant to skilled naturalist, learned local cultures, and discovered new species, including Wallace’s Standard Wing (Semioptera wallacii). Wallace wrote:
"Just as I got home I overtook Ali returning from shooting with some birds hanging from his belt. He seemed much pleased, and said, ‘Look here, sir, what a curious bird,’ holding out what at first completely puzzled me. I saw a bird with a mass of splendid green feathers on its breast, elongated into two glittering tufts; but, what I could not understand was a pair of long white feathers, which stuck straight out from each shoulder. Ali assured me that the bird stuck them out this way itself, when fluttering its wings, and that they had remained so without his touching them. I now saw that I had got a great prize, no less than a completely new form of the Bird of Paradise, differing most remarkably from every other known bird."
As historians note, Victorian-era conventions typically credited expedition leaders for discoveries. Even when assistants like Ali or Charles Allen (Wallace’s other assistant) made the actual finds. This practice meant many Indigenous collectors never received proper recognition for their contributions to science.
Wallace referred to Ali as his “best man,” suggesting Ali married around early 1859 and spent a year apart from Wallace afterwards. While Wallace never shared details about Ali’s wife, she was likely a local Malay woman from Ternate. Wallace wrote:
"My three best men have all left me — one sick, another gone home to his sick mother, and the third and best is married in Ternate, and his wife would not let him go: he, however, remains working for me, and is going again to the eastern part of Gilolo."
According to the journal, Ali was resourceful, brave, and proud of his work. Once, he risked injury to collect a rare bird. Wallace called him his “best native servant” and gave him guns and supplies when they parted in Singapore.
"On parting, besides a present in money, I gave him my two doublebarrelled guns and whatever ammunition I had, with a lot of surplus stores, tools, and sundries, which made him quite rich. He here, for the first time, adopted European clothes, which did not suit him nearly so well as his native dress, and thus clad a friend took a very good photograph of him. I therefore now present his likeness to my readers as that of the best native servant I ever had, and the faithful companion of almost all my journeyings among the islands of the far East."
Not much is known about Ali’s later years. He was last seen in 1907, 25 years later, when the American zoologist Thomas Barbour visited Ternate. Barbour wrote:
“On the day of my walk to the Ternate lake an old Malay spoke to me; he had long forgotten his English, but he tapped his chest, drew himself up and told me he was Ali Wallace. No lover of ‘The Malay Archipelago’ but remembers Ali who was Wallace’s young companion on many a hazardous journey.”
Barbour recalled the moment again in his 1943 memoir:
“We were stopped by a wizened old Malay man… He said, ‘I am Ali Wallace’. I knew at once that there stood before me Wallace’s faithful companion… the boy who not only helped him collect but nursed him when he was sick. We took his photograph and sent it to Wallace… He wrote me a delightful letter reminiscing over the time when Ali had saved his life… This letter I have managed to lose, to my eternal chagrin.”
Ali likely collected thousands of specimens, including many of Wallace’s 8,050 birds. Yet, like many Indigenous assistants, his role was downplayed in colonial narratives. This journal challenges that silence and shows how Western science depended on local expertise.
Conclusion
Wallace wrote The Malay Archipelago at his wife’s family home in Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex. The book first appeared in the spring of 1869 as a two-volume set published by Macmillan in London. That same year, Macmillan issued a reprinted second edition. The first American version, published by Harper & Brothers in New York, came out as a single volume later in 1869.
Alfred Russel Wallace’s legacy in the Malay Archipelago owes much to his overlooked assistant, Ali. What began as a simple cooking job became a vital scientific partnership. This journal helps correct old assumptions. Ali didn’t start as a collector, didn’t travel with Wallace the entire time, and likely collected most of Wallace’s 8,050 bird specimens, earning just £10 a month in the process.
While much about Ali remains unknown, his role as Wallace’s “faithful companion” was essential to the expedition’s success. He may not have shaped Wallace’s ideas, but he was there when the breakthrough on evolution happened. Future research may yet uncover more about this overlooked figure who helped make Wallace’s work possible.
References:
Wallace, A. R. (2014). The annotated Malay Archipelago by Alfred Russel Wallace. NUS Press.
Wallace, A. R. (1962). The Malay archipelago: The Land of the Orang-utan and the Bird of Paradise; a Narrative of Travel, with Studies of Man and Nature. Courier Corporation.
Weinberg, S. (2015). To explain the world: The Discovery of Modern Science. Harper.
Who was Alfred Russel Wallace? | Natural History Museum. (n.d.). https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/who-was-alfred-russel-wallace.html
Charles Darwin: History’s most famous biologist | Natural History Museum. (n.d.). https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/charles-darwin-most-famous-biologist.html
What is natural selection? | Natural History Museum. (n.d.). https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-natural-selection.html
Wills, M. (2023). Ali: Alfred Russel Wallace’s Right-Hand Gun. JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/ali-alfred-russel-wallaces-right-hand-gun/
Van Wyhe, J., & Drawhorn, G. M. (2015). ‘I am Ali Wallace’: The Malay Assistant of Alfred Russel Wallace. Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 88(1), 3–31. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26527691
Alfred Russell Wallace the “forgotten” hero: Why is Darwin more famous than Wallace? (n.d.). NUS Press. https://nuspress.nus.edu.sg/blogs/news/55568197-alfred-russell-wallace-the-forgotten-hero-why-is-darwin-more-famous-than-wallace
Charles Darwin: History’s most famous biologist | Natural History Museum. (n.d.). https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/charles-darwin-most-famous-biologist.html
