\ | Say 7S d pg ee / } ¢/ Zs, See LIBRARY tee | THE NATURALS ON THE RIVER AMAZOTS: . *“ i ih lag 4' AY git J +E ve Pree yen URALIST ON Tee bli VER AMAZONS. A RECORD OF ADVENTURES, HABITS OF ANIMALS, SKETCHES OF BRAZILIAN AND INDIAN LIFE, AND ASPECTS OF NATURE UNDER THE EQUATOR, DURING ELEVEN YEARS OF TRAVEL. By HENRY WALTER] BATES, F.R.S., Late ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. WITH A MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR BY EDWARD CLODD. REPRINT OF THE UNABRIDGED EDITION, WITH MAP AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. LIBRARY NEW YOR BOTANICA) GARDEN LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1892. PREFATORY NOTE. HE materials for the preparation of the following Memoir have been enriched by the letters which Sir Joseph Hooker and Mr. Francis Darwin have kindly lent me. I am under further obligation to Sir Joseph Hooker for permission to print his letters to Mr. Bates, and to Mr. Darwin for permission to print certain letters from his father. To these acknowledgments should be added that of the courtesy of the Council of the Linnean Society, in consenting to the reproduction of some of the coloured drawings which illustrated the paper on “ Mimicry” on its publication in the Society’s 7vansactions, vol. xxiii., 1862. Bre: LIBRAR NEW YC GARDET r ‘ wih ki > hee Mid i nie i? "fi iF ' eriiiss ie wt) Pt : . ‘ ’ tne arta if Perey, 1% PRE rAaee, N the autumn of 1847 Mr. A. R. Wallace, who has since l acquired wide fame in connection with the Darwinian theory of Natural Selection, proposed to me a joint expedition to the river Amazons, for the purpose of exploring the Natural History of its banks; the plan being to make for ourselves a collection of objects, dispose of the duplicates in London to pay expenses, and gather facts, as Mr. Wallace expressed it in one of his letters, “towards solving the problem of the origin of species,” a subject on which we had conversed and corresponded much together. We met in London early in the following year to study South American animals and plants at the principal coliections ; and in the month of April, as related in the following narrative, commenced our journey. My companion left the country at the end of four years; and, on arriving in England, published a narrative of his voyage, under the title of “ Travels on the Amazons and Rio Negro.” I remained seven years longer, returning home in July 1859; and having taken, after the first two years, a different route from that of my friend, an account of my separate travels and experiences seems not an inappropriate offering to the public. When I first arrived in England, being much depressed in health and spirits after eleven years’ residence within four vill PREFACE. degrees of the equator, the last three of which were spent in the wild country 1400 miles from the sea-coast, I saw little prospect of ever giving my narrative to the world; and, indeed, after two years had elapsed, had almost abandoned the intention of doing so. At that date I became acquainted with Mr. Darwin, who, having formed a flattering opinion of my ability for the task, strongly urged me to write a book, and, reminded me of it months afterwards, when, after having made a commencement, my half-formed resolution began to give way. Under this encouragement the arduous task is at length accomplished. It seems necessary to make this statement, as it explains why so long a time has intervened between my arrival in England and the publication of my book. The collections that I made during the whole eleven years were sent, at intervals of a few months, to London for dis- tribution, except a set of species reserved for my own study, which remained with me, and always accompanied me in my longer excursions. With the exception of a few living plants and specimens in illustration of Economical and Medicinal Botany, these collections embraced only the Zoological pro- ductions of the region. The following is an approximative enumeration of the total number of species of the various classes which I obtained :— Mammals - : : : : : 52 Birds , : ‘ i i : : 360 Reptiles . : : 3 ; : ' 140 Fishes. : s : ; ; , 120 Insects . ‘ i i 3 3 : . 14,000 Mollusks . . ; ; : ; ; 35 Zoophytes , z ; : ; ‘ ‘ 5 PREFACE. ix The part of the Amazons region where I resided longest being unexplored country to the Naturalist, no less than 8000 of the species here enumerated were mew to science, and these are now occupying the busy pens of a number of learned men in different parts of Europe to describe them. The few new mammals have been named by Dr. Gray; the birds by Dr. Sclater ; the zoophytes by Dr. Bowerbank ; and the more numerous novelties in reptiles and fishes are now in course of publication by Dr. Giinther. A word will perhaps be here in place with reference to what has become of these large collections. It will be an occasion for regret to many Naturalists to learn that a complete set of the species has nowhere been preserved, seeing that this would have formed a fair illustration of the Fauna of a region not likely to be explored again for the same purpose in our time. - The limited means of a private traveller do not admit of his keeping, for a purely scientific end, a large collection. A considerable number, from many of the consignments which arrived in London from time to time, were chosen for the British Museum, so that the largest set next to my own is contained in our National Collection ; but this probably com- prises less than half the total number of species obtained. My very complete private collection of insects of nearly all the orders, which was especially valuable as containing the various connecting varieties, ticketed with their exact localities for the purpose of illustrating the formation of races, does not now exist in its entirety, a few large groups having passed into private hands in different parts of Europe. With regard to the illustrations with which my book is adorned, it requires to be mentioned that the Natural History subjects have been drawn chiefly from specimens obtained by x PREFACE. me, and the others by able artists partly from my own slight sketches. Messrs. Wolf and Zwecker have furnished most of the larger ones, which give an accurate idea of the objects and scenes they represent: for the smaller ones, many of which, for example the fishes, reptiles, and insects, are drawn with extreme care, I am indebted to Mr. E. W. Robinson. LEICESTER, January 1863. CON TENS CHAPTER T,. PARA. Arrival—Aspect of the country—The Para River—First walk in the suburbs of Para—Free Negroes—Birds, Lizards, and Insects of the suburbs—Leaf- cutting Ant—Sketch of the climate, history, and present condition of Para CHAPTER II. PARA (continued). The swampy forests of Para—A Portuguese landed proprietor—Country house at Nazareth—Life of a Naturalist under the Equator—The drier virgin forests—Magoary—Retired creeks—Aborigines CHAPTER III. PARA (concluded). Religious holidays—Marmoset monkeys—Serpents—lInsects of the forest— Relation of the Fauna of the Para District - CHAPTER IY. THE TOCANTINS AND CAMETA. Preparations for the journey—The bay of Goajara—Grove of fan-leaved palms— The lower Tocantins—Sketch of the river—Vista alegra—Baiad6—Rapids— Boat journey to the Guariba falls—Native life on the Tocantins—Second journey to Cameta . PAGE 22 57 xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. CARIPI AND THE BAY OF MARAJO. | p hs ae PAGE River Para and Bay of Marajo—Journey to Caripi—Negro observance of Christmas—A German family—Bats—Ant-eaters—Humming-birds—Ex- cursion to the Murucupi— Domestic life of the inhabitants—Hunting excursion with Indians—Natural history of the Paca and Cutia—Insects . 86 a CHAPTER VI. THE LOWER AMAZONS—PARA TO OBYDOS. Modes of travelling on the Amazons—Historical sketch of the early explorations of the river—Preparations for voyage—Life on board a large trading- vessel—The narrow channels joining the Para to the Amazons—First sight of the great river—Gurupa—The great shoal—Flat-topped mountains— Contraction of the river valley—Santarem—Obydos—Natural history of Obydos—Origin of species by segregation of local varieties A : «169 CHAPTER VII. THE LOWER AMAZONS—OBYDOS TO MANAOS, OR THE BARRA OF THE RIO NEGRO. Departure from Obydos—River banks and by-channels—Cacao planters—Daily life on board our vessel—Great storm—Sandisland and its birds—Hill of Parentins—Negro trader and Mauhés Indians—Villa Nova, its inhabitants, climate, forest, and animal productions—Cararauci—A rustic festival—Lake of Cararaucti—Mottca flies—Serpa—Christmas holidays—River Madeira— A Mameluco farmer—Mura Indians—Rio Negro—Description of Barra— Descent to Para—Yellow fever ‘ : : ‘ 3 : ; Babe eye. CHAPTER VIII. SANTAREM. Situation of Santarem—Manners and customs of the inhabitants—Climate— Leprosy—Historical sketch—Grassy campos and woods—Excursions to Mapiri, Mahica, and Irura, with sketches of their natural history ; Palms, wild fruit-trees, Mining Wasps, Mason Wasps, Bees, Sloths and Marmosets or monkeys—Natural history of Termites or White Ants . : : . 180 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS. Preparations for voyage—First day’s sail—Mode of arranging money matters and remittance of collections in the interior—Loss of boat—Altar do Chao— Excursion in forest—Valuable timber—Modes of obtaining fish—Difficulties with crew—Arrival at Aveyros—Excursions in the neighbourhood— White Cebus, and habits and dispositions of Cebi Monkeys—Tame Parrot— Missionary settlement—Enter the River Cupari—Adventure with Anaconda —Smoke-dried Monkey—Boa-constrictor—Village of Munduruct Indians, and incursion of a wild tribe—Falls of the Cupari—Hyacinthine Macaw— Re-emerge into the broad Tapajos—Descent of river to Santarem CHAPTER X. THE UPPER AMAZONS—VOYAGE TO EGA. Departure from Barra—First day and night on the Upper Amazons—Desolate appearance of river in the flood season—Cucama Indians—Mental condition of Indians—Squalls—Manatee—Forest—Floating pumice-stones from the Andes—Falling banks—Ega and its inhabitants—Daily life of a Naturalist at Ega—Customs, trade, etc.—The four seasons of the Upper Amazons. CHAPTER XI. EXCURSIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF EGA. The River Teffé—Rambles through groves on the beach—Excursion to the house of a Passé chieftain—Character and customs of the Passé tribe—First excursion to the sand islands of the Solimoens—Habits of great river-turtle —Second excursion—Turtle-fishing in the inland pools—Third excursion— Hunting rambles with natives in the forest—Return to Ega CHAPTER XII. ANIMALS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF EGA. Scarlet-faced Monkeys—Parauacii Monkey—Owl-faced Night-apes—Marmosets —Jupura—Comparison of monkeys of the New World with those of the Old—Bats—Birds—Cuvier’s Toucan—Curl-crested Toucan—Insects—Pen- dulous cocoons—Foraging Ants—Blind Ants Xl PAGE 215 255 290 33! xiv : CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. EXCURSIONS BEYOND EGA. PAGE Steamboat travelling on the Amazons—Passengers—Tunantins—Caishana Indians—The Jutahi—Indian tribes on the Jutahi and the Juréa—The Sapé6—Maraua Indians—Fonte Boa—Journey to St. Paulo—Tuctna Indians —lllness—Descent to Para—Changes at Para—Departure for England . 364 INDEX. . . - : : . . : ; é : - 301 EIST. OF ILLUSFRASIONS: PAGE PORTRAIT OF H. W. BATES. : : : : . : ; Frontispiece COLOURED PLATES EXHIBITING FORMS OF MIMICRY IN BUTTERFLIES . : Aueap <0 SAUBA OR LEAF-CARRYING ANT. : . - - 2 : ; : es © SAUBA ANT—FEMALE . : . - - 3 : : ; : “5G CLIMBING PALM (DESMONCUS) : : : : : : : 2 =~ 2m INTERIOR OF PRIMEVAL FOREST ON THE AMAZONS . ‘ : : ‘ ens AMPHISBENA. . ; : : : - 5 - ‘ : : =a 5k ACROSOMA ARCUATUM. : : : - 2 : E : 2 : 7) 4 ASSAI PALM (EUTERPE OLERACEA) . : - : % : : : 7 = Og BIRD-KILLING SPIDER (MYGALE AVICULARIA) ATTACKING FINCHES . . = pot ANT-EATER GRAPPLING WITH DOG. : ; ‘ : : 2 ; sar SOE HUMMING-SIRD AND HUMMING-BIRD HAWK-MOTH : - : : : + 93 ACAR{ FISH (LORICARIA DUODECIMALIS) . : 4 ‘ é é : Seat 1 iy, FLAT-TOPPED MOUNTAINS OF PARAUA-QUARA, LOWER AMAZONS . ‘ : 1120 MUSICAL CRICKET (CHLOROCELUS TANANA) : ; - ; 129 HELICONIUS MELPOMENE . : : : : : : - : : Perse HELICONIUS THELXIOPE . : , : : ‘ : : : : hse TRANSITION FORMS BETWEEN HELICONIUS MELPOMENE AND H. THELXIOPE mg ey! PEURIRIMA PALM (BACTRIS) . ‘ : , : - : : oO het) 58 PELOPZUS WASP BUILDING NEST : : c : ; : : : . 199 the friendship was broken only by death, Bates always speaking of his publisher and patron—who survived him only a few weeks—in terms of deep affection. The post was no sinecure. Presidents might come and go, and the Zersonnel of the council be changed from time to time, but the assistant-secretary remained the permanent directing mind of the Society ; superintending the immense correspondence with travellers and geographers all over the world; the arrangement of even- * Mr. Francis Galton, F.R.S., in Proceedings of Royal Geog. Soc., April 1892. ixxvi MEMOIR. ing meetings; often the revision, sometimes re-composition, of the papers read ; the editing of the Proceedings ; and the mass of work incidental to the departure and return of travellers, one and all of whom, English and foreign, went straight to Bates for counsel and help, and never came empty away. Mr. Clements R. Markham, C.B., F.R.S., who filled the office of honorary secretary for a quarter of a century, thus speaks of Bates’s services to the Society :— ‘* Tt would be difficult to estimate the benefits that the society has derived from the services of Mr. Bates since he became its assistant-secretary in 1864, because they made themselves felt in so many directions and in so many ways. During the six years of his service, when the society’s premises were in Whitehall Place, and the presidency was held by Sir Roderick Murchison, his active assistance was directed to the improve- ment of the organisation in the office, library, and map-room; to the de- velopment of a better system of keeping and presenting the accounts; and to a more popular and more agreeable plan in the preparation of papers to be read at the meetings. By the able and judicious way in which these im- provements were conceived and persevered in, Mr. Bates very early showed how admirably he was fitted for the place; and both Sir Roderick and the secretaries relied more and more upon him as their mainstay and support in the work of maintaining and advancing the efficiency and prosperity of the society. Mr. Bates’s usefulness was, perhaps, most felt in the assistance and advice he gave to travellers, and, indeed, to every one who came to him on geographical business. They invariably found in him not only a man ready to impart information and advice, but a trustworthy and sympathising friend. It was, however, in times of difficulty, and on occasions needing the exercise of tact and conciliation, that Mr. Bates’s valuable qualities made themselves most felt by his colleagues. There was such a combination of cir- cumstances at the meeting of the British Association at Bath in 1864, when great pressure of work was ably met, arrangements exactly suited to the needs of the moment were made, and conflicting interests were reconciled, quietly, smoothly, and with admirable judgment. Indeed, the geographical section of the British Association has owed its success and efficiency in a great measure to Mr. Bates during the many years that he has acted as one of its secretaries, During more than twenty years since the removal (of the society’s premises to 1, Savile Row), Mr. Bates has rendered the same services; and each successive president has endorsed the feelings expressed by Sir Roderick Murchison. Ifthe admiration of his friends and colleagues could have been increased in any way, after a long experience of his high qualifications and of his goodness of heart, it would have been by the conscientious way in which he invariably stuck to his work, and refused to allow himself any relaxation, in spite of delicate health and the urgent need for rest which he must have felt. In the work of editing the society’s Zvansactions, which devolved upon Mr. Bates from the period of his first appointment, he was unwearied, and most successful in obtaining information bearing on geographical work from every quarter, and from all parts of the world; he supplied invaluable MEMOIR. Ixxvii hints and suggestions to the authors of papers, and he smoothed over difficulties with never-failing tact. His own rich stores of information were invaluable to all who needed help in their work, and over and over again they enabled him to supply a missing clue in some difficult inquiry, or to elucidate and piece together isolated facts, and show their bearings on each other. In all their intercourse with him, his colleagues, as well as the general body of geographers and travellers, have always been as much impressed by his ability and knowledge, and by the soundness of his judgment, as by that sympathising and kindhearted way of giving his opinion or advice which endeared the late assistant-secretary to all Who came in contact with him.’’* The following letter has special interest as affording, incident- ally, an expression of the feelings with which Bates entered on his new duties :-— **15, WHITEHALL PLACE, S.W., Yaxuary 28th, 186s. ‘““My DEAR MR. DARWIN, ‘« The receipt of a letter from you was an unlooked-for pleasure. I have had news of your health from time to time, having seized all oppor- tunities of asking from persons likely to know, and had heard lately of your slight improvement. Let us hope it may continue. “You are very kind to inquire after my personal affairs. I have no doubt Dr. Hooker has kept you well acquainted with what is done and said in natural history circles, and the perusal of the journals, etc., keeps you well informed about the rest. Perhaps there may be a few entomological items bearing upon Darwinian views which have not yet fallen in your way. I was much gratified on receiving the Berlin Berzcht for Entomology, 1862 (you know the natural history reports appear in Wiegmann’s Archives), to find at the very commencement a flattering notice of our paper on the mimetic butterflies. The reports are usually very skilfully and not very mercifully done. Gerstaecker has seized all the essential points of my paper, and repeats them with an evident bias in their favour. Being the highest entomological tribunal, I think you will like to have the testimony of this Bericht to the absence, at any rate, of any important errors in my facts and arguments. *“You will be glad to hear that I like my present position very much. I should have preferred a natural history appointment, but I had no chance of one, and the birth of one sweet little child, with expectation of another, forced upon me cogent arguments for accepting the first thing that offered. I hope besides to do a little in improving this great society, and assisting naturalists in travelling. “Yours sincerely, Soke, We, RATES? Bates’s power of work was enormous ; and so complete was his method, fostered by early business training, that, limited as was his leisure, he did nothing in a hurry ; one instance of this was * Proc. Royal Geog. Soc., April 1892, pp. 254, 255. ixxviii MEMOIR. the neatness and clearness of his writing, even in the roughest memoranda. He had time to spare equally for the visitor who wanted to know the name of an obscure beetle, or the best route across a continent. His original work in classification brought him a host of inquiries from all parts, and of requests from collectors to name their specimens ; and to these he responded without fee or reward, save in the advancement of the science he loved. The growth of his collection, largely increased by retaining duplicates of specimens sent to him, caused the absorption of most of his leisure in the work of classification and arrangement, and yet, with these constant demands upon him, he found time to publish his results. Of this unwearying industry the numerous papers in the Journal of the Entomological Society, in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, in the Entomologist, and other serials, from 1860 until 1891, are evidence. In 1864 he ‘‘ contributed to the Yournal of Entomology an important paper on the classification of the Rhopalocera, or butterflies, which was an enlargement and elaboration of similar views which he had published three years previously. In entomology, as in most other branches of zoology, systematic classifications are often unavoidable but convenient modes of arrangement for the monographer rather than the elucidation of a natural system on evolutionary principles, though the beauty of a classification is shown when based on those characters which exhibit a progressive modifica- tion in structure, or, in other words, exhibit the evolution from a simple to a more specialised type. The epoch-making character of the arrangement proposed by Mr. Bates is best proved by the fact that it has since been universally followed, and this in recent years when a large number of faunistic works on the Rhopfalocera have been written in various lands, and with a wealth of material formerly unknown. This classification reversed the previously understood sequence in the families, and still remains the most philosophical and natural system yet attained in the arrangement of any order of the Insecta. This paper is a model of the philosophical treatment of a purely systematic subject.’’* The limited time which Bates’s new duties left at his disposal made it no longer possible for him to keep up the study of two such enormous orders as the Lepidoptera and the Coleoptera. As he had practically finished his work of classification of butterflies, he sold his fine collection to Messrs. Godman and Salvin, and thenceforth devoted himself to beetles.| That order of insects, from their * W. L. Distant, in Proc. Royal Geog. Soc., April 1892, p. 252. + M. René Oberthiir, of Rennes, to whom Bates sold all the Longzcorns in the autumn of 1891, has acquired the remainder of the collection, thus securing it, as Bates desired, from being dispersed. MEMOIR. ' lxxix structure, habits, distribution, and vast antiquity, throws more light on the past history of the earth than any other organism ; and, therefore, this choice, in the hands of a philosophical naturalist of Bates’s stamp, was of the highest advantage to biological science. While describing a large number of new species, especially of the Geodephaga, or carnivorous land-beetles, he was, as the subjoined letter shows, always on the alert to detect subtle modifications, and to seek for the causes by which they had been induced. HT. W. Bates to Charles Darwin. ‘©15, WHITEHALL PLACE, S.W., Alarch 22nd, 1865. ““My DEAR MR. DARWIN,— ‘‘It gave me great pleasure this morning tosee a letter in your hand- writing, showing that you had recovered your previous tolerably good state of health. The news will be welcome to all our friends when I tell them. ‘« Pray do not send your copy of the He/zconzde paper, as I have still a few left, and will send one to Mr. Walsh, to whom I am indebted for copies of his papers lately arrived. I have read every line of his with great pleasure—just a little deadened perhaps by the diffuseness of his style, and want of closeness in his otherwise just reasoning. “‘T will make use of this opportunity to tell you of a small discovery of mine, lately made in working out the species of a very long genus of Longzcorn Coleoptera. It is with regard to the abrupt and profound modifications in sexual parts between vevy closely allied species. You will perhaps recollect my telling you some time ago of a series of dissections of the male organs in Chrysometide made by a friend of mine, he having found great differences from species to species, and even separated what were previously considered to be varieties, on the ground of modifications of these organs. In my Longicorns the parts in question are the accessory organs; that is, the terminal abdominal segments from which the organ protrudes when necessary. The genus is Colobothea—one of those genera of which so many exist in all orders in which the species seems to have been endlessly multiplied by nature. Nearly all the species can be distinguished by the form of the accessory organs in the sexes, and I have found most profound modifications in what would be otherwise considered as JocaZ varieties. I have no dcubt whatever that the species, on dissemination over a wide area, and breaking up into local varieties, undergo modifications of these organs very readily, and that this fact has operated greatly in the multiplication of species in nature ; for it is difficult to conceive the variously formed males of these closely-allied races to be equally adapted to their own females and to the females of their sister races. There is a physical obstacle here in the way of amalgamation with the parent or sister forms of segregated local varieties or races. I shall publish my notes on the subject in the Aznals and Mag. Nat. Hizs?. in the course of my paper on Amazons Lomgicorns. ‘*Yours sincerely, He W: BATES?” The monograph on the AZantide, to which reference was made Ixxx MEMOIR. in previous letters to Darwin, was followed in June 1865 by an elaborate paper on an allied group of orthopterous insects, the Phasmide ( phasma,a spectre), familiarly known as “walking-sticks.” Although low in the scale of development of the Insecta, that family affords excellent examples of protective adaptation in the resemblance of its members to dead twigs, withered leaves, smooth stems of grass, lichen-coloured bark, etc., so that the paper is an instructive supplement to that on mimetic analogies.* Bates’s monumental labours as a coleopterist are embodied in Godman and Salvin’s great work—a munificent outcome of private enterprise—the Biologia Centrali-Americana.t Of the first part of his contribution, which deals with two large families, the Czczxdelide, or tiger-beetles, which stand at the head of the whole order; and the Carabide, or ground-beetles ; a reviewer in ature (November 26th, 1885) wrote as follows :— ‘Its author has long been known as an entomological systematist, for itis now nearly twenty-five years since he inaugurated a rational classification of the Rhopalocera, or butterflies. He has been recognised, since the death of Baron Chaudoir,{ as the one entomologist possessing an extensive yet intimate knowledge of the Carabid@ of the whole world. But Chaudoir died without leaving behind him any general work on the classification of that family. It is therefore a matter for congratulation that the author of this beautiful volume has presented us with a systematic arrangement as complete as the faunistic nature of the work permitted. . The family Caradzd@ is of such enormous extent—12,000 species being known, with a vast number of others to come—that the necessity of some series of intelligible aggregates, subor- dinate to the division, but superior to the tribe or sub-family, is undeniable, and Mr. Bates’s attempt to furnish such a series is therefore of great value.” In a couple of papers printed in the 7vansactions of the Enio- mological Society, 1890-91, the additions to the Carabide of the Mexican fauna since the publication of the first part of the Biologia are described, and corrections of “the descriptions and identifications of known species, by the light of the more complete material since received,’ are made. At the time of his death Bates was engaged on an improved classification of that family Dr. D. Sharp, F.R.S., to whom the manuscript has been entrusted, reports that the value of this latest work of Bates’s lies not in * Descriptions of Fifty-two New Species of Phasmidz, from the Collection of Mr. W. Wilson Saunders, with Remarks on the Family.” Zrans. Linnean Soc., vol. xxv. + Insecta: Coleoptera.—Vol. i. part 1, Geodephaga ; vol. ii, part 2, Pectinicornia and: Lamellicornia ; vol. v., Longicornia { In 1881. MEMOIR. Ixxxi introducing the use of new characters, but in selecting what is best in the various older systems. “ While doing this he has been able, from his wide knowledge, to settle the proper positions of a number of forms that have been discovered and described in recent years, but whose affinities had been left more or less doubtful.” The foregoing far from represents the extent of his literary work. Although he was the author of only one book, he was the editor or reviser of nearly a dozen others. He took in hand the materials furnished by his friend Paul du Chaillu, after his return from Ashango-land, and put them into shape for publication (1867); revised Mrs. Somerville’s Physzcal Geography throughout (1870); saw Belt’s Naturalist in Nicaragua through the press (1873); edited Humbert’s Japan and the Japanese (1873); Kolde- wey’s German Arctic Expedition of 1869-70 (1874); Warburton’s Journey across the Western Interior of Australia (1875); Hellwald’s Central America in Stanford’s Compendium of Geography and Travel (1878), and also a series of [//ustrated Travels,efor which last-named task he had little relish. The last work from his pen is an introduction to the Supplementary Appendix to Mr. Edward Whymper’s Travels amongst the Great Andes, published by Mr. Murray in the spring of the present year. Bates’s remarks in this contribution are of special interest, as showing how the materials collected in the Andes confirm his early views as to the non- extension of the glacial epoch to the tropics of the New World.* Dealing mainly with the Coleoptera, he discusses the nature of the insect fauna of high altitudes in the equatorial zone of the Andes, and its relation to the faunas of Chili and the temperate zones of North America and Europe. Darwin’s theory of the migration of species along the highlands of the Old World, from north to south, is supported by the identity, or close alliance of “ products of high altitudes within the Old World tropics and those of low lands near the Arctic zone and the mountains of temperate latitudes.” Is there, Bates asks, any similar proof of glacial migration in tropical America? ‘There is a remarkable relation- ship between the plants and animals of Chili and those of high latitudes in North America, and even Europe; “in insects, for example, numerous genera are common to the three regions which are totally absent from the intervening tropical and warm tem- perate zones of America.” No answer to the question was possible * Ante, p. xxxi. a Ixxxii MEMOIR. until the high Andes had been explored at elevations near the snow line. This Mr. Whymper has done so thoroughly that, “if there had been any distinct element of a north temperate or south temperate coleopterous fauna on the Ecuadorian Andes, the collections he made, inexhaustive though they may be, would have shown some traces of it; but there are none.”* Bates, therefore, answers the question in the negative. “It seems to me a fair deduction from the facts that no distinct traces of a migration | during the lifetime of existing species, from north to south, or véce versa, along the Andes, have as yet been discovered, or are now likely to be discovered. It does not follow, however, that the Darwinian explanation of the peculiar distribution of species and genera on mountains in the tropical and temperate zones, and in high latitudes of the Old World, is an erroneous one. The different state of things in the New World is probably due to the existence of some obstacle to free migration, as far as regards insects, bétween north and south, both during and since the glacial epoch.” | Such an obstacle might exist in “a breach of continuity of the land in glacial times at the Isthmus of Panama,” or in the lower altitude of the.tropical Andes during that epoch, which, while favouring “the spread of tropical forms over the whole area, would successfully resist the invasion of high northern or southern species.” This reference to Bates’s latest contribution to the problem of geographical distribution, further goes to show how unslackened was his grasp of the philosophical side of any question that he handled. In an age of excessive specialisation of every department of science, when, like the builders of the Tower of Babel, a man knows not the language of his fellow-worker, Bates will have a larger place, not so much for his classification of materials, as for his insight into their significance. In his second presidential address to the Entomological Society of London, delivered January 15th, 1879, he speaks of a deceased member of the Society as follows :— ‘‘In judging of his position as an entomologist, we must consider him chiefly as an zconographer ; but in this useful sphere he was faczle princeps. I am not aware that he advanced any views as to classification, and he rarely even described new genera. The structural characters of the fascinating objects of his study he for the most part ignored; and it was amusing, to those who knew him, to observe how persistently he declined to accept the great aid to classification and estimate of natural affinities afforded by the form of gf IGE Mon ee Tt Licey P+ 5- MEMOIR. . Ixxxiii the anterior legs, on which his contemporaries were founding a really natural arrangement of the Diurnal Lepidoptera. In a similar way he set his face against the teachings of geographical distribution and the formation of varieties and races under the influence of local conditions. His generally accurate delineation of the nervures arose, not from an appreciation of their real scientific importance, but from their relations to the colours and markings in figuring the species.’’ This description—of which examples are still not infrequent— exactly defines the limitations from which Bates had escaped before he sailed for the Amazons. The acuteness of his eye for details and structural differences was remarkable ; not less remarkable was his insight into fundamental resemblances and differences, which placed him in the foremost rank of naturalists to whom form is subordinate to function. His bent of mind and continuous inquiry into significances prepared him to accept without qualification the Origin of Species. In fact, that book gave expression to convic- tions which had been slowly ripening within him during his long sojourn in the Amazon forests. He was among those whom Grant Allen aptly describes as “ Darwinians before Darwin.” While Owen, Lyell, and Asa Gray accepted the new doctrine, but with reservations ; while Agassiz, Murray, J. E. Gray, and Harvey would none of it; while Adam Sedgwick wrote a long letter of protest to Darwin, couched in loving terms, and ending with the hope that they would “meet in heaven”;* while Henslow and Pictet walked one mile with him, but refused to go twain,t Bates was with Hooker, Huxley, and Lubbock as immediate adherents. He did not share the surprise felt by many when his old fellow- traveller Wallace refused to apply the theory, the honour of formulating which he shares with Darwin, to man in his ‘out ensemble, because he knew how prone Wallace had shown himself to become entangled in the meshes of the bastard science of spiritualism and its kin.t{ When the collected papers entitled Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection appeared, Bates wrote to Darwin as follows :— ‘¢15, WHITEHALL PLACE, S.W., day 20¢h, 1870. ‘‘T have been having some conversation with the editor of the Academy about Mr. Wallace's last book, and the appearance of backsliding from the * Cf. Darwin's Live and Letters, ii. 250. t lbid., ch. v., ‘On the Reception of the Origin of Species,” by Prof. Huxley. t See Mr. Wallace’s article on ‘‘ Spiritualism” in Chambers’ Encyclop., vol. ix., 189 edition. Ixxxiv MEMOIR. Darwinian theory which it contains. Other sincere friends of the pure truth have expressed a little surprise and bewilderment at the same phenomenon. The views of friend Wallace are so plausible, and suit so well widespread prejudices, that you, no doubt, think with me they ought to be controverted. But who is to criticise them ? No one but yourself. I do not think any one else would have the present insight into the fallacy but yourself: to others it would require much study and labour to marshal the arguments. I said so to Mr. Appleton, and he begged of me to write to you in support of a request he is going to make to write him a short article as a review of the book.* ‘¢ When you were last in town I spoke to you about some sentences I had written on man, interwoven in last chapter of Mrs. Somerville’s book. It weighs on my conscience to think that you took too much notice of what I said; for I do not really think there is much in the matter worthy of your attention. , “Yours sincerely, “H.W. BATES Bates’s breadth of mental “beam” permitted inclusion of interest in the most varied branches of knowledge—interest with which he would be scarcely credited by those who knew him only in connection with his official work, and his special field of research. He loathed the inanities of “society,” but he loved good fellowship, although his chronic bad health compelled him to live a more or less eremitic life. To the few who met him at the Kosmos Club, or the gossipy luncheon table, to which the latest explorer was welcomed, the polygonal, or many-sided, aspects of his mind were the striking features of his unassertive individuality. But, perhaps, to know him at his best, and pierce the thick husk of his modesty, was to be his companion when, the evening work of “beetle-sticking” over, and the frugal supper eaten, the pipe was lit and talk started, sometimes on some “topical” subject, but, more often, on matters suggested by his wide and varied reading. Unlike Darwin, who tells us, in the autobiography which is prefixed to his Lzfe and Letters, that for many years he “could not endure a line of poetry, and found Shakespeare intolerably dull,” even music disconcerting him, and natural scenery giving him little delight, Bates revelled and rejoiced in all these ministers to the completeness of life. He was, in fact, far the richer of the two both in mental grasp and equipment, and, as foregoing extracts show, such letters of Darwin’s to him as have survived destruction evidence that Bates’s “ power * The book was reviewed in the Academy, February 15th and March 1st, 1871, by Anton Dohrn. And see Darwin’s letter to Wallace, Zéfe and Letters, iii., 121. MEMOIR. Ixxxv of mind”* impressed him profoundly. Darwin, in his ever de- lightful candour, also tells us that the fiction which interested him was not of a high order. By contrast, Bates’s chief favourites were Thackeray and Thomas Hardy; he loved the one for the pathos and deep sympathy with our complex humanity which the shallow folk who call Thackeray cynical cannot see underlying the seemingly cold analysis of act and motive; he loved the other for the sweet country air that blows through the Woodlanders and Far from the Madding Crowd. He loathed the modern school of didactic, introspective, and sensational fiction. The love of Homer, which his brother tells us he learned to read in hours stolen from sleep before sweeping out the warehouse, never cooled ; Milton and his more immediate successors remained, as the favourite authors of his boyhood, favourites still; but when in recent years the volumes of Matthew Arnold’s poetry were lent him, he felt as did Keats on reading Chapman’s Homer—* a new planet swam into his ken.” Its classical note; its lucidity; its severity of restraint, as of Pegasus curbed; its saneness and sure- footedness; its gospel of cheerful acceptance of the inevitable, sung in stately verse in “Empedocles on Etna,” led him to give Arnold’s poetry the chief place in his assessment of the Victorian singers. Especially did the sonnet headed “Quiet Work ” express the ideal after which he strove :— “¢ Of toil unsever’d from tranquillity ; Of labour, that in lasting fruit outgrows Far noisier schemes, accomplished in repose, Too great for haste, too high for rivalry.”’ It is often said that a man’s religious belief concerns only himself. So far as the light value of the majority of people’s opinions on so high a matter goes, this is true; but the case is altered when applied to men whose words carry weight, or whose discoveries compel us to ask what is their bearing on those problems of human relations and destinies of which the past offered a solution that no longer satisfies the present, because it is not compatible with facts since brought to light. Now there can be no doubt that the conclusions drawn from the facts which science has gathered as to the origin and succession and, withal, continuity of life-forms, are destructive of the current theories of man as differing absolutely in kind from the animals * Letter to Sir J. D. Hooker, Life and Letters, ii., 380, Ixxxvi MEMOIR, beneath him. It is on the assumption of fundamental differences between him and them—notably, the possession of a soul—that all theologies, whether barbaric or civilised, with their dogmas of relations between man and unseen powers and beings, are founded. The nature of those relations is expressed in creeds, and the recognition of them in rites and ceremonies, coarse or refined, according to the state of culture of the people performing them. To all which a large number of thoughtful men and women are opposed. Feeling the insoluble nature of the problems which surround human life, and which their line of inquiry has brought home with added force, they cannot accept what Professor Huxley calls “sham solutions.” They say with Darwin: “I for one must be content to remain an Agnostic.” This was Bates’s attitude, as expressed to his intimate friends, and, soon after his return from the Amazons, hinted at in his courteous reply to the late Mr. P H. Gosse, better known as a naturalist than as an ardent member of the exclusive sect called “ Plymouth Brethren.” P: 771. Gosse to ff.. W. Bares: ‘‘ SANDHURST, TORQUAY, february 13th, 1860. ‘‘ MY DEAR SIR, ‘* Will you allow me the pleasure of asking your kind acceptance of the accompanying copy of my Acfinologia? I have read your numerous letters from Brazil published in the Zoolog7st with great interest, partly, doubtless, because I know a little of tropical collecting ; and J have mentally followed you to and fro in the scenes and among the lovely insects, which you have so graphically described, with ever-increasing sympathy. From one or two expressions dropped here and there in your letters, I have formed a suspicion, moreover, that you are one of those who love the Lord Jesus, and, ifso, this would be an additional and a far stronger bond of sympathy between us. For there is no union so strong as that between the ‘ holy brotherhood, partakers of the heavenly calling,’ who by grace have been drawn to believe in Jesus, ‘‘ Whether I am mistaken in this conclusion I do not know; but, at all events, I beg you to accept the volume as a token of my regard, and believe me your very sincere well-wisher in every sense, «‘P. H. GOSSE, TH. W: BATES, ESQ. “« Are you likely to go out again ?”? The following draft of reply is preserved with the letter :— ‘““My DEAR SIR, “* Accept my best thanks for the beautiful present you have made me, and the warm welcome which you make me on my return to England. You ask me whether Iam likely to gooutagain. I have no intention at present of doing MEMOTR. Ixxxvii so. Eleven years of tropical residence and travel, devoted to one pursuit, is a sufficient portion of life to be so spent. ‘‘T have amassed an extensive private collection, and intend to devote at least some years to the study of the species, with a view to publishing a ‘Montfauna’ of the Amazon valley. ‘¢ With regard to the other topic mentioned in your very kind letter, I must assure you that I think I have pursued, and still do pursue, the investigation of the wonderful and beautiful creatures that people the earth with a spirit of humility, admiration, and reverence. There will be differences of opinion between us, I have no doubt, on mere matters of undemonstrable dogmatic theology, but in the more essential points of true religious feeling and spirit, I hope in anything I may hereafter write and publish, to continue and increase the good opinion you appear to have of me. ef Et Wie Eig Considering how full Bates’s days were with office routine, how full, too, his holidays with work always taken with him to his cottage at Folkestone ; and, as already shown, in what variety of ways his time was trenched upon, it is surprising to those who knew him best how well he kept himself aw courant with the latest science. Doubtless, in this again, his early business training had taught him the secret of taking care of the minutes, leaving the hours to take care of themselves. Therefore, little escaped him. For example, among recent matters, acquaintance with the new evi- dence in support of the European origin of the “ Aryan” race; with the arguments of Weismann, in his Essays on Heredity, against the transmission of characters acquired during the lifetime of the parent; with the theory of “ Physiological Selection ” formulated by Romanes ; was made in quick succession. Weismann’s book in- terested him keenly, and well-nigh moved him to written expression of his views, of which only a few lines are the outcome.* His verdict on it was—“ not proven”; and he inclined to that verdict being upheld. Romanes’s paper partly repelled him by an obscurity of * They are as follows: ‘‘ Weismann (p. 413) seems to wriggle out of the difficulty presented by Hoffman’s experiments on wild flowers. He admits that the double flowers obtained by continuous cultivation from normal wild flowers become hereditary, but says that the change was gradual, and at length affected the germ-plasm, z.¢., that the external influences (soil, cultivation, etc.) gradually produced a change in the germ-plasm, and that this was the cause of the double flowers. The germ-plasm is thus confessed to have been forced into conceiving a monstrosity of no use to the flower. If external influences can accomplish this, why cannot they bring about the establishment of a useful modifica- tion, like the long neck of a giraffe, z.e., in the same way by gradually modifying the germ-plasm through modification in the somatic-plasm? Hoffman's results were obtained gradually ‘in a greater or less number of generations.’ But this is all that Darwin would require.” Ixxxviii MEMOIR. style which usually indicates confusion of ideas,* but his main objection to it was its reversal of the method of the master whose theory it professed to supplement, in hasty publication of a theory which only long and patient observation of a wide group of facts can support or controvert. It may be gathered from what has been said that, impaired as was Bates’s bodily vigour, there was no trace of mental ossification ; rather of unwearying powers of receptivity. There was a wonderful freshness in all that he said, and a wonderful charm in the way he said it. His sentences were broken by curious hyphen-like pauses. But how perfect they were in construction ; clear-cut, pure English, so that, taken down (alas! that they were not taken down) not a word need have been altered or transposed. Never did the listener leave without being the richer for some fruit- ful idea ; some fresh aspect of familiar things, evidencing the power of the speaker in seizing upon the relation of a particular fact or theory to the totality of knowledge. His thoughts never moved “ in such small circles that five minutes’ conversation gave you an arc long enough to determine the whole curve.” But even more than the gentle voice, the winning smile, and the affectionate greeting, the friends of this sincere, this guileless, this self-reliant man will cherish, as the chief lesson of his life—especially in an age of Stavm und Drang, of pushing to the fore, of clamour for priority of discovery of a new sun-spot or asteroid—the whole- someness of possessing the soul in patience, of work done in quiet, and of finding alike impulse and content in the thought that, so far as a man’s work is sterling and contributory, “ natural selection ” will take care of it. Few titular distinctions came to Bates, and these few were un- sought. The Zoological and Linnean Societies elected him as honorary Fellow, the one in 1863, the other in 1872; the Entomo- logical Society elected him twice as President, namely, in 1869 and 1878 ; other chairs were offered him from time to time, and declined, partly on the ground of health, but chiefly through morbid dread of publicity ; and it was not until 1881 that the Royal Society tardily added to its prestige by electing him a Fellow. Various conti- nental and American learned societies paid him the compliment of corresponding membership, and the late Emperor of Brazil made him a Chevalier of the Order of the Rose, the badge of which, on the rare occasions that he wore it, he did his best to conceal. * Cf. Mr. Thiselton Dyer’s Letter on ‘‘ Mr. Romanes’s Paradox,” in Nature, Nov. 1, 1888. MEMOIR. 1xxxix Heavy grief—which he bore in silence, but not without deeper scoring of his rugged features—befel him in the death of his eldest child, Alice, in 1891, after a brief married life; the gastric derange- ment which had troubled him since boyhood took an aggravated form in the autumn of that year, and he gradually became thinner and weaker. But he had grown so accustomed to the daily battle between flesh and spirit, that he paid too little heed to symptoms which his friends looked upon as serious, and he could not be per- suaded to take proffered rest and change. In the beginning of February 1892 an acute attack of influenza, complicated with bronchitis, supervened, and to this he succumbed on the morning of Tuesday, the sixteenth of that month. Rarely does a man pass away so widely loved and mourned. The genuine sorrow at his death found expression in the tribute paid to his memory, not only by his colleagues of the Geographical Society, but in the letters of sympathy which his widow and children received from every quarter; from the veteran companion of his travels to the youngest member of that band of explorers to whom he, Nestor among them, had been “ guide, philosopher, and friend.” THE NATURALIST ON THE AMAZONS. CHAPTER I. PARA, Arrival—Aspect of the country—The Para river—First walk in the suburbs of Para— Free Negroes—Birds, Lizards and Insects of the Suburbs—Leaf-carrying Ant— Sketch of the climate, history, and present condition of Para. I EMBARKED at Liverpool, with Mr. Wallace, in a small trading vessel, on the 26th of April, 1848; and, after a swift passage from the Irish Channel to the equator, arrived, on the 26th of May, off Salinas. This is the pilot-station for vessels bound to Para, the only port of entry to the vast region watered by the Amazons. It is a small village, formerly a missionary settlement of the Jesuits, situated a few miles to the east- ward of the Para river. Here the ship anchored in the open sea, at a distance of six miles from the shore, the shallowness of the water far out around the mouth of the great river not permitting in safety a nearer approach ; and the signal was hoisted for a pilot. It was with deep interest that my companion and myself, both now about to see and examine the beauties of a tropical country for the first time, gazed on the land where I, at least, eventually spent eleven of the best years of my life. ‘To the eastward the country was not remarkable in appearance, being slightly undulating, with bare sand-hills and scattered trees ; but to the westward, stretching towards the mouth of the river, we could see through the captain’s glass a long line of forest, rising apparently out of the water ; a densely-packed mass of tall trees, broken into groups, and finally into single trees, as it dwindled away in the distance. This was the frontier, in this direction, of the great primeval forest characteristic of this region, which contains so many wonders in its recesses, and clothes the whole surface of the country for two thousand miles from this point to the foot of the Andes. On the following day and night we sailed, with a light wind, partly aided by the tide, up the Pard river. Towards evening we passed Vigia and Colares, two fishing villages, and saw many native canoes, which seemed like toys beneath the lofty walls of dark forest. The air I 2 PARA. Cuap. IL. was excessively close, the sky overcast, and sheet lightning played almost incessantly around the horizon, an appropriate greeting on the threshold of a country lying close under the equator! The evening was calm, this being the season when the winds are not strong, so we glided along in a noiseless manner, which contrasted pleasantly with the unceasing turmoil to which we had lately been accustomed on the Atlantic. The immensity of the river struck us greatly, for although sailing sometimes at a distance of eight or nine miles from the eastern bank, the opposite shore was at no time visible. Indeed, the Pard river is 36 miles in breadth at its mouth ; and at the city of Pard, nearly 70 miles from the sea, itis 20 miles wide ; but at that point a series of islands commences, which contract the river view in front of the city. It will be well to explain here that the Parad river is not, strictly speaking, one of the mouths of the Amazons. It is made to appear so on many of the maps in common use, because the channels which connect it with the main river are there given much broader than they are in reality, conveying the impression that a large body of water finds an outlet from the main river into the Para. It is doubtful, however if there be any considerable streams of water flowing constantly down- ward through these channels. The whole of the district traversed by them consists of a complex group of low islands formed of river deposit, between which is an intricate network of deep and narrow channels. The land probably lies somewhat lower here than it does on the sea coast, and the tides meet about the middle of the channels; but the ebb and flow are so complicated that it is difficult to ascertain whether there is a constant line of current in one direction. A flow down one of the channels is in some cases diverted into an ebb through other rami- fications. In travelling from the Parad to the main Amazons, I have always followed the most easterly channel, and there the flow of the tide always causes a strong upward current; it is said that this is not so perceptible in other channels, and that the flow never overpowers the stream of water coming from the main river ; this would seem to favour the opinion of those geographers who believe the Para to be one of the mouths of the King of Rivers. The channels of which we are speaking, at least those straighter ones which trading vessels follow in the voyage from Para to the Amazons, are about 80 miles in length; but for many miles of their course they are not more than 100 yards in breadth. They are of great depth, and in many places are so straight and regular that they appear like artificial canals. The great river steamers, which now run regularly to the interior, in some places brush the overhanging trees with their paddle-boxes on each side as they pass. The whole of the region is one vast wilderness of the most luxuriant tropical vegetation, the strangest forms of palm trees of some score of different species forming a great proportion of the mass. I shall, however, have to allude again to the wonderful beauty of these romantic channels, when I arrive at that part of my narrative. The Pard river, on this view, may be looked upon as the common fresh-water estuary of the numerous rivers which flow into it from the south ; the chief of which is the Tocantins, a stream 1600 miles in Cuap. I. ARRIVAL THERE. 3 length, and about ten miles in breadth at its mouth. The estuary forms, then, a magnificent body of water 160 miles in length, and eight miles in breadth at its abrupt commencement, where it receives the channels just described. ‘There is a great contrast in general appearance between the Para and the main Amazons. In the former the flow of the tide always creates a strong current upwards, whilst in the Amazons the turbid flow of the mighty stream overpowers all tides, and produces a constant downward current. The colour of the water is different, that of the Parad being of a dingy orange-brown, whilst the Amazons has an ochreous or yellowish clay tint. The forests on their banks have a different aspect. On the Para the infinitely diversified trees seem to rise directly out of the water; the forest frontage is covered with greenery, and wears a placid aspect, whilst the shores of the main Amazons are encumbered with fallen trunks, and are fringed with a belt of broad-leaved grasses. The differ- ence is partly owing to the currents, which on the main river tear away the banks, and float out to sea an almost continuous line of dead trees and other débris of its shores. We may, however, regard the combined mouths of the Para and the Amazons with their archipelago of islands as forming one immense river delta, each side of which measures 180 miles—an area about equal to the southern half of England and Wales. In the middle of it lies the island of Marajo, which is as large as Sicily. The land is low and flat, but it does not consist entirely of alluvium or river deposit ; in many parts the surface is rocky; rocks also form reefs in the middle of the Para river. The immense volumes of fresh water which are poured through these broad embouchures, the united contributions of innumerable streams, fed by drenching tropical rains, prevent them from becoming salt-water estuaries. The water is only occasionally a little brackish near Para, at high spring tides. Indeed, the fresh water tinges the sea along the shores of Guiana to a distance of nearly 200 miles from the mouth of the river. On the morning of the 28th of May we arrived at Parad. The appearance of the city at sunrise was pleasing in the highest degree. It is built on a low tract of land having only one small rocky elevation at its southern extremity ; it therefore affords no amphitheatral view from the river; but the white buildings roofed with red tiles, the numerous towers and cupolas of churches and convents, the crowds of palm trees reared above the buildings, all sharply defined against the clear blue sky, give an appearance of lightness and cheerfulness which is most exhilarating. ‘The perpetual forest hems the city in on all sides landwards ; and towards the suburbs, picturesque country houses are seen scattered about, half buried in luxuriant foliage. The port was full of native canoes and other vessels, large and small; and the ringing of bells and firing of rockets, announcing the dawn of some Roman Catholic festival day, showed that the population was astir at that early hour. We went ashore in due time, and were kindly received by Mr. Miller, the consignee of the vessel, who invited us to make his house our home until we could obtain a suitable residence. On landing, the hot moist 4 PARA. Cuap. I. % mouldy air, which seemed to strike from the ground and walls, reminded me of the atmosphere of tropical stoves at Kew. In the course of the afternoon a heavy shower fell; and in the evening, the atmosphere having been cooled by the rain, we walked about a mile out of town to the residence of an American gentleman, to whom our host wished to introduce us. The impressions received during this first walk can never wholly fade from my mind. After traversing the few streets of tall, gloomy, convent- looking buildings near the port, inhabited chiefly by merchants and shopkeepers ; along which idle soldiers, dressed in shabby uniforms, carrying their muskets carelessly over their arms, priests, negresses with red water-jars on their heads, sad-looking Indian women carrying their naked children astride on their hips, and other samples of the motley life of the place, were seen ; we passed down a long narrow street leading to the suburbs. Beyond this, our road lay across a grassy common into a picturesque lane leading to the virgin forest. The long street was inhabited by the poorer class of the population. The houses were of one story only, and had an irregular and mean appearance. The windows were without glass, having, instead, projecting lattice casements. The street was unpaved, and inches deep in loose sand. Groups of people were cooling themselves outside their doors—people of all shades in colour of skin, European, Negro and Indian, but chiefly an uncertain mixture of the three. Amongst them were several handsome women, dressed in a slovenly manner, barefoot or shod in loose slippers ; but wearing richly decorated ear-rings, and around their necks strings of very large gold beads. They had dark expressive eyes, and remarkably rich heads of hair. It was amere fancy, but I thought the mingled squalor, luxuriance and beauty of these women were pointedly in harmony with the rest of the scene ; so striking, in the view, was the mixture of natural riches and human poverty. The houses were mostly in a dilapidated condition, and signs of indolence and neglect were everywhere visible. The wooden palings which surrounded the weed-grown gardens were strewn about, broken ; and hogs, goats and ill-fed poultry wandered in and out through the gaps. But amidst all, and compensating every defect, rose the overpowering beauty of the vegetation. The massive dark crowns of shady mangoes were seen everywhere amongst the dwellings, amidst fragrant blossoming orange, lemon, and many other tropical fruit trees ; some in flower, others in fruit at varying stages of ripeness. Here and there, shooting above the more dome-like and sombre trees, were the smooth columnar stems of palms, bearing aloft their magnificent crowns of finely-cut fronds. Amongst the latter the slim assai palm was especially noticeable, growing in groups of four or five; its smooth, gently-curving stem, twenty to thirty feet high, termi- nating in a head of feathery foliage, inexpressibly light and elegant in outline. On the boughs of the taller and more ordinary-looking trees sat tufts of curiously-leaved parasites. Slender woody lianas hung in festoons from the branches, or were suspended in the form of cords and ribbons ; whilst luxuriant creeping plants overran alike tree-trunks, roots and walls, or toppled over palings in copious profusion of foliage. The superb banana (Musa paradisiaca), of which I had always read as Cuap. I. TROPICAL FLORA. 5 forming one of the great charms of tropical vegetation, here grew with great luxuriance : its glossy velvety-green leaves, twelve feet in length, curving over the roofs of verandahs in the rear of every house. The shape of the leaves, the varying shades of green which they present when lightly moved by the wind, and especially the contrast they afford in colour and form to the more sombre hues and more rounded outline of the other trees, are quite sufficient to account for the charm of this glorious tree. Strange forms of vegetation drew our attention at almost every step. Amongst them were the different kinds of Bromelia, or pine-apple plant, with their long, rigid, sword-shaped leaves, in some species jagged or toothed along their edges. Then there was the bread- fruit tree—an importation, it is true; but remarkable from its large, glossy, dark green, strongly digitated foliage, and its interesting history. Many other trees and plants, curious in leaf, stem, or manner of growth, grew on the borders of the thickets along which Jay our road ; they were all attractive to new-comers, whose last country ramble, of quite recent date, was over the bleak moors of Derbyshire on a sleety morning in April. As we continued our walk the brief twilight commenced, and the sounds of multifarious life came from the vegetation around. The whirring of cicadas ; the shrill stridulation of a vast number and variety of field crickets and grasshoppers, each species sounding its peculiar note ; the plaintive hooting of tree frogs—all blended together in one continuous ringing sound,—the audible expression of the teeming pro- fusion of Nature. As night came on, many species of frogs and toads in the marshy places joined in the chorus: their croaking and drumming, far louder than anything I had before heard in the same line, being added to the other noises, created an almost deafening din. ‘This uproar of life, I afterwards found, never wholly ceased, night or day: in course of time I became, like other residents, accustomed to it. It is, however, one of the peculiarities of a tropical—at least a Brazilian— climate which is most likely to surprise a stranger. After my return to England, the death-like stillness of days in the country appeared to me as strange as the ringing uproar did on my first arrival at Parad. The object of our visit being accomplished, we returned to the city. The fireflies were then out in great numbers, flitting about the sombre woods, and even the frequented streets. We turned into our hammocks, well pleased with what we had seen, and full of anticipation with regard to the wealth of natural objects we had come to explore. During the first few days, we were employed in landing our baggage and arranging our extensive apparatus. We then accepted the invitation of Mr. Miller to make use of his rocinha, or country-house in the suburbs, until we finally decided on a residence. Upon this we made our first essay in housekeeping. We bought cotton hammocks, the universal substitute for beds in this country, cooking utensils and crockery, and then engaged a free negro, named Isidoro, as cook and servant-of-all-work. Isidoro had served Englishmen in this capacity before, and, although he had not picked up two words of English, he thought he had a great talent for understanding and making himself understood ; in his efforts to do which he was very amusing. Having 6 PARA. Cuap, I. no other medium through which we could make known our wants, we progressed rapidly in learning Portuguese. I was quite surprised to find little or no trace in Isidoro of that baseness of character which I had read of as being the rule amongst negroes in a slave country. Isidoro was an old man, with an anxious lugubrious expression of countenance, and exhibited signs of having been overworked in his younger days, which I understood had been passed in slavery. The first traits I perceived in him were a certain degree of self-respect and a spirit of independence: these I found afterwards to be by no means rare qualities among the free negroes. Some time after he had entered our service, I scolded him one morning about some delay in getting breakfast. It happened that it was not his fault, for he had been detained, much against his will, at the shambles. He resented the scolding, not in an insolent way, but in a quiet, respectful manner, and told me how the thing had occurred ; that I must not expect the same regularity in Brazil which is found in England, and that “ paciencia” was a necessary accomplishment to a Brazilian traveller. ‘There was nothing ridiculous about Isidoro ; there was a gravity of demeanour and sense of propriety about him which would have been considered becoming in a serving-man in any country. This spirit of self-respect is, I think, attributable partly to the lenient treatment which slaves have generally received from their white masters in this part of Brazil, and partly to the almost total absence of prejudice against coloured people amongst the inhabitants. This latter is a very hopeful state of things. It seems to be encouraged by the governing class in Brazil ; and, by drawing together the races and classes of the heterogeneous population, will doubtless lead to the most happy results. I had after- wards, as I shall have to relate in the course of my narrative, to number free negroes amongst my most esteemed friends > men of temperate, quiet habits, desirous of mental and moral improvement, observant of the minor courtesies of life, and quite as trustworthy, in more important matters, as the whites and half-castes of the province. Isidoro was not, perhaps, scrupulously honest in small matters: scrupulous honesty is a rare quality in casual servants anywhere. He took pains to show that he knew he had made a contract to perform certain duties, and he tried, evidently, to perform them to the best of his ability. Our first walks were in the immediate suburbs of Para. ‘The city lies on a corner of land formed by the junction of the river Guama with the Para. AsI have said before, the forest, which covers the whole country, extends close up to the city streets; indeed, the town is built on a tract of cleared land, and is kept free from the jungle only by the constant care of the Government. The surface, though everywhere low, is slightly undulating, so that areas of dry land alternate throughout with areas of swampy ground, the vegetation and animal tenants of the two being widely different. Our residence lay on the side of the city nearest the Guamd, on the borders of one of the low and swampy areas which here extend over a portion of the suburbs. The tract of land is intersected by well-macadamized suburban roads, the chief of which, Estrada das Mongubeiras (the Monguba road), about a mile long, is a magnificent avenue of silk-cotton trees (Bombax monguba and B. ceiba), Cuap. I. FAUNA OF SUBURBS. 7 huge trees whose trunks taper rapidly from the ground upwards, and whose flowers before opening look like red balls studding the branches. This fine road was constructed under the governorship of the Count dos Arcos, about the year 1812. At right angles to it run a number of narrow green lanes, and the whole district is drained by a system of small canals or trenches, through which the tide ebbs and flows, showing the lowness of the site. Before I left the country, other enterprising presidents had formed a number of avenues lined with cocoa-nut palms, almond and other trees, in continuation of the Monguba road, over the more elevated and drier ground to the north-east of the city. On the high ground the vegetation has an aspect quite different from that which it presents in the swampy parts. Indeed, with the exception of the palm trees, the suburbs here have an aspect like that of a village green at home. The soil is sandy, and the open commons are covered with a short grassy and shrubby vegetation. Beyond this, the land again descends to a marshy tract, where, at the bottom of the moist hollows, the public wells are situated. Here all the linen of the city is washed by hosts of noisy negresses, and here also the water-carts are filled—painted hogsheads on wheels, drawn by bullocks. In early morning, when the sun sometimes shines through a light mist, and everything is dripping with moisture, this part of the city is full of life : vociferous negroes and wrangling Gallegos,* the proprietors of the water-carts, are gathered about, jabbering continually, and taking their morning drams in dirty wine-shops at the street corner. Along these beautiful roads we found much to interest us during the first few days. Suburbs of towns, and open, sunny, cultivated places in Brazil, are tenanted by species of animals and plants which are mostly different from those of the dense primeval forests. I will therefore give an account of what we observed of the animal world, during our explorations in the immediate neighbourhood of Para. The number and beauty of the birds and insects did not at first equal our expectations. The majority of the birds we saw were small and obscurely coloured ; they were indeed similar, in general appearance, to such as are met with in country places in England. Occasionally a flock of small paroquets, green, with a patch of yellow on the forehead, would come at early morning to the trees near the Estrada. They would feed quietly, sometimes chattering in subdued tones, but setting up a harsh scream, and flying off, on being disturbed. Humming-birds we did not see at this time, although I afterwards found them by hundreds when certain trees were in flower. Vultures we only saw at a distance, sweeping round at a great height, over the public slaughter-houses. Several flycatchers, finches, ant-thrushes, a tribe of plainly-coloured birds, intermediate in structure between flycatchers and thrushes, some of which startle the new-comer by their extraordinary notes emitted from their places of concealment in the dense thickets; and also tanagers, and other small birds, inhabited in the neighbourhood. None of these had a pleasing song, except a little brown wren (Troglodytes furvus), whose voice and melody resemble those of our English robin. * Natives of Galicia, in Spain, who follow this occupation in Lisbon and Oporto, as well as at Para. 8 PARA. Cuap. L It is often seen, hopping and climbing about the walls and roofs of houses and on trees in their vicinity. Its song is more frequently heard in the rainy season, when the Monguba trees shed their leaves. At those times the Estrada das Mongubeiras has an appearance quite unusual in a tropical country. The tree is one of the few in the Amazons region which sheds all its foliage before any of the new leaf- buds expand. ‘The naked branches, the soddened ground matted with dead leaves, the grey mist veiling the surrounding vegetation, and the cool atmosphere soon after sunrise; all combine to remind one of autumnal mornings in England. Whilst loitering about at such times in a half-oblivious mood, thinking of home, the song of this bird would create for the moment a perfect illusion. Numbers of tanagers frequented the fruit and other trees in our garden. The two principal kinds which attracted our attention were the Rhamphoccelus jacapa and the Tanagra episcopus. The females of both are dull in colour. The male of Jacapa has a beautiful velvety purple and black plumage, the beak being partly white. ‘The same sex in Episcopus is of a pale blue colour, with white spots on the wings. In their habits they both resemble the common house-sparrow of Europe, which does not exist in South America, its place being in some measure filled by these familiar tanagers. They are just as lively, restless, bold, and wary ; their notes are very similar, chirping and inharmonious, and they seem to be almost as fond of the neighbourhood of man. ‘They do not, however, build their nests on houses. Another interesting and common bird was the Japim, a species of Cassicus (C. icteronotus). It belongs to the same family of bird as our starling, magpie, and rook. It has a rich yellow and black plumage remarkably compact and velvety in texture. The shape of its head and its physiognomy are very similar to those of the magpie ; it has light grey eyes, which give it the same knowing expression. It is social in its habits; and builds its nest, like the English rook, on trees in the neighbourhood of habitations. But the nests are quite differently constructed, being shaped like purses, two feet in length, and suspended from the slender branches all round the tree, some of them very near the ground. The entrance is on the side, near the bottom of the nest. This bird is a great favourite with the Brazilians of Pard: it is a noisy, stirring, babbling creature, passing constantly to and fro, chattering to its comrades, and is very ready at imitating other birds, especially the domestic poultry of the vicinity. There was at one time a weekly newspaper published at Pard, called “The Japim”; the name being chosen, I suppose, on account of the babbling propensities of the bizd. Its eggs are nearly round, and of a bluish-white colour, speckled with brown. , Of other vertebrate animals we saw very little, except of the lizards. These are sure to attract the attention of the new comer from Northern Europe, by reason of their strange appearance, great numbers, and variety. ‘The species which are seen crawling over the walls of buildings in the city are different from those found in the forest or in the interior of houses. ‘They are unpleasant-looking animals, with colours assimi- lated to those of the dilapidated stone and mud walls on which they are Cuap)T. FAUNA OF SUBURBS. 9 seen. The house lizards belong to a peculiar family, the Geckos. They are found even in the best-kept houses, most frequently on the walls and ceilings : they are generally motionless by day, being active only at night. They are of speckled grey or ashy colours. The structure of their feet is beautifully adapted for clinging to and running over smooth surfaces ; the underside of their toes being expanded into cushions, beneath which folds of skin form a series of flexible plates. By means of this apparatus they can walk or run across a smooth ceiling with their backs downwards ; the plated soles, by quick muscular action, ex- hausting and admitting air alternately. These Geckos are very repulsive in appearance. The Brazilians give them the name of Osgas, and firmly believe them to be poisonous; they are, however, harmless creatures. The species found in houses are small; I have seen others of great size, in crevices of tree trunks in the forest. Sometimes Geckos are found with forked tails; this results from the budding of a rudimentary tail at the side, from an injury done to the member. A slight rap will cause their tails to snap off; the loss being afterwards partially repaired by a new growth. The tails of lizards seem to be almost useless appendages to the animals. I used often to amuse myself in the suburbs, whilst resting in the verandah of our house during the heat of mid-day, by watching the variegated green, brown, and yellow ground-lizards. They would come nimbly forward, and commence grubbing with their fore feet and snouts around the roots of herbage, searching for insect larve. On the slightest alarm they would scamper off ; their tails cocked up in the air as they waddled awkwardly away, evidently an incumbrance to them in their flight. Next to the birds and lizards, the insects of the suburbs of Para deserve a few remarks. The species observed in the weedy and open places, as already remarked, were generally different from those which dwell in the shades of the forest. It is worthy of notice that those species which have the widest distribution in America, and which have the closest affinity to those of the tropics of the Old World, are such as occur in open sunny places near towns. ‘The general appearance of the insects and birds belonging to such situations is very similar to that of European species. This resemblance, however, is, in many cases, one of analogy only; that is, the species are similar in size, form, and colours, but belong to widely different genera. Thus, all the small carnivorous beetles seen running along sandy pathways, look precisely like the Amare, those oval, coppery beetles which are seen in similar situations in England. But they belong to quite another genus— namely, Selenophorus, the genus Amara being unknown in Tropical America. In butterflies, again, we saw a small species of Erycinide flying about low shrubs in grassy places, which was extremely similar in colours to the European Nemeobius Lucina. The Pard insect, however, belongs to a genus far removed in all essential points of structure from Nemeobius: namely, to Lemonias, being the L. epulus. It is worthy of note that all the Old-World representatives, both tropical and temperate, of this beautiful family of butterflies belong to the same group as the English Nemeobius Lucina; whilst the few species inhabiting North America belong wholly to South American types. 10 PARA. Cuap. 1. Facts of this kind, and there are many of them, would seem to show that it is not wholly the external conditions of light, heat, moisture, and so forth, which determine the general aspect of the animals of a country. It is a notion generally entertained that the superior size and beauty of tropical insects and birds are immediately due to the physical conditions of a tropical climate, or are in some way directly connected with them. I think this notion is an incorrect one, and that there are other causes more powerful than climatal conditions which affect the dress of species. To test this we ought to compare the members of those genera which are common to two regions—say, to Northern Europe and equinoctial America—and ascertain which climate produces the largest and most beautifully-coloured species. We should thus see the sup- posed effects of climate on nearly-allied congeners, that is, creatures very similarly organised. In the first family of the order Coleoptera, for instance, the tiger-beetles (Cicindelide), there is one genus, Cicindela, common to the two regions. The species found in the Amazons Valley have precisely the same habits as their English brethren, running and flying over sandy soils in the bright sunshine. About the same number is found in each of the two countries : but all the Amazonian species are far smaller in size and more obscure in colour than those inhabiting Northern Europe ; none being at all equal in these respects to the common English Cicindela campestris, the handsome light-green tiger-beetle, spotted with white, which is familiar to country residents of natural history tastes in most parts of England. In butterflies I find there are eight genera common to the two regions we are thus pitting against each other. Of these, three only (Papilio, Pieris and Thecla) are represented by handsomer species in Amazonia than in Northern Europe. Three others (Lycena, Melitea and Apatura) yield far more beautiful and larger forms in England than in the Amazonian plains ; as to the remaining two (Pamphila and Pyrgus) there is scarcely any difference. There is another and hitherto neglected fact which I would strongly press upon those who are interested in these subjects. This is, that it is almost always the ma/es only which are beautiful in colours. The brilliant dress is rarely worn by both sexes of the same species: if climate has any direct influence in this matter, why have not both sexes felt its effects, and why are the males of genera living under our gloomy English skies adorned with bright colours ? The tropics, it is true, have a vastly greater total number of hand- some butterflies than the temperate zones; but it must be borne in mind that they contain a far greater number of genera and species altogether. It holds good in all families that the two sexes of the more brilliantly-coloured kinds are seldom equally beautiful; the females being often quite obscure in dress. ‘There is a very large number of dull-coloured species in tropical countries. The tropics have also species in which the contrast between the sexes is greater than in any species of temperate zones ; in some cases the males have been put in one genus and the females in another, so great is the difference between them. There are species of larger size, but at the same time there are others of smaller size, in the same families in Cuap. I. TROPICAL BUTTERFLIES. . I! tropical than in temperate latitudes. If we reflect on all these facts, we must come to the conclusion, that climate, to which we are naturally at first sight inclined to attribute much, has little or no direct influence in the matter. Mr. Darwin was led to the same conclusion many years ago, when comparing the birds, plants, and insects of the Galapagos islands, situated under the equator, with those of Patagonia and Tropical America. The abundance of food, the high temperature, absence of sea- sons, extreme of cold and dearth, and the variety of stations, all probably operate in favouring the existence of a greater number and variety of species in tropical than in temperate latitudes. This, perhaps, is all we can say with regard to the influence of climatal conditions. The causes which have produced the great beauty that astonishes us, if we really wish to investigate them, must be sought in other directions. I think that the facts above mentioned are calculated to guide us in the search. They show, for instance, that beauty of form and colour is not peculiar to one zone, but is producible under any climate where a number of species of a given genus lead a flourishing existence. The ornamental dress is generally the property of one sex to the exclusion of the other, and the cases of widest contrast between the two are exhibited in those regions where life is generally more active and prolific. All this points to the mutual relations of the species, and especially to those between the sexes, as having far more to do in the matter than climate. In the gardens, numbers of fine showy butterflies were seen. There were two swallow-tailed species, similar in colours to the English Papilio Machaon ; a white Pieris (P. Monuste), and two or three species of brimstone and orange coloured butterflies, which do not belong, how- ever, to the same genus as our English species. In weedy places, a beautiful butterfly, with eye-like spots on its wings, was common, the Junonia Lavinia, the only Amazonian species which is at all nearly related to our Vanessas, the Admiral and Peacock butterflies. One day we made our first acquaintance with two of the most beautiful pro- ductions of nature in this department: namely, the Helicopis Cupido and Endymion. A little beyond our house, one of the narrow green lanes which I have already mentioned diverged from the Monguba avenue, and led between enclosures overrun with a profusion of creeping plants and glorious flowers, down to a moist hollow, where there was a public well in a picturesque nook, buried in a grove of Mucaja palm-trees. On the tree-trunks, walls, and palings grew a great quantity of climbing Pothos plants, with large glossy heart-shaped leaves. These plants were the resort of these two exquisite species, and we captured a great number of specimens. ‘They are of extremely delicate texture. The wings are cream-coloured ; the hind pair have several tail-like appendages, and are spangled beneath as if with silver. Their flight is very slow and feeble ; they seek the protected under- surface of the leaves, and in repose close their wings over the back, so as to expose the brilliantly spotted under-surface. I will pass over the many other orders of families of insects, and proceed at once to the ants. These were in great numbers everywhere, but I will mention here only two kinds. We were amazed at seeing ants an inch and a quarter in length, and stout in proportion, marching i2 PARA. Cuap. I. in single file through the thickets. These belonged to the species called Dinoponera grandis. Its colonies consist of a small number of individuals, and are established about the roots of slender trees. It is a stinging species, but the sting is not so severe as in many of the smaller kinds. ‘There was nothing peculiar or attractive in the habits of this giant among the ants. Another far more interesting species was the Saiiba (GEcodoma cephalotes). This ant is seen everywhere about the suburbs, marching to and fro in broad columns. From its habit of despoiling the most valuable cultivated trees of their foliage, itis a great scourge to the Brazilians. In some districts it is so abundant that agriculture is almost impossible, and everywhere complaints are heard of the terrible pest. The workers of this species are of three orders, and vary in size from two to seven lines; some idea of them may be obtained from the accompanying woodcut. The true working-class ofa colony is formed by the small-sized order of workers, the worker-minors as they are called wv vs Sew? =