4 INTRODUCTION. 
In August 1861, I joined Salvin on his third expedition to Guatemala, and, after 
spending three weeks in Jamaica en route, we landed at Belize; thence taking our 
passage in a coasting schooner we arrived at Yzabal on the Golfo Dolce. Here we 
remained a few days, making preparations for our journey and engaging Indians and 
mules to transport ourselves and our baggage to the interior. This place will, 
however, always be associated in my mind with my first sight of a living example 
of one of the most striking and gorgeous of all butterflies, Morpho peleides. Iwas 
sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree in the forest, when it came floating past me, but 
1 was so overcome with astonishment and delight at this wonderful vision that, 
although I had a butterfly net in my hand, I was utterly unable to rise in pursuit 
until it was too late to capture it. 
Crossing the Mico range of mountains, we spent a few days at Quirigua, where © 
I first encountered the great Howling Monkey (J/ycetes villosus), which frequents 
the dense forest in troops, making night hideous with its howls, which could 
be heard in the stillness for a distance of some miles. As we were sleeping in 
hammocks swung from the boughs of trees, we were somewhat disturbed in our 
slumbers. We also spent our time photographing the old Indian ruins and exploring 
the forest in the vicinity. Dry and highly sensitive plates, such as are in ordinary 
use now, did not then exist, and every photographer was obliged to carry about the 
necessary materials for preparing and developing his own plates, which might either 
be wet, entailing immediate development, or dry (tanning), when they could be kept 
for some days. The whole photographic apparatus, including chemicals, fitted into 
a case, which formed a load for one of our Indian carriers. Our first essay at photo- 
eraphy in the forest was not a success, as we found that after exposing the plates 
for twenty minutes no details were to be seen. ‘This we discovered was owing to 
the dense green foliage overhead, through which the light had scarcely any effect in 
dissolving the nitrate of silver on the plate, and consequently no image was produced. 
In order to overcome this difficulty, we then hired Indians to cut down the trees which 
shaded the objects we wished to photograph. This delayed us a few days, which, 
however, we employed in collecting birds and insects, until a sufficient number of 
trees were felled to admit light upon the ruins, when we again proceeded to take 
photographs of the large monoliths, now obtaining very successful results. These 
ruins are fully described and illustrated in the ‘Archeology’ of the ‘ Biologia,’ by 
A. P. Maudslay. 
From Quirigua we again took the mule track, for it could hardly be called a road, 
through the valley of the Motagua River to Zacapa, and thence to Guatemala City. 
We spent a day or two at the Capital and then proceeded to Dueftas, where we 
remained for some weeks in most delightful quarters at the house of Mr. William 
Wyld, a friend of Salvin’s. Our time at this place was devoted to collecting, chiefly 
in the high forests of the Volcan de Fuego, the peak of which we ascended, and 
