366 SKETCH OP THE 



be pursued, ^nd the thorough investigation of one province would be 

 deemed the worthier object. In fact, a voyage of discovery, like that 

 of M. de Humboldt in another part of the American continent, was 

 the errand on which our naturalists were bound. 



The new scientific conquest of Brazil was pursued by the members 

 of the Austrian commission as follows : — Auguste de St. Hilaire and 

 Sellow investigated, separately and in different directions, the southern 

 part of the empire ; Pohl, the pruicipal botanist, explored the central 

 region ; Langsdorff and Riedel, whose collections belong to the Museum 

 of Petersburg, went from Rio Janeiro to Bahia and the Amazon River; 

 while M. de Martins (now the sole survivor of all' these travellers), 

 ranged, with Spix his colleague, over a much wider territory than any 

 of the others; for he first visited tbe provinces of Rio and St. Paul, 

 and then reached Pernambuco and Bahia, passing through the interior 

 of the country, and enduring numberless difficulties, privations, and 

 dangers. He made a fine harvest in the province of Ilheos, and soon 

 quitted Bahia for a still more extensive journey, across the provinces of 

 Piauhy and Maranham to the Amazon River, which he ascended as far 

 as the confines of Peru. 



MM. Spix and Martius happily achieved in three years this immense 

 journey of from 4000 to 4300 miles, through a hitherto unexplored 

 territory : they incurred no serious accident, and brought home their 

 valuable collections in safety. The Museum of Natural History in 

 Munich was enriched by our travellers with the following treasures : 

 Mammifera, 85 species; Birds, 350 species; Amphibia, 130 species; 

 Fishes, 116 species; Articulata, 2700 species; Arachnidea, 80 species; 

 Crustacea, 80 species; Plants, 6500 species. 



. The total expense of the expedition amounted to £2400 (30,000 

 florins), by no means a large sum, considering the extent of the coun- 

 try which was visited, and the mimber, novelty, and value of the col- 

 lections. 



But valuable collections are trifles, compared with the use which is 

 made of them. The King, the Bavarian Academy, and the travellers 

 themselves, were perfectly aware that it is not enough to pile up new 

 and curious objects in a museum, but that it is chiefly important to 

 study, figure, and publish them, 



MM. Spix and Martius hastened to draw up an account of their 

 journey, and they undertook simultaneously, the former a large publi- 



