THE NAUTILUS. 55 



of Tomigerus, but the other things, unless it be in Pisidium and 

 Planorbis, seem likely to prove well known. 



On the way up. the coast to Parfl two of us decided that it would 

 be a shame to visit Brazil and not go up the Amazon, so after seeing 

 the rest of the party off for New York we got aboard this ship for a 

 run at least as far up as Manaos, on the Rio Negro, 1004 miles from 

 the Amazonian mouths. Our experience would be a surprise to 

 Bates and Wallace, or even to Agassiz. Manaos is the real center 

 of the great trade in so-called Para rubber, and in these later days 

 great ships clear direct for this port from New York and various 

 European countries. So we were able to take passage fora thousand 

 miles in this transatlantic liner of 6600 tons, furnishing magnificent 

 accommodations and service, and we are just finishing the run against 

 the powerful current of the rivers in less than three and a half days. 

 We shall get in this evening, but shall not be allowed to land till the 

 morning. 



Our further plans are a trifle in the air, but we are going to try 

 for passes up the Madeira river for some six hundred miles to the 

 works of the Madeira & Mamore R. R. Co. Here the government 

 is building some two hundred miles of railroad at enormous expense 

 around the falls and rapids of the Madeira river to tap another thou- 

 sand miles of navigable river running into the heart of the rubber 

 country forming the angle of Bolivia and Peru. The enterprise is 

 largely in the hands of American and English engineers and physi- 

 cians, and we are assured of a warm welcome and much help in 

 collecting if the powers that be decide to send us up. 



I believe that no land or fresh-water shells have gone out from 

 this Madeira country, so that I feel sure of getting material of much 

 value if I get any. Likewise my companion, the entomologist, knows 

 of nothing in his line that the country has furnished except some 

 butterflies, so we are both extremely anxious to get in. If we succeed 

 we shall have at least a month on the ground for actual collecting. 



Meanwhile we have had a most glorious sail up the Amazon till a 

 couple of hours ago, when we entered the Rio Negro. To avoid the 

 heavy current the ship has hugged the sides of the river, often within 

 a hundred feet, giving us a splendid chance to observe animal and 

 vegetable life at a reasonable range for field-glasses. Animal life has 

 not been plentiful, but it has been interesting. The harpy eagle, 

 parrots, toucans, kingfishers, terns and three species of heron have 



