16 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM 



Schomburgk and his brother, Richard Schomburgk, during the j^ears 1840-1844. 

 Robert in the second expedition went as an explorer for the British Government. 

 Richard Schomburgk was sent along by the king of Prussia at the instigation of 

 Alexander Von Humboldt. 



Robert H. Schomburgk during his first expedition collected but few specimens, 

 to which we may now refer. But he had many drawings made and furnished notes 

 concerning the species drawn. The notes were edited, the drawings named, and 

 the whole published by Jardine as "Fishes of British Guiana," Parts I and II, 

 forming Volumes XXXIX and XL of "The Naturalists Library." 



Schomburgk not only explored the rivers flowing northward, but made a long 

 tour across the head of the Orinoco, down the Rio Negro, and up the Rio Branco. 

 Fifty-three of the eighty-three species noted in the volumes seem to have come 

 from the basin of the Rio Negro, only thirty being definitely ascribed to streams 

 flowing northward. 



I long ago expressed the opinion that some of the drawings are composites, 

 and that in some cases a wrong combination of figure and description was made 

 by the editor. 4 Nevertheless the two little volumes form a notable contribution 

 to the knowledge of the fishes of Guiana. Schomburgk presented to the Jardin 

 des Plantes and to the British Museum several specimens, which were made the 

 types of new species. Whether they were collected during his first or second 

 expedition I do not know. 



Schomburgk's first journey was described in his "Reisen in Guiana und am 

 Orinoco wahrend der Jahre 1835-1839," published by O. A. Schomburgk, Leipzig, 

 1841. The journey was divided into several longer or shorter excursions. 



1. He left Georgetown September 21, 1835, and ascended the Essequibo to 

 the Cuyuni, up which he went a short distance, and then continued on up the Esse- 

 quibo to the Rupununi and up this river to near its source. He then returned to the 

 Essequibo and went up this stream to the William IVth Cataract, then down to the 

 Siparuni, up which he went some distance, returning March 28, 1836, to Georgetown. 



2. On September 2, 1836, he again left Georgetown and ascended the Couran- 

 tyne to some large cataracts. 



3. On November 25th he started up the Berbice River and went to the parallel 



4 Schomburgk's difficulties may be appreciated from liis statements, Vol. I, 82-83: "But with the ex- 

 ception of my Indian friends and Dr. Fleming's Philosophy of Natural History I had nothing to guide me in 

 my researches" and "The first specimen of any fish, a drawing of which we did not previously possess, served 

 generally to sketch its outward forms and general colors on the paper; and when we were fortunate enough 

 to secure a second specimen those delicate hues were painted in, which are only visible immediately after the 

 fish comes out of the water." 



