118 REVIEWS. 



only to be forgotten, but be treasured alike for the observations in their 

 pages, and the patient spirit of inquiry in which they were made. The 

 volume of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, by Mr. A. R. Wallace, 

 now before us, is a well marked example of this class, and one that will 

 amply repay a careful perusal. Written under circumstances of great dis- 

 couragement, it nevertheless presents a mass of valuable observations, in- 

 teresting to all true naturalists, as descriptive of a little known, though 

 most luxuriant region. 



Mr. Wallace, who was most desirous " of seeing with his own eyes all 

 those wonders which he had delighted to read of in the narratives of tra- 

 vellers," was induced, by a perusal of Mr. Edwards' little book, "A Voyage 

 up the Amazon," to start on the same route, purposing to pay his expenses 

 by making collections in natural history; which we are glad to say, for the 

 sake of scientific enterprise, he succeeded in doing. The pages now before 

 us contain an account of how four years could be spent on the Amazon and 

 Rio Negro ; the first and last portions being nearly a transcript of his 

 journals, while the intervening portion is merely gleaned from rough notes 

 saved from the burning of the Helen, the ship in which his homeward 

 voyage was made, and which caused the loss of all the notes made during 

 two years, as well as the greater part of his collections and sketches. 



The scene chosen for our author's labours was a most encouraging one 

 for the naturalist to explore. Situated, as the basin of the Amazon is, in 

 the Tropics, on both sides of the Equator, it surpasses in dimensions that 

 of any other river in the world. The body of fresh water it empties into 

 the sea is not only absolutely, but also, in all probability, relatively to its 

 area, greater than that of any other river in the world. For richness of 

 vegetable production, and fertility of soil, it is unequalled in the globe, and 

 capable of supporting a greater population than any other of equal ex- 

 tent. From about 4° north latitude, to 20° south, every stream that 

 flows down the eastern slope of the Andes is a tributary of the Amazon. 

 Some idea, though a faint one, may be formed by imagining every river, 

 from St. Petersburg to Madrid, uniting their waters into one large river. 

 The true source of the Amazon our author, for several reasons, judges to 

 be the Maranon ; and, speaking of its extent, he says : — 



" We find that, from its origin in Lake Lauricocha to its mouth, in longitude 

 50° west, its length, following the main curves, but disregarding the minuter 

 windings, is 2,740 English miles. Its extent, in a straight line, from east to west, 

 is about 2,050 miles; and from north to south its tributary streams cover a space 

 of 1,720 miles. The whole area of its basin, except the Tocatius, which I consider 

 a distinct river, is 2,300,000 English square miles, or 1,760,000 nautical ones ; this 

 is rather more than one- third of South America, and equal to two-thirds of all 

 Europe. All western Europe could be placed in it without touching its boundaries, 

 and it could contain all our Indian empire." 



