VOYAGE FROM NEW YORK TO RIO DE JANEIRO. 7 



* 



We are now fairly in the tropics. "The trades' 1 blow 

 heavily, and yesterday was a dreary day for those unused to 

 the ocean ; the beautiful blue water, of a peculiar metallic 

 tint, as remarkable in color, it seemed to me, as the water 

 of the Lake of Geneva, did not console us for the heavy 

 moral and physical depression of sea-sick mortals. To-day 

 the world looks brighter ; there is a good deal of motion, 

 but we are more accustomed to it. This morning the lec- 

 ture had, for the first time, a direct bearing upon the work 

 of the expedition. The subject was, " How to observe, 

 and what are the objects of scientific explorations in mod- 

 ern times." 



" My companions and myself have come together so sud- 

 denly and so unexpectedly on our present errand, that we 

 have had little time to organize our work. The laying out 

 of a general scheme of operations is, therefore, the first and 

 one of the most important points to be discussed between 

 us. The time for great discoveries is passed. No student 

 of nature goes out now expecting to find a new world, or 

 looks in the heavens for any new theory of the solar system. 

 The work of the naturalist, in our day, is to explore worlds 

 the existence of which is already known ; to investigate, 

 not to discover. The first explorers, in this modern sense, 

 were Humboldt in the physical world, Cuvier in natural 

 history, Lavoisier in chemistry, La Place in astronomy. 

 They have been the pioneers in the kind of scientific work 

 characteristic of our century. We who have chosen Brazil 

 as our field must seek to make ourselves familiar with its 

 physical features, its mountains and its rivers, its animals 

 and plants. There is a change, however, to be introduced 



force of the current, the density and color of the water, and the animal and 

 vegetable productions contained in it. (See Appendix No. I.) L. A. 



