MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 87 
rapidity of the stream is estimated at six miles per hour. In 
places the river is extremely wide, covering hundreds of miles 
of territory. One is disappointed in not seeing the number 
of wild birds expected. After the heat of the day is past, 
which is after three o’clock, there are numbers of parrots 
which always fly in pairs. Along the edges of the stream the 
bird most frequently seen is the egret. During transit one 
becomes indifferent to the familiar sound of the bottom of 
the boat dragging on sandbars. However, on reaching a bend 
in a narrow part of the river, we ran aground and were held 
fast. In the course of two or three hours the boat was pushed 
off by means of long mahogany poles, and block and tackle 
attached to a winch. After taking soundings with ordinary 
bamboo rods, we were found to be in only two and one-half 
feet of water, so the boat backed out and tied to the bank 
to await patiently the rise of the river. 
‘‘It was here that I started my first collections for the 
herbarium. I had not gone very far through the impenetra- 
ble vegetation when my friend Black advised me to not be 
quite so much interested in plants, but more so in my own 
safety, in view of the rattlesnakes, ete. 
‘‘During the two days and three nights spent here several 
monkeys were shot and the only excitement was watching 
other boats going through the same experience with the sand- 
bar. Within two days there were eight boats tied up at this 
point, aggregating twenty per cent of the navigation of the 
river. Much interest was shown in the black measuring stick 
on the side of the river which gradually indicated the rising 
stream. A most unusual incident for a passenger ship was 
the shutting down of the boilers, under orders from the cap- 
tain, which resulted in no electric lights, no fans, no water 
in the shower baths, and last but not least, no water for 
sanitation. Upon remonstrating with the captain we were 
informed that he was saving fuel, despite the fact that the 
banks on each side were heavily wooded. The morning of the 
third day at six o’clock the gage indicated that there was 
three feet of water, so we finally got by the sandbar. 
‘‘Wrom now on the river was quite narrow, the scenery 
very picturesque, with mountains all around. We finally 
reached the uppermost port of the Lower Magdalena River, 
La Dorada. From here we caught a wood-burning train to 
Beltran, a distance of sixty-five miles. The object of this 
