PREFACE. 



I HAVE already explained in the narration of my Travels amongst the 

 Great Andes of the Equator the circumstances under which the collec- 

 tions were formed that are described in this Supplementary Appendix 

 to that work. It is said there, and it may be desirable to repeat 

 here, that, whilst it was my aim to secure all we might discover in the 

 highest zones of the Andes of Ecuador, it was not intended to attempt 

 to examine zoologically the lower regions of that country. The latter 

 have often been worked l)y professional collectors, and they are easy 

 of access, and can be explored with comparatively little trou]:)le at any 

 time. The loftier and highest regions, on the other hand, had not 

 previoTisly been examined ; they offer nothing that is attractive to a 

 commercial collector; they are more or less difficult of access, and 

 they are, in consequence of the violent and rapid meteorological dis- 

 turbances which frequently occur, well-nigh inaccessible to all except 

 those who are prepared to remain for a length of time at a great 

 height, provided with such equipments as will afford efficient protec- 

 tion against the inclemency of the weather. 



After our experiences in these elevated regions, I should call the 

 work of collection in them one of the most arduous that a Botanist or 

 Zoologist could undertake. In the intervals of fine weather acquisi- 

 tions are likely to be small, and there are long periods in which 

 nothing can be accomplished ; and, since my return, I have felt even 

 more strongly than before our departure, it is improbable that for 



