MEMOIR OF C. F. P VON MARTIUS. 171 



San Paolo, tliey passed in a northeasterly direction tbrougli tlie prov- 

 ince of Minas Cferaes as lar as ^liuas Xovas ; tlien tbrongh the Serra 

 Diamantina, touching- the province of Goyaz, when they turned again 

 toward the northeast and proceeded to San Salvador, the cai)ital of the 

 province of Bahia. They arrived there in November 1818, After a 

 short sojourn at this place, and having visited the Botocudos and other 

 adjacent Indian tribes, they continued their journey toward tlie north, 

 traversing the provinces of Pernambnco, Piauhy, and Maranhao, until 

 they readied San Luiz, situated at the mouth of the Itapicuru. From 

 there they went by sea to the estuary of the Amazon River, arriving at 

 Para in June 1819. They then ascended this mighty stream for more 

 than two-thirds of its length, as far as Tabatinga, close to the fi ontier 

 of Peru. The travelers having separated for awhile to visit different 

 parts of this region, Martins "explored one of the tributaries of the 

 Amazon, the Kio Japura, (Yupura) until he arrived at the cataract 

 Salto Grande de Araracoara, which impeded a further advance. The 

 larger affluents of the great river, the Eio Negro and Rio Madeira, were 

 likewise explored some distance, the latter as far as the districts of the 

 Mnndrucii and Maulie Indians. It must be remembered that the navi- 

 gation of those waters, which is now greatly facilitated by steam ves- 

 sels, had then to be performed in hired or purchased boats, which, being- 

 manned with Indian rowers, aftbrded hardly room for the travelers and 

 their ever increasing- luggage, and offered no other protection against 

 the burning equatorial sun and the heavy rains but a slight cover con- 

 structed of boughs. Amid a multitude of inconveniences, and some- 

 times exposed to real danger, tliey had to keep their journals, and to 

 prepare and preserve the natural objects obtained during their excur- 

 sions on the banks ; yet the collections they brought back, which now 

 enrich the museums of Munich, bear evidence of their great success.* 

 Descending- the Amazon, they sirrived again in Para in the middle of 

 April 1820. Two months afterward they embarked for Lisbon, and 

 reached Munich in December 1820, after an absence of nearly four years. 

 The expedition of Spix and Martins certainly ranks among the most 

 important enterprises undertaken for scientific purposes in this century. 

 Their explorations extended over a distance of nearly one thousand 

 four hundred geographical miles, and have, like the travels of Alex- 

 ander von Humboldt, furnished the material for numerous works em- 

 bracing- many departments of science ; indeed, the period of nearly half 

 a century, which has elapsed since the return of the naturalists, was 

 not sufficient for fully developing, and giving to the scientific world, all 

 results of their researches. Since La Condamine descended the Ama- 

 zon, Spix and Martins were the first learned Europeans who visited 

 those mighty waters; and though others had previously exi)lored cer- 

 tain portions of Brazil, the country, on the whole, still remained com- 

 paratively unknown. Hence the importance of the Bavarian expedi- 

 tion. The names of Spix and Martins are intimately connected with the 

 natural history and ethnology of the empire, and will be gratefully 

 remembered in future times by all those who take a scientific interest in 

 that country, or wish to inform themselves concerning its condition in 

 the early part of our century. 



"^ Besides valuable miaeralojj;ical aud geological specimeus, their collectious embraced : 

 mammals, 85 species; birds, 350; amphibia, 130; tisbes, 116; iusects, 2,700 ; arachiiidae 

 and crnstaceaus, each 50 ; plants, about 6,500. The latter, mostly represented by sev- 

 eral specimens and carefully preserved, constitute now the most valuable portion of 

 the royal herbarium at Munich. The botanical garden also received its share, partly 

 in living plants, partly in such as were raised from the collected seeds. The whole 

 was placed under the care of the Academy. 



