298 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



Localities for Future Work. 

 The Piano Alto, or central plateau of Brazil, supports an extremely 

 meager fauna and flora. An occasional deer, beetles, and a few 

 woodpeckers are the animals most commonly seen. But along 

 the base of this dissected plateau are numerous large forests and 

 jungles which are teeming with life and are as a rule free from the 

 dreaded tropical diseases. The regions along the border of Bahia 

 and Goyaz, between the Rio Grande and Rio Preto, teem with in- 

 sects, birds, plants, and large mammals, especially during the dry 

 season (April to November). This region is on the outskirts of 

 civilization, and therefore a good place for collecting. Besides 

 this area is quite accessible, another point to be considered by the 

 collector. It is possible to go by rail from Bahia to Joazeiro and then 

 by small steamers up the Rio Sao Francisco and Rio Grande to 

 Barreiras, and also from Rio Grande up the Rio Preto to its junction 

 with the Rio Sapon. In the eastern part of the Sao Francisco basin 

 west of the Serra de Jacobina in the Rio Salitre valle)^ during extremely 

 prolonged droughts, the denizens of forest and field are pushed out of 

 their usual abodes to seek water. They consequently congregate 

 around the salty lagoons of the Salitre basin. I have seen at one time 

 more than one hundred species of birds, together with many of the 

 larger mammals, more or less peacefully partaking of the scanty 

 saline water. 



The country of the Rio Ribeira da Iguape is the cheapest region of 

 Brazil for an explorer, and it is quite accessible and has a good climate 

 except during the heavy rains, which usually fall between December 

 and April. From this part of Brazil one may easily get to Paraguay 

 either by land or by water. The climate of eastern Paraguay is 

 superb. Living in Paraguay is cheaper than elsewhere in South 

 America. If the collector settles down in the interior and wins the 

 confidence of the Indian children, great quantities of natural history 

 specimens may be obtained by ofifering to them small sums. 



The headwaters of the Rio Paraguay can be easily reached by 

 steamer from the capital of Paraguay. The chapada of Matto Grosso 

 and the Bolivian highlands draining into the Paraguay river are 

 accessible, healthful, and a very rich field for natural history specimens. 



With some difficulty the explorer can cross over into either the 

 Guapore or the Araguay basin. In the great Guapore valley there 

 is scarcely a break in the gigantic forests, which are choked by vines, 



