78 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
Amazons Valley, and in 1849 a series of letters from him com- 
menced to appear in the ‘ Zoologist.’ These letters are very 
interesting reading. In those days steam travelling had not been 
commenced on the Amazons, and penetration far up the river was 
a matter of considerable difficulty. Moreover, the means at the 
disposal of the explorer were very small; he had in fact to 
support himself as he went on by the sale of specimens in 
Europe. Hence it is no wonder that he became somewhat dis- 
heartened; and we find from the letters in the ‘ Zoologist’ that 
after he had been two or three years in S. America, he had 
determined to return to England. He did not do so, however, 
until the year 1859, fully eleven years after his arrival in 
S. America. During this period he underwent many hardships, 
and displayed much self-denial, his expenses, as he tells us in 
the letters we are drawing from, amounting to only about 
two pounds per month. Notwithstanding the difficulties he 
experienced, he persevered resolutely in the formation of col- 
lections of zoological specimens, and discovered a very large 
number of new species. The “exquisite pleasure,” as he himself 
said, “of finding another new species of these lovely creatures 
supports one against everything.” He also wrote several papers 
while travelling that were published in Europe, one among 
them being a very important contribution to the Natural History 
of the White Ants. How many species Bates actually discovered 
will probably never be known, as some portions of his collections 
have not yet been worked out. It was, however, stated that in the 
five years from 1851 to 1856 he met with 5860 species of insects. 
On his return to this country, Bates commenced the working 
out of his collections in an energetic and thorough manner. He 
published papers on various orders, but his attention was at first 
chiefly given to the Lepidoptera, especially to the butterflies. 
Thirty years ago the knowledge of butterflies was much less 
advanced than it is at present, and Bates contributed greatly to 
its progress by making a more satisfactory classification of the 
Rhopalocera than the one then in vogue. The system thus 
introduced by Bates still forms an important part of rhopalocerous 
taxonomy. It was, too, at this period that he published his 
famous paper in the 23rd vol. of the ‘Transactions of the 
Linnean Society’ calling attention to the resemblances between 
different species of Lepidoptera, and in fact founding the theory 
of Mimicry. When he had completed his work on the Butterflies, 
he parted with the material he had accumulated, selling it to 
Messrs. Godman and Salvin, of whose unrivalled collection it 
still forms an important part. 
In 1864, Bates became Assistant-Secretary in the Royal - 
Geographical Society, and continued in this post to the great 
advantage of the Society till the time of his decease. ‘This 
position he obtained, not by his own seeking, but on the 
