is 2 
MEMOIR. xxix 
of mammalian species is explained by the general poverty of Brazil 
in terrestrial mammals. It shares unduly in that world-wide 
zoological destitution which characterises the most recent geological 
periods. Of the foregoing total, not less, but probably more, than 
eight thousand of the species were wew ¢o science. This estimate, 
which was challenged by the authorities of the British Museum, 
is more than justified in the correspondence between Bates and 
Dr. (now Sir) Joseph D. Hooker, printed on page Ixv. 
Bates arrived at Para on March 17th, 1859. Old friends there 
gave him a welcome, the warmth of which surprised him. In his 
modest assessment of his work he did not think that “a man who 
had spent seven and a half years in exploring the interior of the 
country, solely with scientific aims, should be somewhat of acuriosity.” 
That his memory is cherished in the Amazons is shown in the 
following letter addressed to the foreign secretary of the Royal 
Geographical Society :— 
‘‘PARIS: 66, RUE Mozart, Ze 8 Mars. 
‘“*My Lorp, 
‘On my arrival from Brazil, where I have been passing the last five 
months, I learn from the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society the 
sad news of Mr. Bates’s death. I feel the greatest grief for his loss, and I 
wish that not only his family, but also our Society, should rest assured that 
in all Brazil, and especially in the Amazons, his death will be deeply felt. 
Native of that vast and far-off province, asa child I learnt to admire the author 
of the Naturalist on the Amazons. Mr. Bates was one of the first to foretell 
the splendid future of the Amazonian valley, and to describe its bewildering 
splendours. Although his voyage to the Amazons was undertaken in his 
early manhood, time has not been able to efface his memory, and many an 
inhabitant of our regions still retains a vivid remembrance of the English 
naturalist. In 1889 I was fortunate enough to make his acquaintance, and 
great was my pleasure to find that he also remembered with delight his bold 
and perilous excursions in our forests, and recalled readily to mind episodes 
of that period of his life. On that occasion Mr. Bates offered me his portrait. 
I am convinced that the two provinces of Para and the Amazons will make it 
a point of honour to place in their Congress Halls a large-sized reproduction 
of this photograph, as a homage due alike to a modest savaz¢ and to English 
science. 
“In conclusion, may I ask your lordship to be the interpreter of my 
sentiments on this occasion towards our Society and the family of the 
illustrious deceased ? 
‘‘T have, etc., 
‘BARON DE SANTA ANNA NERY. 
“* Corresponding Member of the Royal Geographical Society.” * 
* Printed in Proceedings of Royal Geographical Society, April 1892. 
