vill PREFACE. 
degrees of the equator, the last three of which were spent in 
the wild country 1400 miles from the sea-coast, I saw little 
prospect of ever giving my narrative to the world; and, 
indeed, after two years had elapsed, had almost abandoned the 
intention of doing so. At that date I became acquainted with 
Mr. Darwin, who, having formed a flattering opinion of my 
ability for the task, strongly urged me to write a book, and, 
reminded me of it months afterwards, when, after having 
made a commencement, my half-formed resolution began 
to give way. Under this encouragement the arduous task 
is at length accomplished. It seems necessary to make this 
statement, as it explains why so long a time has intervened 
between my arrival in England and the publication of my 
book. 
The collections that I made during the whole eleven years 
were sent, at intervals of a few months, to London for dis- 
tribution, except a set of species reserved for my own study, 
which remained with me, and always accompanied me in my 
longer excursions. With the exception of a few living plants 
and specimens in illustration of Economical and Medicinal 
Botany, these collections embraced only the Zoological pro- 
ductions of the region. The following is an approximative 
enumeration of the total number of species of the various 
classes which I obtained :— 
Mammals - : : : : : 52 
Birds , : ‘ i i : : 360 
Reptiles . : : 3 ; : ' 140 
Fishes. : s : ; ; , 120 
Insects . ‘ i i 3 3 : . 14,000 
Mollusks . . ; ; : ; ; 35 
Zoophytes , z ; : ; ‘ ‘ 5 


