SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I929 



127 



Mr. Smith went on foot to Balsapuerto, 50 miles west of Yurimaguas, 

 at the base of the Andes, bringing back a vahiable collection. 



I spent several days along the right-of-way being cleared for the 

 proposed railroad from Yurimaguas to the Pacific. One of the most 

 difficult problems for the botanical collector in the tropical jungle is 

 the making of herbarium specimens of tall trees and high climbing- 

 lianas. To cut down a giant tree not only requires much time but 

 very often the upper portion merely falls upon some other tree, which 

 in turn has to be chopped down, or is supported high up in the air by 

 a net work of woody vines. So a place where the land is being cleared 

 is sought. Along this right-of-way it was a comparatively simple 



Fig. 1 10. — Fishing craft at Para. Every evening these boats return to port, 

 well laden with tlie hsh of the lower Amazon. 



matter to obtain si^eciniens not only of the large trees themselves l)ut 

 of the dense epiphytic growth covering the topmost branches. 



While i\Ir. Smith and I were in the Yurimaguas section INIr. Dennis 

 went to the rapids of Alanseriche, at the head of navigation on the 

 Maranon, exploring also the lower portions of the Morona and 

 Pastaza rivers. So far as known, the only botanical collecting previ- 

 ously done in this region is that of Tessmann, a German botanist 

 stationed for several years at Iquitos. 



Plans for the field-work of the expedition called for our spending 



all our time in Peru, so the 2,000-niile trip from Iquitos down the 



Amazon to Para was made as speedily as possible. It was, however, 



rather an aggravation to cross Brazil at almost its widest part with- 



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