15 



At no time on either of these two trips did Prof. Hartt 

 lose a moment in idleness; when no other work could be 

 done, he busied himself in studying the Mundurucu and 

 Maue dialects of the modern Tupi language of the Ama- 

 zonas, and in bringing together the stories and myths 

 which are current in the tribes. He has prepared a large 

 volume on the grammar, vocabulary, and stories of this 

 language, which yet remains unpublished. 



Prof. Hartt returned to Ithaca, N. Y., about January, 

 1872, where he remained two years and a half, giving all 

 the time he could spare from his college duties to work- 

 ing up the results of his two Amazonian trips, with the 

 aid of two assistants, Mr. O. A. Derby and myself. His 

 reports were published, as soon as finished, in the jour- 

 nals of several scientific societies. During this time he 

 also gave popular lectures on Brazil, in New York, 

 Boston and Syracuse. 



But Prof. Hartt was unable to continue long in this 

 state of comparative quietude. In bringing together the 

 results of his several trips to South America, with the 

 object of explaining the geology of all Brazil, he saw 

 how meagre were his data for this purpose, notwithstand- 

 ing all that he and others had recently done, towards 

 elucidating the structure of many portions of this vast 

 region. He wished to extend his researches, and con- 

 ceived the idea of organizing a survey of the whole 

 Brazilian Empire, which has an area scarcely less than 

 that of the United States. There was onl}^ one way of 

 accomplishing such an undertaking ; it must be supported 

 by the government. Hartt ventured to bring the matter 

 to the attention of some of his Brazilian friends, and his 

 ideas met with such favor that, in 1874, he received an 

 unofficial invitation from the Brazilian Minister of Agri- 

 culture, to submit a proposition for the systematic geo- 

 logical exploration of the Empire. In August of the 

 same year he accordingly went to Rio de Janeiro, for the 

 purpose of formally presenting his plans. Upon arriving 

 at that city he was received with almost as much enthu- 

 siasm as was Prof. Agassiz nearly ten years earlier. He 

 was honored for the good he had alread}' done Brazil 



