of an Expedition up the Capim River. 475 



to have been reached in half-a-day's paddling. But in 

 Wallace's time the Tembe and Turyuaras Indians had their 

 "nialocas" considerably lower down the river than at present, 

 and it was easier to reach them than it is now. 



Dr. Sclater calls the river Capim li a small river issuing 

 into the Rio Para, near the city of Para" [op. cit. p. 507). 

 This is quite a mistake, as the Capim River, which 

 measures fully a kilometre in breadth at its mouth, and not 

 less than from 50 to 60 metres at Poco Real and the waterfalls 

 near Acaryucaua in lat. 3i° S., and is, moreover, navigable 

 during many weeks for steamers, ought not to be classed as 

 an unimportant and inconsiderable stream. But compared 

 with some others of the great tributaries of the Amazon 

 such as the Tocantins, Xingu, and Tapajuz, the Capim River 

 certainly plays a secondary part. 



I have done all in my power to give a complete sketch of 

 the bird-life on the Capim River, beginning from the results 

 of Wallace's visit in 1849. This may be allowed to be a useful 

 attempt to form a special and somewhat elaborate picture of 

 the ornithological features of a circumscribed portion of the 

 interior of the State of Para, but will be still more useful, 

 I agree, in the case of its being followed by a series of 

 similar sketches of other localities constructed on the 

 same principle. 



It is an agreeable duty to me to state again that the 

 constant help which I have had from Dr. Sclater, whose 

 never-ceasing interest in the Neotropical Avifauna is 

 evidenced by a whole series of monumental works, shews 

 that he does not feel the trouble which I am always causing 

 him by my requests for the determination and identification 

 of bird-skins, the comparison of which with type-specimens 

 seems to me to be indispensable for careful work. 



II. Narrative of the Journey. 



Embarking at Para at 7.15 a.m. on the 15th of June, 1897, 

 in fine weather, on the steam-launch 'Lauro Sadre,' usually 

 engaged on the Immigration Service and lent to me by the 

 Government, we traversed the distance to Pazenda Approaga 



2i 2 



