PREFACE vii 



wa}'. No other man of the party was well enough to 

 walk. 



Mr. Andre is well qualified to tell the fascinating 

 story of wild life in regions such as these — and there is a 

 fascination about the life, not only for those who can sit 

 at home and read at their ease of travel and adventure in 

 far-off lands, but for those who have had actual experience 

 of its hardships and its charms. Mr. Andre is descended 

 from a Huguenot family which emigrated from France to 

 Virginia after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. His 

 grandfather settled in the island of Trinidad, which, as is 

 of course well known, lies close to the coast of Venezuela. 

 He has for ten years past devoted himself to travel- 

 ling in Venezuela and Colombia, collecting orchids, 

 birds, butterflies, and small mammals. His first visit to 

 the Caura river lasted from September 1897 until May 

 1898. So encouraging were the results of this trip that 

 in 1900 Mr. Andre renewed his investigation of this 

 region, and ascended the river to within five degrees of 

 the Equator. Subsequently he published in Trinidad a 

 narrative of the journey for circulation among friends, 

 and the reception accorded to this led to his drawing up 

 the following account of his travels. Mr. Andre's narra- 

 tive records the results of a piece of work really interesting 

 and fruitful of scientific results. 



J. Scott Keltie. 



