DON FELIX D'AZARA. 23 



ness and perseverance. His plan, which was laid 

 upon a broad basis, seems to have been devised 

 with great wisdom, as it was executed with much 

 success. The special duty on which he was en- 

 gaged, naturally qualified him for geographical in- 

 vestigations ', and his first object, in addition to his 

 labour on the boundaries, was to ascertain with all 

 possible accuracy the geographical relations of those 

 vast regions which he had occasion to traverse, and 

 which were nearly unknown. With this laborious 

 undertaking, he associated others scarcely less ex- 

 tensive. The physical and moral condition of the 

 inhabitants, including the native Indians, the de- 

 scendants of the Spanish conquerors, and the mixed 

 breeds, in their varied social and political relations, 

 was scarcely a less interesting inquiry. To these he 

 added historical investigations of the public records 

 of the countries, and a critical examination, on the 

 spot, of the popular accounts. And, finally, he de- 

 termined to survey the whole range of animated 

 nature, including the quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, 

 fishes, and insects of the continent, which alone has 

 obtained for him a distinguished name as a Zoolo- 

 gist ; while he did not forget the kindred branches 

 of meteorology, geology, and botany. These were 

 wide fields, over which the best educated modern 

 naturalists could scarcely venture to expatiate, but 

 which Azara, unprepared as he was, determined to 

 cultivate as best he could. In these various pur- 

 suits, he has been classed with the Baron de Hum- 

 boldt; and the comparison is the more creditable. 



