of William John Burchell. 53 



baggage. At length, resuming the road and still continuing 

 Northward, I reached in November 1828 Porto-Real, on the 

 great river Tucantins. Here I remained till the proper 

 season for embarking, and, descending the stream, at all times 

 rendered dangerous by numerous rocky falls, rapids, and 

 whirlpools, I made considerable collections on ground over 

 which no scientific traveller had ever passed. I completed a 

 survey of the whole length of this voyage, fixed by numerous 

 astronomical observations. Finally, I arrived at the city of 

 Para in June 1829, and, while waiting till February for a 

 convenient opportunity of embarking for England, added 

 largely to my collections both in zoology and botany. Of 

 this city I made a panorama, which, with that of Rio, I hope 

 perhaps to succeed in getting engraved, together with my 

 landscapes &c. Of insects I found from 16 to 20 thousand 

 specimens (at a guess). Of birds I shot and preserved 362 

 species. In the other classes a proportionally smaller 

 number. I am not aware of any part of my collections being 

 lost, though I daily lament my inability to unpack them for 

 want of room in the house. The space I require is large, and 

 I have some hesitation in building on bishop's land, unless it 

 were possible to enfranchise it. I fear I shall lose much 

 time before I am comfortably settled : nothing is more dis- 

 tressing to me than thus to be forced to delay my labours in 

 arranging my collections and rendering them useful to science. 

 You, who are so great an example of industry, complain also 

 of overwhelming collections, and feel the necessity of manual 

 help. But I have nowhere beheld an herbarium so large as 

 my own ; and, added to this, I cannot bring my mind to 

 abandon any branch of natural history for the sake of giving 

 more time and attention to any one in particular ; although I 

 know this is wrong and can never lead to perfection in any. 

 Still the contemplation of the whole system of created 

 objects is so fascinating that it is very diffic[ult to] turn 

 away from all but a few." 



These latter sentences, together with the considerations 

 mentioned on pages 47, 48, help us to understand Burchell's 

 unproductive later years. Living secluded in the midst of 

 his vast collections, he wandered from one point to another 

 without the stimulus to work out any one part thoroughly 

 which contact with his brother naturalists would have supplied. 

 Furthermore, he belonged to that class of men, much rarer now 

 than formerly, who value and gloat over collections as collec- 

 tions. His letters, even to his most intimate friends, such as 

 Sir William Hooker, as well as many records preserved in his 

 note-books, show that he jealously watched over the material 



