yi PREFACE. 



penetrated to the Amazons, by the courses of the Ori- 

 noco and Rio jSTegro ; the other party crossed the con- 

 tinent from the west, first ascending the Andes to 

 Quito, then descending the slope of the Eastern Cor- 

 dillera to the Eio jSTapo, and, by a canoe-voyage down 

 that stream, reaching the Amazons, which was followed 

 to its mouth. 



As the scientific results of the western branch have 

 been given to the public by Prof. Orton, we have 

 made brief the portion of our narrative referring to 

 that division ; yet, while divesting it of details, we have 

 made sufiicient notings of our experiences and observa- 

 tions to give completeness to our history. Portions of 

 the work have been taken, with but few incidental 

 corrections, from articles written by us while upon our 

 tour, or after our return, and which have appeared in 

 dififerent papers and periodicals. ISTeither part is dis- 

 tinctly that of either author; but in the preparation 

 of the work we have freely interchanged notes and 

 suggestions. 



"While giving, in our boyish way, mainly the results 

 of our own observations, we have not failed to avail 

 ourselves of the labors of others, and have carefully 

 examined the few works within our reach relative to 

 the regions traversed. In the first portion of our work 

 we have been guided by the " Travels " of the eminent 

 German naturalist, Humboldt, to whose observations 

 we have made frequent allusions in the course of our 

 narrative ; to the graphically-written work of Paez we 

 are also indebted for many suggestions ; upon Ecuador, 

 Ilassaurek's " Fo.ur Years among Spanish- Americans " 

 has been almost our only guide. The greater portion 

 of the volume is devoted to the Orinoco, Eio Kegro, 



