PREFACE. 



The following pages are a narrative of a scientific 

 expedition from Williams College to tlie tropical re- 

 gions of South America. The Lycemn of Natural 

 History of this institution has sent out several expe- 

 ditions to different localities that have presented them- 

 selves as favorable fields for new and interesting re- 

 search. The one whose history is given in this volume 

 was sent out in the summer of 186 Y. Upon its first 

 inception, Prof. A. Hopkins w^as intending to accom- 

 pany the expedition ; but business and educational re- 

 lations having rendered this impossible, an invitation 

 was extended to Prof. James Orton, of Rochester Uni- 

 versity, to take charge, and was accepted. 



Colonel P. Staunton, Yice-Chancellor of Ingham 

 University, Leroy, IST. Y., accompanied the expedition 

 as its artist ; the party was also joined by F. S. Wil- 

 liams, Esq., of Albany, N. Y. ; Messrs. A. Bushnell, 

 W. Gilbert, E. H. Forbes, and the authors, were the 

 members from Williams College. The expedition was 

 formed into two divisions: one, consisting of three 

 members, Messrs, Gilbert, Forbes, and II. M, Myers, 

 proceeding from Caracas, upon the northern coast, 



