viii PREFACE 



of the stupendous mountain ranges where condors soar 

 majestically above the ruins of Incan greatness. In short, 

 the expeditions recorded in the book lead through remote 

 wilderness where savage peoples and little-known animals 

 spend their lives in stealth and vigilance, all oblivious of the 

 existence of an outer world. 



The explorations here recounted were undertaken by me 

 as a member or leader of the following expeditions, all of 

 which were undertaken under the auspices of the American 

 Museum of Natural History, New York City: Colombia — 

 March, 1911, to September, 1912; Colombia — November, 



1914, to April, 1915; Venezuela — November, 1912, to June, 

 1913; British Guiana — July to October, 1913; Roosevelt- 

 Rondon South American Expedition, mostly in Brazil but 

 covering a part of Paraguay, with stops in Uruguay and 

 Argentina — October, 1913, to June, 1914; Bolivia — May, 



1915, to January, 1916, touching at Panama, Ecuador, 

 and Peru en route; Argentina — January to September, 



1916, The purpose of these expeditions was to collect birds 

 and mammals; also to study the fauna in general and to 

 make all possible observations regarding the flora, topog- 

 raphy, climate, and human inhabitants of the regions visited. 

 The personnel of each expedition is given in the proper 

 place in the text. 



I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Doctor Frank 

 M. Chapman and to Colonel Theodore Roosevelt for sug- 

 gesting and encouraging the production of this book, also 

 to Mrs. Alice K. Fraser for the great amount of time and 

 work devoted to typewriting the manuscript. 



Leo E. Miller. 



