CHAPTER IV 

 LETTERS FROM BRAZIL 



1865-1866 



THE school days ended, the next important experi- 

 ence in Mrs. Agassiz's life came to her in 1865. In the 

 spring of that year Agassiz recognized that his health de- 

 manded a change of scene and climate. He had for years 

 been deeply interested in Brazilian fauna and had already 

 received many tokens of sympathy with his undertakings 

 from the Emperor of Brazil, Don Pedro II, who was a 

 liberal patron of scientific enterprises. Realizing that new 

 scenes alone could supply him with the relaxation that he 

 needed, Agassiz had just decided to go with Mrs. Agassiz to 

 Rio de Janeiro for the summer, when by the generosity of 

 his friend, Mr. Nathaniel Thayer of Boston, his "pleasure 

 trip," as he wrote to his mother, "was transformed into 

 an important scientific expedition for the benefit of the 

 Museum." The expedition sailed on April 1, 1865, for Rio 

 de Janeiro, by invitation of the Pacific Mail Steamship 

 Company on its admirably appointed steamer, the Colo- 

 rado, which was bound for San Francisco by way of Cape 

 Horn. The party consisted of Agassiz and Mrs. Agassiz, 

 their friends, Dr. and Mrs. Cotting, six assistants, and 

 seven young volunteer aids, among whom were William 

 James and Mr. Thayer's son, Van Rensselaer. The first 

 three months after landing were passed in Rio de Janeiro, 

 the next ten in the Amazon region, the succeeding two in 

 excursions among the mountains along the coast, followed 



