1 70 NATURAL HISTORY. 



the restraints of English society. 'I had/ says he, 'to 

 join dinner-parties, drink wines which I detested, ride in 

 carriages, dance at balls, and do a hundred other things 

 for which I had neither health nor inclination.' His old 

 passion for foreign travel returned irresistibly upon him. 

 He gave up his appointment in the army, and went upon 

 half-pay. At first he thought of visiting Cape Colony ; 

 but hearing that the traveller Burchell had just returned 

 thence with a collection of objects of natural history 

 which filled two wagons, he rashly concluded that there 

 would be nothing left for him to collect there, and he 

 abandoned his intention. It happened however, that at 

 this time Mr Koster, who had formerly travelled in Brazil, 

 and had published an account of his travels, was about to 

 return to that country ; and Swainson forthwith made up 

 his mind to accompany him. After some time spent in 

 South America, travelling about and making zoological 

 collections, Swainson returned to England, and settled 

 down to study his collections and describe the results. 

 He was shortly thereafter elected a Fellow of the Royal 

 Society, though he does not seem to have met otherwise 

 with much encouragement. With characteristic energy, 

 he determined to learn the then newly introduced art of 

 lithography, and to see how far this process could be 

 utilised in the production of plates of animals suitable for 

 colouring. His attempts in this direction proving suc- 

 cessful, he issued a series of descriptions and figures of 

 new, rare, or remarkable animals, under the title of 

 ' Zoological Illustrations.' 



Swainson now settled in Lond6n, where he worked hard 

 for two or three years, and followed up his former attempt 



