1894. ] Thomas Morong. 227 
every direction. He resigned his pastoral charge, collected 
a sum of money through the Torrey Botanical Club of New 
York, and a few kind friends, and on July 30, 1388, followed 
by the good wishes of his towns-people who presented him 
with a purse of money, he embarked on board the sailing 
vessel, Evie J. Ray, laden with lumber, for Buenos Ayres. 
He reached his destination in just ten weeks, and after a short 
stay in Argentina to perfect his plans, he went to Asun- 
cion, Paraguay. Here he collected the rich and varied flora 
of this region till July, 1890. His enthusiasm was unabated, 
and though alone and unaided he sent back to the Columbia 
College Herbarium in New York about goo species of phaen- 
°gamous plants, besides many ferns and mosses. 
uring his stay in Paraguay he went as naturalist on an 
exploring expedition up the Pilcomayo river, in the interest 
of the Paraguay Land Company. This trip of 400 miles into 
the heart of the Chaco wilderness, on a small flat-bottomed 
steamer was full of adventures with the wild natives and 
wilder jaguars, but Dr. Morong returned safely after an ab- 
sence of six months to Asuncion with a large collection of 
Valuable plants, consisting of about 2,500 specimens, includ- 
‘ig Some 225 species, many of them new to science. As an 
illustration of the many difficulties to be overcome on the ex- 
Pedition, he writes the following: ‘‘We came upon a Cata- 
Fact of which nobody had ever heard, with a fall of five or six 
feet of water, and steep banks fifteen or twenty feet-high each 
Side of jt. At first we thought this a ‘stumper,’ but finally 
we dug away an ascending plane on one side, and actually 
Pulled the steamer, weighing five or six tons, up the falls by 
after n July, 1890, he returned to Buenos Ayres, and 
th # Considerable delay owing to the revolution raging at 
at time, he sailed around the cape to Valparaiso, Chili, 
e 
gion. 
flowerin 
home, 
He had collected during his trip, entirely with 
S, 20,000 specimens of plants, a collection ren- 
valuable by his copious field notes. 
