122 Canadian Record of Science. 



hood of this city, spent some time in training his inex- 

 perienced assistants. The tributary rivers Tocantins, Zingu 

 and Tapajos, were then examined throughout their lower 

 courses, and many valuable geological facts ascertained. 

 On the Tapajos were discovered highly fossiliferous carbon- 

 iferous deposits. 



At the falls on each of the above named rivers were found 

 series of metamorphic rocks, which, from their position 

 and lithological characters, have been referred to the Silur- 

 ian system. Passing to the North side of the valley of the 

 Amazonas they minutely investigated the geology of the 

 vicinity of Monte Alegre and the Sierra Erere. On the 

 plain of Erere* were discovered sandstones and shales, with 

 characteristic Devonian fossils, corresponding more or less 

 with those of the Hamilton and Corniferous groups of New 

 York State. These were the first Devonian fossils found 

 East of the Andes in South America. 



One of the party examined th6 ancient Indian mounds of 

 the island of iiarajo at the mouth of the Amazonas, at that 

 time only imperfectly known, and discovered large quanti- 

 ties of richly ornamented pottery, mostly in fragments 

 These have since been made the subject of considerable 

 study by Prof. Hartt and others. The sea coast was ex- 

 amined at several points, from Para to Pernambuco, and 

 in the neighborhood of the latter city, the fossiliferous Cre- 

 taceous formations of the province of the same name, were 

 studied for the first time. At all the localities visited, they 

 made large collections in geology and zoology, which were 

 sent to the United States 3 and are now contained in the 

 museum of Cornell University. 



Prof. Hartt's researches on the Amazonas did not tend to 

 bring proof of the former existence of glaciers there. The 

 sierra of Erere was found not to belong to the series of 

 table-topped hills, as Professor Agassiz had been led to 

 suppose, but to consist of inclined strata of very irregular 

 outline. The Devonian fossils of the plain were from a por- 

 tion of the supposed " drift " material of Agassiz. 



Professor Hartt returned to Ithaca, N. Y., January 1872, 



