CHAPTER IV 
LETTERS FROM BRAZIL 
1865-1866 
HE 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 
