4 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



of graceful cocoanut-palms and low, thatched huts flanked 

 by a seemingly endless mantle of green. Huge dugout 

 canoes made from logs of great size swarmed out from the 

 water's edge, their dusky paddlers vying with one another 

 in their efforts to be the first to reach the steamer; then 

 the men quarrelled violently among themselves, and also 

 shouted to the persons on the deck, soUciting luggage to 

 take ashore. Before long, trunks were being lowered into 

 some of these wallowing craft while passengers embarked 

 in others, and the paddle of a mile to shore began. 



Unfortunately the tide was ebbing, leaving extensive 

 mud-flats exposed along the water-front. As there was no 

 pier it was necessary for the canoemen to carry on their 

 backs the human freight as well as trunks and other luggage 

 through a wide belt of mud and sand. 



Our party consisted of Doctor Frank M. Chapman, cu- 

 rator of birds, of the American Museum, Louis Agassiz 

 Fuertes, and myself. At Buenaventura we were joined by 

 William Richardson, who had spent many years as a field- 

 naturalist in Central and South American countries. We 

 were starting on a zoological expedition — a quest for birds 

 and mammals, and also to study the country, life-zones, 

 problems of distribution and many other things inseparable 

 from a biological survey such as we proposed to make. The 

 original plans of the expedition called for a rather short 

 stay; but for me, at least, the experience was destined to 

 cover a period of eighteen months and take me to some of 

 the most remote and wildest portions of the coimtry. 



Viewed from the water, Buenaventura appears most im- 

 attractive. The row of squat, makeshift huts, built on tall 

 poles, extends far beyond the line of high water; as the tide 

 rises the water swishes and gurgles underneath the houses 

 and the occupants travel about in canoes. Farther from 

 the shore the ground is high and the town is more interest- 

 ing, though not inviting. The place bears an unenviable 

 reputation. On account of the superabundant rainfall and 

 hot climate, fevers and other life-sapping diseases are rife 



