14 



Mr. Bourget at the same time was employed in making collections in the 

 River Yavary and the Solitnoens about Tabatinga. Besides these special ex- 

 cursions, all my assistants, including Mr. Thayer and Mr. Hunnewell, had 

 their separate stations at different times, and made very important local col- 

 lections, — Messrs. James and Hunnewell at Obydos, Messrs. Thayer and 

 Bourget at Cudajas, Mr. James at Manacapuru, Mr. Bourget at Santareni. 

 To Mr. Hunnewell, beside his general assistance as a member of the working 

 corps, I am indebted for a series of photographic portraits of Indians and of 

 the various cross-breeds arising between Indians, whites, and blacks, taken 

 by him at Manaos. Mr. Thayer was also very successful in collecting at 

 Serpa and at Lago Alexo. Although zoological research and the forming of 

 collections for the Museum were the chief objects of my journey, I also made 

 as complete a geological survey of the valley of the Amazons as was possible 

 under the circumstances. As my results in this direction do not, however, 

 especially affect the interests of the Museum, I need enter into no details 

 concerning them here. I should, however, add that I made the largest 

 collection ever brought together of palm woods and fruits, bringing away 

 many complete stems of palm-trees, or, where this was not possible, frag- 

 ments large enough to show their structure, and preserving the fruits in 

 alcohol. This is especially valuable in a Comparative Museum like ours, in- 

 asmuch as we seek to combine the past history of the organic world with its 

 present condition, and there is no family of plants now existing so illustra- 

 tive of the ancient forests as the palms and tree-ferns.'' 



A full account of this most interesting trip was published, after the 

 return of the expedition to the United States, under the title of " A 

 Journey in Brazil," by Professor and Mrs. Louis Agassiz, to which we 

 refer our readers for further information concerning the trip up the 

 Amazons. 



The time expended on this journey was about eight months. Pro- 

 fessor Agassiz returned to Para on the 4th of February, 1866. He 

 passed nearly six weeks at Para and in the vicinity, studying the 

 geological formation of the entrance to the river. All great rivers, as 

 the Nile, the Mississippi, the Ganges, the Danube, have their deltas ; 

 but the largest river in the world, the Amazons, is an exception to this 

 rule. What, then, is the geological character of the great island of 

 Marajo, which obstructs its opening into the ocean ? This was a ques- 

 tion of great interest to Professor Agassiz, and he has given his 

 answer in the Report of his Journey, where he shows it to be no delta, 

 but a " cut off" from the drift of the valley. 



On the 26th of March they left Para and went down the coast to 

 Ceara. Professor Agassiz's object in stopping here was to satisfy 

 himself by direct investigation of the former existence of glaciers in 

 this province, and, if possible, to find some traces of the southern 



