AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



11 



assistance rendered in cataloguing and in other routine work at the Mu- 

 seum, a monthly allowance was received sufficient for my necessary living 

 expenses, together with a furnished room in the Museum dormitory, known 

 as ' Zoological Hall/ at that time the home of the student assistants of the 

 Museum. 



During the summer of 1864 I made a trip to Sodus, Wayne County, 

 N. Y., where several weeks were spent with relatives. The region, border- 

 ing Lake Ontario, was originally heavily forested, and some of the virgin 

 forest still remained. The type of country was new to me and intensely 

 interesting. A large collection of the land and fresh-water mollusks was 

 gathered and eagerly studied, and a few insects, mammals and birds were 

 collected, including a few species of both mammals and birds I had not 

 before seen in life. 



With the Agassiz Expedition in Brazil (1865). 



During the winter of 1864-65, Professor Agassiz's usual vigorous health 

 began to give way under the strain of years of incessant *work and care, so 

 that a change of scene and some degree of relaxation became imperative. 

 A generous Boston friend of means (Nathaniel Thayer) suggested his mak- 

 ing a journey to Brazil, and offered to provide the means not only for his 

 own expenses but also for a small corps of assistants. This kind offer he 

 accepted. It was then early in March, 1865, and the expedition was to 

 start as soon as the necessary preparations could be made. On March 12 

 he asked me if I would like to join the expedition. Naturally I accepted 

 the unexpected invitation, and was instructed to join three other Museum 

 assistants who had also been invited to accompany the expedition, and 

 meet him, with them, at a designated place in Boston to arrange for our 

 passports. Thus suddenly opportunity opened to us for exploration in a 

 distant land. We left Boston for New York on the evening of March 26, 

 and sailed for Rio de Janeiro on April 2, on the steamship 'Colorado/ of 

 the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. The 'Colorado' was a new vessel, 

 of 2000 tons, then regarded as remarkably large and luxuriously furnished. 

 This was her maiden voyage, and Professor Agassiz and his party of six- 

 teen persons were the only passengers. 



As we passed down the coast of Virginia, on April 3, heavy masses of 

 smoke were seen over the western horizon, which the Captain of the 'Colo- 

 rado' believed to indicate a distant battlefield. But it was not till May 16 

 that news of the fall of Richmond reached us in Brazil and confirmed the 

 Captain's surmise that the smoke we saw on April 3 was from a great battle 

 — the closing contest of the civil war. 



