PREFACE 



In the autumn of 1847 Mr A. R. Wallace, who has since 

 acquired wide fame in connection with the Darwinian theory 

 of Natural Selection, proposed to me a joint expedition to 

 the river Amazons, for the purpose of exploring the Natural 

 History of its banks ; the plan being to make for ourselves a 

 collection of objects, dispose of the duplicates in London to 

 pay expenses, and gather facts, as Mr Wallace expressed it 

 in one of his letters, ' towards solving the problem of the 

 origin of species', a subject on which we had conversed and 

 corresponded much together. We met in London, early in 

 the following year, to study South American animals and 

 plants at the principal collections ; and in the month of April, 

 as related in the following narrative, commenced our journey. 



My companion left the country at the end of four years ; 

 and, on arriving in England, published a narrative of his 

 voyage, under the title of Travels on the Amazons and Rio 

 Negro. I remained seven years longer, returning home in 

 July 1859 ; and having taken, after the first two years, a 

 different route from that of my friend, an account of my 

 separate travels and experiences seems not an inappropriate 

 offering to the public. 



When I first arrived in England, being much depressed in 

 health and spirits after eleven years' residence within four 

 degrees of the equator, the last three of which were spent in 

 the wild country 1400 miles from the sea-coast, I saw little 

 prospect of ever giving my narrative to the world ; and in- 

 deed, after two years had elapsed, had almost abandoned 

 the intention of doing so. At that date I became acquainted 

 with Mr Darwin, who, having formed a flattering opinion of 

 my ability for the task, strongly urged me to write a book, 

 and reminded me of it months afterwards, when, after having 

 made a commencement, my half-formed resolution began to 

 give way. Under this encouragement the arduous task is at 

 length accomplished. It seems necessary to make this state- 

 ment, as it explains why so long a time has intervened be- 

 tween my arrival in England and the publication of my book. 



The collections that I made during the whole eleven years 

 were sent, at intervals of a few months, to London for dis- 

 tribution, except a set of species reserved for my own study, 

 which remained with me, and always accompanied me in 

 my longer excursions. With the exception of a few living 

 plants and specimens in illustration of Economical and 



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