320 



MY LIFE 



[Chap. 



on Stradelli's map, which seems to show either that some 

 other traveller has determined the longitude, or that they 

 consider my distances more correct than his. 



Another traveller, Dr. T. Koch, only last year (1904) 

 ascended the Uaupes to beyond the Jurupari fall, and also 

 went up the Codiary branch, where he reached an elevated 

 plateau. But it is not stated whether he made any observa- 

 tions to determine the true positions of his farthest point 

 {The Geographical Jotcrnal, July, 1905, p. 89). 



It seems probable, therefore, that the upper course of this 

 great river for a distance of two or three hundred miles 

 is quite unknown. But this is only one indication of the 

 enormous area of country in the central plains of South 

 America, which, except the banks of a few of the larger 

 rivers, is occupied only by widely scattered tribes of 

 Indians, and is as absolutely unknown to civilized man as 

 any portion of the globe. From the Meta river on the north, 

 to the Juambari and Beni rivers on the south, a distance of 

 about twelve hundred miles, and to an equal average distance 

 from the lower slopes of the Andes eastward, is one vast, 

 nearly level, tropical forest, only known or utilized for a few 

 miles from the banks of comparatively few of the rivers that 

 everywhere permeate it. It is to be hoped that in the not 

 remote future this grand and luxuriant country will be 

 utilized, not for the creation of wealth for speculators, but 

 to provide happy homes for millions of families. 



As my collections had now made my name well known to 

 the authorities of the Zoological and Entomological Societies, 

 I received a ticket from the former, giving me admission to 

 their gardens while I remained in England, and I was 

 a welcome visitor at the scientific meetings of both societies, 

 which I attended very regularly, and thus made the acquaint- 

 ance of most of the London zoologists and entomologists. I 

 also went frequently to examine the insect and bird collec- 

 tions in the British Museum (then in Great Russell Street), 

 and also to the Linnean Society, and to the Kew Herbarium 

 to consult works on botany, in order to name my palms. 



