12 
Bulletin of Natural Historij Society. 
hood of this city, spent some time in training his inex- 
perienced assistants. The tributary rivers Tocantins, Zingu 
and Tapajos, were then examined throughout their lower 
courses, and many valuable geological facts ascertained. 
On the Tapajos were discovered highly fossiliferous carbon- 
iferous deposits. 
At the falls on each of the above named rivers were found 
series of metamorphic rocks, which, from their position 
and lithological characters, have been referred to the Silur- 
ian system. Passing to the North side of the valley of the 
Amazonas they minutely investigated the geology of the 
vicinity of Monte Alegre and the Sierra Ererd. On the 
plain of Erer4 were discovered sandstones and shales, with 
characteristic Devonian fossils, corresponding more or less 
with those of the Hamilton and Corniferous groups of New 
York State. These were the first Devonian fossils found 
East of the Andes in South America. 
One of the party examined the ancient Indian mounds of 
the island of Marajo at the mouth of the Amazonas, at that 
time only imperfectly known, and discovered large quanti- 
ties of richly ornamented pottery, mostly in fragments 
These have since been made the subject of considerable 
study by Prof. Ilartt and others. The sea coast was ex- 
amined at several points, from Para to Pernambuco, and 
in the neighborhood of the latter city, the fossiliferous Cre- 
taceous formations of the province of the same name, were 
studied for the first time. At all the localities visited, they 
made large collections in geology and zoology, which were 
sent to the United States, and are now contained in the 
museum of Cornell University. 
Prof. Hartt’s researches on the Amazonas did not tend to 
bring proof of the former existence of glaciers there. The 
sierra of Erere was found not to belong to the series of 
table-topped hills, as Pi ofessor Agassiz had been led to 
suppose, but to consist of inclined strata of very irregular 
outline. The Devonian fossils of the plain were from a por- 
tion of the supposed “drift” material of Agassiz. 
Professor Hartt returned to Ithaca, N. Y., January 1872, 
