1851.] LOCALITY FOR A NATURALIST. 265 
chased all they brought, giving a fish-hook each; and 
among many common I generally found some curious 
and rare species. Coleoptera, generally so scarce in the 
forest districts of the Amazon and Rio Negro, seemed 
here to become more abundant, owing perhaps to our ap- 
proach to the margins of the great forest, and the plains 
of the Orinooko. 
I prepared to leave Javita with much regret. Although, 
considering the season, I had done well, I knew that had 
1 been earlier I might have done much better. In April 
I had arranged to go up the unexplored Uaupes with 
Senhor L., and even the prospect of his conversation 
was agreeable after the weary solitude I was exposed to 
here. 
I would however strongly recommend Javita to any 
naturalist wishing for a good unexplored locality in 
South America. It is easily reached from the West 
Indies to Angostura, and thence up the Orinooko and 
Atabapo. A pound’s worth of fish-hooks, and five 
pounds laid out in salt, beads, and calico, will pay all 
expenses there for six months. The traveller should 
arrive in September, and can then stay till March, and 
will have the full benefit of the whole of the dry season. 
The insects alone would well repay any one ; the fishes 
are also abundant, and very new and interesting; and, 
as my collections were lost on the voyage home, they 
would have all the advantage of novelty. 
On the 31st of March I left Javita, the Coimnissario 
having sent five or six Indians to carry my luggage, 
four of whom were to proceed with me to Tomo. The 
Indians of Sao Carlos, Tomo, and Maroa had been re- 
