VALLEY OF THE AMAZONS. 
169 
limits, on its western outskirts along the An¬ 
cles, in Venezuela along the shore-line of moun¬ 
tains, and also in certain localities near its 
eastern edge. I well remember that one of 
the first things which awakened my interest 
in the geology of the Amazonian Valley was 
the sight of some cretaceous fossil fishes from 
the province of Ceara. These fossil fishes were 
collected by Mr. George Gardner, to whom 
science is indebted for the most extensive in¬ 
formation yet obtained respecting the geology 
of that part of Brazil. In this connection, let 
me say that here and elsewhere I shall speak 
of the provinces of Ceara, Piauhy, and Maran- 
ham as belonging geologically to the Valley 
of the Amazons, though their shore is bathed 
by the ocean, and their rivers empty directly 
into the Atlantic. But I entertain no doubt, 
and I hope I may hereafter be able to show, 
that, at an earlier period, the northeastern 
coast of Brazil stretched much farther sea¬ 
ward than in our day; so far, indeed, that in 
those times the rivers of all these provinces 
must have been tributaries of the Amazons in 
its eastward course. The evidence for this 
conclusion is substantially derived from the 
