86 
HINTS TO TRAVELLERS. 
and the eastern slopes of the Andes, from Bogota to Bolivia. A 
special interest attaches to the indigenous productions of oceanic 
islands, i.e. islands separated by a deep sea from any large tract 
of land. Those who have opportunities could not fail to make in¬ 
teresting discoveries by collecting specimens of the smaller animals 
(insects, molluscs, &c.) and plants in these isolated localities. Both in 
continental countries and on islands the truly indigenous species will 
have to be sought for on hills and in the remote parts, where they are more 
likely to have escaped extermination by settlers and the domestic animals 
introduced by them. In most of the better-known countries the botany 
has been better investigated than the zoology, and in all there still remains 
much to be done in ascertaining the exact station, and the range, both 
vertical and horizontal, of known species of animals and plants. This 
leads us to one point, which cannot be too strongly insisted on, namely, 
that some effective means should be adopted by the traveller to record the 
exact locality and date of every specimen he collects. With regard to the 
larger dried animals this may be done by written tickets attached to 
the specimens; if insects are pinned, a ticket may be fixed on the pins; 
and if packed unpinned in boxes, all taken in one place should be laid 
together, and a common label placed with them. When all the 
specimens taken at one place can be put into a separate box, one memo¬ 
randum upon the box itself will be sufficient. Reptiles and fishes should 
have small parchment tickets attached to them before they are placed in 
spirits, and the writing on them should be in pencil, not in ink. In 
mountainous countries, the approximate height above the sea should be 
noted. 
A traveller may be puzzled, in the midst of the profusion of animal 
and vegetable forms which he sees around him, to know what to secure 
and what to leave. Books can be of little service to him on a journey, 
and he had better at once abandon all idea of encumbering himself with 
them. A few days’ study at the principal museums before he starts on 
his voyage may teach him a great deal, and the cultivation of a habit of 
close observation and minute comparison of the specimens he obtains will 
teach him a great deal more. As a general rule, all specimens which he 
may meet with for the first time far in the interior should be preferred to 
those common near the civilised parts, and he should bear in mind that 
the few handsome kinds which attract the attention of the natives and arc 
