Chapter 25

6.This anticipation was more than confirmed by the result of the journey. It is true that Mr. Agassiz did not go beyond the Peruvian frontier, and therefore could not verify his prophecy in that region. But he found the localization of species in the Amazons circumscribed within much narrower limits than he expected, the whole length of the great stream, as well as its tributaries, being broken up into numerous distinct faunæ. There can be no doubt that what is true for nearly three thousand miles of its course is true also for the head-waters of the Amazons; indeed, other investigators have already described some species from its higher tributaries differing entirely from those collected upon this expedition.

7.Mr. Agassiz afterward visited these hills himself, and an account of their structure and probable origin will be found in the chapter on the physical history of the Amazons.

8.See Appendix No.II.

9.It proved in the sequel unnecessary to seek the glacial phenomena of tropical South America in its highest mountains. In Brazil the moraines are as distinct and as well preserved in some of the coast ranges on the Atlantic side, not more than twelve or fifteen hundred feet high, as in any glaciated localities known to geologists in more northern parts of the world. The snow line, even in those latitudes, then descended so low that masses of ice formed above its level actually forced their way down to the sea-coast.—L. A.

10.In copying the journal from which these notes are taken, I have hesitated to burden the narrative with anatomical details. But for those who take an interest in such investigations it may be well to add here that the frog, when first hatched, is simply an oblong body, without any appendages, and tapering slightly towards its posterior end. In that condition it resembles the Cecilia. In its next stage, that of the tadpole, when the extremity has elongated into a tail, the gills are fairly developed, and it has one pair of imperfect legs, it resembles the Siren, with its rudimentary limbs. In its succeeding stages, when the same animal has two pairs of legs and a fin around the tail, it recalls the Proteus and Menobranchus. Finally the gills are suppressed, the animal breathes through lungs, but the tail still remains; it then recalls Menopoma and the Salamanders. At last the tail shrinks and disappears, and the frog is complete. This gives us a standard by which the relative position of the leading groups of the class may safely be determined.—L. A.

11.On account of the many exploring expeditions for which the Bay of Rio de Janeiro has been a favorite port, it has acquired a special interest for the naturalist. It may seem at first sight as if the fact that French, English, German, Russian, and American expeditions have followed each other in this locality, during the last century, each bringing away its rich harvest of specimens, by diminishing its novelty would rather lessen than increase its interest as a collecting ground. On the contrary, for the very reason that the specimens from which the greater part of the descriptions and figures contained in the published accounts of these voyages were obtained from Rio de Janeiro and its neighborhood, it becomes indispensable that every zoölogical museum aiming at scientific accuracy and completeness should have original specimens from that very locality for the identification of species already described. Otherwise doubts respecting the strict identity or specific difference of specimens obtained on other parts of the Atlantic shore, not only in South America but in Central and North America, may at any time invalidate important generalizations concerning the distribution of animals in these seas. From this point of view, the Bay of Rio de Janeiro forms a most important centre of comparison, and it was for this reason that we made so prolonged a stay there. Although the prospect of discovering any novelties was diminished by the extensive investigations of our predecessors, I well knew that whatever we collected there would greatly increase the value of our collections elsewhere. One of my special aims was to ascertain how far the marine animals inhabiting the coast of Brazil to the south of Cape Frio differed from those to the north of it, and furthermore, how the animals found along the coast between Cape Frio and Cape St. Roque differed from or agreed with those inhabiting the more northern shore of the continent and the West Indian Islands. In the course of the following chapters I shall have occasion to return, more in detail, to this subject.—L. A.

12.Molinesia and Pœcilia.

13.This lecture was accompanied by careful descriptions and drawings on the blackboard, showing the structural differences between these groups. These are omitted, as they would have little interest for the general reader. The chief object in reporting these lectures is to show the aims which Mr. Agassiz placed before himself and his companions in laying out the work of the expedition, and these are made sufficiently clear without further scientific details.

14.As these investigations have been published with so much detail (Steenstrup, Alternate Generation, Sars’s Fauna Norwegica; L. Agassiz, Contr. to Nat. Hist. of U. S.), it has not been thought necessary to reproduce this part of the lecture here. Any one who cares to read a less technical account of these investigations than those originally published, will find it in “Methods of Study,” by L. Agassiz.

15.See Appendix No.III.

16.The winter palace of the Emperor.

17.Some weeks after this I chanced to ask a beautiful young Brazilian woman, recently married, whether she had ever been over this temporary road for the sake of seeing the picturesque scenery. “No,” she answered with perfect seriousness, “I am young and very happy, and I do not wish to die yet.” It was an amusing comment on the Brazilian estimate of the dangers attending the journey.

18.This road, which is but the beginning of railroad travel in Brazil, opens a rich prospect for scientific study. From this time forward the difficulty of transporting collections from the interior to the seaboard will be diminishing. Instead of the few small specimens of tropical vegetation now preserved in our museums, I hope that hereafter, in every school where geology and palæontology are taught, we shall have large stems and portions of trunks to show the structure of palms, tree-ferns, and the like,—trees which represent in modern times the ancient geological forests. The time is coming when our text-books of botany and zoölogy will lose their local, limited character, and present comprehensive pictures of Nature in all her phases. Then only will it be possible to make true and pertinent comparisons between the condition of the earth in former times and its present aspect under different zones and climates. To this day the fundamental principle guiding our identification of geological formations in different ages rests upon the assumption that each period has had one character throughout; whereas the progress of geology is daily pressing upon us the evidence that at each period different latitudes and different continents have always had their characteristic animals and plants, if not as diversified as now, at least varied enough to exclude the idea of uniformity. Not only do I look for a vast improvement in our collections with improved methods of travel and transportation in Brazil, but I hope that scientific journeys in the tropics will cease to be occasional events in the progress and civilization of nations, and will be as much within the reach of every student as journeys in the temperate zone have hitherto been. For further details respecting the building of this road, see Appendix No. IV.—L. A.

19.Among the frequent visitors at the laboratory, and one to whom Mr. Agassiz was indebted for most efficient aid in making his collection of fishes from the harbor of Rio, was our friend Dr. Pacheco de Silva, who never lost an opportunity of paying us all sorts of friendly attentions. He added quite a number of luxuries to the working-room described above. Another friend who was often at the laboratory was Dr. Nägeli. Notwithstanding his large practice, he found time to assist Mr. Agassiz not only with collections but with drawings of various specimens. Being himself an able naturalist, his co-operation was very valuable. The collections were indeed enriched by contributions from so many sources that it would be impossible to enumerate them all here. In the more technical reports of the expedition all such gifts are recorded, with the names of those persons from whom the specimens were received.

20.The palm is the beautifulOreodoxa oleracea.

21.Leuzinger’s admirable photographs of the scenery about the Corcovado, as well as from Petropolis, the Organ Mountains, and the neighborhood of Rio generally, may now be had in the print-shops of Boston and New York. I am the more desirous to make this fact known as I am indebted to Mr. Leuzinger for very generous assistance in the illustration of scientific objects.—L. A.

22.A commemorative tablet, set in the rocks on the dividing line between the provinces of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Geräes, recording the speech of the Emperor on the occasion of the opening of the road, testifies the appreciation in which this undertaking was held by the government of Brazil.

23.Since this was written the Emperor, at a large pecuniary sacrifice, has liberated all the slaves belonging to the property of the crown, and a general scheme of emancipation has been announced by the Brazilian government, the wisdom, foresight, and benevolence of which can hardly be too highly praised. If this be adopted, slavery in Brazil will disappear within the century by a gradual process, involving no violent convulsion, and perilling neither the safety of the slave nor the welfare of his master.

24.To the Baron de Mauá, a leader in the great improvements now going on in Brazil, the citizens of Rio de Janeiro owe their present convenient road to Petropolis, their favorite summer residence.

25.A species of Melastoma, with very large, conspicuous flowers.—L. A.

26.This is not, however, native to Brazil.

27.Indeed, their diversity is much greater even than that of our Oaks, and it would require a comprehensive comparison with a majority of our forest-trees to match the differences they exhibit among themselves; and their native names, far more euphonic than the systematic names under which they are entered in our scientific works, are as familiar to the Indians as those of our beeches, birches, hazels, chestnuts, poplars, or willows to our farmers. There are four essentially different forms among the palms: the tall ones, with a slender and erect stem, terminating with a crown of long feathery leaves, or with broad fan-shaped leaves; the bushy ones, the leaves of which rise as it were in tufts from the ground, the stem remaining hidden under the foliage; the brush-like ones, with a small stem, and a few rather large leaves; and the winding, creeping, slender species. Their flowers and fruits are as varied as their stock. Some of these fruits may be compared to large woody nuts, with a fleshy mass inside; others have a scaly covering; others resemble peaches or apricots, while others still are like plums or grapes. Most of them are eatable and rather pleasant to the taste. It is a thousand pities that so many of these majestic trees should have been deprived of their sonorous native names, to bear henceforth, in the annals of science, the names of some unknown princes, whom flattery alone could rescue from oblivion. The Inaja has become a Maximiliana, the Jara a Leopoldinia, the Pupunha a Guilielma, the Pachiuba an Iriartea, the Carana a Mauritia. The changes from Indian to Greek names have not been more felicitous. I would certainly have preferred Jacitara to Desmonchus, Mucaja to Acrocomia, Baccába to Œnocarpus, Tucuma to Astrocaryum. Even Euterpe for Assai is hardly an improvement.—L. A.

28.This observation was confirmed by our year’s travel. The Brazilians care little for a variety of vegetables, and do not give much attention to their cultivation. Those they do use are chiefly imported in cans from Europe.

29.On our return from the Amazons a year later we heard with great regret of the death of Mr. Taylor For many months he took an active part in the objects of the Expedition, being himself a good naturalist, and not only made valuable collections for Mr. Agassiz, but also some admirable colored drawings of fishes and insects, which it is hoped may be published at a future time with the other scientific results of this journey.

30.My experience of this day might well awaken the envy of any naturalist, and I was myself no less astonished than grateful for its scientific results. Not only had Senhor Lage provided us with the most comfortable private conveyance, but he had sent messengers in advance to all the planters residing near our line of travel, requesting them to provide all the fishes that were to be had in the adjoining rivers and brooks. The agents of the stations situated near water-courses had also received instructions to have similar collections in readiness, and in two places I found large tanks filled with living specimens of all the species in the neighborhood. The small number of species subsequently added, upon repeated excursions to different parts of the basin of the Parahyba, convinced me that in this one day, thanks to the kindness of our host and his friends, I had an opportunity of examining nearly its whole ichthyological fauna, and of making probably as complete a collection from it as may be found from any of the considerable rivers of Europe in the larger museums of the Old World.—L. A.

31.In some maps this place is inscribed under the name of Parahybuna.

32.Mr. Agassiz was prevented from making this excursion.

33.Though a resident of the United States for nearly twenty years, Mr. Agassiz was only naturalized in 1863. At the moment when a general distrust of our institutions prevailed in Europe, it was a satisfaction to him to testify by some personal and public act his confidence in them.

34.A short account of these explorations may be found at the end of the volume.—L. A.

35.I am particularly indebted to Senator Th. Ottoni, Baron de Prados, Senator Pompeo, Senator Paranagua, Senhor Paula Souza, and Senhor J. B. da Fonseca, for information, maps, and other documents relative to the regions intended to be explored by my young friends and myself.—L. A.

36.Since it was reported in the newspapers that the proceeds of these lectures were devoted to the expedition, it may be well to mention here that they were free, given simply at the request of the Emperor, and open to all without charge.

37.Mr. Agassiz was indebted to Senhor Machado for a valuable series of photographs and stereoscopic views of this region, begun on this excursion and completed during our absence in the North of Brazil.

38.The most complete account of these curious animals is to be found in Bates’s “Naturalist on the Amazons.”

39.I was especially interested in examining the vegetable productions of a little lake, hardly larger than a mill-pond, near this fazenda. It was strange to see Potamogeton and Myriophyllum, plants which we associate exclusively with the fresh waters of the temperate zone, growing in the shadow of tropical forests where monkeys have their home. Such combinations are very puzzling to the student of the laws of geographical distribution.—L. A.

40.In the same way, it may be said that in its incipient growth the Dicotyledonous Plant exhibits, in the structure of its germinative leaves, the characteristic features of Monocotyledonous Plants.—L. A.

41.Senhor Lage had caused an extensive collection of fishes to be gathered from the waters of the Rio Novo, so that this excursion greatly extended the range of my survey of the basin of the Parahyba.—L. A.

42.Never were pleasant anticipations more delightfully fulfilled. During eleven months of the most intimate companionship I had daily cause to be grateful for the chance which had thrown us together. I found in Major Coutinho an able collaborator, untiring in his activity and devotion to scientific aims, an admirable guide, and a friend whose regard I trust I shall ever retain.—L. A.

43.Mr. Agassiz was indebted to Mr. Hitch for valuable additions to his collections, and for many acts of kindness in behalf of the expedition.

44.Here, as elsewhere, I found ready and willing coadjutors among amateur collectors. On my return from the Amazons, many months later, I found collections made in my absence by Dr. Mendes and Senhor Barroso, who had been our companions on board the steamer. At Parahyba do Norte I was indebted in the same way to Dr. Justa. These collections will afford invaluable materials for the comparison of the Coast Faunæ.—L. A.

45.At a later period I owed to Dr. Braga far more than the ordinary courtesy extended to a stranger. I had informed him that Mr. St. John, then following the course of the Rio San Francisco, on his way to the province of Piauhy, would arrive in Maranham at the close of his journey. When he reached that city he was very seriously ill with fever. Dr. Braga took him into his house, where he was attended by him and his family as if he had been one of their kindred. I have, indeed, little doubt that my young friend owed his recovery to the considerate care with which he was treated under their kindly roof.—L. A.

46.These two Medusæ belong to the Rhizostomidæ, and I shall take an early opportunity to publish a description of them, with the drawings of Mr. Burkhardt.—L. A.

47.To Dr. Couto de Magalhaês Mr. Agassiz was indebted for unremitting attentions during our stay in the region of the Amazons. He never failed to facilitate the success of the expedition by every means in his power, and the large collections made under his directions during our sojourn upon the Upper Amazons were among the most valuable contributions to its scientific results. When he heard that Mr. Ward, one of our young companions, was coming down the Tocantins, he sent a boat and boatmen to meet him, and on his arrival in Pará received him in his own house, where he remained his guest during his stay in the city.

48.This mushroom belongs to the genus Phallus, and seems to be an undescribed species. I preserved it in alcohol, but was unable to have any drawing made from it before its beauty and freshness were quite gone. In the early morning, while the grass was still damp, we often found a peculiar snail, a species of Bulimus, creeping by the roadside. The form of the anterior part of the foot was unlike that of any species known thus far from this group. Such facts show the desirableness of making drawings from the soft parts of these animals as well as from their solid envelopes.—L. A.

49.The President of this line is the Baron de Mazá, esteemed by his countrymen as a financier of great ability and a man of rare energy, perseverance, and patriotism. As he was in Europe during the year of my visit to Brazil, I had not the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with him, and I therefore welcome this opportunity of thanking him for the liberality shown in all their dealings with me by the company of which he is the moving spirit.—L. A.

50.On board the Icamiaba, on the Amazons,August 20, 1865.Sire:—Allow me to give your Majesty a rapid sketch of the most interesting facts observed by me since leaving Rio. The first thing which struck me on arriving at Bahia was the presence of the erratic soil, corresponding to that of Tijuca and the southern part of Minas-Geräes, which I have visited. Here, as there, this soil, identical in its constitution, rests upon rocks in place, of the most diversified character. I have found it also at Maceió, at Pernambuco, at Parahyba do Norte, at Ceará, at Maranham, and at Pará. This is a fact, then, established on the largest scale. It shows that the superficial materials which, here as in the North of Europe and America, may be designated as drift, cannot be the result of the decomposition of underlying rocks, since the latter are sometimes granite, sometimes gneiss, sometimes mica or talcose slate, sometimes sandstone, while the drift presents the same composition everywhere. I am as far as ever from being able to point out the origin of these materials and the direction of their transportation. Now that Major Coutinho has learned to distinguish the drift from the decomposed rocks, he assures me that we shall find it throughout the valley of the Amazons. The boldest imagination shrinks from any generalization on this subject, and yet we must gradually familiarize ourselves with the idea that the cause which has dispersed these materials, whatever it be, has acted on the largest scale, since they are probably to be found all over the continent. Already I learn that my young travelling companions have observed the drift in the environs of Barbacena and Ouro-Preto, and in the valley of the Rio das Velhas. My zoölogical results are not less satisfactory; and to speak of the fishes alone, I have found at Pará during one week more species than have as yet been described from the whole basin of the Amazons,—sixty-three in all. This study will be useful, I hope, to ichthyology, for I have already succeeded in distinguishing five new families and eighteen new genera, while the unpublished species do not number less than forty-nine. It is a guaranty of the rich harvest I shall make when I enter upon the domain of the Amazons properly so called; for I have seen as yet but a tenth part of the fluviatile species known from this basin, and some of the marine species which come up to Pará. Unhappily, Mr. Burkhardt is ill, and has been able to paint but four of the new species we have procured; and of nearly half the number, only single specimens have been secured. On my return I must make a longer stay in Pará in order to fill these deficiencies. I am enchanted with the grandeur of nature here. Your Majesty certainly reigns over the most beautiful empire of the world; and, personal as are the attentions which I receive wherever I stop, I cannot but believe that, were it not for the generous and hospitable character of the Brazilians and the interest of the higher classes in the progress of science and civilization, I should not have met with the facilities which crowd my path. Thus, in order to render the exploration of the river from Pará to Manaos more easy, Mr. Pimenta Bueno, instead of allowing me to take the regular steamer, has put at my disposition, for a month or six weeks, one of the finest boats of the company, where I am installed as conveniently as in my Museum at Cambridge. Mr. Coutinho is full of attention, and renders my work doubly light by procuring, in advance, all the information possible. But I will not further abuse your Majesty’s leisure, only begging you to believe in the complete devotion and respectful affection ofYour humble and obedient servant,L. Agassiz.

50.

On board the Icamiaba, on the Amazons,August 20, 1865.

On board the Icamiaba, on the Amazons,

August 20, 1865.

Sire:—Allow me to give your Majesty a rapid sketch of the most interesting facts observed by me since leaving Rio. The first thing which struck me on arriving at Bahia was the presence of the erratic soil, corresponding to that of Tijuca and the southern part of Minas-Geräes, which I have visited. Here, as there, this soil, identical in its constitution, rests upon rocks in place, of the most diversified character. I have found it also at Maceió, at Pernambuco, at Parahyba do Norte, at Ceará, at Maranham, and at Pará. This is a fact, then, established on the largest scale. It shows that the superficial materials which, here as in the North of Europe and America, may be designated as drift, cannot be the result of the decomposition of underlying rocks, since the latter are sometimes granite, sometimes gneiss, sometimes mica or talcose slate, sometimes sandstone, while the drift presents the same composition everywhere. I am as far as ever from being able to point out the origin of these materials and the direction of their transportation. Now that Major Coutinho has learned to distinguish the drift from the decomposed rocks, he assures me that we shall find it throughout the valley of the Amazons. The boldest imagination shrinks from any generalization on this subject, and yet we must gradually familiarize ourselves with the idea that the cause which has dispersed these materials, whatever it be, has acted on the largest scale, since they are probably to be found all over the continent. Already I learn that my young travelling companions have observed the drift in the environs of Barbacena and Ouro-Preto, and in the valley of the Rio das Velhas. My zoölogical results are not less satisfactory; and to speak of the fishes alone, I have found at Pará during one week more species than have as yet been described from the whole basin of the Amazons,—sixty-three in all. This study will be useful, I hope, to ichthyology, for I have already succeeded in distinguishing five new families and eighteen new genera, while the unpublished species do not number less than forty-nine. It is a guaranty of the rich harvest I shall make when I enter upon the domain of the Amazons properly so called; for I have seen as yet but a tenth part of the fluviatile species known from this basin, and some of the marine species which come up to Pará. Unhappily, Mr. Burkhardt is ill, and has been able to paint but four of the new species we have procured; and of nearly half the number, only single specimens have been secured. On my return I must make a longer stay in Pará in order to fill these deficiencies. I am enchanted with the grandeur of nature here. Your Majesty certainly reigns over the most beautiful empire of the world; and, personal as are the attentions which I receive wherever I stop, I cannot but believe that, were it not for the generous and hospitable character of the Brazilians and the interest of the higher classes in the progress of science and civilization, I should not have met with the facilities which crowd my path. Thus, in order to render the exploration of the river from Pará to Manaos more easy, Mr. Pimenta Bueno, instead of allowing me to take the regular steamer, has put at my disposition, for a month or six weeks, one of the finest boats of the company, where I am installed as conveniently as in my Museum at Cambridge. Mr. Coutinho is full of attention, and renders my work doubly light by procuring, in advance, all the information possible. But I will not further abuse your Majesty’s leisure, only begging you to believe in the complete devotion and respectful affection of

Your humble and obedient servant,L. Agassiz.

Your humble and obedient servant,

L. Agassiz.

51.Senhor Sepeda, a most hospitable and courteous gentleman, to whom we were indebted then and afterwards for much kindness, and also for valuable collections put up during our journey to the Upper Amazons.

52.August 22d, morning: between Tajapurú and Gurupá.My dear Friend:—Yesterday was a most instructive day,—above all, in the “forest fishes.” We have obtained fifteen species in all. Out of this number ten are new, four are found also in Pará, and one has been already described by me in the voyage of Spix and Martius; but what is most interesting is the proof furnished by these species, taken in their totality, that the fishes inhabiting the waters west of the group of islands called Marajó, when considered as a whole, differ from those of the Pará river. The list of names which we have asked from the Indians shows, further, that the number of species found in these localities exceeds greatly that which we have been able to procure; for this reason we have left cans at Breves and at Tajapurú in order to complete the collection. I add some remarks which will help you to appreciate these differences, if you wish to compare them with the catalogue of the Pará species which I left with you. Considering all, it seems to me already apparent that our voyage will make a revolution in Ichthyology. In the first place, the Jacundá of Tajapurú is different from those of Pará; so is the Acará; then we have a new species of Sarapó, and also one of Jeju; a new species of Rabeca, a new species of Anojá, a new genus of Candiru, a new genus of Bagre, a new genus of Acary, and a new species of Acary belonging to the same genus as that of Pará; also a new species of Matupirim. Add to this a species of Aracú, already described, but which is not found at Pará, and you will have at Tajapurú eleven species which do not exist at Pará, to which must be added four species which are found at Tajapurú as well as at Pará, and one which occurs at Pará, Breves, and Tajapurú. In all twenty species, of which fifteen are new, in two days. Unhappily, the Indians have misunderstood our directions, and have brought us but one specimen of each species. There remains, then, much to do in these localities, judging from the catalogue of names collected by Major Coutinho, which includes twenty-six species from the forest and forty-six from the river. We are still lacking at least fifty-two species from Tajapurú, even supposing that this locality contains also the five species from Breves. You see that we shall yet leave a large share of the work to our successors.Adieu for to-day, your affectionateL. Agassiz.

52.

August 22d, morning: between Tajapurú and Gurupá.

My dear Friend:—Yesterday was a most instructive day,—above all, in the “forest fishes.” We have obtained fifteen species in all. Out of this number ten are new, four are found also in Pará, and one has been already described by me in the voyage of Spix and Martius; but what is most interesting is the proof furnished by these species, taken in their totality, that the fishes inhabiting the waters west of the group of islands called Marajó, when considered as a whole, differ from those of the Pará river. The list of names which we have asked from the Indians shows, further, that the number of species found in these localities exceeds greatly that which we have been able to procure; for this reason we have left cans at Breves and at Tajapurú in order to complete the collection. I add some remarks which will help you to appreciate these differences, if you wish to compare them with the catalogue of the Pará species which I left with you. Considering all, it seems to me already apparent that our voyage will make a revolution in Ichthyology. In the first place, the Jacundá of Tajapurú is different from those of Pará; so is the Acará; then we have a new species of Sarapó, and also one of Jeju; a new species of Rabeca, a new species of Anojá, a new genus of Candiru, a new genus of Bagre, a new genus of Acary, and a new species of Acary belonging to the same genus as that of Pará; also a new species of Matupirim. Add to this a species of Aracú, already described, but which is not found at Pará, and you will have at Tajapurú eleven species which do not exist at Pará, to which must be added four species which are found at Tajapurú as well as at Pará, and one which occurs at Pará, Breves, and Tajapurú. In all twenty species, of which fifteen are new, in two days. Unhappily, the Indians have misunderstood our directions, and have brought us but one specimen of each species. There remains, then, much to do in these localities, judging from the catalogue of names collected by Major Coutinho, which includes twenty-six species from the forest and forty-six from the river. We are still lacking at least fifty-two species from Tajapurú, even supposing that this locality contains also the five species from Breves. You see that we shall yet leave a large share of the work to our successors.

Adieu for to-day, your affectionateL. Agassiz.

Adieu for to-day, your affectionate

L. Agassiz.

53.The opportunity of watching these fishes in their natural element, and keeping many of them alive for hours or days in our glass tanks, was very instructive, and suggested comparisons not dreamed of before. Our arrangements were very convenient; and as the commander of the steamer allowed me to encumber the deck with all sorts of scientific apparatus, I had a number of large glass dishes and wooden tubs in which I kept such specimens as I wished to investigate with special care and to have drawn from life. One of the most striking changes made by J. Müller, in the classification of the spiny fishes, was the separation into a distinct order, under the name of Pharyngognathi, of all those in which the pharyngeal bones are soldered together. With these the illustrious German anatomist has associated a number of soft-rayed types, formerly united with the Pickerels and Herrings, and characterized by the same structure. It would thus seem that there is here a definite anatomical character easily traceable, by the aid of which a vast number of fishes might be correctly classified. But the question at once arises, Are these fishes truly related to one another, and so combined in this new order of Pharyngognathi as to include all which properly belong with them, and none others? I think not. I believe that Müller has always placed too much value upon isolated anatomical characters; and, while he was undoubtedly one of the greatest anatomists and physiologists of our age, he lacked zoölogical tact. This is especially evident with reference to the order of Pharyngognathi, for though the Scomberesoces have fixed pharyngeals like Chromides, Pomacentrides, Labroids, Holconotes, and Gerrides, they have no real affinities with these families. Again, the character assigned to this order is not constant even in the typical Pharyngognathi. I have found Chromides and Gerrides with movable pharyngeals; in the genus Cychla they are normally so. It is therefore not out of place to state here that the Chromides of South America are in reality closely related to a group of fishes very generally found in the United States, known as Pomotis, Bryttus, Centrarchus, etc., and usually referred to the family of Perches, from which they have, however, been separated by Dr. Holbrook under the name of Helichthyoids. They not only resemble the Chromides in their form, but even in their habits, mode of reproduction, peculiar movements, and even in their coloration. Cuvier has already shown that Enoplosus is not a member of the family of Chætodonts, and I may now add that it is a near relative of the Chromides, and should stand by the side of Pterophyllum in a natural system. Monocirrus of Heckel, which I consider as the type of a small family under the name of Folhidæ, is also closely allied to these, though provided with a barbel, and should be placed with Polycentrus side by side with the Chromides and Helichthyoids. The manner in which Pterophyllum moves is quite peculiar. The profile of the head and the extended anterior margin of the high dorsal are brought on a level, parallel to the surface of the water, when the long ventrals and high anal hang down vertically, and the fish progresses slowly by the lateral beating of the tail.—L. A.

54.On the Xingu, August 23d, 1865.My dear Friend:—I am worn out with fatigue, but I will not go to rest before writing you a word. Yesterday evening we obtained twenty-seven species of fish at Gurupá and this morning fifty-seven at Porto do Moz,—eighty-four species in all, in less than twelve hours, and of this number fifty-one are new. It is wonderful. I can no longer put in order what is brought to me as fast as it arrives, and as to obtaining colored drawings of all, it is no longer possible, unless we pass a whole week here on our return.Wholly yours,L. Agassiz.

54.

On the Xingu, August 23d, 1865.

My dear Friend:—I am worn out with fatigue, but I will not go to rest before writing you a word. Yesterday evening we obtained twenty-seven species of fish at Gurupá and this morning fifty-seven at Porto do Moz,—eighty-four species in all, in less than twelve hours, and of this number fifty-one are new. It is wonderful. I can no longer put in order what is brought to me as fast as it arrives, and as to obtaining colored drawings of all, it is no longer possible, unless we pass a whole week here on our return.

Wholly yours,L. Agassiz.

Wholly yours,

L. Agassiz.

55.Representations of these hills may be found in the Atlas of Martius and in Bates’s “Naturalist on the Amazons.”

56.Afterwards I made a longer stay at Monte Alégre, and learned to know its picturesque nooks and dells, where a luxuriant vegetation is watered by delicious springs. I feel that the above description is superficial; but I let it remain, as perfectly true to my first impressions.

57.I soon became convinced after leaving Pará that the faunæ of our different stations were not repetitions of each other. On the contrary, at Breves, Tajapurú, Gurupá,—in short, at each stopping-place, as has been seen,—we found another set of inhabitants in the river, if not wholly different from the last, at least presenting so many new species that the combination was no longer the same. It became at once very important to ascertain whether these differences were permanent and stationary, or were, in part at least, an effect of migration. I therefore determined to distribute our forces in such a way as to keep collecting parties at distant points, and to repeat collections from the same localities at different seasons. I pursued this method of investigation during our whole stay in the Amazons, dividing the party for the first time at Santarem, where Messrs. Dexter, James, and Talisman separated from us to ascend the Tapajoz, while Mr. Bourget remained at Santarem, and I, with the rest of my companions, kept on to Obydos and Villa Bella.—L. A.

58.I was especially interested in seeing living Gymnotini. I do not here allude to the electric Gymnotus, already so fully described by Humboldt that nothing remains to be said about it; but to the smaller representatives of that curious family, known as Carapus, Sternopygus, Sternarchus and Rhamphichthys. The Carapus, called Sarapos throughout Brazil, are very numerous, and the most lively of the whole group. Their motions are winding and rapid like those of the Eel, but yet different, inasmuch as they do not glide quickly forward, but, like Cobitis and Petromyzon, turn frequent somersets and change their direction constantly. This is also the case with the Sternopygus and Sternarchus, and even the larger and more slender Rhamphichthys have a kind of rolling motion. Though I had expected to find many Cyprinodonts, yet their great variety astonished me, and still more was I struck by their resemblance to Melanura, Umbra, and the Erythrinoids. The presence of Belone and allied forms also surprised me. Our stay on the shores of José Assú and Lago Maximo was particularly instructive on account of the numerous specimens of each species daily brought in by Laudigári and Maia. It afforded me a welcome opportunity for studying the differences exhibited by these fishes at different periods of life. No type passes, in that respect, through greater changes than the Chromides, and among them the genus Cychla is perhaps the most variable. I am sure that no ichthyologist could at first sight believe that their young are really the early stage of the forms known in our ichthyological works as Cychla monocolus, Cychla temensis, and Cychla saxatilis. The males and females also vary greatly during the spawning season, and the hump on the top of the head described as a specific character in Cychla nigro-maculata is a protuberance only found in the male, swelling during the period of spawning and soon disappearing. Once familiar with the young brood of some species of Chromides, it became easy for me to distinguish a great variety of small types, no doubt hitherto overlooked by naturalists travelling in this region, simply under the impression that they must be the young of larger species. A similar investigation of the young of Serrasalmo, Myletes, Tetragonopterus, Cynodon, Anodus, &c. led me to the discovery of an equally large number of diminutive types of Characines, many of which, when full grown, do not exceed one inch in length; among them are some of the most beautiful fishes I have ever seen, so far as the brilliancy and variety of their colors are concerned. Thus everything contributed to swell the collections,—the localities selected as well as the mode of investigating. I should add here, that, several years before my own journey on the Amazons, I had been indebted to the Rev. Mr. Fletcher for a valuable collection of fishes from this and other Amazonian localities. The familiarity thus obtained with them was very useful to me in pursuing my studies on the spot.—L. A.

59.As will be seen hereafter, want of time and the engrossing character of his work in the Amazons, compelled Mr. Agassiz to renounce the journey into Peru, as also the ascent of the river Madeira.

60.To His Excellency M. Couto de Magalhaēs, President of Pará.My dear Sir:—I thank you sincerely for the kind letter you were so good as to write me last week, and I hasten to inform you of the extraordinary success which continues to crown our efforts. It is certain from this time forth, that the number of fishes inhabiting the Amazons greatly exceeds all that has hitherto been imagined, and that their distribution is very limited on the whole, though a small number of species have followed us since we left Pará and others have a range more or less extensive. You remember, perhaps, that, when alluding to my hopes, I told you one day that I believed in the possibility of finding from two hundred and fifty to three hundred species of fish in the whole basin of the Amazons; even now, having passed over less than one third of the main stream, and only diverged here and there to some points beyond its shores, I have already obtained more than three hundred. It is incredible, above all, if one considers that the total number known to naturalists does not reach one third of what I have already collected. This result scarcely allows one to foresee the discoveries to be made whenever the affluents of the great river are explored with the same care. An exploration of the Araguay for its whole course, in order to teach us how many different combinations of distinct species occur in succession, from its sources to its junction with the Tocantins and lower down till it meets the Amazons, would be an enterprise worthy of you. You have already a sort of scientific property in this river, to which you would add new rights in furnishing science with this information.Permit me to express to you all the gratitude I feel for the interest you take in my young travelling companion. Mr. Ward is worthy of it, alike from his youth, his courage, and his devotion to science. Mr. Epaminondas has just communicated to me your generous intentions towards myself, and your purpose of sending a steamer to Manaos to take the place of the Piraja, and facilitate our exploration of the Rio Negro and the Rio Madeira. I do not know how to thank you enough; all that I can say is, that this favor will allow me to make an exploration of these rivers which would be otherwise impossible. If the result of these researches be as favorable as my hopes, the honor will be due, in the first instance, to the liberality of the Brazilian government. Encouraged by the results thus far obtained, I think that, if the circumstances are favorable, on arriving at Tabatinga, we shall make a push into the lower part of Peru, while my companions will explore the rivers intermediate between this town and Teffé; so that we shall probably not return to Manaos before the end of October.Accept, my dear Sir, the assurance of my high regard, &c., &c.L. Agassiz.

60.

To His Excellency M. Couto de Magalhaēs, President of Pará.

My dear Sir:—I thank you sincerely for the kind letter you were so good as to write me last week, and I hasten to inform you of the extraordinary success which continues to crown our efforts. It is certain from this time forth, that the number of fishes inhabiting the Amazons greatly exceeds all that has hitherto been imagined, and that their distribution is very limited on the whole, though a small number of species have followed us since we left Pará and others have a range more or less extensive. You remember, perhaps, that, when alluding to my hopes, I told you one day that I believed in the possibility of finding from two hundred and fifty to three hundred species of fish in the whole basin of the Amazons; even now, having passed over less than one third of the main stream, and only diverged here and there to some points beyond its shores, I have already obtained more than three hundred. It is incredible, above all, if one considers that the total number known to naturalists does not reach one third of what I have already collected. This result scarcely allows one to foresee the discoveries to be made whenever the affluents of the great river are explored with the same care. An exploration of the Araguay for its whole course, in order to teach us how many different combinations of distinct species occur in succession, from its sources to its junction with the Tocantins and lower down till it meets the Amazons, would be an enterprise worthy of you. You have already a sort of scientific property in this river, to which you would add new rights in furnishing science with this information.

Permit me to express to you all the gratitude I feel for the interest you take in my young travelling companion. Mr. Ward is worthy of it, alike from his youth, his courage, and his devotion to science. Mr. Epaminondas has just communicated to me your generous intentions towards myself, and your purpose of sending a steamer to Manaos to take the place of the Piraja, and facilitate our exploration of the Rio Negro and the Rio Madeira. I do not know how to thank you enough; all that I can say is, that this favor will allow me to make an exploration of these rivers which would be otherwise impossible. If the result of these researches be as favorable as my hopes, the honor will be due, in the first instance, to the liberality of the Brazilian government. Encouraged by the results thus far obtained, I think that, if the circumstances are favorable, on arriving at Tabatinga, we shall make a push into the lower part of Peru, while my companions will explore the rivers intermediate between this town and Teffé; so that we shall probably not return to Manaos before the end of October.

Accept, my dear Sir, the assurance of my high regard, &c., &c.

L. Agassiz.

Back to Index Next