My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

;IN THE AMAZON VALLEY 147directions with poor results I determined to make along expedition to the Upper Rio Negro, whilst mybrother, who had finally decided to give up collecting,which had little interest for him, was to remain afew months at Barra, and then return to Para andEngland.When he arrived at Para, and while waiting forhis ship to sail, he was seized with yellow fever, anddied in a few days.The remainder of my South American travelsconsisted of two voyages up the Rio Negro. On thefirst I went beyond the boundaries of Brazil, andcrossed by a road in the forest to one of the tributariesof the Orinoco. Returning thence I visited avillage up a small branch of the Rio Negro, wherethere is an isolated rocky mountain, the haunt of thebeautiful Cock of the Rock ; afterwards going up theUaupes as far as the second cataract at Juaurite. Ithen returned with my collections to Barra, havingdetermined to go much farther up the Uaupes inorder to obtain, if possible, the white umbrella birdwhich I had been positively assured was found thereand also in the hopes of finding some new and bettercollecting ground near the Andes. These journeyswere made, but the second was cut short by delaysand the wet season. My health also had suffered somuch by a succession of fevers and dysentery that Idid not consider it prudent to stay longer in thecountry.Although during the last two journeys in the RioNegro and Orinoco districts I had made rather largemiscellaneous collections, and especially of articles ofnative workmanship, I never found any locality at allcomparable with Para as a collecting ground. Thenumerous places I visited along more than a thousand