barge
with its white awning, the gay canoe, and two or three Indian montarias,
making the foreground of the picture. After breakfast our party
dispersed, some to rest in their hammocks, others to hunt or fish, while
Mr. Agassiz was fully engaged in examining a large basket of
fish,--Tucunares, Acaras, Curimatas, Surubims, etc.,--just brought in
from the lake for his inspection, and showing again what every
investigation demonstrates afresh, namely, the distinct localization of
species in every different water-basin, be it river, lake, igarape, or
forest pool. Though the scientific results of the expedition have no
place in this little sketch of a single excursion, let me make a general
statement as to Mr. Agassiz's collections, to give you some idea of his
success. Since arriving in Para, although his exploration of the
Amazonian waters is but half completed, he has collected more species
than were known to exist in the whole world fifty years ago. Up to this
time, something more than a hundred species of fish were known to
science from the Amazons;[C] Mr. Agassiz has already more than eight
hundred on hand, and every day adds new treasures. He is himself
astonished at this result, revealing a richness and variety in the
distribution of life throughout these waters of which he had formed no
conception. As his own attention has been especially directed to their
localization and development, his collection of fishes is larger than
any other; still, with the help of his companions, volunteers as well as
regular assistants, he has a good assortment of specimens from all the
other classes of the animal kingdom likewise.

One does not see much of the world between one o'clock and four in this
climate. These are the hottest hours of the day, and there are few who
can resist the temptation of the cool swinging hammock, slung in some
shady spot within doors or without. I found a quiet retreat by the lake
shore, where, though I had a book in my hand, the wind in the trees
overhead, and the water rippling softly around the montarias moored at
my side, lulled me into that mood of mind when one may be lazy without
remorse or ennui, and one's highest duty seems to be to do nothing. The
monotonous notes of a _violon_, a kind of lute or guitar, came to me
from a group of trees at a little distance, where our boatmen were
resting in the shade, the red fringes of their hammocks giving to the
landscape just the bit of color which it need