The Naturalist on the River Amazons

Frontispiece to Volume 1 by Josiah Wood Whymper entitled "Adventure with Curl-Crested Toucans". The picture is misleading as Bates was not carrying a gun when he encountered the birds.

The Naturalist on the River Amazons , supplementing A Record of the Adventures, Habits of Animals, Sketches of Brazilian and Indian Life, and Aspects of Nature under the Equator, during Eleven Years of Travel , is a book published in 1863 by the British naturalist Henry Walter Bates about his expedition from 1848 to 1859 in the Amazon region .

After Bate's return to England, Charles Darwin encouraged him to write a book about his eleven years in the Amazon. The result was widely admired, not least by Darwin; other reviewers sometimes disagreed with the book's support for the theory of evolution, but generally enjoyed its account of the travel, landscape, people, and natural history. The book was reprinted many times, mostly in Bate's own effective abstract for the second edition, in which the more technical descriptions were omitted.

"... the best book of Natural History Travels ever published in England - Charles Darwin"

content

The book contains an evenly distributed mix of natural history, travel, and observation of human societies, including the cities with their Roman Catholic processions. Only the most remarkable discoveries of animals and plants are described. Theories like evolution and mimicry are hardly mentioned. Bates notes that finding a new species is just the beginning; it also describes the behavior of the animals, sometimes in detail, as with army ants . He constantly relates the wildlife to humans and explains how humans hunt, what they eat and what they use as medicine. The book is illustrated with drawings by leading artists, including EW Robinson , Josiah Wood Whymper , Joseph Wolf and Johann Baptist Zwecker .

chapter

Map of the Amazon Basin, showing places Bates worked during his 11 year residency

"Blow-gun, quiver, and arrow" (German: blowpipe, quiver and arrow)

The book is divided into the following chapters:

Chapter I Pará: Arrival - Appearance of the land - The Para river - First walk in the suburbs of Pará - Birds, lizards and insects of the suburbs - Leaf-cutting ant - Overview of the climate, history and the current conditions of Pará
Chapter II Pará: The swampy forests of Pará - A Portuguese landowner from Portugal - Country house near Nazareth - Life of a naturalist under the equator - The drier primeval forests - Magoary - oxbow lakes - Aboriginal people
Chapter III Para: Religious Holidays - Marmoset Monkeys - Snakes - Insects
Chapter IV The Rio Tocantins and Cameta: Travel preparations - The Bay of Goajara - Fan palm grove - The lower Tocantins - Description of the Vista Allegre river - Baiao - Rapids - Boat tour to the Guariba waterfalls - The life of the locals on the Tocantins - Second trip to Cameta
Chapter V Caripi and the Bay of Marajo: The Rio Pará and the Bay of Marajo - Trip to Caripi - Christmas party with negroes - A German family - Bats - Anteaters - Hummingbirds - Excursion to Murucupi - The domestic life of the inhabitants - Hunting trip with Indians - White ants
Chapter VI The Lower Amazon - Pará to Obydos: Types of voyage on the Amazon - Historical description of the early exploration of the river - Travel preparations - Life on board a large merchant ship - The narrow channels that connect Para with the Amazon - First encounter with the Great River - Gurupa - The Great Shoal - Table Mountains - Santarem - Obydos
Chapter VII The Lower Amazon, From Obydos to Manaus or Barra des Rio Negro: Departure from Obydos - Riverside and side canals - Cocoa planters - Daily life on board our ship - Big storm - Sand island and its birds - Parentin hills - Negro traders and Mauhes Indians - Villa Nova: its inhabitants, forest and animals - Cararaucu - A rural festival - The Lake of Cararaucu - Motuca - Flies - Serpa - Christmas holidays - The Madeira river - A Mamluk farmer - Mura Indians - Rio Negro - Description of Barra - Drive to Pará down - yellow fever
Chapter VIII Santarem: Location of Santarem - Behavior and customs of the inhabitants - Climate - Grasslands and forests - Excursions to Mapiri, Mahica and Irura with a brief description of their natural history - palm trees, wild fruit trees, miner wasps, wall wasps, bees and sloths
Chapter IX Journey up the Rio Tapajos: Travel preparations - First day of sailing - Loss of boat - Altar de Chao - Possibilities to get fish - Difficulties with the ship's crew - Arrival at Aveyros - Excursions in the area - White nasturtiums - Creatures of the nasturtiums - Tame parrots - Mission settlement - Entering the Cupari River - Adventure with anaconda - Smoke-dried monkey - Boa constrictor - Village of the Mundurucu Indians and hostile invasion of a wild tribe - Cupari waterfalls - Hyacinthara - Again in the broad Tapajos - Down the river to Santarem
Chapter X The upper Amazon region - Journey to Ega (= Tefé): Departure from Barra - First day and night on the upper Amazon - Desolate appearance of the river during the flood season - Cucama Indians - Mental health of the Indians - Gusts of wind - Manatees - Forest - Swimmers Pumice stones from the Andes - Sloping banks - Ega and its inhabitants - Daily life of a naturalist in Ega - The four seasons of the upper Amazon
Chapter XI Excursions in the neighborhood of Ega: The river Teffe - Forays through the woods on the bank - Excursion to the house of a Passe chief - Character and customs of the Passe tribe - First excursion: Sand islands of the Solimoens - Habits of the great river turtle - Second Excursion: Turtle catching in the inland lakes - Third excursion: Hunting forays with natives in the forest - Return to Ega
Chapter XII Animals in the neighborhood of Ega: Red-faced monkeys - Parauacu monkeys - Owl-faced night monkeys - Brush monkeys - Jupura - Bats - Birds - Cuvier's toucan - Curly carassari - Insects - Hanging cocoons - Wandering ants - Blind ants

Illustrations

"Masked-dance and wedding-feast of Tucuna Indians" (mask dance and wedding feast of the Tucuna Indians) by Josiah Wood Whymper

There are 39 illustrations, some of animals and plants, some of human subjects such as the Masked-dance and wedding-feast of Tucuna Indians, drawn by Josiah Wood Whymper . Some illustrations, including "Turtle Fishing and Adventure with Alligator" are by the German illustrator Johann Baptist Zwecker ; some, like "Bird-Killing Spider (Mygale Avicularia) Attacking Finches" (Mygale Avicularia) attack finches are from EW Robinson ; others by the zoological artist Joseph Wolf .

Main expenses

Bates HW 1863. The naturalist on the river Amazons . 2 volumes, Murray , London.
Bates HW 1864. The naturalist on the river Amazons . 2nd edition as a volume, Murray, London. [shortened by removing descriptions of natural history; often reprinted]
Bates HW 1892. The naturalist on the river Amazons, with a memoir of the author by Edward Clodd . [only full edition since 1863, with a good short biography of Clodd]

Individual evidence

↑ Mallet, Jim : Henry Walter Bates . University College London. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
↑ Darwin, Charles : Darwin to Bates, HW . In: Letter 4107 . Darwin Correspondence Project. April 18, 1863. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
^ First edition: The naturalist on the River Amazons, a record of adventures, habits of animals, sketches of Brazilian and Indian life and aspects of nature under the Equator during eleven years of travel. John Murray, London 1863, 2 volumes. ( Digitized version ), Library of Congress, Rare Book Selections.
↑ Bates, 1864. p. 359
^ Bates, 1864, p. 97
^ Artefact of the month - June 2007 . Zoological Society of London. June 2007. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2013.

Web links

Commons : The Naturalist on the River Amazons - Collection of images, videos and audio files

[Mallet-1] Mallet, Jim : Henry Walter Bates . University College London. Retrieved December 11, 2012.

[Darwin-2] Darwin, Charles : Darwin to Bates, HW . In: Letter 4107 . Darwin Correspondence Project. April 18, 1863. Retrieved August 1, 2020.

[3] First edition: The naturalist on the River Amazons, a record of adventures, habits of animals, sketches of Brazilian and Indian life and aspects of nature under the Equator during eleven years of travel. John Murray, London 1863, 2 volumes. ( Digitized version ), Library of Congress, Rare Book Selections.

[4] Bates, 1864. p. 359

[5] Bates, 1864, p. 97

[ZSL2007-6] Artefact of the month - June 2007 . Zoological Society of London. June 2007. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2013.