we have discovered more than two hundred distinct species, the greater part of which have not been observed elsewhere. What a contrast! The study of the mixture of human races in this region has also occupied me much, and I have procured numerous photographs of all the types which I have been able to observe. The principal result at which I have arrived is, that the _races_ bear themselves towards each other as do distinct species; that is to say, that the hybrids, which spring from the crossing of men of different races, are always a mixture of the two primitive types, and never the simple reproduction of the characters of one or the other progenitor, as is the case among the races of domestic animals. I will say nothing of my other collections, which have been made for the most part by my young companions, rather with a view to enrich our Museum than to solve scientific questions. But I cannot allow this occasion to pass without expressing my lively gratitude for all the facilities, in my explorations, which I have owed to the kindness of your Majesty. From the President to the most humble employés of the provinces I have visited, all have competed with each other to render my work more easy; and the steamship company of the Amazons has shown an extreme liberality towards me. Finally, Sire, the generosity with which you have placed at my disposition a vessel of war has allowed me to make collections which, with less ample and rapid means of transport, must have remained utterly inaccessible to me. Permit me to add, that, of all the favors with which your Majesty has crowned this voyage, the most precious has been the presence of Major Coutinho, whose familiarity with all which concerns the Amazons has been an inexhaustible source of important information and of useful directions; by means of which the loss of time in unremunerative excursions has been avoided. His co-operation during this journey has been most laborious; he has applied himself to zoölogy as if the physical sciences had not hitherto been the special object of his study, while at the same time he has made numerous thermometric, barometric, and astronomical observations, which will furnish important additions to what is already known concerning the meteorology and topography of these provinces. We have, for instance, been the first to carry the barometer into the midst of the hills of Almeyrim, of Monte Alégre and Ereré, and to measure their highest summits. The study of the formation of the valley of the Amazons has naturally occupied me, though in a secondary degree, from the first day of my arrival.[95] * * * * * But it is time that I should close this long letter, begging your Majesty to pardon me for putting your patience to so hard a trial. Your Majesty’s most humble and most affectionate servant,