Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes Being Records of Travel on the Amazon and its Tributaries, the Trombetas, Rio Negro, Uaupés, Casiquiari, Pacimoni, Huallaga and Pastasa Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes 2 Volume Set Series

Having previously embarked on a collecting expedition to the Pyrenees, backed by Sir William Hooker and George Bentham, the botanist Richard Spruce (1817?93) travelled in 1849 to South America, where he carried out unprecedented exploration among the diverse flora across the northern part of the continent. After his death, Spruce's writings on fifteen fruitful years of discovery were edited as a labour of love by fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823?1913), whom Spruce had met in Santarém. This two-volume work, first published in 1908, includes many of the author's exquisite illustrations. Showing the determination to reach plants in almost inaccessible areas, Spruce collected hundreds of species, many with medicinal properties, notably the quinine-yielding cinchona tree, as well as the datura and coca plants. Volume 1 contains Wallace's biographical introduction and a list of Spruce's published works. The narrative includes discussion of Pará, Santarém, and the Negro and Orinoco rivers.

Preface; Biographical introduction; List of books and papers; 1. Pará and the equatorial forests; 2. Voyage to Santarem and first residence there; 3. To Obydos and the River Trombetas; 4. Residence at Santarem; 5. Geology and botany of Santarem; 6. From Santarem to the Rio Negro; 7. Residence at Manáos; 8. Voyage up the Rio Negro at Sao Gabriel; 9. Cataracts and mountain-forests of Sao Gabriel; 10. Cataracts and unexplored forests of the Uaupés river; 11. At San Carlos do Rio Negro; 12. In Humboldt's country; 13. To the cataracts of the Orinoco and return to San Carlos; 14. San Carlos to Manáos (Barra).