A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro

by Alfred Russel Wallace, H. Lewis McKinney (introduction)

S714. A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon & Rio Negro, With an Account of the Native Tribes & Observations on the Climate, Geology & Natural History of the Amazon Valley. Reeve & Company, London, 12/1853; pp. i-x, 1-541; front., map, illustrations, fold-out. Reprint: Macmillan & Company, London (12/1870).
--2nd Edition revised to delete Indian languages Appendix. Minerva Library of Famous Books, Volume 8: Ward, Lock & Company, London, NY & Melbourne, 11/1889; pp. i-xviii, 1-363; 16 illustrations (including portrait front. & map). [Reprints: 3rd edition (1890); 4th edition (1892); New 5th Edition. Ward, Lock & Bowden, London (1895 & 5/4/1900 / Travels on the Amazon. World Library: Harper & Brothers, NY, & Ward, Lock & Company, London (n.d. (1889); pp. i-x, 1-363; map, illustrations) / Travels on the Amazon & Rio Negro. New Amsterdam Book Company, NY (1900; pp. i-xvi, 1-363; 16 illustrations (including portrait front. & map)) / Travels on the Amazon. World Library: Ward, Lock & Company, London, Melbourne & Toronto (5/1911; pp. i-x, 1-363; map, illustrations) / Travels on the Amazon. Everyman's Library, #99: J.M. Dent, London (1911; 363 pp.)]
--Reprinted excerpt: 'The Masserandura or Milk-tree' in Medical News 12: 91-92 (5/1854 #137)
This edition is based on a Reprint of the 1889 ed., which was issued as v. 8 of Minerva library of famous books. Also published in 1889 under title: Travels on the Amazon & Rio Negro.

Genres: Science, Travel, History, Nonfiction, Nature, Geography

384 pages, paper

First published January 1, 1889

About the author

Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. He is best known for independently proposing a theory of natural selection which prompted Charles Darwin to publish his own theory.

Wallace did extensive fieldwork, first in the Amazon River basin and then in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the Wallace Line that divides Indonesia into two distinct parts, one in which animals closely related to those of Australia are common, and one in which the species are largely of Asian origin. He was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species and is sometimes called the "father of biogeography". Wallace was one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century and made a number of other contributions to the development of evolutionary theory besides being co-discoverer of natural selection. These included the concept of warning colouration in animals, and the Wallace effect, a hypothesis on how natural selection could contribute to speciation by encouraging the development of barriers against hybridization.

Wallace was strongly attracted to unconventional ideas. His advocacy of Spiritualism and his belief in a non-material origin for the higher mental faculties of humans strained his relationship with the scientific establishment, especially with other early proponents of evolution. In addition to his scientific work, he was a social activist who was critical of what he considered to be an unjust social and economic system in 19th-century Britain. His interest in biogeography resulted in his being one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmental impact of human activity. Wallace was a prolific author who wrote on both scientific and social issues; his account of his adventures and observations during his explorations in Indonesia and Malaysia, The Malay Archipelago, was one of the most popular and influential journals of scientific exploration published during the 19th century.

Reviews

[Nico Van Straalen]

Quite a remarkable book this is. Wallace tells an adventure story on his unfortunate travel to Brazil, with lots of narratives on the local tribes at that time living along the great rivers, but also on the wealthy flora and fauna, of which he collected a huge number, to be shipped to Engeland, but which he lost in a shipwreck. This book is like his later, better known "The Malay Archipelago", but this is a rawer story, much more close to a diary, with so many super-dangerous canoe journeys across rapids and waterfalls, plagued by yellow fever, natives drinking the alcohol used for preserving biological specimens and leaving him alone, helpless at occasions. It is a miracle that someone can survive and become famous after so much endurance and misfortune.

[Erik Graff]

I read this along with some other writings by Wallace and a lot of writings by Darwin for my research assistantship in the philosophy department at Loyola University Chicago. Between the two, I thought Darwin the more systematic, Wallace the better writer. This is primarily a travel and adventure book, Wallace's musings about evolution and formulation of a theory of natural selection being asides.