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Show 1903.] OF THE PERCY SLADEN EXPEDITION. 233 collections had hitherto been extremely deficient. Carried out as it was with all his accustomed energy and courage, Mr. Robert's expedition was completely successful in spite of the many difficulties in his way, and of his being unaccompanied by any European helper. The collection, of which the present paper gives an account, is an astonishing one for him to have been able to obtain and prepare with his own hands, in so bad a climate, especially as so many of the mammals are of considerable size. Collections of mice are much more easily made than of dogs, peccaries, coati-mondis, monkeys, &c.; and the long series of the different species here enumerated speaks volumes for Mr. Robert's working qualities. The specimens are all prepared in modern fashion, with flesh measurements and separate skulls, and there are besides a number of skeletons, so that, bearing in mind the inaccessibility of the locality, the collection may be looked upon as one of the most valuable that the National collection has received for many years. The thanks of all zoologists are therefore due both to Mrs. Sladen for her generous help, and to Mr. Robert for the admirable way in which he carried out his instructions. Mr. Robert started from Santos on the 15th April, 1902, and after passing through the usual difficulties and delays of quarantine &c. incidental to entering Argentina, proceeded via Buenos Ayres, Asuncion, and Cuyaba, Matto Grosso, to Santa Anna de Chapada, a village situated at an altitude of about 800 m., on the Serra do Chapada, some thirty miles N.E. of Cuyaba, arriving there on the 17th June, and staying there collecting until the 29th November, when he came down the river again with the results of his labours. Mr. Robert spent most of his time collecting mammals, but he also obtained a considerable number of birds, some reptiles *, mollusca t, insects, &c, all of which have been presented to the National Museum by Mrs. Sladen. The present is the third considerable collection of mammals that has .been made in the district of Cuyaba. The first was that formed by Natterer in 1825-1829, and described in conjunction wTith his other Brazilian mammals by Wagner and Pelzeln. The second was that of the " American Naturalist Exploring Expedition " of 1882, under the leadership of Mr. H . H. Smith, and was made at the very village, Sta. Anna de Chapada, where Mr. Robert worked. The mammals were described by Prof. E. D. Copet in combination with those obtained at Sao Joao, Rio Grande do Sul, where the expedition stayed before passing on to Chapada. N o other important series from single localities have ever been made nearer to the present region than those from the Rio Jordao (Robert), Lagoa Santa (Lund and Reinhardt), Paraguay (Azara, Rengger, and Foster), and those obtained along the eastern side of the Andean chain by P. 0. Simons. * Cf. Boulenger, supra-, p. 69 ; Smith, supra, p. 70. f Am. Nat. xxiii. p. 128 (1889). |
