And yet, the many and highly diversified phases in which life
presents itself in the tropics enabled the skilled naturalist to
fill a volume with a series of episodes, experiences, and
speculations of which the reader will never tire. His keen powers
of observation and active intellect were applied to various
branches of scientific inquiry with unflagging ardour; and he had
the faculty of putting the results of these inquiries in a clear,
direct form, rendered the more attractive by its simplicity and
absence of any effort at fine writing. He does not obtrude his own
personality, and, like all genuine men, he forgets "self" over his
subject. Instead of informing us whether or not he received "the
salary of an ambassador and the treatment of a gentleman," he
scatters before us, broadcast, facts interesting and novel,
valuable hints for future research, and generalisations which amply
repay a close study. Not alone the zoologist, the geologist, but
the antiquarian, the ethnologist, the social philosopher, and the
meteorologist will each find in these pages additions to his store
of knowledge and abundant material for study.

With all this, the work is not a mere catalogue of dry facts: it is
eminently a readable book, bringing vividly before us the various
subjects with which it is concerned. Minutely accurate in his
description of facts and bold in his reasoning upon them, Belt
covered so much ground that some of his theories have not held
their own; but others have stood the test of time and been absorbed
into the world's stock of knowledge, while all bear witness to the
singular grasp of his mind and have stimulated thought and
observation--which is a great virtue in theories, be they true or
false.