compelled, in order to diminish the chance of losses, to form three
different collections. Of these, the first was embarked for Spain
and France, the second for the United States and England, and the
third, which was the most considerable, remained almost constantly
under our own eyes. Towards the close of our expedition, this last
collection formed forty-two boxes, containing an herbal of six
thousand equinoctial plants, seeds, shells, insects, and (what had
hitherto never been brought to Europe) geological specimens, from
the Chimborazo, New Grenada, and the banks of the river Amazon.

After our journey to the Orinoco, we left a part of these
collections at the island of Cuba, intending to take them on our
return from Peru to Mexico. The rest followed us during the space
of five years, on the chain of the Andes, across New Spain, from
the shores of the Pacific to the coasts of the Caribbean Sea. The
conveyance of these objects, and the minute care they required,
occasioned embarrassments scarcely conceiveable even by those who
have traversed the most uncultivated parts of Europe. Our progress
was often retarded by the necessity of dragging after us, during
expeditions of five or six months, twelve, fifteen, and sometimes
more than twenty loaded mules, exchanging these animals every eight
or ten days, and superintending the Indians who were employed in
driving the numerous caravan. Often, in order to add to our
collections of new mineral substances, we found ourselves obliged
to throw away others, which we had collected a considerable time
before. These sacrifices were not less vexatious than the losses we
accidentally sustained. Sad experience taught us but too late, that
from the sultry humidity of the climate, and the frequent falls of
the beasts of burden, we could preserve neither the skins of
animals hastily prepared, nor the fishes and reptiles placed in