James William Helenus Trail: a British Naturalist in Nineteenth-Century Amazonia
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Durham E-Theses James William Helenus trail: a British naturalist in nineteenth-century Amazonia Romero Sa, Magali How to cite: Romero Sa, Magali (1996) James William Helenus trail: a British naturalist in nineteenth-century Amazonia, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5398/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. James William Helenus Trail: A British Naturalist In Nineteenth-Century Amazonia by Magali Romero Sd A Dissertation Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, University of Durham, United Kingdom 1996 t. '\ 1 4 JAN 1997 i JAMES WILLIAM HELENUS TRAIL: A BRITISH NATURALIST IN NINETEENTH -CENTURY AMAZONIA by Magali Romero Sa ABSTRACT In 1873, the British naturalist James William Helenus Trail (1851-1919) participated in the first authorized foreign commercial expedition to the Brazilian Amazon region. The exploratory mission was promoted by the "Amazon Steam Navigation Company", a British company which intended to exploit its lands in the valley of the Amazon River. Trail was commissioned to evaluate the potential of the area for timber exploitation, and to indicate additional profitable natural resources. Trail spent 17 months surveying the Amazon River and tributaries, having explored an area which extends westwards from the city of Belem to the Brazilian border with Peru. The effective logistic support provided by the Company allowed him to collect botanical and zoological material in areas not visited before by other naturalists. Trail's collections, particularly those of plants and insects, were much praised by the various specialists who studied them and who, as a tribute to Trail, named 34 newtaxa after him. When in Amazonia, Trail met the Brazilian botanist Barbosa Rodrigues, who called his attention to the diversity of Amazonian palms. Inspired by Rodrigues, Trail developed a keen interest in palm taxonomy, having described 20 new species from the copious material he collected in the region. Trail's new taxa, however, generated protests from Barbosa Rodrigues, who claimed for himself the authorship of some of the species. Trail's trip to Amazonia boosted his career in natural history, and established early in his life his reputation among the British scientific community. His Amazonian collections - which include, among others groups, nearly 1,800 plant and 2,100 insect species -, together with his field observations, represent a most relevant, though largely overlooked, contribution to the historical process of the knowledge of the natural history of the region. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work would not be possible without the assistance and advice of many individuals and institutions. In particular I wish to thank: Professor David Knight, from University of Durham, under whose direction this research work was done. I have benefited immensely from his competent guidance and continuous support at all stages of the work. The Aberdeen University Library and Archives, Scotland, and specially Mr Colin McLaren, for assistance in consulting their archives and permission to microfilm Trail's diaries. Dr. Robert Ralph, Natural History Museum of the University of Aberdeen, for providing information, slides and bibliographical material retated to Trail. The staff of the Library and Archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, for the use of their archives and permission to photocopy Trail's correspondence. Dr. Brian Stannard, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, for providing bibliographical material and information on Trail's botanical collection. The staff of the Library and Archives of the Natural History Museum, London, for assistance and information on Trail's botanical and entomological collections and correspondence. The staff of the Royal Entomological Society, London, for allowing me to consult their archives. Mark Fothergill, for support during my stays in London. The Public Record Office, London, for the use of its files. Dr. Andrew Henderson, The New York Botanical Garden, for information on palm taxonomy and pertinent bibliography. The staff of the Arquivo Historico do Ministerio de Relacoes Exteriores (Itamaraty) for allowing me to consult their files. The staff of the Biblioteca Nacional and the Arquivo Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, for assistance in consulting their holdings. iii The staff of the Museu Imperial, Petropolis, for assistance during my visit and photocopies of manuscripts. The staff of the Library of the Museu Nacional, and specially to Vera de Figueiredo Barbosa; Marcos Antonio Lemos e Antonio Carlos Gomes Lima, for bibliographical assistance. The Instituto Historico e Geografico Brasileiro, and in particular Mr. Pedro Tortima, for the use of their archives and library. Professor Jorge Fontella Pereira, Departamento de Botanica, Museu Nacional/UFRJ for help with Latin translation. The Arquivo Administrative & Historico-Cientifico do Museu Nacional/UFRJ, for the use of its holdings, and specially to Professor Arnaldo Campos dos Santos Coelho e Heloisa Maria Bertol Domingues. The Royal Society, London, from a grant received in 1990 to support my research at British Institutions. The Margaret Mee Amazon Trust and the Fundacao Botanica Margaret Mee for financial support received in 1992. Mr Jose Roberto Araujo, Rafael Nascimento Silva and Jaldo Amorim for assistance with computer matters. Dr Gustavo Nunan, for his invaluable support and assistance in all phases of the work. Mr Guilherme Nunan, to whom this work is dedicated. !V TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii LIST OF FIGURES vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Introductory remarks and objectives 1 1.2. Development of the theme 3 1.3. Cultural imperialism and colonial science: an overview of recent discussions 7 1.4. The growing knowledge of the natural history of Brazil throughout the nineteenth century: the contribution of foreign naturalist 19 1.5. An overview of the natural history exploration of the Brazilian Amazon region in the nineteenth century 24 1.6. Search for the source materials 39 CHAPTER 2: THE AMAZON STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY AND THE EXPLORATION OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMAZONIA 2.1. Scientific versus commercial interests of the early explorers of Amazonia: a matter of Interpretation 42 2.2. The opening of the Amazon River to foreign navigation: the end of an epoch 53 2.3. The Amazon Steam Navigation Company: a British enterprise in nineteenth-century Amazonia 59 2.4. The Expedition of the Amazon Steam Navigation Company: the first authorized foreign survey of the exploitable natural resources of the Brazilian Amazon region 65 CHAPTER 3: JAMES WILLIAM HELENUS TRAIL'S TRAVELS IN NINETEENTH- CENTURY AMAZONIA 3.1. Who was he? A biographical outline 71 V 3.2. Trail's Journeys throughout Amazonia as recorded in his diary: a review of his notes and collecting activities 79 CHAPTER 4: TRAIL'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF AMAZONIA: COLLECTIONS AND TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS 4.1. Botanical collections 123 4.2. Zoological collections 135 4.3. Trail and the search for rubber seeds 144 CHAPTER 5: THE IMPACT OF TRAIL'S WORK ON AMAZONIAN PALMS: A DISPUTE WITH THE BRAZILIAN BOTANIST JOAO BARBOSA RODRIGUES 5.1. The development of the polemic 149 5.2. Conclusions 166 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION 173 MANUSCRIPT SOURCES 184 REFERENCES 186 APPENDIX I DOCUMENTATION PERTAINING TO THE SELL OUT OF THE COMPANHIA DE NAVEGACAO DO AMAZONAS TO BRITISH ENTREPRENEURS. 201 APPENDIX II LIST OF THE VASCULAR PLANTS COLLECTED BY TRAIL IN THE AMAZON REGION IN 1873-75. 206 APPENDIX III CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN JAMES W. H. TRAIL AND JOSEPH HOOKER AND THE STAFF AT KEW, CONCERNING TRAIL'S ACTIVITIES IN THE AMAZON REGION. 229 v5 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of the Brazilian Amazon region, showing the routes of Trail's travels throughout the region. Figure 2. Graph showing the families of vascular plants better represented in Trail's Amazonian collection. LIST OF PLATES Plate I. James William Helenus Trail (1851-1919), in his mellow age. Plate II. a) Trail's house at the University of Aberdeen, where he died in 1919. b) The tombstone of Trail and his wife, at St. Machar's Cathedral, Old Aberdeen. Plate III. The boat Beija-flor (humming-bird), used for the exploration of the tributaries of the lower Amazon and the Rio Negro. Plate IV. The Steamboat Guajara, used during the final leg of the expedition (i.e. the exploration of the tributaries of the upper Amazon). Plate V. a) Trail avidly collecting moths on board the Guajara. b) Trail surrounded by his specimens at his storage cabin on board the Guajara. Plate VI. The only specimens which survived from Trail's collection of Amazonian animals sent to the Museum of the University of Aberdeen. Plate VII. Joao Barbosa Rodrigues (1841-1909), the Brazilian botanist who Trail met in Amazonia in 1874, and with whom he had a dispute about the authorship of new species of palms. Plate VIII. The holotype of Bactris trailiana B. Rodrigues, deposited at the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Plate IX. Astrocaryum rodrigueziiTrail, described from a specimen Trail and Rodrigues collected jointly in the Rio Trombetas in 1874.