ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In undertaking a work of this nature there is cause for astonishment at the number of helping hands extended all along the way, without which much less could be accomplished. I wish to acknowledge the many kinds of assistance given me, such as letters of introduction, shelter, transportation, and aid in obtaining local personnel for the work of collecting. The lst will be incomplete at best; it could be extended by repeating certain names mentioned by Doctor Eigenmann, 1922b, in his narrative of the Irwin Expedition. President William Lowe Bryan of Indiana University. whose ready and sympathetic assistance was always in the background Dr. Henry B. Ward of the University of Illinois who provided for my expenses on the Irwin Expedition Sr. Victor Pezet, Peruvian Consul at New Orleans, and his brother, Peruvian Embassador at Washington for introductions and advice Mr. W. L. Morkill of the Peruvian Corporation at Lima who provided free transportation on railroads and steamship lines for personnel and equipment Mr. L. 8. Blaisdell of the Southern Railway of Peru who placed not only transportation but the railroad employes at my disposal Mr. W. A. Corry of the Southern Railway who gave me the benefit of his experience as engineer throughout southern Peru Mr. N. B. Roper and other members of the Backus and Johnson Company for the use of their mining establishments as headquarters Numerous members of the Cerro de Pasco Mining Company’s staffs at Lima, Oroya, La Fundicién, and Cerro de Pasco, together with nearly the entire staff of the C. de P. Railway Mr. J. D. Feehan, General Manager, Central Railway who assisted in working out itineraries Sr. Victorio Repetto, Husnuco, agent of the Durand interests Don Augusto Durand, proprietor of La Prensa, Lima, and of the coca plantations which were my headquarters for some weeks Sr. Ricardo Tello y Devotto, then of Hudnuco, now of Huancayo, for valuable guidance Mr. A. §. Kalenborn and Mr. Berrien of Oroya who gave much help with collecting Sr. Emilio B. Béraun, Administrador of the Hda. San Juan who was my host for two weeks Sr. Aguiles A. Rubina, Prefect of Dept. of Puno, who arranged my itinerary through his provinces Sr. Antonio Stroebel, Puno, who provided introductions and loaned me his favorite servant, xiii
X1V ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Pedro Vasques, my majordomo, cook, interpreter, guide, friend Messrs. R. 8. Shepherd and J. M. Howell of the Puno Adventist Mission, authors of many favors, introductions, ete.
Sr. Francisco P. Valearcel, who made my collecting at Lake Umayo pleasant and profitable at the family estate, Hatun Colla Mr. Nathaniel G. Grundy who was my host and guide at his mining establishment, Maravillas on the R. de Lampa Don Daniel 8. Bustamante, Minister of Public Instruction and Agriculture, La Paz, who opened to me the official resources of his department of government Sr. M. V. Balliviin, scholar and scientist, who interested the above in my enterprise Sr. Jorge R. Cornejo V., engineer of the tin mines and smelter, Poopd, who was my host, guide, and counsellor Dr. A. Gieseke, Cuzco, now of Lima, Rector of the University of Cuzco, patron of all scientific enterprises visiting Peru Mr. Lycett, Cebollar, Chile, superintendent of the B.C.C., who personally conducted me to the fish haunts of Lake Ascotan Sr. Ricardo A. Espinosa, Director de Gobierno, Lima; Sr. Enrique Lagarre, Director of Fomento, Lima; Sr. Antonio Cashof, Minister of War; various members of the Foreign Office, including the Minister, all of whom provided me with indispensible letters of introduction to their subordinates in the interior Dr. Carlos Rospigliosi y Vigil, Colonel of the Medical staff of the Peruvian Army, member of the staff of the Military Hospital at Lima, Professor of Zoology, University of San Marcos, Director of its Museum, who made representations before the government departments in my behalf Don César Ruiz y Pastor, Prefect of the Dept. of Loreto, who made available many resources of his inland provinces Sefiores Valle Riestra, Perené Colony; H. F. Bardalez Hernandez, Iquitos; Julio A. Battistini, Hda. Ytalia, Rio Ucayali; Sr. Medina, Hda. Bretafa, R. Puinagua, were my hosts for periods of varying length Capt. Manuel Curiel, Oficial de Cavalleria, Comandante of the Military District of the Lower Ucayali, gave me the advantage of his knowledge of Indian affairs and his patronship of the indigenous tribes, in procuring assistance The Brothers Juan and Ecuador Praeli of Tarma and La Merced lent assistance in fishing, in equipment, and in establishing the necessary credits for travel in the interior Mr. W. J. Dennis, then of the Methodist Mission School, Huancayo, gave very material assistance in obtaining supplies of the fish poison, cubé Mr. Francis A. Mitchell, Americo-Peruvian, Yurimaguas, gave much help in obtaining necessary facilities for work there Percival Morris, Barbado-Peruvian, was my aide during the weeks spent at Iquitos, and did collecting according to my instructions for a year after my visit Senhora Snethlage, Curator of the Natural History Museum, Para, Brazil, obligingly forwarded mail and cablegrams sent in her care
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS XV In addition, numerous subprefects, gobernadors, private citizens, foreign residents were the donors of many services, large and small The Eli Lilly Company of Indianapolis provided a complimentary kit of tropical medicines which pretty well cared for our needs on both expeditions. Further advice and assistance with health problems were given at Lima by the national Instituto Higienico To Dr. G. 8. Myers, Stanford University, and to Dr. Carl L. Hubbs and Joe Kk. Neel of the University of Michigan, my thanks are due for bibliographical assistance. I must acknowledge the valued help of Mrs. W. R. Allen in proofreading, and that of Miss Barbara Allen in map-making.
To Dr. Thomas Barbour of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and to Dr. Robert C. Miller and the late Mr. Howard Walton Clark of the California Academy of Sciences thanks are due for the loan of specimens. Under the hand of Mrs. Dorothy VanCleave Lincicome the Atkinson drawings were restored from engraver’s proof, most of the originals having been lost.
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NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITIONS The general account of the Irwin Expedition was published by Eigenmann (1919a, 1920a, and 1922b). My own part in the undertaking covers the areas which we have under consideration here, and may be extracted as follows (Allen, 1920):
_.. All members of the party reached Lima, Peru, in August, 1918. My chief activities were the collection of parasitic materials, and the collection of the fishes of the Titicaca basin... . As an introductory procedure I worked about Lake Junin in Central Peru and spent more than a month along the Huallaga from its sources near 14000 feet down to 2000 feet.
After early September the writer proceeded independently of the others, first to Lake Junin and the Rio Huallaga, later to Lake Titicaca. Lake Junin (Chinchayeocha) is a shallow, mud-bottomed lake near Cerro de Pasco. It is surrounded by great areas of marsh and lies in the midst of an extensive peaty pampa at more than 13500 feet elevation. It forms the source of the Rio Mantaro, one of the principal tributaries of the Ucayali, and this in turn one of the three principal tributaries of the Amazon. The inhabitants regard it as the true source of the Amazon, an honor it shares with a score of high Andean rivers.
The pampa is a bleak area upon which virtually nothing grows except certain native sessile rosette-plants, representing several families, but principally composites. These constitute the pasturage of the few sheep and llamas that can be maintained. Everywhere in the Peruvian Andes there is a remarkable climatic difference between elevations of 12000 and those of 13000 feet. Though Lake Titicaca is five hundred miles farther from the equator than Junin, there, at 12500 feet, an extensive agriculture is practised. Wheat, barley, and potatoes are rarely seen at elevations of 13000 feet, and the Junin pampa will produce none of them. At midday temperatures may be quite high. But nights are always cold, and the passing of a cloud over the face of the sun will cause the fisherman to assume his coat. At equal elevation at Cebollar, Chile, a diurnal temperature variation of 65°F. was encountered. While the elevation is too great to allow more than a few land plants, there is still an abundance of aquatic vegetation. The lake bottom is deeply covered with mud and floeculent organic debris. Ceratophyllum, Potamogeton, and Philotria are abundant. The exposed roots of the shore plants at the water’s edge are covered with great quantities of green fresh-water sponge, of which adequate collections were made.
The fish are of only two species, but very numerous in individuals; they are: the bagre, a Pygidium, catfish, which the inhabitants say ascends the rivers to spawn; and the challhua, an Orestias.
The fish are only slightly susceptible to dynamiting. It affected only those nearest the explosion. Most of these instead of rising to the surface as was expected sank into the ooze at the bottom and were lost. At first one is inclined to attribute this to the great elevation, and the decrease of about twofifths of the atmospheric pressure. But the fishes here are apparently in as perfect adjustment to the existing hydrostatic pressure as at any other eleva- 1
FISHES OF WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA tion, and ought therefore to respond in a similar way. It was disconcerting to cruise (in a motor launch kindly loaned by an American Gun Club at La Fundicién) among the reedy embayments and lagoons, seeing vast numbers of fish in clear water, unable to interest them in hook and line, unable to manipulate a seine, or to dynamite successfully, and the fish always out of reach of a dipnet. The Peruvian came to the rescue. With a hardihood inherent in the dwellers of the bleak pampas he stepped into the water to his thighs, supporting his weight on the rhizomes and roots of plants. Here he searched among stems for the fishes, and found them.
Very large frogs, Cyclorhamphus culeus Garman |Telmatobius culeus| were found fairly abundant in the lake and its tributaries. They were much parasitized, especially with small Cestodes. .. .
The marshes and reedy islands surrounding Lake Junin harbor a multitude of birds, especially ducks, coots and grebes. Seldom may one look out upon the lake without sighting the smoke of fires in the bulrushes employed by the Indians to reveal the nests of birds. The eggs are a highly prized addition to the scanty diet, though scorched by the fire or in a state of partial incubation. Six weeks were spent upon the Huallaga river and some of its affluents. The highway from Cerro de Pasco to Hudnuco follows the river from its origin, a group of springs below Cerro at 14000 feet. Between Cerro and Hudnuco, a distance of seventy miles, both river and road descend to an elevation of 6000 feet. In its upper course the river is mostly a series of rapids. No fish were encountered above Ambo at an elevation of probably 7500. They are said to occur at San Rafael during the lower stages of the river. This village has an elevation of 9000 or more. At Husnuco several species occur. Collecting was continued seventy miles below Hudanuco—as far as the Cayumba rapids, at 1800 or 2000 feet. These constitute an effective barrier to the tropical fishes of the lower courses of the Huallaga. Not more than six species occur [immediately] above the rapids. A native river man was able to enumerate and describe thirty-six species occurring from Cayumba to Tingo Maria, the ensuing forty miles. . . .
On the ridge of Punta de Esperanza, altitude 9000 feet, and thirty miles northeast of Hudnuco, the trail abruptly enters the tropical forest, which from this point on entirely envelopes the mountains. On the forested east slope the rainy season was well under way, in sharpest contrast with the barren west slope and ranges back of it.
Comparatively few of the mountain slopes have been cleared and placed under cultivation (chiefly to coca). At San Juan, one of the estates of Dr. Augusto Durand, I was hospitably sheltered for ten days while engaged in collecting the parasites of tropical birds.
.. work was begun in southern Peru in mid-November. The ensuing four months were devoted to the Titicaca-Poop6é basin of Peru, Bolivia, and Northern Chile.
... For want of riding animals four trips were taken on foot, aggregating 200 miles, in order to reach some of the rivers and lakes of the Titicaca-Poopo Valley. The first trip was from Puno to Yunguyo, paralleling the shore of Lake Titicaca. ...The second trip extended from the port of Moho, at the northeast corner of the lake, northwestward to Tirapata.... Laguna Salinas is too saline for fishes. In faet nothing living was found in it except certain phyllopod crustacea, Artemia salina (reported for the first time from the continent, though found in all other continents). These were very abundant, and in all stages of development simultaneously. Flamingoes were feeding constantly in the lake.
NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITIONS 3 Lake Umayo, five leagues inland from Puno, is very rich in several species of Orestias. It abounds also in freshwater sponges, which form masses covering the roots of aquatic plants and exposed bowlders to a depth of one-fourth inch or more. Thanks to the hospitality of Sr. Francisco P. Valearcel I was able to obtain excellent collections there, and to visit the ruins of Silustani and Hatun-colla. ...
Fic. 1. THE VAN OF THE FISHING-FLEET from Capachica arrivesatPuno,LakeTiticaca.Ladenwithfish,fagots,taqui(dried dung), and scanty produce, the Indian farmer-fisherman-shepherdsailor sails his grass-boat with the daily trade-winds. The winds blowhereatthisgreatelevationwithmuchthesamepunctuality asatsea,enablingtheinhabitantstoarriveanddepartonschedule. Lake Poop at 12000 feet elevation in the Bolivian highlands, is nearly unapproachable, hence... nearly total lack of native facilities. ...The lake shores are extremely flat. The fluctuations in level carry the shore line back and forth more than a mile from season to season. I was able to wade more than a mile out into the lake at its lower level before reaching water above the knees. In addition to the seasonal fluctuations there are changes in level of shorter periods, apparently diurnal. They are probably due to wind rather
4 FISHES OF WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA than to the existence of a seiche. Though more than fifty miles long and half as wide, the lake has a maximum known depth of thirteen feet. The literature is flatly contradictory as to the salinity of the water of Lake Poopo. It is in fact quite salt and nonpotable. However, I was able to subsist four days upon strong tea made with it. So far as observed the salt has no effect upon the fish fauna. The Rio de Juli in Peru is considerably more saline, yet is inhabited by the same fish as the nearby freshwater creeks. Fie. 2. THE FISHING FLEET, LAKE TITICACA. ‘‘Grass’’-boats, or balsas made of reeds, the solemeansoflocaltransportonthelake.Themastsareofspliced,importedpoles,thesailsandtackle ofthesameichu-grassusedinbindingtherollsofthehull.Thefurledsailbecomesashelter.The cargohasgoneashoretothePunomarket.
Even Lake Titicaca is slightly salt, at least locally. This is not evident to the taste in most places. ... Other rivers vary seasonally in saline content. R. de Lampa in the rainy season has no taste of salt. But Mr. F. H. Grundy reports that at Maravillas during the dry season the Indians scrape salt off the rocks of its bed. Lake Poopé is probably less salt than it would be did its surplus not overflow annually into the Salar de Coipasa. Here, as at Laguna Salinas, and elsewhere, salt is recovered on a commercial scale by leaching it out of the salty earth.