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A Voyage up the River Amazon, Including a Residence in Pará is a book written by the US-American naturalist William Henry Edwards and published by D. Appleton & Company in 1847. In it, Edwards describes an expedition along the Amazon River that he undertook with, among others, his uncle Armony Edwards in 1946.

The book is mainly known for sparking an interest in the Amazon rainforest among other natural scientists of the 19th century, most notably Henry Walter Bates and Alfred Russel Wallace.

Context

A Voyage up the River Amazon was written in the era of the European and American voyages of scientific exploration in the 18th and 19th century. After three centuries of global colonialisation in the Age of Discovery, all major land masses had become known by the 19th century. At the same time, the Age of Enlightenment had yielded a general confidence in science and reason in the Western World. As a result, maritime expeditions began to primarily target the intellectual exploration of nature rather than the mere expansion of colonial empires.

Edwards had been interested in wildlife long before his journey in 1846. He grew up on his family's estate within hemlock forest in the Catskill Mountains where he developed an early fascination for nature which continued throughout his life. During his education at Williams College, Massachusetts, he especially appreciated that the school made natural history an important part of the curriculum. Despite his interest in natural sciences, Edwards first studied law in New York City with the expectation that he would join his family's leather business. Accordingly, when he was invited by his uncle Armony Edwards at the age of 23 to undertake a journey up the Amazon river, the expedition's original purpose was likely related to the family business. However, William Edwards' main concern before and during the journey became the variety in the forest's wildlife, particularly in birds and butterflies.

Due to its favourable location, Armony and William chose Belém, the capital of the Brazilian region Pará, as their first destination. However, Edwards only refers to the city by the name Pará which was more popular among English speakers at that time. This confusion partly stems from Belém's former alternative name "Santa Maria de Belém do Pará" (Saint Mary of Bethlehem of Pará) which was sometimes shortened to "Pará" by english-speaking explorers.

While Edwards did not view himself as a natural scientist but rather as a "lover and devout worshiper of Nature", he wished to inspire other naturalists to explore the still unpopular Amazon rainforest. He collected various specimens and chronicled his observations during the expedition "in the hope that they might not be unacceptable to the naturalist or to the general reader". In the course of his journey, he furthermore became motivated to refute the barbaric image of the region's native population that was commonly perpetuated in school geography books.

Content

The book chronicles the crew's journey from New York City over Belém to various villages along the Amazon River. After describing the arrival at Belém, Edwards provides a detailed account of the city's history and economic stand. Afterwards, the chapters mainly contain stories about his encounters with wild animals near the Amazon River, as well as descriptions of the region's native inhabitants and their culture.

Throughout the book, Edwards overtly expresses his enthusiasm and fascination for the Amazon wildlife, often dedicating multiple pages to the description of newly encountered animals or phenomena. In that, the descriptions mostly deviate from a neutral record of the author's observations and are rather filled with emotional and strongly positive language.

Reception

A Voyage up the River Amazon is believed to be the first popular naturalist work that recorded the scientific exploration of the Amazon. While the book was generally received positively among its English-speaking audience, Edwards was particularly praised for the range and liveliness of his descriptions. For example, John Murray wrote in the British magazine The Athenaeum that “In no other book that [the Home and Colonial Library] recollect[s] has the luxuriant wealth of the tropies in birds, vegetable productions, and insect wonders and monsters (counting the alligator among ‘worms’) been more teemingly set before us”. Even long after its publication, the book continued to stimulate natural scientists to undertake expeditions into the Amazon rainforest. Due to its appealing and detailed narrative, it was still issued "the most reliable guide for a naturalist exploring the [Amazon] river” over 60 years later at the time of Edwards' death in 1909.

Influence on Bates and Wallace

Most famously, Henry Walter Bates and Alfred Russel Wallace were inspired by the book's vivid description of the region's native tribes, as well as its flora and fauna. A Voyage Up The River Amazon is credited to have contributed largely to Bates' and Wallace's choice of destination for their exploration of the Amazon rainforest between 1847 and 1852. Wallace got to read the book shortly after its publication, when the two young men were starting to plan their expedition in more detail. On p. 264 of his autobiography, Wallace wrote:

[A Voyage up the River Amazon] gave such a pleasing account of the people, their kindness and hospitality to strangers, and especially of the English and American merchants in Para, while expenses of living and of travelling were both very moderate, that Bates and myself at once agreed that this was the very place to go to.

As Edwards travelled to London in 1847, he agreed to meet Wallace and Bates one evening. Discussing the two men's plan to visit Brazil, Edwards helped them with letters of introduction to some of his US-American acquaintances in Belém. He furthermore encouraged them to leave England earlier than initially intended in order to reach Belém by the beginning of the dry season in late May.