Expedition to South America

The Peabody Museum has nearly completed its plans for an important ethnological expedition to South America, to last about three years. The date of departure has not been definitely set yet, but the work is being hastened as much as possible.

The general object of the trip is to collect all possible information about the little known Indian tribes on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains. The funds have been provided by a recent graduate of the University, who is interested in the work of the ethnological department. The members of the party will be Dr. W. C. Farabee '00, instructor in anthropology, who will be the leader and chief scientist of the expedition, and two assistants, L. J. de Milhau '06 and J. W. Hastings '05. The physician, who will go with the party has not yet been selected. Mrs. Farabee will accompany her husband.

Headquarters for the work will be at Arequipa, Peru, on the west slope of the Andes, where the Harvard Observatory is located. From this point trips of a few months' duration will be made among the neighboring Indian tribes. The main work will be among the tribes living on the head waters of the Amazon and Parana Rivers. There has been no previous expedition of this sort from America, and the only work done in this region has been by the Germans. In an ethnological way the region is practically unexplored, and will be of the greatest importance in advancing scientific knowledge of the primitive South American peoples.

The scientific objects of the work will be to gather all possible information bearing on the origin, language, manner of life, physical characteristics and mental advancement of these remote tribes. It is hoped to make a complete collection of everything that may contribute to our knowledge of the races. Reports and collections will be sent frequently to the Peabody Museum. As the conclusion of the work the party will travel by boat down the Parana River, to its junction with the Platte River, down which they will pass to Argentine and Chile.