a s h e a r wa t e r b o o k J M L J OHN UIR’S AST OURNEY John Muir J M OH N UI R’S L J AST OURNEY South to the Amazon and East to Africa Unpublished Journals and Selected Correspondence Edited by Michael P. Branch Foreword by Robert Michael Pyle   / Shearwater Books Washington,D.C./ Covelo,California A Shearwater Book Published by Island Press Copyright © 2001by Island Press John Muir Papers,Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Libraries, Copyright © 1984Muir-Hanna Trust. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher:Island Press,1718Connecticut Avenue,N.W.,Suite 300, Washington,DC 20009 Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data John Muir’s last journey :south to the Amazon and east to Africa : unpublished journals and selected correspondence / edited by Michael P.Branch p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ). isbn 1-55963-640-8(cloth :alk.paper) 1.Muir,John,1838-1914—Journeys—South America. 2.Muir,John, 1838-1914—Journeys—Africa. 3.Natural history—South America. 4.Natural history—Africa. I.Branch,Michael P. qh31.m78 a3 2001 508.8'092—dc21 [b] 2001001808 British Cataloging-in-Publication Data available. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed on recycled,acid-free paper Contents List ofMaps and Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Foreword by Robert Michael Pyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii chapter 1 Preparing for the Last Journey: California,New York,and Boston (26 January 1911 – 12 August 1911) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 chapter 2 Southbound and up the Great Amazon (12 August 1911 – 25 September 1911) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 chapter 3 Coastal Brazil and up the Iguacu River into the Araucaria braziliensisForests (26 September 1911 – 8 November 1911) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 chapter 4 Southern Brazil,Uruguay,Argentina,Chile, and into the Araucaria imbricataForests of the Andes (9 November 1911 – 10 December 1911) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 viii Contents chapter 5 At Sea,South Africa,the Zambezi River, and to the Baobab Trees (11 December 1911 – 6 February 1912). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 chapter 6 East Africa,Lake Victoria,the Headwaters of the Nile, and Homeward Bound (7 February 1912 – 27 March 1912) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 chapter 7 Home to America,California,and Writing: The Fate of John Muir and His South America and Africa Journals (28 March 1912 – 29 December 1912) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 appendices Appendix A:Timeline/Locator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Appendix B:Editorial Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Appendix C:John Muir’s Reading and Botanical Notes . . . . . . . . 251 Appendix D:South America and Africa Books Owned by Muir . . . 267 Appendix E:Annotated List ofSelected Archival Materials . . . . . . 269 Appendix F:Table ofEmendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Notes to Editor’s Introductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Textual Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323 List of Maps and Illustrations Maps The route of John Muir’s last journey,August 1911–March 1912 . . xii The route of Muir’s travels in South America, August 1911–December 1911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 The route of Muir’s travels in Africa, December 1911–March 1912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Illustrations John Muir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (frontispiece) Carleton E.Watkins photograph of Muir in San Francisco, circa 1875 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxviii A page from Muir’s 1911journal,showing field sketches of Araucaria braziliensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xliii Muir,late in his life,in the “scribble den”of his home in Martinez,California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lii Muir beneath the palm tree at his Martinez home. . . . . . . . . 15 Muir dressed to receive an honorary degree from Yale,June 1911. . 25 Muir’s farewell letter,written just prior to departing for the Amazon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Cable issued on behalf of President Taft to aid Muir abroad. . . . 45 Muir with daughters Helen and Wanda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Sketches of Araucaria braziliensis,including Muir’s leaf calculations 87 x List of Illustrations Sketch of Araucaria braziliensis,with a cross section of the tree’s bole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Sketch of Araucaria imbricataforest on an Andean ridge . . . . . 105 Montagu Pass,in the Andes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Journal sketches showing multiple perspectives of Araucaria imbricata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Photograph of Araucaria imbricata,the monkey puzzle tree . . . . 122 Photograph of the forest near Victoria Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Sketch of Adansonia digitata,the baobab tree . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Photograph of Victoria Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Sketch of a glacially carved dome near Beira,Africa . . . . . . . . 152 Photograph of a baobab tree in an African village . . . . . . . . . 156 Photograph of an African village. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Sketch of the hills near Lake Victoria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Photograph of baobab trees along the railroad tracks . . . . . . . 173 Sketch of a glacially carved valley near ’Adan . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Typescript journal page with Muir’s editorial notes . . . . . . . . 191 John Muir and John Burroughs,April 3,1912 . . . . . . . . . . . 206 Muir,playing with his grandchildren. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218