Alfred Russel Wallace's first large expedition to South America nearly ended in disaster. After four years collecting specimens up the Rio Negro and Rio Uaupés, Wallace was returning home when the ship he was travelling on caught fire. He escaped with only a tin box containing a few personal belongings and a collection of drawings of fishes and palms — the rest of his extensive collection was lost forever. Now Mônica de Toledo-Piza Ragazzo has organized the first publication of this collection of drawings, one of which is reproduced here, in Fishes of the Rio Negro: Alfred Russel Wallace (University of São Paulo, 120 Brazilian reals, US$50).