Charles Waterton - South America

South America

In 1804 he travelled to British Guiana to take charge of his uncle's estates near Georgetown. In 1812, he started to explore the hinterland of Guiana, making four journeys between then and 1824, and reaching Brasil on foot — barefoot — in the rainy season. He later described his discoveries in his book Waterton's Wanderings in South America which inspired young British schoolboys like Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace. He was a highly skilled taxidermist and preserved many of the animals he encountered on his expeditions. However, he employed a unique method of taxidermy, soaking the specimens in what he called "sublimate of mercury." Unlike many preserved ("stuffed") animals, his specimens are hollow — and are surprisingly lifelike, even today. He also displayed his anarchic sense of humour in some of his taxidermy: a famous tableau he created (now lost) consisted of reptiles dressed as famous Englishmen and entitled "The English Reformation Zoologically Demonstrated." Another specimen was the upper half of a howler monkey contorted to look like an Amazonian Abominable Snowman and simply labelled "The Nondescript." This specimen is still on display at the Wakefield Museum, along with other items of Waterton's collection. Whilst in Guiana he taught one of his uncle's slaves, John Edmonstone his skills. Edmonstone, by then freed and practising taxidermy in Edinburgh, in turn taught the teenage Charles Darwin. Waterton is credited with bringing the anaesthetic agent curare to Europe.

In the 1820s he returned to Walton Hall and built a nine-foot-high wall around three miles (5 km) of his estate, turning it into the world's first wildfowl and nature reserve, making him one of the western world's first environmentalists. He also invented the bird nesting box. The Waterton Collection, on display at Stonyhurst College until 1966 is now in Wakefield Museum.

Waterton died after fracturing his ribs and injuring his liver in a fall on his estate. His body is interred near the spot where the accident happened. His coffin was taken from the hall to his chosen resting place by barge, in a funeral cortege led by the Bishop of Beverley, and followed at the lakeside by many local people. The grave was between two oak trees which have now disappeared. It is said that a flock of birds followed the barge, and a linnet sang as the coffin was being lowered.