Captain Thomas Jefferson Page led the good will mission to explore the basin of the Río de la Plata, including the Río Paraná and the Río Paraguay. The expedition traversed the rivers aboard the U.S. Navy steamer Water Witch, and stopped every few days to collect and explore. Page and Botanist Edward Palmer gathered numerous plants in Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina during the three year journey. Palmer, 22 years old, was appointed to be the main botanist and a hospital steward on the expedition. Palmer was sick with malaria in 1855, but he managed to make a few trips into the interior of Paraguay. This last year of exploration was an all-around rough year for the expedition; the Water Witch was fired upon by Paraguayan shore batteries, forcing them to stop their ascent of the Río Paraná.
Smithsonian Institution Archives Field Book Project: CorporateBody : Description : rid_25_eid_EACE0025
