1-152-458 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Henry Walter Bates (1825-1892) English traveller and naturalist. Together with Alfred Russell Wallace, Bates set out to explore the Amazon in 1848. When Bates returned to England in 1859, he brought back 14,000 specimens, mostly insects, of which more than half were new to science. Here he is seen, with native help, capturing an alligator on the River Amazon. Bates is standing on the river bank, dressed in rather outlandish checked shirt and trousers and wielding a large wooden club. Other natives are shown offering Bates specimens of turtles.