THE LONG TRAIL 



going to see if it is possible to work across 

 from the Plata into the valley of the 

 Amazon, and come out through the Bra- 

 zilian forest. This may not be possible. 

 It won't be anything like our African trip* 

 There will be no hunting and no adven- 

 tures, so that I shall not have the pang I 

 otherwise would about not taking you 

 along." These plans were amplified and 

 extended a certain amount, but in the last 

 letter I received they didn't include a very 

 serious expedition. 



"I shall take the Springfield and the 

 Fox on my trip, but I shall not expect to 

 do any game-shooting. I think it would 

 need the Bwana Merodadi, [My name 

 among the natives in Africa] and not his 

 stout and rheumatic elderly parent to do 

 hunting in the Brazilian forest. I shall 

 have a couple of naturalists with me of the 

 Heller stamp, and I shall hope to get a 

 66 



