A FORTY DAYS' RIDE 227 



The country was of a gently undulatory character, covered 

 with wiry grass and a very sparse growth of scrubby, 

 gnarled trees. This vegetation is typical of a great part of 

 Matto Grosso. With the exception of a few small deer and 

 a limited number of wood-hewers and jays, there were no 

 evidences of animal life. A clear, cold spring rippled over 

 a pebbly bottom near our night's camp. It was the last 

 stream we should see that discharged its water (via the 

 Sepotuba) into the Rio de la Plata system. 



Colonel Rondon had employed a number of motor-trucks 

 in constructing this section of the telegraph-line; several of 

 them were still in serviceable condition. It was therefore 

 thought advisable to send a portion of the baggage ahead 

 on the cars as far as the trail permitted, and as it would 

 take several days for the rest of the expedition to catch up, 

 Mr. Cherrie and I went along to devote to collecting the 

 time thus gained. Father Zahm and Mr. Sigg also went in 

 this party. We started from a point called Rio Mandioca, 

 two days beyond Aldeia Queimada. There were three 

 trucks, great, well-built machines of foreign make, laden 

 to their fullest capacity with the heaviest and most cum- 

 bersome pieces of equipment. It was a strange sight to 

 see them racing across the uninhabited chapadao at a speed 

 of thirty miles an hour. It rained frequently, but the pow- 

 erful cars charged through the blinding sheets of falling 

 water, and sent streams of mud flying from the inundated 

 trail. Each car was provided with two wide belts of heavy 

 slats; one of them was fitted over the wheels on each side 

 of the car, so they formed a sort of endless trail and gave 

 greater traction in the uneven roadway. Surely this was 

 exploring de luxe; but we were to reach the other extreme 

 before long. 



The car in which we travelled had a full-blooded Indian 

 mechanician, who seemed to be fully initiated into the 

 mysteries of handling an automobile, from gathering up 

 branches and stones with which to fill up the roadway 

 when the cars mired deep in the loose sand, to repairing 



