4 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



South American state, expecting each day to be taken out 

 and shot. In another state he had, as an interlude to his 

 ornithological pursuits, followed the career of a gun-runner, 

 acting as such off and on for two and a half years. The 

 particular revolutionary chief whose fortunes he was follow- 

 ing finally came into power, and Cherrie immortalized his 

 name by naming a new species of ant-thrush after him — a 

 delightful touch, in its practical combination of those not 

 normally kindred pursuits, ornithology and gun-running. 



In Anthony Fiala, a former arctic explorer, we found 

 an excellent man for assembling equipment and taking 

 charge of its handling and shipment. In addition to his 

 four years in the arctic regions, Fiala had served in the 

 New York Squadron in Porto Rico during the Spanish 

 War, and through his service in the squadron had been 

 brought into contact with his little Tennessee wife. She 

 came down with her four children to say good-by to him 

 when the steamer left. My secretary, Mr. Frank Harper, 

 went with us. Jacob Sigg, who had served three years 

 in the United States Army, and was both a hospital nurse 

 and a cook, as well as having a natural taste for adventure, 

 went as the personal attendant of Father Zahm. In south- 

 ern Brazil my son Kermit joined me. He had been bridge 

 building, and a couple of months previously, while on top 

 of a long steel span, something went wrong with the der- 

 rick, he and the steel span coming down together on the 

 rocky bed beneath. He escaped with two broken ribs, two 

 teeth knocked out, and a knee partially dislocated, but 

 was practically all right again when he started with us. 



In its composition ours was a typical American expe- 

 dition. Kermit and I were of the old Revolutionary stock, 



