DOWN AN UNKNOWN RIVER 307 



see him until the morning of the third day. We had passed 

 the last of the rapids of the chasm, and the four boats 

 were going down-stream when he appeared behind some 

 trees on the bank and called out that he wished to sur- 

 render and be taken aboard; for the murderer was an ar- 

 rant craven at heart, a strange mixture of ferocity and 

 cowardice. Colonel Rondon's boat was far in advance; he 

 did not stop nor answer. I kept on in similar fashion with 

 the rear boats, for I had no intention of taking the mur- 

 derer aboard, to the jeopardy of the other members of the 

 party, unless Colonel Rondon told me that it would have 

 to be done in pursuance of his duty as an officer of the 

 army and a servant of the Government of Brazil. At the 

 first halt Colonel Rondon came up to me and told me that 

 this was his view of his duty, but that he had not stopped 

 because he wished first to consult me as the chief of the 

 expedition. I answered that for the reasons enumerated 

 above I did not believe that in justice to the good men of 

 the expedition we should jeopardize their safety by taking 

 the murderer along, and that if the responsibility were 

 mine I should refuse to take him; but that he. Colonel 

 Rondon, was the superior officer of both the murderer and 

 of all the other enlisted men and army officers on the expe- 

 dition, and in return was responsible for his actions to his 

 own governmental superiors and to the laws of Brazil; and 

 that in view of this responsibility he must act as his sense 

 of duty bade him. Accordingly, at the next camp he sent 

 back two men, expert woodsmen, to find the murderer and 

 bring him in. They failed to find him.* 



*The above account of all the circumstances connected with the murder 

 was read to and approved as correct by all six members of the expedition. 



