148 
NATURE 
[ApRIL 8, 1915 

THROUGH THE INTERIOR OF BRAZIL.1 | experience, as the bande man, and Father Zahm. 
T is an instance of rare good fortune for a man 
who delights in the life of a field-naturalist 
to be offered the honorary leadership of a scientific 
expedition, by a Government not his own, through 
a large stretch of unexplored tropical country, to 
embark upon an unknown river, piecing it to- 
gether with others but hazily known, and to have 
the now complete large river called after himself. 
However unique such a stroke of luck, the neces- 
sary premises are equally rare in their combination 
of an ardent naturalist, keen sportsman, vigorous 
experienced traveller, leader of men as a former 
president of the great American Republic, and 
attractive, versatile writer ! 
The idea of a journey through the interior of 
Brazil had been suggested to Colonel Roosevelt 
by Father Zahm, a missionary. It took shape 
when he was invited, through the Governments of 
Argentina and Brazil, to deliver addresses to their 
various learned societies, 
and he decided to combine 
this visit with a collecting 
tour for the American 
Museum of Natural His- 
tory. When at Rio, the 
Government offered him 
the conjoint leadership of 
a scientific expedition which 
the Telegraph Commission 
was going to make through 
the very heart of the con- 
tinent, down the now fam- 
ous Rio Duvida. The geo- 
graphical problem may be 
illustrated as follows. Let 
my right arm represent the 
lower Amazon river, the 
thumb the Tapajoz, the 
middle finger the Madeira, 
the index its most eastern 
and last tributary. The 
first joint of the index 
finger known as_ the 
lower Aripuanan, composed 
of the upper Aripuanan and 
the Castanho river; this, 
known to rubber men only. The third joint repre- 
sents the Duvida. <A few miles of this river had 
been discovered by the Telegraph Commission in 
1909, and there was a long gap between it and 
the Castanho of unknown extent. Moreover, it 
was not unlikely that the Duvida was, after all, 
but a tributary of the Gyparana, an affluent of the 
Madeira, already well known; and it was just 
possible that the river of Doubt turned sh: arp to 
the east and fell into the Tapajoz. However, the 
authorities ordered a party to ascend the Aripuanan 
up to the mouth of the Castanho and there to 
wait for the explorers. 
The American party consisted of the Colonel 
and his son, Messrs. Miller and Cherrie as ex- 
perienced zoological collectors, Fiala, of Arctic 
Was 
the second joint, was 
1 “Throuch the Brazilian Wilderness.” 
xiv+374. (London: 
NO. 
3y Theodore Roosevelt. Pp. 
John Murray, 1914.) Price 18s. net. 
2371, < VOL, ‘OS 
Fic. 1.—One of the canoes. 
| Well found and equipped they left Asuncion on 
December 9, 1913, and ascended the Paraguay up 
to the headquarters of the Telegraph Commission, 
about 15°S. There is, extending towards north- 
west, the Serra Geral, the divide between the La 
Plata basin and that of the Amazon, but recently 
explored, with its numerous streams, by the Com- 
mission. Here the collections hitherto made were 
sent back, with Father Zahm. Fiala, with a few 
companions, was sent down a tributary of the 
Tapajoz. They got through, down this river, 
having lost everything but their lives. On Febru- 
ary 3, 1914, the main party continued the journey 
with mule packs and ox carts, still following the 
telegraph and crossing many streams. Miller, 
with a small party, went on, to descend the 
which turned out a 
The main party 
Colonel 
Manaos, 
trip. 
Brazilian members : 
Gyparana, etc., for 
most successful collecting 
combined with the 

From ‘‘ Through the Brazilian Wilderness.” 
Rondon, chief of the Commission, Lieut. Lyra, 
and Dr. Oliveira. 
They embarked upon the Duvida on February 2 
in seven dug-outs, with sixteen paddlers, twenty- 
two men all told, with provisions for fifty days, 
hoping to reach the Madeira within six weeks. 
The starting point was at 12°1’S.; 60° 15/ W. 
All went well until March 3, when at 11° 44/S. 
the first rapids were encountered. Then began the 
misery of portaging, carrying the loads and drag- 
ging ‘the clumsy dug-outs through or past rapid 
after rapid, amidst dense forest, in the rainy 
season, with a plague of biting ants, flies, and 
termites which devoured their outfit. Neverthe- 
less, the Colonel was ‘“‘reading poetry in head-net 
and gauntlets.””. On one occasion it took them 
three full days to negotiate one mile of rapids. 
By March 25 they had descended only 160 kilo- 
metres of the winding river, had lost four canoes, 
