The Start 9 



ment of the interior of Brazil, and he believed that my 

 expedition could be used as a means toward spreading 

 abroad a more general knowledge of the country. He 

 told me that he would co-operate with me in every 

 way if I cared to undertake the leadership of a serious 

 expedition into the unexplored portion of western Matto 

 Grosso, and to attempt the descent of a river which 

 flowed nobody knew whither, but which the best-in- 

 formed men believed would prove to be a very big river, 

 utterly unknown to geographers. I eagerly and gladly 

 accepted, for I felt that with such help the trip could be 

 made of much scientific value, and that a substantial ad- 

 dition could be made to the geographical knowledge of 

 one of the least-known parts of South America. Ac- 

 cordingly, it was arranged that Colonel Rondon and 

 some assistants and scientists should meet me at or be- 

 low Corumba, and that we should attempt the descent 

 of the river, of which they had already come across the 

 headwaters. 



I had to travel through Brazil, Uruguay, the Argen- 

 tine, and Chile for six weeks to fulfil my speaking en- 

 gagements. Fiala, Cherrie, Miller, and Sigg left me at 

 Rio, continuing to Buenos Aires in the boat in which 

 we had all come down from New York. From Buenos 

 Aires they went up the Paraguay to Corumba, where 

 they awaited me. The two naturalists went first, to do 

 all the collecting that was possible ; Fiala and Sigg trav- 

 elled more leisurely, with the heavy baggage. 



Before I followed them I witnessed an incident 

 worthy of note from the standpoint of a naturalist, and 



