THE ROOSEVELT EXPEDITION 197 



traveller and native as well must not be taken too seriously; 

 and only the skins or living specimens known to exist can 

 be taken into consideration. 



The longest South American snake of which I could ob- 

 tain any definite information is in a Brazilian museum, and 

 was said to be about twenty-five feet long. A skin of this 

 size may be stretched several feet during preparation, so 

 the snake may have been somewhat shorter in hfe. In 

 the Bronx Zoological Gardens, New York, there is a Uving 

 anaconda fourteen feet long; the largest boa constrictor is 

 eleven feet in length. 



No visit to Rio de Janeiro is complete without an in- 

 spection of the botanical gardens, which cannot fail to ap- 

 peal to all lovers of the beautiful. Immediately upon enter- 

 ing, one is confronted by avenues of stately royal palms, 

 ninety to one hundred feet high. The "mother of the 

 palms," towering above all the others, is pointed out with 

 pride by the gardeners. It is said that this was the first 

 of the species to be planted, and that all of the others were 

 grown from seed taken from this one plant. There are also 

 attractive little lagoons filled with flowering pond-lihes and 

 fishes, and bordered with graceful travellers' palms intro- 

 duced from Madagascar. Rows of bamboo form sheltered 

 lanes where the visitor may seek relief on comfortable 

 benches from the midday sun. 



The palace Guanabara, dating back to the time of Dom 

 Pedro, was opened for the use of Colonel Roosevelt. Its 

 location is in the most attractive spot imaginable. Sitting 

 at the table in the immense dining-room, one may look 

 down a palm-lined avenue to the blue water of the bay, a 

 half-mile distant ; it was through this lane of tall, beautiful 

 trees that Isabella, daughter of the King, drove to her daily 

 bath in the surf. 



Acting upon the invitation of officials of the Brazilian 

 Government, Colonel Roosevelt abandoned the plans he had 

 made previously and changed the character of the expedi- 

 tion from a zoological to a geographical one. Colonel Ron-- 



