306 DOWN AN UNKNOWN RIVER [chap, ix 



more likely that the Ananas was the headwaters of the 

 main stream than of the Cardozo.* For the first 

 time this great river, the greatest affluent of the 

 Madeira, was to be put on the map ; and the under- 

 standing of its real position and real relationship, and 

 the clearing up of the complex problem of the sources 

 of all these lower right-hand affluents of the Madeira, 

 was rendered possible by the seven weeks of hard and 

 dangerous labour we had spent in going down an abso- 

 lutely unknown river, through an absolutely unknown 

 wilderness. At this stage of the growth of world geo- 

 graphy I esteemed it a great piece of good fortune to 

 be able to take part in such a feat — a feat which repre- 

 sented the capping of the pyramid which during the 

 previous seven years had been built by the labour of the 

 Brazilian Telegraphic Commission. 



We had passed the period when there was a chance 

 of peril, of disaster, to the whole expedition. There 

 might be risk ahead to individuals, and some difficulties 

 and annoyances for all of us ; but there was no longer 

 the least likelihood of any disaster to the expedition as 

 a whole. We now no longer had to face continual 

 anxiety, the need of constant economy with food, the 

 duty of labour with no end in sight, and bitter un- 

 certainty as to the future. 



It was time to get out. The wearing work, under 

 very unhealthy conditions, was beginning to tell on 

 every one. Half of the camaradas had been down with 



* I hope that this year the Ananas, or Pineapple, will also be put 

 on the map. One of Colonel Rondon's subordinates is to attempt the 

 descent of the river. We passed the headwaters of the Pineapple on 

 the high plateau, very possibly we passed its mouth, although it is 

 also possible that it empties into the Canama or Tapajos. But it will 

 not be " put on the map " until someone descends and finds out 

 where, as a matter of fact, it really does go. 



