THE PEAK OF ITAMBE 



In a private letter, dated September 16, 1898, Lieut. James 

 A. Shipton, U. S. A., Military Attache to the U. S. Legation in 

 Brazil, writes as follows : 



I have just returned from a trip to Diamantina, in the state of Minas 

 Geraes. While there I climbed the peak of Itambe, in company with Mr 

 Beaumont, the secretary of the English Legation, and a Mr Coleman, the 

 latter, however, not reaching the summit. We are supposed to have been 

 the first men ever on the summit of this peak. From where we camped 

 the last day it was about four hours' work, in spite of the assurance of 

 our four Brazilian guides that we should require four days more. There 

 were only two places of difficulty, but it was hard to convince the inhab- 

 itants that we had been on top. AVe started a fire in the grass on a small 

 plateau near the highest rocks and on the highest point left a part of our 

 bottle of wine, carried by the only one of the guides who accompanied 

 us to the summit. The people of the neighborhood believed that there 

 was a lake on top and a beautiful lady, of course. There are many oncas 

 (tigers) and antes (tapirs), their paths being plainly visible in the long 

 grass. Our Brazilian guides kept up a fire to keep the oncas from our 

 mules while we slept. From Diamantina we were gone four days and 

 rode 75 miles. Nine rivers have their sources on this peak, and one does 

 not wonder when one sees the number of springs and marshy places on 

 the mountain. Only twice we had to cut a road through the brush and 

 one night our supper consisted of a parrot stew. 



GEOGRAPHICAL ASPECTS OF THE MONROE 

 DOCTRINE 



That our German friends view American aggressions with 

 suspicious eye. and detect the Monroe doctrine lurking in unex- 

 pected places, is evidenced by the following extract from Peler- 

 mann's Mittheihmgen, 44 vol., 1898 (p. 47, America) : 



" The U. S. Board on Geographic Names, which has done good work in 

 fixing the names of localities, mountains, and rivers within the United 

 States, and has thereby eliminated many erroneous designations, cannot 

 avoid overstepping from time to time their prescribed limits and extend- 

 ing their activity to regions not within their jurisdiction. 



" Occasioned by the discovery of the gold fields on the Klondike, it has 

 subjected the usual and often varying names in the Yukon district to 

 severe criticism. Many real errors have thereby been corrected, and the 



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