ACROSS UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA 
third match and it actually produced a flame. We lighted 
a fire, and roasted the valuable root upon it. 
Benedicto, who was the culinary expert, roasted the 
root until it was nearly carbonized, and by the time he 
took it out of the flame we each of us had left for our 
share a section of its fibrous core not larger than a well- 
smoked cigarette stump. 
We devoured that luxurious meal in haste. It tasted 
as bitter as aloes. No sooner had I eaten it than I felt 
extremely ill, my men also experiencing a similar sensa¬ 
tion. Benedicto was the first one to vomit painfully and 
cough violently; then came my turn, then Filippe’s. So 
our first meal was not much of a success. 
The little strength we had now seemed to have dis¬ 
appeared altogether. We lay helpless upon the bank of 
the river, unable to move. Once or twice Filippe shouted 
for help, thinking that our voices might be heard, but 
no answer ever came to our cries. 
Eventually we proceeded once more along the right 
hank of the river, when we perceived on the opposite bank 
an abandoned hut. The river at that point was seventy 
metres wide, from four to five feet deep, with a fairly 
strong current. We decided to cross over and see if per¬ 
haps by chance some food had been abandoned in the hut. 
It was already evening, and we were so exhausted that 
we did not dare to cross the stream, especially as Filippe 
and Benedicto could not swim. 
The next day, September nineteenth, we proceeded 
to ford the stream, having scarcely the strength to keep 
erect, especially in the middle of the river, with the water 
up to our necks. We were carrying our loads on our 
heads, so that they should not get wetter than possible. 
My negatives were fortunately in air-tight cases, or else 
they certainly would have been destroyed altogether on 
that disastrous march across the forest. 
We got safely to the other side. The bank was very 
288 
