ACROSS UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA 
terrible teeth and the way they ate. They devoured 
pounds of sugar every day, our supply, which should have 
lasted a year or more, having already almost been 
exhausted. It was impossible for me alone, with all the 
astronomical, geological, botanical, geographical, meteor¬ 
ological, photographic, anthropometric, and artistic work, 
not to mention the writing-up of my copious daily notes, 
also to keep a constant watch on the supplies. I handed 
over that responsibility to Alcides. Unfortunately, he was 
the greediest of the lot. Every time I warned him not to 
be so wasteful, as we should find ourselves dying of star¬ 
vation, he and the others made me feel that I was meanness 
itself, and that I was only doing it to save money. 
I never objected to their eating as much as they could, 
as I have always made it a point on all my expeditions 
to feed my men on the best food procurable, and give 
them as much as they could possibly devour. But it 
pained me to see quantities of good food thrown away 
daily, as I knew what it would mean to us later on. 
“We are Brazilians,” said they, “and like plenty to 
eat. When there is no more, we will go without food. 
You do not know Brazilians, but Brazilians can go thirty 
or forty days without anything to eat! ” 
“All right,” said I, “ we shall see.” 
Forty minutes, and perhaps not so long, had been, 
so far, the longest time I had seen them cease munching 
something or other. Not satisfied with the lavish food 
they were supplied with — heaps of it were always thrown 
to the dogs, after they had positively gorged themselves — 
they would pick up anything on the way: a wild fruit, 
a scented leaf of a tree, a nut of some kind or other, a 
palmitOj a chunk of tobacco; all was inserted in the mouth. 
It was fortunate that we took enough exercise, or surely 
they would have all perished of indigestion. In my entire 
experience I have never seen men eat larger quantities 
of food and more recklessly than my Brazilian followers 
236 
