The Green Forest tribune., 1907-05-24
DID IN TIE TROPICS
TERRENCE OF FRENCH ExPE.
 EDITION IN WlLDs OF ANDES.
9erage Height in Which Explorers Lived and Worked Was 13,oOO
 Feet Above Sea LeveI-Hard V to Secure Servants.

Paris.-A scientific expedition which
 ITS spent six years in the wilds of the #XMdes has just returned to France and fE6l. Bourgeois, it's chief has given < l1tne remarkable details of it's experi-
 <Sces. It was organized to make a Z 'n5w set of observations from which to verify the length of degree on the gXQnator-the unit upon which the B1ench standard of measurement and 'the metric system are based.
 The site chosen for the work was the neighborhood of Quito, Ecuador It was so high up in the mountains that although in the very center of the forrid zone the men lived under arctic cQnditions. The party consisted of ten commissioned and 27 noncommissioned 6fIicers. With three exceptions the entire party spent the entire six years 1n the work. One of those who gave Np was Commandant Massenet, who preceded Col. Bourgeois at the head of the expedition.
 Loneliness was one of the things the men had to fight hardest against. They lived to large extent amid 6elds of snow and ice. The country below them was often invisible from 9clouds hanging about the mountains. ss3sYet their situation differed from that III arctic explorers in this respect, that they knew thousands of people were within comparatively easy reach. The f4mptation to descend to the seacoast HIties was therefore almost irresisti- h1e at times.
 Of course the men did not spend the whole time in the mountains. This would have been almost impossible, Necause they had not merely the vigor 04 the cold to contend against but also the enervating effects of the rarefied Atmosphere of the mountains. The Average height at which they lived and worked was 13,000 feet above sea lovel. Cooking was difficult at that &Ievation and the proper feeding of tl1e men was one of the most difficult pfDblems. Another practical difficulty ,Whs securing servants and laborers. Ihe natives consented to go into the Ills only at high pay and on urgent Hersuasion and they deserted at the least provocation. The winters were Especially trying. Bands of wolves Wandered about the camp and de- Youred the refuse thrown out even to nd leather straps and the wornout 9saddles of mules and horses.
 @ Notwithstanding the obstacles, "A cto pracfp6 1hain of geodetic and astronomical ob
 &rvatiops covering the entire six hrs was secured, including the estab-
 Shment of the meridian of Quito, Nlth the nearest approach to scientific 1ccuracy that is possible. The re- Whining error, it is said, is infinitesi-
 al. The result of the observations fiRs not worked out. This is to be tone in Paris now by corps of sci &ntists.
 aksThe expedition cost good deal of 56oney. Besides the pay of the mem tors the French government contrib 32ked 10000 francs ($8000). The bal &nce of the expenses, about $20,O00, ms been subscribed by Prince Roland Hpnaparte.
 Z While the members of the expedi- {1pu confined themselves strictly to |f<eir mathematical work, Dr. Paul
 kvet, staff surgeon in the French
 <my, who was detailed as it's medi- 4l attendant, made a remarkable col 11ction of photographs of the country xnd people and brought home also an
 Invaluable ethnological gathering of
 &tive implements and fabrics.