The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1914-06-22


TO pass. but they can be perfectly well
negotiated You can take boats up
them. 1t Il still better if you want TO
establish a series. You can have
launches above each rapid 10 20 Tor
the $50 or 200 kilometers before you
come TO the next serious obstacle 10
navigation. There Is no difficulty
whatever in the navigation | say no
difficulty Whatever mean from the
standpoint from which | am speak
ing-by launch and canoe. broken by
falls now and then from 10ia degrees
to 81 degrees.
Tells of the Embarkation.
Now. when we embarked. having
gone some thirty days 10y mule and OK
train across this high central plateau
of western Brazil when we embarked
our party consisted OF twenty-five men.
sixteen camarades and three Brazilian
officers, among them Colonel Rondon
and Mr.. Cherrie Of the American mu-
scum, my son Kermit and myself We
said goodby in the twelfth degree of
latitude TO the other members of the
expedition who had come that far.
! Colonel Rondon, I believe. affirmed
/ that it was the Aripone which wa
would come out Of He had directed
Lieutenant Pyrinez To send the boat mn
on the chance OF meeting Us. directing
him TO go up until he found a big az
fluent entering the river and stap
there. because he could not tell which
one we would be coming down. And
Lieutenant Pyrinez went up 10 about
degrees - minutes and waited for
us. We said goodby to Mr.. Mueller
and his associates here on Feb. ..
After exactly sixty days 81 canoeing
work we met Lieutenant Pyrinez.
On the trip OF our six members. Mr..
Cherrie, my son. the doctor and Lieu
tenant Lira kept diaries day BY day.
About every half degree or degree we
took astronomical observations
The different portions OF the course
that we followed varied widely in dim
Guilty. For four days we ran. survey
ing for the river very accurately. We
ran rather slowly before encountering
any rapids. We then struck our first
serious rapids. After that, which was
in about II degrees - minutes south.
we spent fOrty-twO days. during which
we slept every Gay at the head OF
foot of a rapid. and during the forty
two days we only covered one degree
Of latitude, going to about 10 degrees
Is minutes south. We had by that
time gone not more than a sixth Of the
distance that we expected to go and
had used up about three-fourths or
four-ifths OF our food: had been on
half rations pretty much all the time,
eked out with parrots and monkeys.
which we enjoyed there.
Then during that time we lost OF the
seven canoes five in the rapids We
built three others and lost one OF those.
Then we came ont the last success
sion of rapids, having been gone forty
six days. We struck long stretch OF
smooth water. The river was very
broad and very big I'm that part. and
after two days more we struck the Up
permost camp or house OF any OF the
rubber men. We were able to get
food-sugarcane. sometimes rice or
bananas. occasionally a chicken or a
duck, not very often. and in the eleven
days, il ! remember rightly. we got
eight eggs.
But all our difficulties were over
ard we made the entire remaining dis
lance in fourteen days We went
down to below the junction Of the up
per Aripone and the so called Cas-
tania, and then i'm thirty-six hours or
the steamer went down to the mOutl
Of the river. down the Amazon and
little wy up the Rio Machado to Ma
naos. The serious work was the frs
T "a little less than seven weeks goinl
down through the rapids. After tina
there was no difficulty.
We were fortunate enough on on
It. trips down the river not 10 lose any o
at our instruments or any Of the speci
p mems or notebooks or anything els
IN that was of consequence to the expe
~ dition, but we had to cut all our pei
er sonal belongings down to the bone.
~ On the upper course OF the rive
o. there Were Indians. They were afrai
he of US and somewhat hostile. thin
their hostility was due only TO timidity
oI Rondon's Dog Shot by Indians.
Colonel Rondon was nearly shot. II
was out hunting for monkeys. becaus
we were hungry. and he had a DO
as WIN hlln- lie nearu WHAT ne thou-L
in was the bowling of spider monkey,
an The dog went ahead, and he followe'
et 1t proved TO be a couple OF Indian
is who We're initiating the calling OF II
/ spider monkeys, probably to attra'
w. him. The first thing he knew abol
he was hearing the dog yell. then ccmir
In toward him, then yelling again al
Ier then silence, and he Vas sure-and
.nt afterward proved he was right-thi
,at it had been killed by Indians. He fire
he his revolver I'm the air. and the Indian
mt ran. We afterward went out ourselv,
and found the dead body OF the d
,o+ with two arrows through il.
nv The camarades. the men who we
nd with US, normally went barefoOte
M At one place where we stopped