New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-11-14

the headWatcrS OF the Paraguay ana
Amazon rivers. The scope of the
undertaking was greatly enlarged
when. at Rio de Janeiro. the Brazilian
Minister of Foreign Affairs. Senior
Lauro Muller. invited Colonel Roose-
welt TO lead the expedition into an un-
explored section of his country, and TO
attempt the descent of river which
flowed nobody knew whittier, but which
the best informed men believed would
be very big one" Thus there were
Joined to the party of American nat
uralists the great Brazilian explorer,
Colonel Rondon, and a company OF
Brazilian officers, TO whom, and TO Mr..
Muller. the book is dedicated. The eN-
petition achieved all it set out 70 do.
OF far more interest to the average
reader than the report Of its success IS
its spirited account of the dangers and
hardships encountered, of the print
tive conditions of the life Of natives
and Indians, of the wilderness and ITS
fauna its atmosphere of adventure.
There are tales here Of caymans and
bloodthirsty fishes, of the hunt OF pee
carries. ant-eaters, capibaras and man
eating jaguars, of poisonous snakes
and Of a harmless one that kills them.
the mussurama, as interesting as the
mongoose. There arc pleasant ac-
counts here of strange pets adopted by
members Of the expedition; tales OF the
greater dangers of the wilderness -
of mosquitoes and flies and gnats, OF
poisonous ants and ticks, and OF the
fevers they bring; Of dysentery and
the shadow Of starvation and sudden
death in turbulent rapids. And amidst
il all. one comes upon such charming
passages as this:
Most of the birds thus noticed
we're. Of course, the conspicuous
ones. The spurred lapwlngs, big,
tame. boldly marked plover, were
everywhere; they were very NOISY
and active, and both lnquisitlve
and daring, and they have very
curious dance custom. NO man
need look for them. They Will
look for him. and when they find
him they will fairly yell the dis
covery 10 the universe. In the
marshes of the lower Parana
saw hocks Of scarlet-headed black
birds on the tops Of the reeds;
the females are as striklngly col
ored as the males, and their Jet
black bodies and brilliant red
heads make il impossible for them
to escape observation among their
natural surroundings. On the
plains TO the west ! saw iocks Of
the beautiful rose-breasted star
lings: unlike the red-headed black
birds, which seemed fairly 20 court
attention, these starlings sought TO
escape observation by crouching on
the ground so that their red
breasts were hidden. There were
vellow-shouldered blackbirds in
wet places, and cow-buntings
abounded
OF course, the Colonel seizes this OPP
portunitv 70 renew his scientific quar-
rel with the "ultra-cOncealing- colora-
tionists," as he calls them in formid-
able compound word Of truly Teutonic
aspect. In South America, he says,
concealing coloration plays no more
part in the lives Of big game, the adult
deer. the tamandua, the tapir, the pee
cary. the iaguar and the puma than
il PLAYS in Africa in the lives Of
such animals as the zebra, the sable
antelope. the wildebeest, the hon and
the hunting hyena. Evidently the
other factors in species survival, such
as habit, and in many cases cover, etc,
are of such overwh Ginning Importance
that the coloration becomes negligible
/ from this standpoint, whether 1t be
/ concealing or revealing"
There are, of course, observations by
/ the way on all kinds of topics de-
velopment of South America, the need
of education among its inhabitants n
/ the remote districts, the utter disre-
gard Of color lines. OF TWO compan'
ions on a days hunt the Colonel cb'
I serves that the one was nearly white
the other nearly black. and VI the two
the black was the better man by far
There is only one line of demarcatior
in the wilder and poorer districts, tna'
between Christians and Indians; ahC
the Indian ceases TO be one IN populai
estimation the moment he ge.s hap
TIED Anti-militarists take notice: "l'
is worth while to ponder the fact thai
in every South American country wterC
a really efficient army is developed the
increase in military efficiency goe:
hand in hand with a decrease in law
! lessness ana disorder and a growing
reluctance TO settle internal disagree
ments by violence"
Colonel Roosevelt makes light of the
| illness that befell him at the end OF hi:
/ trip. Fortunately. he says, 1t did net
! become serious until the last II the
/ rapids of the river had been passed
/ and only canoe-riding remained. ore
more quotations. brief one-cnct
more illustrating his gift OF descrip-
ton, and we have done with this IN
teresting book:
On this day we got into the trCp-
les. Even in the heat Of the day
the deck was pleasant under the
awnings; the sun rose and set in
crimson splendor, and the nights,
with the moon at the full, were
wonderful. At night Orion blaZed
overhead; and the Southern Cross
hung in the star brilliant heavens
behind us. But after the moon rose
the consultations paled, and clear
in her light the tree-clad banks
stood on either hand as we steamed
steadily against the swirllng cur
rent OF the great river.
The illustrations are all that could
/ possibly be desired; there are two
maps, of which one shows the entire
/ itinerary of the expedition, while the
other is of the River of Doubt, now
7 called by direction of the Brazilian