Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-06-06
col. ROOSEVELT IN THE SOUTH
AMERICAN JUNGLES SHOWS GRIT


ed films. everything" He broke OF.
'.No, don't do that. Reid. Here give
II to me.
Reid Puryear aud May Maary-
named for Maury, the naval carto-
grapher-had unearthed some fascin-
ating flat tin Teceptaeles containing
hundreds OF feet OF exposed moving
picture films. as....l ..
For goodness sake don't open
those!" protested their father. "Giye
them to me" This command was COM
pied with all the more willingly be-
cause of the many other fascinating
POSSIBILITIES remaining to be uncov-
cred in the heaps of open boxes ami
trunks. Il shouldn't like anything to
happen TO these reels, continued Fl
ala, carefully putting them out of
harms way. Il lost hundreds OF feet
in the Rapids Of the Devil; some Of
these spools took before the accident
and had sent out Of the jungle, and
some took afterward. think I've
got some good river and jungle stuff,
showing the Colonel In sererjs of
them. e
/ 'Beycnd the spill In the rapids and
some similar hairbreadth escapes In
other dangerous bits OF water and the
l:ardships of travel in thick jungle
country, without sufficient food, we
had no very exciting adventures. No,
We met none OF the big snakes that
have been reported in central Brazil.
In fact / didn't see a single big snake
during my trip. although talked fire.
quently with men who had seen them
and with Indians who claimed that
their comrades and brothers had been
Geyoured by serpents Indians told
us many stories Of the big riyer-py-
tions or water-boas. Matte Crosse Is
the place for tall snake-stories. One
Indian told me about having seen a
snake crossing a river IS feet wide.
He said the head of the snake was
going into the Jungle ON one side while
its tail was not yet cut OF the brush
on the other
/ Anthony, Jr., stood open-mOlthed
in front of his father during this story,
and, perhaps for that reason, the ex-
plorer brought it to hasty cenciu-
sion He had evidently intended some
additional yards OF Matte Crosse pro.
duction.
Il think that viii be enough of that
subject, said Fiala. What .haye you
got there, son? A machete? Well,
give it to me- III put II where it bs.
longs
A tinkle. coupled with |, eestatie
gurgles of satisfaction. here drew at
tention to the younger children. The.t
had bnrrowed into another box, and
were hauling out quaint pieces OF In;
dian pottery, glazed and painted, the
breakable possibilities of which were
/: as plain as theyswere enhancing. Mrs.
Fiala came to the rescue this time,
and the energy sof the budding explor-
ers OF the family was directed into
other channelsyg Gun.cases, moving.
picture cameras, scientific instr1.
ments, clothing all were dragged out,
inspected. d0nned and tested. In be-
tween whites, the four climbed over
{ their father Shoulders. scaled his
7 lap, and jabbered an incessant series
of questions is.
'.As to Colonel Roosevelt, prob,
ably know less than you do" Fiala
said. IT wentesintO the wild country
ahead Of him. because he had TO re
main behind to attend to some per.
sonal engagements. and he Joined Us
on Christmas evening. From then I'M
I'll March Is, when we determined to
broaden the scope OF the expedition
by dividing 1t into two parties 50 as
! to cover a. wider area of ground, was
with him constantly. But since then
have not heard from him, with the
exception or what Miller told me at
Manaos before. left for hons.
1T is not al all surprising that he
has been iii. It must have required
all his amazing vitality to stand the
fatigue Of travel in that country,
where. unless you go by water. every
kilometer of the way must be hacked
through the jungle. Very often. in.
deed, kilometer is good days. jour.
lney. And the insects! / have seen
them so thick ON man as to cover
his back like a cloak. We suffered
especially after losing our canoes, On
account of not havins any chemicals
or netting; suppose the Colonel lost
some of his bug-fighting equipment
in the same way - $50 -.
The principal difficulty experianc.
ed, said Mr. Fialas was the scarcity
OF provisions. A steady diet of beans
and coffee in small quantities took 80
pounds off him inside of three weeks;
even the colonel seemed to suffer from
the scarcity of food. If Kermit did
not, 1t is because he Is, as Mr.. Fiala
says, Cooled wire all bound up in
bronze" another difficulty was the
heavy rainfall which necessitated fire.
quently two-days' journey before a
place dry enough for a camp could be
found The greatest hazard in South
American travel in the wilds is the
rapids and falls in the rivers. In
proof of this a story is recounted Of
a mishap that barely missed being
fatal: - .-.-
ION. the Papagaio River, after
had left the colonel, had with mo
three canoes, two dugouts, and an
AmaFican.mado, nanvaS.oovorad oonoo