The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1914-06-04

N-g SOSaN ~ ~ ehs
For four days we ran, as I say,
rather slowly before encountering any
rapids We then struck our first Sc
rious rapids. After that, which was In
about IL degrees 45 minutes south.
we spent AZ days during which we
slept every day at the head or foot
OF a rapids, and during the AZ days
we only covered one degree of lati-
tude, going to about 10 degrees As
minutes south; that is, from IL de-
grees 45 minutes to 10 degrees 45 min
utes, and therefore making not much
more than a mile and half day in
a straight line, the curves of the river
adding greatly to the distance actual
ly Travelled.
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-ffths of our
food. We had been on half rations
pretty much all the time, eked out
with parrots and monkeys, which we
enjoyed there. But l can assure any
OF my geological friends that they can
leave me with entire safety in the
monkey house without my making any
assault on any of the inmates. ! have
had all the monkey l wish.
Then during that time, of the sew.
en- canoes and seven dugouts with
which we started we lost five canoes
on the rapids. We built three others
and lost one of those. One man was
drowned in the rapids There were
several other narrow escapes from
drowning, and under the strain, which
was great, one of the men went COM
pletely mad and murdered another
and himself fed into the wilderness.
Then we came out OF the last sue.
cession of rapids, having been gone 46
days. 1t might have been AZ or 43
days, and either 46 or At days, and
all of our troubles were over.
I'VE struck a long stretch of smooth
water. The river was broad and big
in that part, and after two days more
we struck the uppermost camp or
house of any of the rubber men. We
were able to get food-sugar cane,
manioca, sometimes rice or bananas
occasionally chicken or a duck. not
very often. And in the II days, If
remember rightly. we got eight eggs
which divided among the six of us
would have given each man one egg q
week.
Until men have had experience
they can hardly realize the insuffer-
able difference there is going down a
stream broken by rapids which are
unknown and going down a stream
just as difficult which is known,
in the first place you come to the
head of the rapids and you have not
any idea what is ahead. You have to
land and send people forward to ex.
plore.
They may have to be gone three or
four hours. They come back. They
may have only explored one side Of
the stream. II they find 1t very bad
they may have to cross over and ex
plore for three or four hours on the
other side, down, to see If there is not
some channel cn that side on which
you can get yodr canoe. Then you
have to come back and report as to
whether you can run the canoes
loaded.
Our canoes were so overladen that
we could not often do that. 1t is q
question whether you can run them
down empty and merely portage tho
goods, or whether you must portage
the goods and let the canoes down by
ropes, or whether you will have to do
as we had to do on three or four oc.
casions-cut roads through the woods
lay down logs. and with block and
tackle and by the severest kfud OF
bodily labor drag the hoavy. clumsy
dugouts overland down to the foot OF
the rapids.
"If you are overcautious you will
take so long a time that you will ex.
haust your food supply and be in dan.
ger Of starvation II you are over.
risky you may lose the canoes and
what's in them Then you face star.
yation, not in the future, but in the
present.
"The medicines are almost as impcr-
tant as the food. We had to keep tie
men and ourselves all do.ed with Cui-
nine the whole time in order to keep
the fever from US. think everybody
got the fever more or lesG, but 4 we
had not had the quinine we would
have been laid out.
I'VE we're fortunate enough on our
trip down the river not to lose any of
our Instruments or any of the peel.
mems or notebooks or anything else
that was of consequence to the expe.
dition. but we had to cut all our per-
sonal belongings to the bone.
ION the upper course Of the river
there were Indians. They were afraid
OF us and somewhat hostile. I think
their hostility was due only to timid.
ity, but If you are shot by a man be.
cause he Is afraid of you it is almost
as unpleasant as if he shot you be.
cause he disliked you.
In the wilderness people portray
you as being in danger from croco.
diles and jaguars and so on. They are
not the things you mind. 1t is the
mosquitoes and the poisonous ants.
1t is the ants that eat up your cloth.
ing. 1t is the moribund wasps that
are perfectly awful. It Is these so.
called bcrochuda and Dium flies which