The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-02-17
.lR.. RICE Tl-BARE SECRETS
Of SOUTH AMERICAN WILDS
Strange Races and Tribes Being Studied By Explorer and
His Wife Who Are BrdUing Dread HardShips of
JuHgIes To Get knowledge.

SAttHtCo 4 u
NEW NORK-Dr. Alexander HamIl-
ton Rice. the explorer, has arranged
with his London publishers TO bring
out a great work on the results Of his
expeditions In the South American re-
gion north Of the Amazon river, He
states that the tribe he is uow study
ing, alleged TO be composed largely of
blond indians, ccntered on the head
waters OF the OrinOCo river, are known
as the Guahartbes, practically a white
people.
II they are white. they must have
always been white, for WI reasons,
Madison Grant has shown IN his new
DOOR, The Passing Of a Great Race, ~
that where blends are found among the
dark races 1t merely shows that at some
time or other a shipload Of Nordic sail
ors paused In the vicinity.
On. the other hand, Louis AEassiE
proves IN his work on the Amazon, that
the descendants Of all i~ntermarriagcs
between whites and Indians and be-
tween blacks n South American In
dams have ultimately reverted to tho
Indian type and characteristics. In
other words, that the South American
indian type, being the most primitive
IN existence, refuses to give way TO
the infusion Of other hoods. Hence the
insistence that a blond race Of Indians
IN that part Of the world must have
been always white.
Wife Also Explorer,
In 1915 Or. Rice married Ellnor, Mrs.
George d. Wtdener, Of Philadelphia,
daughter Of the late William l.. Ill
kins, Mrs, Rice Immediately and en-
Enthusiastically devoted herself and for.
tune 70 the explorations Of her distin-
Euished husband, She accompanied him
on his last expedition w the Amazon
"a honeymoon trip.
Mrs Rice went through her first trial
OF penetration OF the disease laden
tropics without incident. so far as any
Injection was concerned, She strictly
followed the rules. Before entering the
Infected regions she took 10 grains OF
quinins twice daily. She kept her face
and hands draped In insect netting.
She kept In good exercise by doing
practically a mans daily work. One
Of the requirements, quite a evere
hardship for her, IL, after a tlresnme
y days work. TO emulate each member
Of the party before retiring, by writing
down a minute account Of all she saw
and experienced.
Also before any sleep Is the daily
wireless flash to the station at Ar
lington 10 get correct latitude and
longitude and time, often beset with
NNhA
River Four Miles Wide.
The worst Of the whole work in this
section begins at Camanaos, where the
river is -four miles wide. Here were only
q few colonists comprising Portuguese,
married TO native women for trade In
interests, for without knowledge OF the
Indian dialect IL would be impossible
for the rich families the ruling class
% maintain the Indian vassalase that
exists.
Inland from the middle and upper
Rio Negro the country Is inhabited BY
Aruark. Karib and Retoya stock, living
IN communal houses termed maiocas.
These tribes exist by growing indigen-
GUS tubers and fruits on cleared lands.
Maku without fixed abodes, They are
called indie do Matte, an Aruark term
Of opprohrium. The Maku are wander
ing. tribes, hated and hunted down,
without regard to descent, by settled
Indians, They are also looked upon
as a refnnan Of a once powerful race, !
bearing culturally the stamp OF great
antiquity and differing radically from
other tribes, The women Of these no.
madic tribes are seized by chiefs OF
settled tribes for wives and the men
for arm bearers.
Most miserable Of all Amazon abo-
rhymes, they have no dwellings cham
mocks), canoes or axes, They roam
constantly, hunting and fishing, Or
Rice says: THE language OF the re-
gion is Tupi-G uarani, or it's ~derlcative,
the Lingoa -geral Tupi. or Nheen-
Eatu is n survival Of dialects, Myths
and legends Of the rupi survive, also
d~ahocuris. or wierd dances. partly re-
partly festive"
Village Stricken.
One OF the villages visited by Dr
Rfra rvne Ttu4hngn Zee IN rn hftn ptg mo- |
siess and fever infested A stranger can
seldom pass the night here without con-
.atracting the fever. Here came in the
uplift, as In all such cases. DR.. Rice,
both surgeon and physician. familiar
with the most modern practice in cases
.of tropical fevers by study in the great
hospital al Rogota, covering -four
squares, lent his aid, while his bucks
got busy clearing away the wreckage. |
The explorer gave medicine where It
was useful, or performed operations !
when essential to save life. Cures fol- /
lowed rapidly and a village whose in
shnbitants had i~en without hope OK
specting to perish one after another, |
suddenly found itself erect on It's feet, .
with nothing to. do but live the. Joyous
life of the wilds.
II viii be readily seen that part Of
his rather huge pile Of luggage taken
aiong on these expeditions is neces-
sarily medicine, mostly quinine. In
mastering battling cases Of jungle dis.
eases, he having NJ times the valued
assistance OF Or. William r. Council
man., professor of pathology VI. the Har- I
Sard Medical school, who has accompa-
ried him on some Of these trips. For
sthia work Or. Councilman has been
awarded the gold medal of the National
Institute Of Social Sciences.
Volcano Active.
On one Of his trips over the Andes,
DR.. Rice found the trail dominated bv
the violence os Cotopaxt volcano, which
literally threw at him and his men the
bowels Of the earth. His Arrier0s, how.
ever, proved to he careless and indie
fatigueahle, driving the pack animals
up the sleeps and lodging the flying
debris. Here the mules. as in the
war, were better at the game than the
horses, carrying more weight having |
greater endurance, more INTEL genCe
and willingness. They had smaller legs
and feet, which did not sink so deep In
the mud as the hoofs Of the horses
which floundered and wallowed in bog !
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Observation-Disclosures u