Evening star., 1925-12-01
TRIO PIERCES BRAZILIAN JUNGLE
SEEKING TRACE OF FIRST MAN
Col. Fawcctt, British Explorer, Describes Horrors
of First Lap of Journey Into Land of
FerOciOus Indian Tribes.

perSons-myself. my son and Mr..
Raleigh Rimell. We have thus far
maintained fair average of fitness,
but Rimell suffered from a sharp at
tack of jaundice in Cuyaba and later
from a poisoned foot, result OF q bite
from a peculiarly venomouS variety of
insect. His foot has been bootless
ever since, and his lameneSS a cause
OF anxiety to the party.
With us are two Brazilian guides
TO help us through the first stages OF
our journey. They will leave us and
return to their homes in another
week. as they have no stomach for
encounters with Indians and no con
fidence in our ability to survive the
bows and arrows of these untutored
SaVaSeS.
Journey Tests Patience.
Our journey during the past month,
from Cuyaba to this frontier fort, has
been a test of patience and endurance
for the greater trials which are about
to begin.
We started from Cuyaba with T.
animals. and now have IA, exclusive
of three dogs, having added the others
by purchase from natives en- route.
There are four horses which are fairly
satisfactory. but the rest are mules.
hobble them at night and then hope
for the best. but they have an in
genious mind and frequently contrive
to get free during the night and go
galloping off across the countryside.
Our passage north from Cuyaba has
been one of shocking difficulty. Trails
either do not exist, or have nothing
to distinguish them from the innum-
cradle sdetracks. River crossings are
q frih
Party Beset by Ticks.
on our second night out from
Cuyaba. our party became separated
in an effort to find a suitable place
for crossing the Rio Manso, and I was
compelled to sleep beside my horse
on the campo coarse grassland with
saddle for pillow. That night cost me
two weeks of gross discomfort. for
was literally covered with minute
ticks, called 'mukwi." and have
scratched persistently ever since.
The rest of the party had Camped
on the banks of the Rio Manso. and
had suffered as much as / from the
insect inhabitants. Among the ma
tives this area is nicknamed with a
significant word which means the
tiCkiest place in the world"
For sheer unattractive country this
part of Matto Crosse would take a lot
of beating. Such squatters as there
are live far apart and the monotony
of the country, with its stunted tree
! growth. is soul killing.
A week later. when we reached the
| southern bank of the Cuyaba, the
animals could not cross at the point
we had selected on the maps. The
boiling waters were far too danger
! Gus. SO we had to ascend the river
! for many miles to safer place, and
/ swim the lot across one by one.
| Rivers TreacherOus.
! Leaving here. we made a wide cir
| cult to Fort Bakairi, continually pes
tered by ticks and with trouble at
every river crossing. Some of the
| streams had banks of mud so slippery
! that We nearly lost our animals
| Others were treacherous on account
| of rocks or quicksand. Still others
ran in deep gorges, and the mules in
| evitably fell down the banks, to the
| prejudice of our equipment.
On reaching the Paranatinga we
| found that the old village of Bakairi
had disappeared, all it's inhabitants
having migrated to the fort across
the river. My son Jack had to swim
the river in order to get boat for
| the crossing of this wide and power
| ful-flowing stream, and the task was
not without considerable danger.
being made worse by sudden violent