Evening star., 1927-12-07
LOST WORLD IN SOUTH AMERICA
GOAL OF EXPLORER WITH PLANES|
Richard 0. Marsh to Lead Party Into
H. Uncharted Jungle in Search of
H. Ancient Civilization.

first human beings 10 llNe oH ehN
western continents but that a blue
eyed, fair-haired people lived here be,
fore them. These people developed
the primary civilizations, mysterious
remnants of which have been found
in Peru and Yucatan, but gradually
were exterminated by the barbarians
descending upon them from the north.
The Mongoloids, intermarrying with
remnants of their victims, continued
these civilizations but in much
diluted fashion.
Spread From Nucleus.
It was these inferior civilizations
built on top of the primary civAiza'
tions, Marsh believes, which the
Spanish conquerors found in Mexico
and Peru. These ancient white people,
he believes, must have spread from a
common nucleus, carrying their civill-
zation with them. The place where
they are most likely to have origl'
mated, he holds. is the oldest land
mass in the Western world, Matto
Crosse, an area comparable as a
birthplace of animal life to the great
Cobb Desert in Asia.
But as the pioneers went North and
West, he believes. they probably left
the great bulk of their people back
in the homeland Perhaps they are
there today, living in great stone
cities and with a high culture of their
own. At any rate their cities may
be there, even If they have been dead
for thousands of years.
There is a still stranger hypothesis
possible, the explorer says. Where
did the white race originate anyway?
1t is generally admitted that the vel
low race originated in Europe or Asia
and the black race in Africa, but If
it once could be established that an
ancient white race lived in South
America, it would open up the ques-
ton as to whether or not they immi'
grated from there to Europe-thus
becoming our own ancestors.
Seeks Giant Mammals.
The search for living mammals,
elsewhere extinct. has more tangible
evidence to support 1t. Regarding
this, Marsh said:
"A few years ago, an Indian in north
ern Argentina is reported to have
found the skeleton of a glyptodon, or
which was not fossilized and which
evidently had died recently. The
stain on the bones was real blood. Yet
nobody ever has seen a i've glyptodon.
quite recently. l know of a case
where some ignorant Indians de-
scribed seeing a herd of strange crea-
lures which they described quite ac-
curately as giant sloths. The animals
could not have been anything else,
from their description. Yet they
never had heard of the giant sloth.
Every now and then somebody re-
ports catching glimpse of a giant
reptile or amphibian. Ignorant peo-
pie describe these creatures accurat tely
in terms which would indicate crea-
lures quite nearly related to the
dinosaur family.
1T is by no means impossible that
some of these archaic creatures still
are living in the Matto Crosse table
land. and that very rarely an isolated
individual makes his way into the low
lands. 1t certainly is a fascinating OBJ
ject of exploration.
Indians Never Glimpsed.
Nobody knows, Marsh said, whether
there are any Indians in the unknown
area. The Roosevelt expedition saw
none. but one of their dogs was shot
by an arrow. This expedition clung
to the rivers, while the Indians never
build their villages less than a quarter
of mile from the banks, so as to
avoid the flood waters.
"If an ancient, unknown people live
in these hills, why haven't some Of
them found their way out?" he was
asked.
Probably they have" he answered
They would be barred generally BY
the same natural barriers which keep
the white people out. But some of the
more adventurous of them, 1t is likely
have come down into the cities and
possibly shipped as sailors. What they
have seen of the new civilization has
disgusted them. They have gone back
contented to remain for the rest oi
their lives with their own people.
found something of this condition
among the Tules in Darien. A few
months on the outside was sufficient
to drive the adventurous youngsters
back among their own people again
with no further desire to roam.
Il do not expect to find these Matte
Crosse people friendly at first, but be
fore / am through l expect to show
them that they can trust the white
men,"
Away Six Months.
The Matto Crosse expedition. Mr..
Marsh believes, will require about six
months, during which time 1t will be
possible to make a large collection of
birds and animals and make aerial
photographs of the entire region.
Then the party will turn to the sec.
ond unknown area-a section nearly
twice as large in Southern Venezuela
Some of this territory has been en-
tered by white men, although there is
one area In Southern Venezuela which
so far as Is known, never has been
- ated This is about 200
square miles in extent, and can be
entered via the Corroni River, one of
the tributaries of the Oronoco, which
Marsh described as nasty water"
The primary object of this expedi
ton will be to find a race of brown
pygmies-some members of which have
recently been seen in Southern Co.
lombia and which, March believes, are
the remnants of a neolithic race which
once inhabited the Americas. He be.
lieves these pygmies are the source of
all the dwarf and goblin legends of
the new world, just as the nearly
extent Negritos were responsible for
the same legends in the Old World.
Marsh plans to place the scientific
work of the expedition in charge of a
Government scientist. attending him.
self to the details of financing and ar
ranging for supplies. The Brazilian
government will be asked to furnish a
scientific corps to cooperate with the
Americans.
The organizations now cooperating
with Marsh in the project are: The
Museum of the American Indian, New
York; Massachusetts Institute of Tech
nology; University Of Rochester. Long
Island Biological Association and the
New York Geological Society.