Evening star., 1927-12-07

SlneeF anu eNploEeL, Is III w doHiHS'
ton discussing with the Smithsonian
Institution and various Government
departments a project to explore two
enormous areas in the heart of South
America, in which, so far as is known,
no white man has ever been.
Marsh, who last came into prom
inence three years ago by the discov-
cry in Darien of a group of Tule
Indians with various pronounced char
acteristics of the white race. has Sc
cured financial support for tWo-year
expedition among the Amazon Jungles.
He expects to recruit a group of sclen-
| tific workers from the Smithsonian,
| the Department of Agriculture and
| other Government bureaus as soon as
necessary diplomatic arrangements
have been made with the Brazilian
government.
i For the past two days, the explorer
has been closeted with Government
scientists, going over maps and dis
cusSing the amazing possibilities OF
the proposed explorations.
Planes to Accompany Him.
He has contracted for two airpanes.
the first Of which is due to arrive in
| Washington today and be given Its
| first tryout over the city.
| Marsh expects to leave Washington
with his expedition some time between
January Is and February |, the party
| to consist of about 80 men, which later
will be augmented by an equal num-
| ber Of BraZilians.
The first area to be explored con-
sists of 100000 square miles Of the
Matto Crosse, or great jungle. of the
| Amazon, lying south Of the river, and
which never has been penetrated.
AS to what may lie within this area.
Marsh said today, the most amazing
conjectures are possible. 1t consti-
tutes the oldest region, geologically,
in the Western Hemisphere and is
surrounded by a belt of archaic rock
marking the boundaries Of an ancient
island continent.
| Within this area, the explorer be-
| lieves, may be found giant extinct
mammals, the ruins of an ancient
civilization, or q living white race
with an advanced culture, possibly the
ancestral race of all the white peo-
| pies in the world.
Plausible Conjectures.
These are not entirely wild guesses
| Marsh claims he has been assured by
| Government scientists, but are plau-
sible conjectures from definite evil
| dence. The theory rests primarily on
| facts of geological history. At one
stage in the evolution of the world,
| not so very long ago geologically, the
nucleus of what is now South Amer
| lea consisted of two enormous is
| lands. The southern island was the
| largest and oldest and now is rep
| resented by the Matto Crosse.
In the course of millions of years
| the Andes Mountains arose out OF
| the ocean, a comparatively recent geo.
| logical event, and the space between
the two great islands began to be
| filled up by the soil washed down
| from the mountains. This middle
space now is the valley of the Anna
| zon-a great low-lying flood plain. 1t
| Joined the two islands together
| into the present continent of South
America.
But in the course Of this process
| the Matto Crosse land mass was quite
effectively cut off. 1t was. presuma-
bly,, mountainous. The flood plain
land created was at a considerably
| lower level. Lying close to the Equa-
tar, dense jungle growth sprang up
on the mountain slopes, which was
impenetrable There is a possibility
that whatever life was native to the
achaic region remained there-and
may be there to this day.
Cut OF From World.
On the east and west it is cut off
| from the rest of the world by nun
dreds of miles of dense, swampy Jun
gle. It was while attempting to pen
citrate this region by skirting around
| to the west that Roosevelt discovered
| his famous River of Doubt, but the
| former President made no progress
| into the heart Of the ancient table,
| land.
One or two attempts, Mr.. Marsh
said, have been made to effect an en-
| trance from the south, but the eX-
plorers have found themselves barred
| by jungle-covered mountains through
which progress was impossible.
| He will try to enter Matto Crosse
| from the north, similar to an expedi-
| ton attempted nearly a century ago
| by two German explorers with primi'
| tive equipment. The furthest prog
| was by a German explorer in 1924,
but he found himself barred by the
falls of the Xingu River.
The unknown area Is quite close TO
civilization. About 80 miles up the
Amazon lies the great modern city of
Para, the worlds largest rubber port
Here the Marsh expedition will go
first and complete it's Quitting. 1t
then will proceed by boat 800 miles
further up the Amazon to the mouth
of the Xingu and then about days
trip up the Xingu to the beginning OF
the rapids. Beyond these progress by
ordinary boat is impossible and this
Is as far as the rubber hunters ever
fhnCQ extend
for 400 miles into the interior.
Planes to Scout Area.
Here the amphibians will be launch
ed and fly over the unexplored coun'
try, taking photographs and making
observations. Upon the report of the
pilot, Marsh says, will depend the
future plans of the expedition. He
believes that they will find a rather
mountainous country, not very dense
ly forested, and with great open
spaces Of grassland.
| If the pilots report that the Xingu
rapids can be ascended by boat,
Marsh plans to take his party into
! especially adapted to rough water.
Otherwise the party will be taken in,
| few men at a time. by plane and
base camp established in the in
| terror.
Marsh expects to find the natives Of
| Matto Crosse, If there are any,
warlike and hostile race. as are most
of the South American Indians. The
airplane pilots will make the first at
tempts to concliate them by drop
ping presents over their villages by
| parachute. He has 400 parachutes
for this purpose.
The party will be heavily armed,
but will depend chiefly for their defense
| on implements for fireworks displays
at night. which, the explorers expert
ences in South America have taught
him. are just as effective to frighten
off hostile parties as guns, and their
use does not serve to increase