Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-26
of the Dvott Party at Banks of Famous River of Doubt

From the depths of the forest came
the hoarse yelp OF toucans: otherwise
all was still and motionless in the
brilliant sunshine.
Seated in the bow of my canoe fol-
lowed closely at the heels of the dug
out and watched the Woodworking
crew pilot the heavy tub through
awkward places. The canvas boats
needed no sustained effort t. help
them along. One SWEEP of the paddle
would shoot them clear o. an ugly
snag. A few powerful strokes and we
would swing around sharp bend with
ease. Our first day afloat turned out
to be one Of sheer delight-until rain
descended and Our land OF enchant-
ment became a dripping universe OF
uncomfortable reality.
In the late afternoon we were
brought to a standstill by an immense
log that had fallen across the river.
Much hard work was needed to clear
away the obstruction. We did not at
tempt anything further that day but
pitched our camp.
WE were off again early the next
day. The river now grew wider
and was little more free of obstacles.
Our first day had been rather like a
| steeplechase. We passed two places
where the Roosevelt party had camped,
| both recognizable by the description
| Col. Roosevelt gave in his narrative.
Near one we shot a spider monkey
with long black hair tipped with gray.
That night we enjoyed monkey stew
! for supper-and very good it was.
| AS the hours slipped by we began
| Tn nntiCn a GiiUhf nh1nua in tho la nd
| scape. Those large inundated areas
stretching back into the jungle were
| less numerous. The banks were higher
and we saw indications of Indians.
| Just who these people were or what
attitude they would adopt toward us
was an interesting speculation. We
| hardly expected them to come out and
greet us like long-lost friends; on the
other hand, if they treated us as enc
mics we might not get very far down
the Rio Roosevelt.
| Indians do strange things, and one
| cannot always account for their ac-
lions. They may he friendly one mo-
ment, openly hostile the next. Some
months before our visit a party of ne
groes had gone hunting for medicinal
herbs. They happened to stumble
across a maloca where lived family
| of Manufacturers. They made them
selves free and easy with these brown
devils, taking food and generally act
ing contrary to Indian etiquette.
A week later a patrolmaA making
his monthly ride of insp, ction along
the telegraph line found the whole
party dead and buried. Each man had
been planted in the ground in "a verti-
cal position, with his head remaining
above ground. The bodies were all
turned in the direction OF the Indian
huts, and the right arm of one was
exposed in a threatening attitude. This
was done by the Indians as a friendly
warning to others not to take the same
path.
In the afternoon of the second day
| we were again treated to rain. SO
heavy was the deluge that we could
! hardly see yards ahead. To make
matters worse the river began to race
at a great rate. Louder and louder
became the din of rain falling on the
treetops. Suddenly l caught sight OF
whitecaps ahead--a barrier of white
spray being thrown into the air across
the full width of the river. Shouting
to those behind, / drove the canoe in
to shore. The others followed, and
only just in time. Barely so yards be-
low the river broke into mad jumble