Through the Brazilian Wilderness | Page 3

ethnic origin.
Father Zahm and Miller were Catholics, Kermit and Harper
Episcopalians, Cherrie a Presbyterian, Fiala a Baptist, Sigg a Lutheran,
while I belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church.
For arms the naturalists took 16-bore shotguns, one of Cherrie's having
a rifle barrel underneath. The firearms for the rest of the party were
supplied by Kermit and myself, including my Springfield rifle, Kermit's
two Winchesters, a 405 and 30-40, the Fox 12-gauge shotgun, and
another 16-gauge gun, and a couple of revolvers, a Colt and a Smith &
Wesson. We took from New York a couple of canvas canoes, tents,
mosquito-bars, plenty of cheesecloth, including nets for the hats, and
both light cots and hammocks. We took ropes and pulleys which
proved invaluable on our canoe trip. Each equipped himself with the
clothing he fancied. Mine consisted of khaki, such as I wore in Africa,
with a couple of United States Army flannel shirts and a couple of silk
shirts, one pair of hob-nailed shoes with leggings, and one pair of laced
leather boots coming nearly to the knee. Both the naturalists told me
that it was well to have either the boots or leggings as a protection

against snake-bites, and I also had gauntlets because of the mosquitoes
and sand-flies. We intended where possible to live on what we could
get from time to time in the country, but we took some United States
Army emergency rations, and also ninety cans, each containing a day's
provisions for five men, made up by Fiala.
The trip I proposed to take can be understood only if there is a slight
knowledge of South American topography. The great mountain chain
of the Andes extends down the entire length of the western coast, so
close to the Pacific Ocean that no rivers of any importance enter it. The
rivers of South America drain into the Atlantic. Southernmost South
America, including over half of the territory of the Argentine Republic,
consists chiefly of a cool, open plains country. Northward of this
country, and eastward of the Andes, lies the great bulk of the South
American continent, which is included in the tropical and the
subtropical regions. Most of this territory is Brazilian. Aside from
certain relatively small stretches drained by coast rivers, this immense
region of tropical and subtropical America east of the Andes is drained
by the three great river systems of the Plate, the Amazon, and the
Orinoco. At their headwaters the Amazon and the Orinoco systems are
actually connected by a sluggish natural canal. The headwaters of the
northern affluents of the Paraguay and the southern affluents of the
Amazon are sundered by a stretch of high land, which toward the east
broadens out into the central plateau of Brazil. Geologically this is a
very ancient region, having appeared above the waters before the
dawning of the age of reptiles, or, indeed, of any true land vertebrates
on the globe. This plateau is a region partly of healthy, rather dry and
sandy, open prairie, partly of forest. The great and low-lying basin of
the Paraguay, which borders it on the south, is one of the largest, and
the still greater basin of the Amazon, which borders it on the north, is
the very largest of all the river basins of the earth.
In these basins, but especially in the basin of the Amazon, and thence
in most places northward to the Caribbean Sea, lie the most extensive
stretches of tropical forest to be found anywhere. The forests of tropical
West Africa, and of portions of the Farther-Indian region, are the only
ones that can be compared with them. Much difficulty has been
experienced in exploring these forests, because under the torrential
rains and steaming heat the rank growth of vegetation becomes almost

impenetrable, and the streams difficult of navigation; while white men
suffer much from the terrible insect scourges and the deadly diseases
which modern science has discovered to be due very largely to insect
bites. The fauna and flora, however, are of great interest. The American
Museum was particularly anxious to obtain collections from the divide
between the headwaters of the Paraguay and the Amazon, and from the
southern affluents of the Amazon. Our purpose was to ascend the
Paraguay as nearly as possible to the head of navigation, thence cross to
the sources of one of the affluents of the Amazon, and if possible
descend it in canoes built on the spot. The Paraguay is regularly
navigated as high as boats can go. The starting- point for our trip was to
be Asuncion, in the state of Paraguay.
My exact plan of operations was necessarily a little indefinite, but on
reaching Rio de Janeiro the minister of foreign affairs, Mr. Lauro
Muller, who had been kind enough to take great personal