Across Unknown South America

LIMA is a beautiful city, as everybody knows. Its wonderful churches, its clean streets, its commerce, the great charm of the people--indeed, the Peruvians are the most cultivat...

WE had gone 96 kil. in four days' marching since leaving the Rio Manso. We were only a few kilometres from the Serra Azul, or Blue Mountains--truly mountains of the most vivid a...

A Tiny Globular Cloudlet warning us--Tossed in a Merciless Manner--Saved by Providence--Vicious Waters--A Diabolical Spot--A Highly Dangerous Crossing--A Terrible Channel--More...

The Launching of the Glass Raft--Accidents--The Raft sinking--Saved--Our First Solid Meal--Its Consequences--The Canuma and Secundury Rivers--Marching Back across the Forest to...

"MORE than three months to reach the spot?" asked the cinematograph man in amazement. "Then perhaps Monsieur is on a journey to Mars or the moon! There is no spot on earth that...

Benedicto and Filippe show Courage--Confronted with a Mountainous Country--Steep Ravines--No Food--Painful Marches--Starving--Ammunition rendered useless by Moisture--The "pros"...

Dogs--Macaws--Crocodiles--A Serious Accident--Men flung into a Whirlpool--The Loss of Provisions and Valuable Baggage--More Dangerous Rapids--Wonderful Scenery--Dangerous Work--...

THE Bororos believed in spirits of the mountains and the forest, which haunted special places in order to do harm to living beings. Those spirits came out at night. They stole,...

ON leaving camp (June 15th) I noticed that the hills on which I had found the fossils formed a semicircle to the west. Rising quickly to an elevation of 2,070 ft., we were in si...

Starting across the Virgin Forest--Cutting the Way incessantly--A Rugged, Rocky Plateau--Author's Men throw away the Supplies of Food--Attacked by Fever--Marching by Compass--Po...

THE night of July 16th was heavy, the thermometer registering a minimum temperature of 62°F. We had great fun fishing during the early hours of the night. In the morning we had...

WE had reached a spot of most amazing scenery--the Paredão Grande--a giant hill mass displaying a great crater in its north side. Two high cones stood above the immense red-bake...

THE change in the characteristics of the people the moment you were in Peru was considerable, and striking was the neatness of the buildings. Iquitos was a pleasant little city,...

I SEEMED to have no luck on that journey. Everything went wrong all the time. Everything seemed to stand in my way to prevent my progress. My men were demoralized, my mules and...

Early on November 6th the steamer proceeded on her way to Belem (Pará). On leaving Santarem we first emerged into the great Amazon River, a regular sea of fresh water, where we...

He was amazed when I got on board and told him who I was, as the news had already spread down the river that I had been murdered by my own men in the forest. In fact, during my...

I WAS fortunate in obtaining some excellent Peruvian muleteers to accompany me on the expedition over the Andes. The trip might have been a rough one for the ordinary traveller,...

WE had reached the end of the comparatively flat plateau, which varied in elevation on its summit from 2,530 ft. to 2,570 ft. above the sea level. We were next faced by a most p...

ON September 11th we had another terrible march, the forest being very dense and much entangled along the stream. We had great trouble in getting through, as there were many pal...

A Family of _Ariranhas_--Attacked by them--Three Nasty Rapids--Beautiful Sand Beaches--Exciting Experiences--Going down a Thundering Cataract--Alcides' Narrow Escape--A Night's...

WE left at 8 a.m. on July 20th, the minimum temperature during the night having been 57° F. We had hardly gone 1½ kil. when we came to another island, 500 m. long--Mabel Island-...

ON May 31st (thermometer min. 56°, max. 74° Fahr.) I decided to abandon the missing horse and proceed on my journey. I suspected, with reason, that the animal had been stolen. I...

A FEW minutes later I had again joined my caravan, watched intently, at a respectful distance, by a few astonished natives of Goyaz. As soon as all my mules and horses had been...

A GREAT crowd had assembled at the station. The train had hardly stopped when my car was invaded by boisterous people, who embraced me and patted me on the back in the most appr...

A large basin was below it, in the eastern part of which was a charming island. Innumerable rubber trees (_Siphonia elastica_) were to be seen in that region. We found the south...

AT the river were several picturesque two-wheeled carts waiting to be ferried across. Drawn by ten, twenty, and even as many as thirty oxen, these heavy hooded vehicles travelle...

THE stars were of extraordinary brilliancy at night; so much so that one could see quite well enough by their light to get about. The atmosphere being extremely clear, they appe...

ON July 6th we packed the canoe with our baggage and dogs. The British flag was hoisted at the stern of the canoe, and with tender embraces from the seringueiros, whose eyes wer...

THE Bororos were superstitious to a degree. They believed in evil spirits. Some of these, they said, inhabited the earth; others were invisible and lived "all over the air," to...

WHILE I was reassuring my men an Indian appeared, bow and arrows in hand. He stood motionless, looking at us. My men, who had not noticed his coming, were terrified when they tu...

TWENTY-NINE kilometres from the "Merry Rest" we arrived at the little town of Pouso Alto--duly translated "high camp"--situated 2,750 ft. above the sea level on an elevation bet...

I WENT to call on the Salesian Fathers. Between my camp and the river Das Garças, on the right bank of which the colony stood, there was a great dome of red volcanic rock with m...

In the morning my men killed another big monkey, with the most human face I have ever seen on a quadruman--just like a negro's countenance. It came very near us in its curiosity...

WE were still at an elevation of 1,100 ft. The water was almost stagnant, and was evidently being held up by some obstacle. I feared that we should soon encounter nasty rapids....

WE camped at the Lagoa Formosa--or "Beautiful Lagoon"--a large, verdant, oval-shaped lagoon, entirely covered with grass, only 140 ft. lower than the top of the plateau (elev. 2...

THERE was no such thing as an hotel in Goyaz capital. The nearest approach to it was a filthy rest-house for muleteers, which was, furthermore, already full. Against my usual cu...

The Point of Junction of the Arinos and Juruena Rivers--Elfrida Landor Island--Terrible Days of Navigation--Immense Islands--An Old Indian Camp--A Fight between a Dog and an _Ar...

I MADE up my mind that I would continue my journey westward no farther, and would now proceed due north in order to explore the most important part of the Central Plateau--the v...

WE struck the River Arinos at a point called Porto Velho. There were at that place the miserable sheds of three _seringueiros_ (rubber-collectors). I had made for that particula...

Attacked by Beri-beri--A Journey up the Madeira River to the Relief of Filippe the Negro and Recovery of Valuable Baggage left with him--Filippe paid off--A Journey up the River...

I ARRIVED at Riberão Preto at 3.45 p.m. on March 29th. Riberão Preto--421 kil. N.N.W. of São Paulo and 500 kil. from Santos--is without doubt the most important commercial centr...

BRAZILIANS of a low class are unfortunately easily led by words. Alcides, who could not get over his bad temper, once more incited the men to revolt. While I was busy taking alt...

WE had another cool night on July 12th--minimum temperature 47° F. It was very damp, and in the morning we had, as on the previous day, a thick mist which prevented our starting...

IT was in the town of Goyaz that I had entertained hopes of finding suitable followers to accompany my expedition. The officials in Rio de Janeiro had given me glowing accounts...

I found my work too much for me now. There was too much to observe on all sides. We were travelling quickly with the swift current. A hill range from east to west, 300 ft. high,...

THE State of Matto Grosso had recently established a fiscal agency at the junction of the two rivers in order to collect the tax on the rubber exported from that region. The Fis...

WE arrived at the chief colony of the Salesians, Sagrado Coração de Jesus (Tachos). There, thanks to the great kindness and hospitality of the Fathers, and also owing to the amo...

MY object in travelling by the Paulista Railway was to inspect the line on my way to the immense coffee plantations at Martinho Prado, owned by Conselheiro Antonio Prado. The es...

WE were rather proud of ourselves, as we had gone 69 kils. on July 7th, paddling away--barring the interval for lunch--from 7.15 in the morning until 7.30 at night.

THE night of July 10th was cool--minimum temperature 58° F. When we departed at 7.10 in the morning the river was extremely tortuous at first--in one place actually veering from...

THE Rio Barreiros was about 100 metres wide. It was reached through a thick belt, 100 metres in width, of trees and bamboos of large diameter, which lined both its banks. The ri...

AN amusing incident happened. A cow chewed up the coat of one of my men, which was lying on the ground. In his fury the owner of the coat, on discovering the misdeed, seized his...

bird let out of its cage, so happy did he feel at being a free man again. His répertoire was not of the choicest kind, but what was lacking in quality was made up in quantity. F...

PAGE RUBBER TREE SHOWING INCISIONS AND THE COLLAR AND TIN CUP FOR THE COLLECTION OF THE LATEX 4 COAGULATING RUBBER INTO A BALL 4 BALLS OF RUBBER OUTSIDE A SERINGUEIRO'S HUT 8 ME...

THE AUTHOR _Photogravure Frontispiece_ PAGE RIO DE JANEIRO, SHOWING THE BEAUTIFUL AVENIDA CENTRAL 4 RIO DE JANEIRO AS IT WAS IN 1903 8 DR. PEDRO DE TOLEDO, MINISTER OF AGRICULTU...

OCTOBER 6th and 7th I spent inside a hammock. I was in such a high fever and so absolutely exhausted that I believed I should never be able to pull through. Albuquerque and his...

Page viii, "Solimo[~e]s" changed to "Solimões" Page 7, "0·25 c" changed to "0·25 m" Page 14, "Jurnena" changed to "Juruena" Page 316, "expect" changed to "except" Page 497, "Jap...

Benedicto and Filippe show Courage--Confronted with a Mountainous Country--Steep Ravines--No Food--Painful Marches--Starving--Ammunition rendered useless by Moisture--The "Pros"...

A Tiny Globular Cloudlet warning us--Tossed in a Merciless Manner--Saved by Providence--Vicious Waters--A Diabolical Spot--A Highly Dangerous Crossing--A Terrible Channel--More...

A Family of _Ariranhas_--Attacked by them--Three Nasty Rapids--Beautiful Sand Beaches--Exciting Experiences--Going down a Thundering Cataract--Alcides' Narrow Escape--A Night's...

Dogs--Macaws--Crocodiles--A Serious Accident: Men flung into a Whirlpool--The Loss of Provisions and Valuable Baggage--More Dangerous Rapids--Wonderful Scenery--Dangerous Work--...

Starting across the Virgin Forest--Cutting the Way incessantly--A Rugged, Rocky Plateau--Author's Men throw away the Supplies of Food--Attacked by Fever--Marching by Compass--Po...

The Launching of the Glass Raft--Accidents--The Raft sinking--Saved--Our First Solid Meal--Its Consequences--The Canuma and Secundury Rivers--Marching back across the Forest to...

The Point of Junction of the Arinos and Juruena Rivers--Elfrida Landor Island--Terrible Days of Navigation--Immense Islands--An Old Indian Camp--A Fight between a Dog and an _Ar...

Attacked by Beri-beri--A Journey up the Madeira River to the Relief of Filippe the Negro and Recovery of Valuable Baggage left with him--Filippe paid off--A Journey up the River...

In the Hands of Providence--A Mutiny--Another Mutiny--Foodless--Hard and Dangerous Work--A Near Approach to Hades--Making an Artificial Channel among Thousands of Boulders--An A...