 Section 0 of the Roosevelt-Hondon Scientific Expedition and the Telegraph Line Commission. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Roosevelt-Hondon Scientific Expedition and the Telegraph Line Commission by Canjido-Hondon. Translated by R.G. Reedy and Edwin Murray. Preface, the Journal do Comercio of Rio de Janeiro published the following notice on October 6, 1915. A manifestation of remarkable brilliancy, promoted in honor of Colonel Hondon by the Geographical Society of Rio de Janeiro, took place in the Phoenix Theatre yesterday evening at 8.30. Beside the ceremony of the unveiling of his portrait, which is to be hung in the gallery of meritorious members of the Geographical Society, it was known that Colonel Hondon would avail himself of this opportunity to give at the request of this institution his first lecture on the Roosevelt-Hondon Scientific Expedition and the exploration of the River Duvido. The place first chosen for these lectures was the Sao Pedro Theatre. But through unforeseen circumstances, the committee was obliged to alter this arrangement in 24 hours and in the short space of time, the Phoenix Theatre was prepared for this purpose. Long before the appointed hour, the guest commenced to arrive and at 8.30 p.m., the elegant theatre was quite full. Boxes, stalls, galleries, and all seats were taken. In the corridor which encircles the stalls, one could see many people standing. The invitations had been distributed in accordance with the largest seating room of the Sao Pedro Theatre. And for this reason there was some difficulty in seating all the guests in the Phoenix Theatre. The first tier of boxes were all reserved for the President of the Republic, Vice President of the Republic, Ministers, members of Congress, the Diplomatic Corps, and the Government of the City of Rio de Janeiro. Amongst those presents we took note of the following, the Minister of Marine, the Minister of Agriculture, the Vice President of the Senate, the Chief of Police, the American Ambassador in whose box the American Incident was displayed, the Commission of the Municipal Council, the Chief of the General Staff of the Army, and representatives of the President of the Republic and of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and War. Shortly before 9 p.m., the session was open with General Gregorio Thamaturgo Gia Azevedo in the chair. At the table placed on the stage were also seated Colonel Rondon, Dr. José Boito, Alvaro Belford, and Sebastián Sampaio, members of the Board of the Geographical Society, and Lieutenant Alfredo Severo dos Santos Pejera, who was committed to greet Colonel Rondon on behalf of the officers of the Army. The unveiling of Colonel Rondon's portrait was followed by prolonged cheers, after which General Thamaturgo Gia Azevedo delivered the following speech. The Geographical Society of Rio de Janeiro, which I have the honor of presiding, has decided to hold this great meeting in order to unveil the portrait of an illustrious Brazilian and honored member of the society, in acknowledgement of the relevant services rendered by him to the nation. In retribution of this proof of kindness and at the request of the Board of the Society, the intrepid explorer will deliver three lectures on the subject of the geographical and other work carried out under his direction as chief of the commission of the telegraph and strategic lines of Mato Grosso, and also during the Roosevelt expedition. From these words, it can be easily gathered that I refer to the Mayor Toreas, Colonel of Engineers, Ganjido Mariano Rondon, who is here present. His contemporaries of the military school say that whilst a student of this academy, Rondon had the constant ideal of connecting up all the important places of his native state by a system of telegraph lines. This preoccupation, which was always before his mind, he carried out beyond his wishes, for he has not only made this connection, but extend it same to another state as great, and as rich as his own, vis the Amazon, and from there to the whole of Brazil by means of the already existing communications. It is close on twenty-five years since he undertook this work in the wilds of Mato Grosso, personally as assistant and afterwards as chief, and he not only planned and studied these aerial lines, but traversed century-old forests, followed up in the courses of unknown rivers, exploring some and rectifying others, determining geographical positions and collecting abundant natural history material here to fore unknown. This arduous task can only be understood by those who have carried out such work in other regions, such as the boundaries commissions, equally dangerous and full of sacrifice. Hence the value we give it by our own experience. In the same way Rondon has rendered this patriotic service at the cost of his health, the risk of his life, and as a duty to his country. Of all these qualities, however, the one which most ennobles his name is the kindness which he initiated the service of the protection of the Indians, liberating them from the massacres of other tribes and even of civilized people in search of rubber, bringing them into the midst of civilization. This is his most meritorious work. For such deeds the geographical society of Rio de Janeiro in unveiling his portrait here will be proud of having same among those hung in the members gallery of the society. General Thaumaturgo's last words were received with prolonged cheers. At this point, Mr. Sebastian Sampaio, the official speaker of the society, recited the verses from Olavio Bilac's poem entitled Ocasidor Gies Maraldas, the Hunter of Emeralds. Behold, sir, it was a wild wander, says the poet, and it was a lost march. It was but a selfish dream that of this Hunter of Emeralds. Nevertheless, he has these verses to immortalize him. You never could have imagined the praise of this unique poet. The cherished symbol of our country could ever be yours. Bring meanwhile to the present era of civilization that company of pioneers substitute the wild wander and the lost march by the sure route which breaks through the wilderness just as your pencil designed a map. Change that selfishness, the delirium of the green stones into your unselfishness, into your earnest hope of causing the generous blood of life to circulate in all the arteries of our nation. Forget for a moment that we are referring to you and I can affirm that you will be possessed with the vision of this moment in which I am greeting you with Bilac's poem, dedicated to Fernan Gie Spies Alemi, who appears returning from the wilderness like the ancient heroes bring the wilds on their shoulders. You will therefore see that it's perfectly useless for me to attempt to honor you with my own phrases. They fall to your feet like the forest flowers which drop slowly across your way through the silent woods of dark nights, trying in vain to fathom the incomparable brilliancy of your glory. Our society was desirous of having your picture. It is therefore procured one in retribution of its enormous debt, not towards you who do not require words of praise, but to our mother country, proud as your work and of your merit. I would that the words of our illustrious chairman, who is also full of services to the nation, should have sufficed for the ceremony. But I must comply with the rules of my office and delay somewhat the anxiously awaited narrative of your deeds. Far from me to attempt to eulogize this Homeric enterprise of 25 years. To repeat in simple words the magnificent work which you have accomplished would be to diminish it. We are all aware of the height to which same attained. In history's altar has no steps for human aspirations. It is immortality that takes under her wings and carries the chosen souls. I prefer to admire you from below with the earnestness of all your admirers. Behold, all of us are the believers in the utility of your work. Your generation which you highly honor, my own generation which learns from your example. Your example as a youth, dreamer of a great dream. You are able to accomplish it at manhood. And by this you have taught us not only to esteem work, but to yearn for the ideal which is so wanting in our days. Materializing the present and threatening future. Your tenacity, the incomparable virtue of your tenacity. The constant fever which burnt in your mind through cold nights and that did not hamper your heroism. Exposing your life like the genial poet in the stormy waters of the Amazon. For the sake of your work, this other poem. The poem of your journey. The new guziadas of the new glories of our race. Your love. It was through this love that you substituted the soldiers of the old pioneers by brotherly affection. You have brought us with the unknown land and unknown brother. Thus redeeming a race which science had condemned in its cruel mistake that it was sufficient to think without feeling. Why mention your services rendered? Who is there that ignores that you have given us this huge tract of unknown Brazil which five heroes had previously attempted in vain to reach and which you have finally incorporated into the nation by its giants march from Mato Grosso to the Amazon. Why more words? You know the modest home of your studies and investigations. The geographical society where the bust of Heal Branco presides. The venerable statesman who gave us a new independence by erecting the defensive walls of the borders of the nation. You have completed the work of Heal Branco. You have discovered this unknown Brazil which he delimited. It was but natural that your picture should complete the external veneration in our humble temple. We have accomplished our duty. We are content. And our country who hails you gladly blesses you at this moment when we celebrate your glorious work. On terminating his speech, Mr. Sebastião Sampaio was received by the auditorium with loud and prolonged applause. First Lieutenant Severo dos Santos then delivered the following speech. Colonel Hondon, your comrades joyously associate in the just homage which you receive from the geographical society of Rio de Janeiro. The legitimate interpreter of the gratitude which the country owes to the fearless discoverer of the wilds of Brazil and to the humanitarian pacificator of our aborigines. And their pleasure in so doing is so much the greater in as much as these words of praise fall on a group of devoted comrades of the glorious fifth battalion of engineers of the Strategic Telegraph Lines Commission from Mato Grosso to the Amazon and of the service of the protection of Indians and localization of national laborers which under your direction work so patriotically. You have once again shown what services military engineering is apt to render in times of peace. For since the time of the Romans it develops industry that is to say the real and useful effort of mankind over its surroundings in view of the fact that your mission is rather of protecting human life than destroying it as was the wish of a Lazaro Carnot or a Vauban. And during this long campaign how many simple and obscure soldiers have silently fallen unknown to the outside world. How many comrades of ours have courageously sacrificed themselves to their work since that kind-hearted and noble first lieutenant Francisco Bueno Huerta Barbosa to the more recent one fallen yesterday wound it with many arrows that good and brave Francisco Marques de Sosa and whose diary brought up to the last days of his life we can read the narrative of the privations, hardships and suffering of his epic exploration of the River Ananas. Only the act of courage, the combative faith and the potential energy of a chief like you could bring about the amalgamation of such manly souls in the crucible of a similar devotion implanting in the hearts of the younger generation who followed you this intense passion for the unselfish and dangerous life of a forest traveler that attraction for the unknown, that same faith in a high ideal which after facing all sorts of setbacks has conquered and brought to a meritorious end the enterprise which we now honor and thank. Condemned to the primitive life of hunting and fishing descending the rivers and canoes made from the trunks of trees marching knee deep in the marshes and swamps or entangled in the vegetation what enormous courage and energy is it necessary for a man to show in order to avoid succumbing in the struggle against hostile elements there the marshes are conducted amidst the dangers of the flora and fauna now crossing ad dust plateau now forcing away across the hispid woods now again investigating the secrets of the treacherous waters closed to view by the labyrinth of the branches between banks permeated with malaria Pascal said that rivers are roads that travel but here in our complicated potomographic system a network of igapos and paranas of falls and rapids tombos and sumidurus the river is more like a dangerous serpent now winding and seriously between banks of mud and suddenly throwing itself into the treacherous revolution of the agitated waters and there is wrecked the capsized uba and the result of many months work instruments and provisions parsimoniously calculated for the rest of the voyage are lost then it is hunger that arise with its long despair and the sadness of gullet yin, corrupt and putrid meat the spice and sauce with which the valiant eat from the lusiatas thanks to your wise foresight along the track open for the main telegraph line notes were mapped with the new geographical and ethnographical corrections with regard to the habit and customs of our native tribes enriching our folklore and our knowledge with new information with regard to the flora the land and the aquatic fauna and also with regard to the geological structure of our soil the immortal journey across our hinterland from the Parasi Plateau to the marshlands of the Madeira will remain as if grooved in the surface of the earth which we inhabit wedged in between meridians and parallels which likewise mark out an immense region of suffering and heroism for this reason your name will be worthy in fame's memorials to remain from the Lusiatas as illustrious names with deathless laurels crowned while time rolls on in every climb renowned again from the Lusiatas nevertheless you did not enter into the midst of our forest with sword unsheathed holding in the other hand the lighted torch of Belona on the contrary you had before your eyes that gospel as it were of the woods described by the great Jose Bonifacio wherein it is said that we owe the Indians much kindness, constancy and endurance which we must show them as Christian usurpers which we actually are and that consequently we must not treat them with fire and sword but rather first know them and what they are and what by nature they must need be wild Indians and then find out the means of converting them into what it is our duty to see they should be at that time this great statesman who was the father of our national independence had foreseen that to attempt ex abrupto to transform an Indian into a civilized being was the same as to attempt by force to turn from one day to another a child into an adult thus violating all the laws of biology and sociology which govern the normal development of the human species already father Nobrega had declared that with music and harmonious voices he would venture to bring him all the tribes of America nevertheless even in our days these Indians found themselves outside the law which like an inhuman stepmother existed only for the purpose of delivering them up defenseless to the iniquity of their persecutors thus living like so many wild animals held at bay by the relentless hatred of the Indian hunters there was even a scientist who proclaimed that the only natural solution of the problem was the extermination of our poor forest brethren in the midst of such cruel injustice which dishonored our history it fell upon your great heart and your civic courage to have the glory of taking up the tradition of Jose Bonifacio saving from complete annihilation what remained of the unfortunate aborigines population bravely facing not only their unconscious arrows but also the still more poisoned arrows of the unemployed demolishers who trail their life at the corners of the Avenida blowing off their ridiculous and wanton criticism it is because in the midst of the stagnation caused by skepticism and discouragement occasioned by negative criticism by the exercise of pure talk of the most sterile then eloquence you speak the unknown language of action with the courage to undertake the prudence to continue and the firmness to carry out to the end your mission was not however that of theological catechism which endeavors to impose its faith on the Gentiles nor that of pseudo-scientific materialism which preaches the monstrous theory of modern anthropophagy according to which the strong and cultured may devour the weak and uncultured no, your mission was inspired by scientific faith based on the unchangeable laws of positive sociology which shows us the various people of the earth from the most primitive settlements or taba or to the most enlightened society as being fundamentally constituted of the same organic elements differing only in the respective degree of development this being the case what we have to do is not to exterminate the Indian in the same way as one does not exterminate a child one educates it and lets us lift him up to the level in which we live ourselves peacefully and humanely placing within his reach the improvements of which we may dispose let us therefore admire your daring efforts and serene courage the noble disinterestedness thanks to which whilst other nations supposed to be more enlightened were criminally hunting them down we could prove to the Indian the civilized people are superior to them not in the superiority of our firearms but in the greatness of our generosity and in the excellence of our altruism only those who see but the material and crude aspect of progress can to see themselves endeavouring to underrate the position which is due a nation in whose mist hatred against other races is unknown and that brought about the abolition of slavery amidst rejoicing and flowers still more therefore than the profile of the unraveler of the wilds what stands out most in our eyes above all are your service as the practical executor of the civilizing aspirations of Jose Bonifacio and your great heart as a friend and protector of the persecuted Indian whose lamentations ring out in the poem of Gonzales Gias Tempiras your work stretches out into the future to an enormous extent just as those sightings from our terrestrial telescope which is daringly thrown up to the stars your name has already crossed our frontiers proclaimed by such an eminent person as a Theodore Roosevelt in the centers of worldwide prestige gentlemen he who most loves his country is he who served it more let us therefore learn in the noble life of this Bayard in this courage of this clear of virgin for us in the intrepid action of this pioneer traveler of our interior let us learn from this character like a diamond without defects and the naked and clean blade of this energy of steel in the precious vein of this heart of gold how to serve unfailingly and disinterestedly the land of our birth our dear Brazil after this speech which was highly applauded by the assembly Colonel Hondon rose to say a few words Colonel Hondon rose from his seat at the right of the chairman of the society and ascended the Tribune the auditorium received the lecture with loud cheers which lasted for a few minutes then the illustrious Brazilian commenced his first lecture Colonel Hondon was interrupted at various intervals during the lecture by the applause of the audience amidst the loudest applause we may remember the projection on the screen of the pictures of the speaker with the Parasi children educated in the school instituted by Colonel Hondon among the tribe of those Indians and who are now living in the city completing their education later on they will return to the woods as telegraph operators Colonel Hondon's last words were received with great enthusiasm in proportion as Colonel Hondon proceeded with his lecture projections were thrown on to the screen under the following headings the president of the republic Dr. Lauro Mueller Colonel Roosevelt conmemoración de Floriano confluence of the Pimenta Bueno and the G. Paraná Lieutenant Jaguaribe captain Amelcar Botello a stretch of the mouth of the river Atha Chamacoco Indians Deck of the Riquielme the Bolivian Frontier Mark first side of the Corumbá chart of the route adopted on the way to the Fazenda Das Palmeiras marshland at the Fazenda Das Palmeiras cattle enclosures at the Fazenda Das Palmeiras cattle enclosures at the Fazenda Das Palmeiras the cattle of the Fazenda on the way to a hunt the first jaguar skin of the first jaguar the second jaguar of which Hondon shows the head thanks to the Paraguay swampy Pipirisol Carandazal Steamship Mato Grosso view of the Fazenda Jeesson João photograph of the setting out to a hunting expedition Roosevelt laying down reading stretch of the river Gahiva Bay camping at Porto do Campo setting out for a hunt at Porto do Campo the result of the hunt Porto do Campo departure for Taipira Poin arrival at Taipira Poin departure for Salto arrival at Salto breakfasting on a hide Aldeia Queimada entrance into the track of the telegraph line Hugh Sacre camping at the Sacre Salto Belo a Parasi village the interior of a Parasi hut a Parasi mother Parasi basket game of head ball breakfast at Salto Belo Utiariti village and station Utiariti waterfall group close to the Utiariti Falls Juruena Station group of Nambicaras a Nambicara mother presents for the Nambicaras a tree in the field Seja do Norci after a small interval the cinematographic films of the expedition divided into four parts completed the program of the entertainment the following is a list of the principal pictures taken in the wilds by Second Lieutenant Thomas Hayes the docket Buenos Aires Heel Paraná Rosario Assunción Brazilian Frontier with Paraguay the Carandá Palms Porto Morcinho Curumba expedition leaving for the first hunt on the river Tecari the river Tecari with its birds, waterfowl and caiman Colonel Roosevelt firing on a caiman Porto de Hechiro expedition leaving for a hunt on the Fazenda das Palmeiras at the Fazenda das Palmeiras Colonel Roosevelt presents the skin of the first jaguar Journey on the river São Lorenzo and hunting on the same river marshlands on the river Paraguay and the Gaiva Lake in Caceras afterwards Porto de Campo Campo Porto de Campo crossing the rivers on horseback a center of the river Cebutuba in launches falls of the Cebutuba arrival at the port of Taperapuá presentation of the members of the expedition Colonel Roosevelt Colonel Hondon and the other members of the committee animals for use of the members of the expedition on their voyage the determination of the coordinates of the port of Taperapuá by Colonel Hondon and Lieutenant Lyra preparing the expedition to climb the Parací mountain range the journey across the prairies of Taperapuá the port of Salto and the journey to Aldea Kemada section section one of the Roosevelt-Hondon scientific expedition and the telegraph line commission this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the Roosevelt-Hondon scientific expedition and the telegraph line commission Hondon translated by R.G. Reedy and Edwin Murray first lecture introduction some time ago friends of mine informed me that the Rio de Janeiro geographical society desiring to manifest a high degree in which they held the modest contribution brought by my work in the wild toward the development of the descriptive study of the lands and people of Brazil had resolved to bestow on me the distinguished order of having my picture hung amidst the select company of those of our compatriots who have most distinguished themselves by their services rendered to Brazil in this branch of human accomplishments this resolution was so out of proportion between the small value of the results directly attributable to the capacity of my own individual efforts and the magnitude of the distinction with which it was proposed to reward them that I had once felt at my duty to consider their decision and after weighing all the facts which I myself would submit to them come to a decision which more in accordance with the true nature of the facts would spare me the constraint of finding myself in the position of having to regret not accomplishing all that was expected of me rather than flatter myself with the praise of that which I had affected this reasoning which I intended to submit to the geographical society was in my opinion of itself so evidently convincing as to remove from this assembly all aspect of a festive or congratulatory solemnity were it not for the scarcity of time now at my disposal and the still greater failing in the poor means of expressing myself I would give you another reason which at the present moment holds my soul in mourning and my heart closed to all sentiment which has not the bitterness of the deepest pain an enormous succession of unpardonable errors because they were committed in our days when the doctrine of Auguste Comte is sufficiently propagated to render the sentiment of universal fraternity familiar to the most accomplished peoples of the west has resulted in hurling the leading nations of humanity against one another and has kept them from more than one year plunged in the floods of bloodshed which snatch off picked up pieces and submerged the most delicate and beautiful qualities of our civilization namely gentility to women to little children the aged and the sick and that sentiment of individual dignity which restrains one from committing violence against persons and things lest one should diminish in one's own eyes the esteem and respect which is due to one's self-respect immersed in the sea of anguish which flows from the heart of humanity the loving mother who sees her children tearing themselves to pieces with the assistance of the very resources which she had created and given to them prompted by the noble ambition facing them above the sorry solicinings of private animality I feel pained at the frailty of my strength which does not permit me to contribute toward the work of those who are using their efforts in the direction of mitigating the devastation of this horrible catastrophe other than in accompanying them with the expressions of my gratitude and in supplicating destiny to afford them the greatest facilities capable of enabling them to attain the object to which they have devoted themselves such weighty considerations, however could only prevail were it a question of doing or of suppressing acts which affected my person directly and exclusively but they could not be invoked in order to justify my non-compliance with any duties inherent to the exercise of the functions entrusted to me friends of mine to whom I explained the scruples which are pressed to me and the constraint which I felt in assisting at the special honor of the inauguration of my own portrait which they intended to hang in the gallery of a geographical society confirmed the objection which I had already made to myself that is, that all the attention evidently only seemed directed towards me individually, but that in reality it aimed further and embraced also the Telegraph Lines Commission which the Republican governments since a time of worthy President Pena have used as an instrument to render the nation the services which are known to all considered from this and sole point of view my presence at this meeting is more than justified it is necessary for I am doing nothing more at this moment than carrying out the duty of personally representing the commission of the Telegraph Lines to come and tell you Mr. President of the Geographical Society and your illustrious associates how gratifying it is for the members of the commission taking individually and conjointly to receive the support from the applause with which you reward the efforts which they far off in the wild of the country have used their best endeavors to develop with the only hope of contributing of the work which we inherited from the past and are preparing for the future to lift up our dear country to such a level as will enable it to give full expansion to its aspirations and to render to humanity the gifts which he has so lavishly spread around us as for me I must acknowledge that I rejoice at the circumstances with which destiny has entwined my life without referring to other sources of lasting happiness from which the most complete blessings flow which may have fallen on me in my mother's breast and without delaying in an infusion of renewed and daily increasing gratitude and my indebtedness to the religion of humanity which taking me by the hand conducts me with a firm step along the road of altruism which is day by day smoother, easier and more beautiful the only certain and true aim of the unsurpassable pleasures of the devotion of high ideals aspiring the ennobling works of human nature it is sufficient to record the facts that during the whole of my public career I have had the good fortune to see associated with my work as chiefs or assistants, citizens who honor the name of our nationality colleagues who dignify the class to which they belong and friends who raise friendship itself to its highest degree making us discover therein new charms hitherto undersurned under such conditions the greatest blessing which could be vouchsafed to me evidently would be that the ties existing between these chiefs assistants and myself should still become closer and closer and everlasting so that as long as a memory of any of us lasts, once invoked would immediately appear accompanied by the others the hanging of the portrait of the chief of the telegraph lines commission in the picture gallery of the geographical society of Rio de Janeiro satisfies at least in part the wish which I have just expressed because at any future time he who looks at this portrait will at once recollect that its object is to call to mind the remembrance of those of my distinguished assistants and friends whose vigorous cooperation resulted in the success of the enterprise initiated in 1907 which was to open up and hand over to civilization a huge territory in our country until that date in a wild and abandoned state you can therefore realize Mr. President of the Geographical Society the nature, the extension and the deepness of my gratitude for the kindness which you and your worthy co-associates have shown me and for which I confess myself eternally deeply indebted to all of you not only collectively but each one separately and individually to all of you I beg to tender the undying thanks of the members of the commission of the strategic telegraph lines from Matocrosso to the Amazon who promised to reciprocate the distinction which you deign to honor their modest but sincere past efforts with renewed and greater efforts in devoting themselves entirely to the love and to the work of augmenting the moral and material aggrandizement of our mother country and you my noble colleagues of the army what do you expect me to say to you to express even in the powered and awkward fashion that I have just done to the worthy geographical society a part at least of the emotion which I feel at seeing you here assembled to bring me not simple words of encouragement approval and applause but the most affectionate effusion of good and sound comradeship which burst forth grew and became more consolidated with the warmth of the communion of sentiments the resolutions and the thoughts which constantly unite us around the ideal of the republican aspirations of our country represented by the colors in the design and in the words of our beautiful and adored national flag you wished to take an active part in this assembly to signify to us that the campaign we have been for so long sustaining against the hardships and snares of the wilds has not broken the solidarity between you and your colleagues of the commission of the telegraph lines on the contrary it has strengthened it this unity of purpose never had any other origin or motive beyond the desire or I should say ambition of thoroughly understanding the sentiment and the sense of our duties to the nation which only aspires to become great by peaceful labor and international fraternity your manifestation is joyously accepted by your comrades of the telegraph lines who feel happy at seeing how completely you reciprocate the truly fraternal affection to you in their name and in my own I beg of you to accept a cordial shake hands and our best thanks for the comfort which you have brought us in accepting as yours and therefore is that of our class the work and efforts which we have accomplished in the wilds and on the boundaries of the country as obedient servants of our government and country end of section 1 recording by Todd section 2 on scientific expedition and the telegraph line commission this is a Librebox recording all Librebox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Librebox.org the Roosevelt Rodin scientific expedition and the telegraph line commission by Candido Rodin translated by R.G. Reedy and Edward Murray first lecture part one origin of the Roosevelt Rodin scientific expedition organization of the Brazilian commission choice of routes submitted to Mr. Roosevelt selection of the one relative to the Rio da Duvida overland journey of the chief of the Brazilian commission from Rio de Janeiro to the mouth of the River Apa the heads of the Brazilian and American commissions meet on board the Paraguayan Gunbo Riquelme of the Roosevelt Rondon commission on the 4th of October 1913 I arrived at the Barro del Magaco station having come from Barro de Bergus the extreme southern point of the telegraph lines from Mato Grosso to the Amazon which I had just inspected when I received from Dr. Laura Mula Ministry of Foreign Affairs a telegram inviting me to accompany the ex-president of the United States of America Colonel Theodore Roosevelt on a journey which he proposed to undertake through the interior of Brazil as far as Venezuela I replied accepting this honorable commission and on the same day left bound for the river Col Memoraco de Floriano which I descended making use of the means of transport created by the telegraph lines commission I entered the river Pimenta Boeno and afterwards the Guy Parana at the mouth of which I found the scout Sedada de Manuels which took me to the capital of the state of Amazonas considering the urgency which existed to provide for the organization of the indispensable elements for the journey of the expedition I immediately took steps which would be useful which ever might eventually be the final route chosen by the eminent American statesman to get out of the central Brazilian Corriere into the Amazon basin of all the routes which might be followed that which appeared to me preferable was one afforded by the courses of the river Arinos, Jornena Papagayo and Duvida for this reason I ordered canoes to be prepared on the banks of each of these four rivers at points of easy access for travelers who might penetrate into the highlands of the Partisus coming from the headwaters of the river Paraguay during my voyage to Manuels I received word that Colonel Roosevelt's project was to enter the river Amazon by the Tapojas and into this river by the Arinos but evidently this course could not offer anything new to an expedition whose object was to unravel the unknown aspects of our wilds. I decided therefore to submit to the appreciation of our illustrious guest other routes which could with more advantage be taken by his party and I therefore telegraphed from Manos to Rio de Janeiro to the chief of the drawing section of the telegraph commission First Lieutenant Jageriba de Matos to show him at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the geographical charts drawn in our technical office with the data supplied by our explorations suggesting the following routes A. From south Luiz to Caqueres or from Coava along the telegraph lines commissioned road as far as the Bararro de Magalco station and there to embark on barges to descend the rivers Coma Miracle de Florino, Guiparana and the Mandira B. Follow the same route as far as Jose Bonifacio station one station before Barro de Magalco and then gaining the Paso de Lina on the Duvida to descend and explore this river which would probably take the party to Mandira C. Reach the Tapajós by descending the Giorroena and not to the Ardenos which latter route has been known for a century so much so that it has served as a trading route for some time between Para and Mato Grosso D. From south Luiz to Caqueres pass to the valley of Guapore and from the city of Mato Grosso to descend this river and the Mamore in a launch as far as the falls of Guajira Mirum here to take the Madira Mamore railway to get to the city of Santa Antonio Tomadira E. Finally by the telegraph line road to reach the river Papagueo at Utiatoriti station and by this river and to the Tapajós of these five alternatives the one which offered the greatest unforeseen difficulties was that relative to the river Duvida this was the one chosen by Mr. Roosevelt During my voyage from Manuos to Rio de Janeiro where I arrived on the 11th of November I organized the staff of the Brazilian commission and picked out the professional men who might be entrusted for the greatest benefit of the nation with the services of astronomy determination of the geographical coordinates topography, botany zoology and geology besides those relative to general administration of these devoted assistants those who were in Rio de Janeiro left in party successively from the 22nd of November to the 5th of December for Montevidero in order to ascend the river Paraguay and from there make for Carumba and other points where they were to await the arrival of the expedition and organize the services entrusted to them as for myself obligated to remain in Rio de Janeiro to attend to the requirements of the indispensable equipment necessary to the success of the commission which was confided to me I would follow on by land as late as possible but still in time to descend the Paraguay and await the entry of Mr. Roosevelt into Brazilian territory to accompany me on this journey I retained Captain Milcar de Maga Helis and Dr. Isibio de Oluveria the former of my assistant and the latter, the geologist of the expedition all baggage was sent on by water via Montevideo on the 28th of November the Ministry of Foreign Affairs communicated to me that Mr. Roosevelt would believe Buenos Aires for a sonción on the 4th or 5th of December and three days afterwards would continue to ascend the river Paraguay making for Carumba on receipt of this advice I left Rio de Janeiro for Sao Paulo by the night train on the 2nd of December having previously taken the necessary precautions to enable us to travel without interruption on the following railways central of Brazil Soracabana Noroeste and Itupura to Carumba on the evening of the 5th we arrived at the end of the line of the Itupura Carumba Railway the construction of which went a little beyond Rio Verde and even so, a few kilometers of this line were not yet consolidated and could only be used for ballast train here we organized our march on horseback to reach the end of the line which was being constructed from Porto Esperanca to Itupura we thus traveled 168 kilometers as far as Campo Grande where we arrived at 6am on the 9th 3 hours later we left Campo Grande in a special train which took us to Porto Esperanca situated 2248 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro and where we alighted at 11pm we immediately embarked on the steamer Nioak belonging to the Lloyd Brasiliero which by order of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs awaited us under steam before dawn on the morning of the 10th we were under way a little before 1 o'clock afternoon of the 11th we anchored in front of the mouth of the river Appa where we were to await the arrival of Mr. Roosevelt and his party from the point where we lay at anchor the river Paraguay extends its course downstream in one long straight line forming one of those stretches which, in the picturesque language of the dwellers on river banks is called Estararo we knew that the American expedition had left Asuncion on the 8th on board the Patergrinian gunboat therefore, barring accidents on the two shallows which hamper navigation on this river a little before and above the city of Concepcion it could now not be long before the anxiously awaited moment of sighting our future guests would arrive in this expectation we gazed in the direction whence they should come full of anxiety to catch sight of some spoke or other sign which would predict the meeting of the Paraguayan boat to us at the end of two hours we discerned the outline of a steamer coming up at full speed to make the last arrangements for the reception which we thought would presently take place on the deck of the Nioak already in white uniform which had been chosen for this occasion we did not lose sight of the small vessel which, like a new Proteus, constantly appeared to us to be changing its shape sometimes confirming our hopes sometimes dissuading us at last we ascertained that this was not the long-desired Reclielme but a tug carrying Chamococo Indians who were going to some industrial establishment next to the river Paraguay and were there to continue their sad and laborious life semi-enslave to some company of strangers who had converted their free forests into an unhomely, hard and un-filling country in this way we passed the day and the night of the 11th of December on the following morning we were at our post scanning the horizon towards the Soncian the hour slipped away slowly until 10 o'clock and were running on their fatal march when we were suddenly delighted to see a ship we soon distinguished its flag at the stern mast head and at the same we saw that it was the Paraguayan gunboat at 11.30 am the Reclielme was alongside the Noioac and from its quarter-deck Mr. Roosevelt corresponded to our waving in anticipation of the greetings which we were about to bring to him on board together with the offers of cordial hospitality which the government of my country had entrusted me to make the Paraguayan anchor had hardly grappled the bottom of the river and my assistance and I made for the ship on whose deck was to take place the ceremony of the introductions between a statesman accustomed to the usages of European diplomacy and the man who for almost 25 years had lived in the wilderness frequenting the ministries of the Boraro, Parici and the Namba Quarera Indians perfecting himself in the etiquette of their respective courts with all I was not tormented with nervousness at the outset because the mass of exterior circumstances in which we have to act support and help us to find the necessary gestures adequate to the moment which we traverse and if, when we greet in the Boraro fashion we are immediately prepared for the sharp odor of naked bodies painted with oruchum in compensation when we exchange amiabilities in the language of Cornille and Moliéa we are insensibly drawn to gentleness and refinement and without any effort the charming manners which are peculiar to the life of our drawing rooms come back to us on the deck of the Paraguayan warship greeting Mr. Roosevelt in the name of the Brazilian government repeating to him the offer of our hospitality and introducing to him the members of the Brazilian commission who from that moment remained at his orders Mr. Roosevelt replied to our words not only with the distinction characteristic of his great intellect and high culture but also with the affability of a true friend of our country and its people it was the intention of the Brazilian government that we should take the American commission on board the Nioak there at the mouth of the river Apa but when we alluded to this part of our program we saw that the Paraguayan officers would be very disappointed if they were deprived of the honor of taking the ex-president of the United States of America to Caramba as we all of us had the same object in view which was to render homage to our guest I gave away to the Paraguayans and was glad that destiny had been so benevolent as to allow me the privilege on the first occasion that I found myself in an official capacity in that country of expressing my sentiments of fraternity to the most genuinely American nation of all those who have formed themselves in these lands of Columbus having settled this point a little after midday the requiel may continue to ascend the river in the direction of Brazil and the Nioak followed her closely as an escort we journeyed in this way until two o'clock in the afternoon when both ships stopped in order that Mr. Roosevelt might come on board the Nioak to return the visit we had made to him besides the courtesies which were exchanged between Brazilians and Americans it was also agreed that Mr. Roosevelt on the day following his arrival at Caramba would leave for the Vazenda das Palmeiros on the river Tancuari where he would have his first Jaguar shooting from this ranch he would go on to the one called Farime for the same purpose namely killing Jaguars from Farime he would return to Caramba to enter the river Cuyaba at the point where the Facenzo de Saljao is situated and in which the President of the State of Mato Grosso Dr. Costa Marquez was awaiting him and would also offer our guest Jaguar Pecari and Tepar Hunt besides a roundup, Rotiero of 6,000 head of cattle on the open plains he would return afterwards to the river Paraguay to take the San Luis de Saqueres route visiting on the way the Fazenda de Descavado from Sao Luis de Caqueres to continue the journey on the next day to Tepeira Polan on the road to Tepeira Polan he might do some shooting on the Fazenda Barranco at the Porta de Campo and at the farm called Palmito finally from Tepeira Polan he would journey on horseback across the Parici Plateau as far as the river Duvida which he and I and a part of the two commissions would descend in a canoe and embark, directing themselves towards the Madeira and Manaus at which place all should finally meet we arrived at Porto Mutan Hall where we dropped anchor and went on board the Patakwinian gunboat to take part in a dinner offered by Mr. Roosevelt to the Brazilian commission on the following day we gave a breakfast on board the Nayoc in honor of the officers of the Recuilme on the 14th we were opposites at the legendary Fort of Coimbra Mr. Roosevelt did not visit this fort neither did he see the famous Gruta de Inferno Grato of Hell because he considered that the time which he had at his disposal to absent himself from his country was almost insufficient to carry out the program previously laid out at 2 o'clock in the afternoon we had passed a Bolivian frontier mark on the right bank of the river Paraguay and only 24 hours afterwards did we sight the city of Caramba in which port the Recuilme entered escorted by a large number of small craft full of ladies and gentlemen who had come to greet our honored guest while still on board the Recuilme Mr. Roosevelt received the compliments of the commander of the Brazilian fleet of warships on the river Paraguay represented by a first lieutenant of our navy and onshore he was received by the commander and officers of the 13th military district the municipal council the federal and state authorities and by the whole population of the city who were most enthusiastic in manifesting their delight having the eminent American statesmen amongst them End of Section 2 Recording by Todd Section 3 of the Roosevelt-Rundin Scientific Expedition and the Telegraph Line Commission this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recorded by Cody Spain of Dallas, Texas www.codyspain.com the Roosevelt-Rundin Scientific Expedition and the Telegraph Line Commission by Candido Rundin translated by R.G. Reidy and Edwin Murray first lecture part 2 on the morning of the 16th the Brazilian commission gave a farewell breakfast to the officers of the Paraguayan Gumboat in which Mr. Roosevelt and the members of the American commission participated the toast of honor was raised to the Paraguayan Republic which, one again in common brotherhood took such brilliant part in the honors bestowed upon the statesmen who of all brothers in present day represents the policy of American fraternity that day we remained in Corumba verifying the baggage of the American commission and examining the convenient propriety of certain articles which they had intended to be used in the wilds but on the following morning having presented myself to Mr. Roosevelt ready to embark whenever he wished we took the Noiac and left for the Terrigue a river which enters the river Paraguay by various branches one of which is called Rio Sino it is on this branch that the landing stage of the Ferenza des Pelamarres is and we directed our course to it but before arriving there at 5.30 p.m. we sighted a giant ant eater Terramuda Bandira which with its clumsy gate and small jumps was wandering in the camp this was one of the specimens of Arfwana which Mr. Roosevelt desired to obtain for the zoological collection of the natural history museum of New York I ordered the ships to stop and we jumped on shore the dogs running ahead to the flight of Curious quadruped Kermit Dr. Soledad and I completed the circle and Mr. Roosevelt fired his Springfield gun the type used in the North American army of great precision and admirable penetration the beast dropped and we delighted by this fortune commencement of our guest hunting expedition congratulated him he thanked us with great satisfaction which was fully justified moreover by the beauty of the specimen with which he had just acquired really worthy of providing a skin which we'll recommend to the admiring New Yorkers the entire race of South American ant eaters and even tied the noyak hauled up alongside the port of Rio Chanel and on the next day Mr. Roosevelt left for the Fanzita del Pelamaris whilst Captain Amaclar and I remained behind as we were engaged in surveying the road across the marsh on the same day I prepared everything necessary to start the Jaguar hunts on the following morning and in order to eliminate the possibility of any personal accident I adopted all the steps indicated by the experience of experts in this dangerous sport to those who are not acquainted with the American feline except by name or having seen him in a sleepy mood or in a cage or still more inoffensive in some museum with large staring glass eyes wide open jaws showing his great teeth with many people would willingly pull out and have mounted in gold as unequivocal trophy as some wonderful adventure I would say that the Jaguars are classified in three large groups the Cercuñas is the spotted Jaguar and the black Jaguar the species of the first class are sometimes called Pumas or Lions probably in order not to deny the rule that suggestive names are generally in contradiction to the character of the individual to whom they're applied these are the most common in accordance with the latitude of the region in which they are found present day a variety of coloration from dark red they fade to yellow when inhabiting the prairies of the south and towards the northern side of the Amazon district they carry a black line the whole length of their back and a few stripes of the same color the spotted group is sometimes divided into three varieties with one wide patch on a whitish space and another large black patch on a reddish base and the third with small black spots on a red base lighter in color than the proceeding one and smaller the last two are called Kerninkwats and these are distinguished one from another by adding to the common name the Indian adjective Asiya which means the bigger in the marshes of the river Paraguay as far as the Poya forest the spotted Jaguars of the first and second varieties are to be found those of the third variety live in the Amazon in the high wilds of the central mountain and in the plain alto of the Marquean range where they're scarce the group of black Jaguars exist attached to that of the spotted division their bodies show patches of chocolate or coffee color on a black base although the name of the tiger is commonly given to this group it's not however the most ferocious or the most audacious these qualities pertain by right Paraguayan Asu an animal with enormous head large paws powerful claws thick forelegs the thighs of an athlete and the size and weight equal to an African lion in the opinion of Mr. Roosevelt the hunt of this feline beast presents in certain cases serious danger if at the moment in which the dogs find him and chase him he has a full stomach satisfied his natural ferocity on the flesh of some victim previously slain it is common to see him climb up the first tree he meets and remain there on the branches quietly observing the surroundings from his refuge quite indifferent to the onslaught of the pack of hounds and even the approximation of the hunter on these occasions bringing him down is quite simple and a safe operation without any risk but the hunter comes upon the Karaguiku when he is prowling about things take a different turn it is the hunter that keeps him on the move and the hungry feline is an irritated beast crafty and audacious he faces the hounds with aggressive resolution and if any one of them more daring or less experienced does not know how to keep him at a convenient distance with one soul blow from his mighty paw the dog is thrown into the air falls far off with his broken bones bleeding and almost dead it is not necessary to be a nimrod to know the hunter as soon as he ascertains from the barking of his pack of hounds that the beast is at bay runs to the place where it is endeavoring to arrive in time to avoid the loss of one of his dogs when the jaguar comes face to face with the hunter and bothers about the dogs he fixes his attention on the principal enemy studying the best means to master him now one must be calm and steady and have firm sighting and determination one's legs must not be called upon at these moments to do more than to supply the strength necessary to sustain a still body without trembling so as not to compromise the precision and even if we did merit the epithet of the velocipedes like Homer's great hero running would be of no avail for we must either kill or be killed meanwhile the hunter must not hurry to fire it would be extremely dangerous to Mrs. Mark he must endeavor to find the best position in the opportune moment to mortally wound the animal at the first shot it is however necessary to be wide awake if the beast commences to wag its tail there is no time to be lost either a sure shot brings him down or he springs at the hunter as quick as a dart and with a powerful bound throws itself on its prey and at the last bound standing erect on its hind legs the jaguar is close up to its victim subjugates him by the shoulders with his powerful claws crushes his skull Jaguar hunting is not devoid of danger for a man alone armed with a rifle for this reason in Mato Grosso experienced hunters are accompanied by a man they call Azagario a name derived from Azagaria having its base a cross piece so that the steel blade which is reasonably long can only penetrate up to the same in the body of the beast the Azazario remains behind the hunter but if some motive or other the jaguar should attack his duty is to pass quickly and resolutely right in front of the hunter attracting him on to himself the attention of the animal with the Azizia in the rest firm and without attempting to make thrust which would most certainly be paired by a stroke of the beast Paul he waits until the jaguar and legs and throwing its body toward for the fatal grasp springs on the steel which is presented to him thus the feline aggressor blind with fury beside being wounded remains at a distance which renders it unable to use its claws because the cross piece of the spear impedes the shaft from running through its flesh at that point the wound giving the man certainty of having his weapon free and disengaged for a new attack the beast falls but still full of vigor returns to the attack with renewed impetus again it would be wounded and again it insist in the struggle until the hunter finds a favorite occasion to bring him down with a shot it will thus be seen from the above description that the function of the Azazario is not to kill but simply protect the hunter during the time in which he is obligated to keep his gun in his hand and an insert weapon which he is momentarily unable to use nevertheless either as a pastime or out of bravado there are men who go jaguar hunting armed only with Azazia spear obliging these beast to show fight they even succeed in killing them such a feat has a great deal of daring about it and in this fact resides the charm found by those who use these methods it is true that even when two hunters cooperate with one another serious accidents still happen I will relate one which took place some time ago in the very region where Mr. Roosevelt was about to hunt one day a cattle-breeder named Kikairo Rondon noticed that cattle in the fields were being worried, chased and decimated by a jaguar he therefore sent his hunters in search of its trail with instructions to follow it up discover and kill the beast in order to do this two men left accompanied by the necessary pack of hounds one of these was a Kabliko native, armed with a shotgun and another Gikuru, Indian an expert, Agassaro the dogs easily discovered the trail of the carnivious animal which was soon afterwards brought to bay in the midst of a clump of trees it was a Kaguru which was protecting its offspring like a couple of cubs which had taken refuge in a thick cluster of undergrowth the men made from this spot and whilst they were endeavoring to sight him behold, suddenly they saw him rising in the midst of the jungle with some fury and swiftness that the Gakruyan Indian had no time to make use but at that moment in which the jaguar raising on its hind legs was about to lay hold of the poor Indian by his shoulder he seized its powerful paws with a Herculean effort held the beast in an uplifted position the brute infuriated struggled desperately and with the claws of his feet torn to pieces the flesh from the thighs and from the legs the Kabikolo, his companion terrified at such a sight had not the courage to assist him far off he heard the Agaziro shout to him that there was nothing to fear as he had the jaguar held finally, as the struggle was lasting a long time, the Kabikolo got up courage getting closer up he fired his gun the grains of the shot struck his face and perhaps even the eye of the beast it made one supreme effort and succeeded in releasing itself from the hold of the Indian and fled into the woods in the thickness of which it disappeared the hero of this wild struggle was carried to the ranch where he arrived in an almost dying condition but after a long treatment he succeeded in recovering it was now easy to understand what steps had to be adopted to avoid the unpleasantness of having to lament an accident in the course of Mr. Roosevelt's Jaguar Hunts having got everything together we left the jungle on the early morning of the 19th of December the party was composed of Mr. Roosevelt his son Kermit two Agaziros and myself it was not convenient that the party should be larger for too many people only served to scare the game we of course took with us a good pack of hounds that I knew of in Maro Grasso which I had expressly brought together for this purpose getting them from places of far off however on this day we found nothing else than a female Tamindo ant eater which was brought down by Mr. Kermit Roosevelt in order to avoid useless tramps I sent one of the Agaziros on the next day to beat the jungle called Miguel Henrique and see whether he could find recent signs of the presence of Jaguars the man returned with the news that he had discovered a trail of the previous night which revealed the passage of a couple of these felines into clumps of wood where they had taken refuge we left a daybreak of the 21st of the spot and a little after 6 a.m. we discovered the first Jaguar a splendid specimen of the ferocious Kangaroo class which was brought down by a sure shot from Mr. Roosevelt's Springfield on the next day we took the route to the Terrague Vallejo and discovered the second Jaguar which was killed by Mr. Kermit with a shot from his Winchester the land of the Fanzinda des Palameras comprise three kinds of camps the first are plain and completely open on the banks of the river Paraguay and Tacuay whose waters overflow and cover them from the beginning of the floods the second are less low but swampy with clumps and belts of wood and therein which the brushes called Pipria of the Caprias family are abundant and finally the firm land on the heights never reached by the floods which would serve as the last refuge for the cattle during the flooding of the marshes these are so called Carindesias named after the Carindesia one of the most beautiful palm trees of our forest such a variety of lands make it possible for the different representatives of which Brazilian Juana to live there almost in common for this reason the few days we remained on the ranch all the hunting parties in which the two commissions had been subdivided were able to get specimens of birds quadrupeds and quadremains which in other regions live quite apart from one another according to the habits of the species whether be by water prairie or forest animal the skins of all the animals killed were carefully prepared by the American and Brazilian experts to be afterwards handed over to the museum of New York and Rio de Janeiro this was in fact the real object of the journey undertaken by Mr. Roosevelt being passionately fond on the study of natural history he'd come to Brazil moved only in the year of adding to the zoological collection of the principal museum of his country the specimens which were missing and of those that were most interesting in supplying were those relative to our jaguar ant eater cabera, tapir, and peccary end of section 3 recorded by Cody Spain of Dallas, Texas www.codyspain.com section 4 of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition and the Telegraph Line Commission this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recorded by Cody Spain of Dallas, Texas www.codyspain.com the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition and the Telegraph Line Commission by Candido Rondon translated by R.G. Reidy and Edwin Murray first lecture part 3 having now obtained a couple of canguins and specimens of ant eaters and capybrias Mr. Roosevelt declared that he was perfectly satisfied on this score there was no necessity to go to the Farim Fazzata where jaguars failed these hunts only interested him as a means of furnishing the necessary elements for the divuladation of useful knowledge and not for the purpose of revealing his abilities as a marksman or of running extraordinary adventures capable of oblonging an admiring world to proclaim him as the champion shot or the prime interperis of risk killers of wild beasts besides the political situation created in the United States owing to the developments in connection with the intervention in Mexico filled his mind with constant preoccupation the duties and the responsibilities which pertained to him as a statesman and the herd of a political party were ever before him not only because he felt them nearly and knew them well but also because he was increasingly receiving from his country appeals from his party complaining of his absence at the moment so full of danger in the life of the nation therefore this best effort was directed towards hastening the completion of the enterprise commenced in Brazil so as to be able to return with the shortest possible delay to New York and in order to attain this result he did not hesitate from the moment he arrived in Brazil up to his departure to sacrifice all the appeared to him to be practically indispensable to the nature and the great outlines of the expedition consequently on the evening of the 23rd the Noiacs steamed out from the landing place of the Fizinda de Palomaris taking on board our guest and all his party proceeding to the Vizes de Ceo Jairo where he would be met by the president of the state of Madogrosso on the morning of the 27th we began ascending the river Cabaia it was important however that we should not arrive before there was good light for taking photographs the ship therefore anchored at 8 p.m. in front of Armacío a name which recalls the work done by the original inhabitants of the region in their task of enlarging and at the cost of the swamps and marshes the area of the firms firm land or cumes high lands which in as much as they remain dry the rivers overflowed and spread the waters along this vast expedition of camp afforded the only points where it was possible for the inhabitants of the submerged territory to escape alive at the dawn of the 28th we continued to ascend the river Cabaia who we sighted on the left an Indian village of the Goteos tribe Eternal Canuman sighted by Cato de Maguillas before nine o'clock we saw the boat Matteo Grasso followed by the launch having onboard the president of the state and his followers who were desirous of anticipating their greeting and courteous attentions with which they had planned to welcome Brazil's honored guests still on the same day, Miseres Roosevelt and Costa Manrique accompanied me on a small hunting excursion on the day of the 29th or December the rain was so copious that it was possible to get any results from hunting or to attend the Redeo round up of the cattle in which we were to take part, 6,000 head, rounded up and assembled by mounted cowboys Miseres Roosevelt noted his desire to descend the river Cabaia without further delay but this was only made possible on the morning of the 30th even so we all stopped at several points on the banks of the South Lucrea which appeared to us to be a suitable for obtaining the zoological specimens common to the marshlands on the 1st of January while ascending the river we decided to make another beat for Jaguars we left the dogs loose on the left bank while the hunters continued downstream in the Chileans a kind of barge shortly before 7 o'clock the Oncures, Jaguar dogs showed signs that they had encountered a trail we leaped on the shore and entered the jungle through the swamps towards the point once the barking came as we advanced fresh difficulties arose hindering our marsh now we had to free ourselves from the insidious firmness of immense quagmires formidable enemies that conquer by giving way then we were obliged to wade in the extensive marshes in inextricable jungle through which we could only force our way by the weight of our own bodies although our feet were entangled at every step in the network of cane stalks already bent down and trodden over then again there were the caroxas depressions of the ground along which in the beginning of the summer the last waters of the floods run out and return to the beds of the river the floods however announced themselves by invading them and we found them like so many large rivers which we were forced to swim across holding up our guns at arm's length to avoid them getting wet the sun was already high up in the sky the heat worried us not one of our party however thought of giving up the hope of meeting two jaguars which we could see their trail were ahead of us closely followed by the dogs interning themselves more and more in the vastness of the swamps they were evidently some very sly beast which on one or more occasion had been chased by the hunters of the neighboring ranches and had become more and more wily they fled without showing fight we were without breakfast and two of our companions both Brazilians felt their strength giving way Mr. Roosevelt however and his son maintained their vigor admirably and resisted the fatigue of the hard marsh at midday we arrived at the margin of a big corica Mr. Roosevelt proposed Mr. Roosevelt to stop there whilst his son with the two jaguars followed up the hunt having accepted this alternative we remained waiting for the Kermit nearly two hours and then we decided to return to the river coming out farther above the point where we had disembarked in the morning I'd previously sent one of the men and the captain of the noyak to ask him to send the launch up to the spot by a much shorter road than the one we had gone over during the chase Mr. Roosevelt and I succeeded in getting on board the steamer at five o'clock but our two companions remained behind extenuated waiting for existence and food which we sent them from the ship finally in the evening the whole party returned to the noyak including Mr. Kermit who informed us that it had been impossible to sight the jaguars while they were being worn out had lost all courage and would not continue the chase we emphasized this incident in order to take the opportunity to refer to the physical resistance and endurance with which Mr. Roosevelt is gifted and which he, during the course of the expedition gave proof so much vigor in a man of more than fifty years of age accustomed to city life and sedentary work surprised us more extraordinary because in the midst of the fatigues and the great inconveniences of these long journeys on foot, on horseback or in canoes sometimes under heavy rainstorms and other times under unbearable heat he never once interrupted his intellectual practices he showed himself to be extremely fond of reading for this purpose an essential part of his baggage was made up of many cases containing a large number of books published some on politics, others on social questions and the remainder on natural history a volume of one of these works he always had with him he scarcely arrived at a resting place or a momentary halt when he wouldn't cover the ground with a hide, throw himself onto it and recommence his studies as if no other thing in the world preoccupied him except to find an opportunity of continuing his interrupted hobby after the hard and fruitless journey of the first of January we descended into the Sal Acreo and got into the river Paraguay again directing our course upstream towards south louis de Cares at this period of the year the marsh is invaded by the waters which extend inland out of sight winding between the hills covered with verger looks like an immense lake with a smooth, quiet surface into which we reflected the beautiful palm trees known as Caritas and the Eucharist with their graceful trunks towering towards heaven the life of the delated region concentrates itself in these enchanting refuge emerging from the midst of the great flood in the dense of its woods the famished jaguars prowl roaring and goaded on by its sexual instinct which makes it more than fearless whilst the grotesque boqueo, monkey jumps about on its branches of the trees and the black flock of bogeatos in contrast with their Eucharist with their pure white feathers keep him company daybreak tingling the skies, the land and its extensive sheet of water with myriads of changing hues casting in some places deep shadows and in others replant, sendent, brilliancy tingling the milky whiteness of a cloud with a border of burning cinder red inlaying the gold the emerald colors waves of the foliage all the charms our imagination and throws us beyond the circle in which we're enclosed by the ordinary flow of our thoughts and reflections Mr. Roosevelt went into the raptures at this marvelous sight and declared that never in his life had he experienced similar emotion which he had felt whilst gazing at our country's pictures of nature. On the afternoon of the 4th of January we anchored at the landing-place of the Fizita de de la Esquil now the property of Mr. Foquar who had acquired it from the Belgian syndicate called Probitos Caliras more or less two years ago its first owner formed this property with his assistance of the Barrio Indians of Camfia who had acquired more than 200 square leagues that existed at the same time about 600,000 head of cattle some of which it reported were driven to this property from the national cattle farm of Casira besides stealing government's cattle has become a lucrative and above all easy profession of Brazilians and even of Bolivians to steal a few head of cattle from private farms was difficult because in this case it was qualified as robbery and whoever committed the same was called a thief and treated as such at the death of its rich owner his heirs sold the Devado property for a mere song to the firm of Cabeus and Company in the Argentinian Republic and the latter firm resold it to the aforesaid syndicate of which King Leopold was a member the Belgians explored the cattle of this enormous property by a period of 30 years including some as they came in the Rodeo without either method or selection the new owners intended continuing the extract of meat industry which was carried on by the Belgians but for the present day they are simply attending to the renewal and the increase of their stock there Mr. Roosevelt was hardly welcomed by his countrymen the manager of the establishment a cowboy from Texas being in charge of superintending Leons who were almost entirely Paraguayans the best cowboys were introduced to him personally and he chatted with them regarding the duties of their profession taking up his journeys again we arrived on the afternoon of the fifth at the town of St. Louis de Keras where the population together with the officers of the fifth battalion of engineers welcomed our guests with usual honors from there we proceeded on the following morning and continued our ascent of the river Paraguay making for Porto de Campo on the river Septuya where we arrived after three o'clock p.m. on the 7th of January the Noyak could proceed no further we therefore landed and for the time pitched our tents forming a camp for almost all the members of the expedition we remained in the camp until the 13th not only in order to give launch called Angio de Ventura which belonged to Casadelus of Carias time to affect the transportation of all the baggage and of part of the soldiers from Porto de Campo to Teleprion but also for the purpose of completing the collection of large mammals with which Mr. Roosevelt was making in the various hunting expeditions which we undertook in the course of those days we killed several deer precarious to pierce and monkeys this is the end of section 4 recorded by Cody Spain of Dallas, Texas www.codyspain.com section 5 of the Roosevelt Rondon Scientific Expedition and the Telegraph Line Commission this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Rita Butros the Roosevelt Rondon Scientific Expedition and the Telegraph Line Commission by Candido Mariana da Silva Rondon translation by Richard George Reedy and Edwin Douglas Murray first lecture part 4 finally we broke camp on the 13th and proceeded on to Tapira Poen near the Sepotuba which was opened in 1908 by the Telegraph Line Commission for the purpose of providing the necessary facilities for the supplies required for their work in the Chapadeo dos Parises Parisi Highlands to a point far beyond the river Juroena and the Cera do Norte we arrived at that place shortly before noon on the 16th of January and the attendants laid their hands immediately to the preparation of the baggage and pack mules which were to follow with the expedition into the forest wilds it became necessary to subdivide the baggage of several of the cases belonging to the American Commission in order to pack it in volumes of a weight more in proportion with the strength which can be expected of animals about to travel more than 600 kilometers to a very poor pasture land I had managed to bring together at Tapira Poen for the purposes of transportation 110 pack mules and 70 pack oxen the organization and expedition of the various lots of this baggage train with a cargo of 360 large packages besides many other smaller ones took 5 days of incessant toil meanwhile the naturalists were increasing their zoological collections by the acquisition of fresh specimens some of which were obtained by Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Kermit themselves certain measures counseled by the opportunity arising from the actual circumstances were also adopted in view of accelerating the march of the expedition according to the expressed wish of Mr. Roosevelt we formed parties which were to advance separately across the wilderness until they met again at the station called José Bonifacio the first of these which was under the lead of the ex-president of the united states assisted by myself was to proceed along the road constructed for assuring the supplies of the telegraph lines commission and to pass by UTRD the other directed by my assistant captain Amalcar de Magalhaze would take a more direct course by the headwaters of the river Verde, Sacre, Papaguejo, Burti and Sayuina in order to arrive at the Juruená in time to proceed thence forward at least 24 hours in advance of the first party in this way Mr. Roosevelt would not undergo the disappointment of having his march hampered by some drawback on the road in as much as it would already have been removed by Captain Amalcar who had undertaken to repair and render the bridges and crossings passable finally at one o'clock in the afternoon on the 21st of January the order was given and we of the first party of the expedition mounted and left for Tapira Poen directing our course towards a place called Salto still on the river Seputuba we arrived there at 4 p.m. after traveling 27 kilometers to our camp and enjoyed the first sensations of the wandering and uncertain life of forest travelers so toilsome and full of unforeseen impediments so exacting of prompt and energetic initiative so incompatible with lack of determination and courage and so much opposed to comfort calmness and the regularity of our civilized life which must pass and run placidly and comfortably protected against realities in order to be able to spring out in the exuberant and beautiful fluorescence of poetry, science and industry nevertheless we used our best endeavors to secure for our guest special comfort never however before seen here or on similar occasions I had included two camp chairs among the packages of our urgency baggage for the personal use of our guest and father Zom when he discovered this Mr. Roosevelt positively declared to me that as long as he was in the wilderness he would accept nothing and do nothing that might have an appearance of special attention to his person and consequently just as he saw me sit so would he sit himself I had to give in in as much as I was loathed to deprive myself of the pleasure of seeing my ingenuity carried out and consequently I increased the chairs to three for this reason when we were at our meals hurriedly arranged by our cook who was full of good intentions but insensible to the glories and to the remorse of a vatel we had our dishes displayed on two raw hides which covered the ground on a level with our feet around the hides the remaining guests squatted in the Yido and Tokyo fashion some with a certain amount of elegance and others very clumsy posture but they honored our table with that joviality which can only be prepared by the exercise of long marches in the open breathing the fresh and oxygenated air of the virgin forest and drinking from the running waters of the rivers that flow under the foliage of secular trees from our camp at Salto we proceeded the following morning on our march into the forest on the 23rd we passed through Aldea que Mada where I received a petition for the discharge of Dr. Fernando Soledad Lieutenant Luis Thomas Ries and the botanist Honi members of the Brazilian commission who came with the party under my devoted and most diligent assistant Captain Amalcar de Magalhes I granted these discharges two days later we camped at the head of the river Mandioka the name which was given to it by the first rubber tappers from the river Sacre to recall to people's minds that there they had found the Mandioka plantations of a village of Parisi Indians whose assistants had been indispensable to enable them to maintain themselves in the forest in this camp we were overtaken by the motor wagons in the service of the telegraph lines commission which came from Tapirapan Utearati loaded with baggage belonging to the expedition father Zom then got the idea of making use of this means of transport which to him appeared less tiresome than the trot of the animal on which he was mounted having agreed on this point he left early morning on the motor wagon for Utearati accompanied by his attendant Jacob Sig the naturalist George Cherry and Leo Miller the work of collecting birds and mammals was in fact hampered by the marches which were commenced at dawn and continued until sunset while Sting Camp Mr. Roosevelt always set aside a certain portion of his time to organize the book which he published later relative to his voyage across the Brazilian wilderness at first and in order to designate these works as a whole he decided upon the title Colonel Roosevelt's South American Expedition for the Museum of Natural History of North America later on however he decided to change this title and use that of the Roosevelt Rondon Scientific Expedition adopted by the Brazilian government while still in camp on the 27th he wrote out the pages in which he explains the reasons which prompted him to adopt this change of title and followed this up with other considerations in regard to the nature and the purposes of the expedition with the intention of guarding himself against future comment and more or less malevolent interpretations On the morning of the 29th after having followed from the automobile road opened northwards between the river Verde and the river Sangue we took the route cut out for the telegraph line which we were not to abandon again at the moment when we should take to the dugouts on the river Duvida we commenced to meet groups of Paresi Indians who are being employed since the last 5 years in the services of the maintenance of the lines and on that afternoon we reached the river Sacré otherwise called Timilatia at the spot where with a width of 130 meters it falls from a height of 40 meters and forms the marvelous Salto Bello the power capacity of which is rated at 30,000 HP under the direction of a telegraph clerk the Indians had already prepared the camp which we were to occupy and had pitched our tents on one side of the road and erected two flagstaffs with the Brazilian and American ensigns facing the camp were the huts of the Paresi village and behind these the falls could be seen up closer to admire them Mr. Roosevelt talked enthusiastically of the natural beauty which was accumulated there and with the penetrating insight of an accomplished and true statesman in referring to the future he took pleasure in figuring the wonderful picture into which the industry of man would shape this piece of our country as soon as we shall be disposed to benefit of the facilities afforded by its healthy and mild climate and the natural lands suitable for any sort of cultivation by its means of river communication which render it accessible from Paraguay from the Amazon and from the Madeira and by utilizing the almost unlimited hydraulic power capable of moving in numerous factories and operating electric railways which can be laid out with almost no trouble whatever over level ground with other centers of commerce or interchange with the rest of the world we returned to the village Mr. Roosevelt was detained in observing with much interest the domestic implements of the Indians the gourds which served them for water pots the pans placed on the fire inside the huts now built after our methods with their ridges and two falls some completely open others having walls made out of palm leaves hammocks serving for the slumber of adults and infants the cloths made by the women and baskets, balls of cotton yarn all mixed up with axes machetes, hoes clothes and other articles of our manufacture which are now being used by these poor people he also took good notice of their habits the women always on the move and occupied now with their children whom they tend with the utmost patience in large sash slings which they pass around their bodies from one shoulder to the opposite hip now weaving their hammocks and loincloths, tangas then attending to the cooking or carrying large baskets full of maize, manioc or other products from their plantations but they are never without their spindles which are incessantly rotating as soon as they find a moment however short between two occupations leaving their hands free one of which to hold aloft the yarn and the other to cause the small restless device to rotate but of all that Mr. Roosevelt saw nothing caused him so much pleasure as the games which the parisis play on a large beaten plot of ground where they divide themselves into two teams to thrust, receive and return by means of their heads only a large inflated India rubber ball already in 1911 in the public lectures which I delivered at the Monroe Palace under the auspices of the geographical society I referred to this game which the parisis called Matiana Ariti and I showed the process which they use in the manufacturer of the ball from the latex of the manga birra tree whilst referring to this game under the name of head ball and describing it in his book Through the Brazilian Wilderness Mr. Roosevelt confirms the opinion which I gave in 1911 that the Matiana Ariti is an otakton institution of this tribe and he adds that he had never heard of or read anything that might give reason to believe that a similar practice existed among any other people of the world with regard to this last part of his opinion I can say that the Nambikaras and the Kepakiri Uats also know this game and play it however as they play same less proficiently than the parisis I maintain my supposition that the latter are its real inventors the others may have adopted it out of a spirit of imitation which moreover is quite easy to explain in view of the fact that the territory of these Indian nations is adjoining End of section 5