Through the Brazilian Wilderness · Chapter
VI: Through the Highland Wilderness of Western Brazil explained
The chapter contrasts true wilderness exploration with mere travel on beaten routes, then follows the expedition's journey across the Parecís plateau and through the highland wilderness of western Brazil.
What happens
The chapter contrasts true wilderness exploration with mere travel on beaten routes, then follows the expedition's journey across the Parecís plateau and through the highland wilderness of western Brazil. It describes the dense tropical forest, the ascent to the Plan Alto, encounters with the Parecís Indians and their head-ball game, the hardships of rain and mud, and the natural history observations made by Cherrie and Miller. The narrative also touches on the abandoned colonial capital of Matto Grosso and the daily challenges of the trail, including insects, weather, and the desolate landscape.
Themes in this chapter
Exploration and Adventure
The chapter distinguishes true wilderness exploration from travel on beaten routes, emphasizing the hardships and dangers faced by explorers like the Roosevelt-Rondon expedition.
Cultural Encounter and Ethnography
Detailed observations of the Parecís Indians, including their head-ball game, dance, use of red paint, and preference for scented oil, as well as their vulnerability to introduced diseases.
Human Endurance and Resilience
The expedition endures heavy rain, mud, biting insects, and difficult terrain, while the mules and oxen struggle with waterless stretches and poor forage.
Characters to notice
- Colonel Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon
Gave presents to the Parecís Indians, including calico prints and scented oil; named a river and mountain range after the explorer Franco; established a telegraph station in the former palace of the captain-general.
- Kermit Roosevelt
Shared a tent with Fiala and Theodore Roosevelt during the northward march.
- Theodore Roosevelt
Narrates the chapter; walked with his rifle, observed an armadillo, and spent time by the waterfall; shared a tent with Fiala and Kermit.
- George K. Cherrie
Made good collections of birds and mammals at Utiarity, including opossums and mice new to the collection.
- Leo E. Miller
Made good collections of birds and mammals at Utiarity; received the armadillo brought back by Roosevelt.
- Cartucho
Colonel Rondon's young dog, described as a 'jolly-cum-pup,' who had a comical encounter with a praying mantis during supper.
Key passages
“When a man travels across Arizona in a Pullman car, we do not think of him as having performed a feat bearing even the most remote resemblance to the feats of the first explorers of those waterless wastes; whatever admiration we feel in connection with his trip is reserved for the traffic-superintendent, engineer, fireman, and brakeman.”
Traveling in comfort by train across Arizona is not comparable to the achievements of the original explorers of that arid region; any credit for such a journey belongs to the railroad staff, not the passenger.
Roosevelt contrasts modern, comfortable travel with the genuine hardships of exploration.
“The true wilderness wanderer, on the contrary, must be a man of action as well as of observation. He must have the heart and the body to do and to endure, no less than the eye to see and the brain to note and record.”
A genuine explorer must combine physical endurance and active effort with keen observation and intellectual recording.
Defines the qualities of a true explorer versus a mere traveler.
“It is an extraordinary thing that this strange and exciting game should be played by, and only by, one little tribe of Indians in what is almost the very centre of South America.”
It is remarkable that this unique and lively game is exclusive to a single small indigenous tribe in central South America.
Reflects on the cultural uniqueness of the Parecís head-ball game.
