Through the Brazilian Wilderness · Chapter
X: To the Amazon and Home; Zoological and Geographical Results of the Expedition explained
The expedition concludes with a safe descent of the River of Doubt, now mapped and named Rio Roosevelt.
What happens
The expedition concludes with a safe descent of the River of Doubt, now mapped and named Rio Roosevelt. The chapter details the contrast between traveling an unknown versus known river, the hospitality of rubbermen settlers, the successful collection of thousands of zoological specimens, and the geographic achievement of exploring a major tributary of the Amazon. Roosevelt reflects on Brazil's progress under the republic and the foundational work of Colonel Rondon's Telegraphic Commission.
Themes in this chapter
Exploration and Adventure
The chapter details the successful completion of the descent of an unknown river, contrasting the dangers of pioneering with the ease of traveling a known route.
Scientific Inquiry
The expedition collected over 2,500 birds, 500 mammals, and other specimens, many new to science, and mapped a 1,500-kilometer river.
Frontier and Settlement
Roosevelt describes the lives of rubbermen settlers as true wilderness-winners, advocating for land laws to protect small homesteaders.
Cultural Encounter and Ethnography
Observations of rubbermen families, their mixed ancestry, hospitality, and the absence of government or church presence highlight the cultural landscape of the Amazon frontier.
Characters to notice
- Colonel Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon
Roosevelt credits Rondon and his Telegraphic Commission for the previous six years of exploration that made the descent of the River of Doubt possible.
- George K. Cherrie
Cherrie collected over 2,500 birds and 500 mammals; his diary helped prepare the map of the new river.
- Leo E. Miller
Miller assisted Cherrie in collecting zoological specimens, contributing to the expedition's scientific success.
- Kermit Roosevelt
Kermit's diary was used alongside Cherrie's and Roosevelt's to create the map of the Rio Roosevelt.
- Lieutenant João Lyra
Lyra took observations and determined latitudes at various camps, including at 8°49' and 7°47'.
- Senhor Caripe
A wealthy rubberman who provided a boat and hospitality at the Carupanan rapids.
- Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt was still sick during the descent, traveling under a shelter rigged in the canoe; he prepared the sketch map of the new river.
Key passages
“Zoologically the trip had been a thorough success. Cherrie and Miller had collected over twenty-five hundred birds, about five hundred mammals, and a few reptiles, batrachians, and fishes.”
The expedition was a major zoological success, with Cherrie and Miller gathering more than 2,500 birds, roughly 500 mammals, and some reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
Summarizes the scientific yield of the expedition.
“What we did was to put the cap on the pyramid that had been built by Colonel Rondon and his associates of the Telegraphic Commission during the six previous years.”
Our achievement was the final step atop the foundation laid by Colonel Rondon and his Telegraphic Commission over the preceding six years.
Roosevelt acknowledges the preparatory work of Rondon's team.
“The small homemaker, who owns the land which he tills with his own hands, is the greatest element of strength in any country. These are real pioneer settlers. They are the true wilderness-winners.”
The independent small farmer who works his own land is the backbone of any nation. These settlers are the genuine pioneers who truly conquer the wilderness.
Roosevelt praises the homesteading rubbermen as essential to national strength.
