This is the story of Roosevelt's Scientific Expedition to South America as told by Father John Augustine Zahm. Roosevelt's popular book Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon. The book describes the scientific discovery, scenic tropical vistas, and exotic flora and fauna experienced during the adventure. A friend, Father John Augustine Zahm, had searched for new adventures and found them in the forests of South America. After a briefing of several of his own expeditions, he persuaded Roosevelt to commit to such an expedition in 1912.
Dr. Zahm has long been known as one of the best informed of American writers on South American subjects. Even before the Roosevelt scientific expedition of 1913 was undertaken, Dr. Zahm had brought out two books (published under the pseudonym of H. J. Mozans) entitled, respectively, "Up the Orinoco and Down the Magdalena," and "Along the Andes and Down the Amazon." The present work completes the trilogy, and gives an account of the Roosevelt expedition, which Dr. Zahm had an important part in organizing and equipping. The book takes its plan from the itinerary of that expedition. Dwelling on the history, the romance, and the present-day status of Brazil, the Argentine, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, it is a vivid picture of the "A-B-C" countries brought well up to date, and including just the detail that is calculated to interest Americans, particularly at the present time. Dr. Zahm's literary style is all that could be desired, and he has exercised especial care and skill in the selection of the illustrations, which surpass those of any account of South American travel that has recently come to our notice, with the exception of Colonel Roosevelt's own work, "Through the Brazilian Wilderness."
Those who had the good fortune to accompany Dr. Mozans by the aid of his first volume, Up the Orinoco and Down the Magdalena, and then again in his second volume, Along the Andes and Down the Amazon, have in store for them in the present, his third volume, a treat no less delightful, and a solid intellectual feast no less comforting. Father Zahm here lays aside the nom de plume which, while it did not effectually disguise his identity from his friends, was no doubt a passport to many readers with whom a priest's name on the title-page of a book on Latin America would have been less influential. Mr. Roosevelt in his very happy foreword to the preceding volume, Along the Andes, remarks that, though "taste in books is highly individual "—a book over which one reader waxes eloquent may to another seem flat and stale and unprofitable —nevertheless "it would be difficult for any man to rise from reading Doctor Mozans' books without feeling, not only that he has passed a delightful time, but also that he has profited greatly by the vivid pictures presented to him of our neighbors of the south and their marvelous country. As Americans, his studies of these neighbors of ours are of peculiar value to us.
Dr. Zahm has long been known as one of the best informed of American writers on South American subjects. Even before the Roosevelt scientific expedition of 1913 was undertaken, Dr. Zahm had brought out two books (published under the pseudonym of H. J. Mozans) entitled, respectively, "Up the Orinoco and Down the Magdalena," and "Along the Andes and Down the Amazon." The present work completes the trilogy, and gives an account of the Roosevelt expedition, which Dr. Zahm had an important part in organizing and equipping. The book takes its plan from the itinerary of that expedition. Dwelling on the history, the romance, and the present-day status of Brazil, the Argentine, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, it is a vivid picture of the "A-B-C" countries brought well up to date, and including just the detail that is calculated to interest Americans, particularly at the present time. Dr. Zahm's literary style is all that could be desired, and he has exercised especial care and skill in the selection of the illustrations, which surpass those of any account of South American travel that has recently come to our notice, with the exception of Colonel Roosevelt's own work, "Through the Brazilian Wilderness."
Those who had the good fortune to accompany Dr. Mozans by the aid of his first volume, Up the Orinoco and Down the Magdalena, and then again in his second volume, Along the Andes and Down the Amazon, have in store for them in the present, his third volume, a treat no less delightful, and a solid intellectual feast no less comforting. Father Zahm here lays aside the nom de plume which, while it did not effectually disguise his identity from his friends, was no doubt a passport to many readers with whom a priest's name on the title-page of a book on Latin America would have been less influential. Mr. Roosevelt in his very happy foreword to the preceding volume, Along the Andes, remarks that, though "taste in books is highly individual "—a book over which one reader waxes eloquent may to another seem flat and stale and unprofitable —nevertheless "it would be difficult for any man to rise from reading Doctor Mozans' books without feeling, not only that he has passed a delightful time, but also that he has profited greatly by the vivid pictures presented to him of our neighbors of the south and their marvelous country. As Americans, his studies of these neighbors of ours are of peculiar value to us.
