MYSTERIES OF THE AMAZON

Shannon News, 23 July 1926, Page 1

MYSTERIES OF THE AMAZON

KITES THAT NO WOMAN MA* SEE. Dr. William Montgomery McGovern, the well-known explorer, who over a year ago disappeared into the unexplored territory of the northwest Amazon basin, and who for months was thought to have suffered th e fate of predecessors, recently arrived in London after on of the most interesting and successful expeditions of modern times. It will be remembered that Dr McGovern first became famous for a trip to the heart of Tibet disguised as a native servant, when he was forced to stain his eyes dark with lemon juice. He has now given details of his latest trip to a "Morning Post” representative

The, north-west Amazon basin is one of the few remaining regions In the world, .of which even the best cartographers are not ashamed to confess an abysmal ignorance. Dr. McGovern, however, has now got something new for his mapmakers to work on.

elsewhere. A fine, spirited statue of

Starting from Manaos, he proceeded by river to the territory which includes the junction of the boundaries of Brazil, Columbia, and Peru. Before Dr. McGovern penetrated this country no white man had ever set foot in it and returned alive. Two explorers tried recently. One died of fever. The other was eaten. Dr. McGovern was able to return his hat, the only remaining relic, to his relatives.

The expedition consisted <*f Dr. McGovern, a German camera-man, and a Brazilian, who lost his life in a gallant and successful attempt to save the films. Dr. McGovern seriously attributes some of his success in making friends with hostile Indians to the pleasing colours of his pyjamas, which he wore for coolness and to impress the natives. Epecial attention was paid to the vast unknown tracts ' between the Rio Japura, where a number of important geographical discoveries were made. Perhaps the most interesting was that the old Guyana continent, which had a separate existence in the dawn of time, when the Amazon was an inland sea, extended much further to the west than had been supposed. The expedition found important traces of minerals such as gold and silver, but was unsuccessful in finding the actual source of the. gold.. Dr. McGovern has brought back many biological specimens, mostly birds and insects including sevaral new species, and x also a mass of information of interest to ethnologists. He succeeded in winning the confidence of a certain tribe to such an extent that he was allowed to witness the strange Jurupari, or harvest rites. Initiates, for a fortnight before, are starved, being allowed only kaapl, a kind of pepper, Kaapi, of wliich McGovern has secured a supply, is a curious drug which the natives claim produces a semi-psychic state In which the spirit can leave the body and visit and communicate with other tribes. Dr. McGovern said recently, however, that though he tried a stiff dose he experienced only a certain numbness and a curious feeling of being detached from himself, although all the time he was able, to use his limbs.

As a special privilege, Dr. McGovern was allowed to bring away some of the holy trumpets which arc blown at the Jurupari ceremonies. The condition was that these trumpets should never be shown to a woman. There is no reason why a woman should not see them except for this promise which he had to give to conform with a savage superstition. With one of the tribes, which had never seen a white man before, Dr. McGovern was forced to take part In a slave raid, or, rathe?, in a hunt for Pochsahs. Pochsahs, of whom there are two varieties, light and dark, are almost animals, and live in the heart of the forest. “It was more like trapping wild beasts than slave raiding in the ordinary sense,” said the explorer.

Later, when Dr. McGovern joined an expedition from the University at Lima, after he had penetrated across the mountains and tablelands of the Andes to the Pacific coast, most important excavations were made, which revealed traces of a remarkable civilisation, which is estimated to be at least a thousand years older than the mysterious Incas. These were found in a waterless desert, three days’ journey from the nearest stream. Mummies, more perfectly preserved than anything Egypt can show, were unearthed together with beautifully embroidered cotton garments of excellent workmanship.