On this chilly November day, let's venture into a warm South American Jungle! Through the pages of the National Geographic Magazine, I feel like I've been there many times previously. Up the mighty Amazon River we paddle our boats, dense jungle all the way. Hear the chattering monkeys, see the blazing colors of the flitting parrots. . .Today in the magazine, I'm reading G.H.H. Tate's account, "Through Brazil to the Summit of Mount Roraima," November, 1930.
This remote mountain is located at the point where the boundaries of British Guiana, Venezuela, and Brazil converge, near the northeast coast of the continent. I would like to know what attraction the remote site holds for the explorer and his party of 300. He admits, "Several travelers have visited Roraima. Comparatively few, though, have remained only for a few hours or for a single night" (p. 585).
The first enticement is rare and unusual plant life brought back by previous expeditions, such as "a very beautiful pitcherplant and the only kind known from South America" (p. 585). We need to remember that there are no roads or even paths through the jungle to the mountain in 1930. A would-be explorer has to cut his way through the jungle. "Here is the home of deer and howling monkey, of guan and anaconda (really BIG snake!)" (p. 587).
The Arcuna Indians live near the mountains and were extremely cooperative with the explorers. The Indians have no money but barter with lengths of cloth. They are expert hunters with blowguns. There is a photo of a young Indian with a blowgun much longer than he is tall. "All the Indians of the Roraima region are highly skilled in the use of this weapon. They blow a twelve-inch palmwood dart through a eight-foot tube and seldom miss the mark" (photo caption, p. 602).
The male Indians wear loincloths and the females wear 'aprons.' With the bartered cloth, they make colorful garments which are worn for special ceremonies only. Every village has its own witch doctor. Then there are colonies of large ants and the anteater bears with their long snouts.
Mount Roraima has a top which appears nearly as flat as a table, covering an area of 25 square miles. Nearby is Mount Kukenam which appears to be as flat at approximately the same height, 8,600 feet above sea level. The mountains are separated by a gorge 150 feet wide and 1,000 feet deep. They rise 4,000 feet above a plain and their tops are usually hidden in clouds.
Mr. Tate and his large party camp near the summit of the mountain. He ascends to the top with difficulty. It is extremely rocky with deep, unexplained cuts in the rocks. The rocks are so rough that his shoes wear out quickly. It is frustrating to work in the mist of the clouds. However, "instead of finding a rocky waste supporting next to no animal and vegetable life, we have definite record on Roraima of more than 120 kinds of living creatures, more than 90 of higher plants and ferns and many mosses and lichens" (p. 605). He is happily busy collecting these specimens to bring home to America. He is supported by the America Museum of Natural History.
Despite having to deal with all the problems and inconveniences, Mr. Tate develops a respect for the mountain. "Quite apart from these wonders of nature and the strange plants and animals that dwell there, I like to think of Roraima as having personality. Utterly cold and aloof, he inspires reverence rather than affection. Yet the Indians who played as children and grew to manhood seem happiest when within sight of his frowning cliffs. . .Is he kind? Does he ever smile for his Arcuna children?
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