Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919). Through the Brazilian Wilderness. 1914.
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| first exercised it under the form of an authoritative empire, then under the form of a liberal empire. When the republic came, the people were reasonably ripe for it. The great progress of Brazil—and it has been an astonishing progress—has been made under the republic. I could give innumerable examples and illustrations of this. The change that has converted Rio Janeiro from a picturesque pesthole into a singularly beautiful, healthy, clean, and efficient modern great city is one of these. Another is the work of the Telegraphic Commission. |
| We put upon the map a river some fifteen hundred kilometres in length, of which the upper course was not merely utterly unknown to, but unguessed at by, anybody; while the lower course, although known for years to a few rubbermen, was utterly unknown to cartographers. It is the chief affluent of the Madeira, which is itself the chief affluent of the Amazon. |
| The source of this river is between the 12th and 13th parallels of latitude south and the 59th and 60th degrees of longitude west from Greenwich. We embarked on it at about latitude 12° 1´ south, and about longitude 60° 15´ west. After that its entire course lay between the 60th and 61st degrees of longitude, approaching the latter most closely about latitude 8° 15´. The first rapids we encountered were in latitude 11° 44´, and in uninterrupted succession they continued for about a degree, without a day’s complete journey between any two of them. At 11° 23´ the Rio Kermit entered from the left, at 11° 22´ the Rio Marciano Avila from the right, at 11° 18´ the Taunay from the left, at 10° 58´ the Cardozo from the right. In 10° 24´ we encountered the first |