Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 February 1911 — EXPLORES THE RIVER HEATH [ARTICLE]

EXPLORES THE RIVER HEATH

Major Fawcett of British Army Travels 2,000 Miles In Jungle and Among Bavages.

New York. —Having traveled through 2,000 miles of jungle and swamp and among hostile savages reputed to be cannibals, Maj. P. H. Fawcett of the British army arrived here on board the Thames of the Royal Mall Steam Packet company, from Colon, his work as a member of the boundary commission for Bolivia finished for the time being. Major Fawcett will go to England soon, and will lecture before the Royal Geographical society, as well as present the first map ever made of the Heath river, which may be a part of the boundary line between Bolivia and Peru. Major Fawoett waa sent by the British government to assist Bolivia In its adjustment with Brazil of the boundary, and, his work being so satisfactory, he was asked to serve on the commission to adjust th% boundary in. dispute between Peru and Bolivia. He is the first white man tp explore the River Heath, a small tributary of the Madre dl Dios, which flows into the Madera, one of the largest tributaries of tbs Amazon. "As several expeditions for the same purpose have been exterminated by the savages that inhabit the territory; It waa with no great feeling of joyousness that we started on this trip,” said Major Fawcett. “There were five other Englishmen and one Bolivian officer, and although we travr eled the navigable streams with canoes. we made only three hundred of the two thousand miles that way. The rest of the Way waa trudge, with packs on our backs and well armed, but the latter would have been of little use if the savages had decided to exterminate us. “Several times during our journey they made hostile demonstrations, but we were able to pecify them and to tell them that our mission was a peaceful one.

"After enduring great hardships the party returned to La Pax with the first maps ever made of the region that they traversed. There had been a so-called boundary, but we found rivers where It was believed mountains existed, and vice versa," said Major Fawcett.