Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 14, Number 46, DeMotte, Jasper County, 29 September 1944 — Manpower Better Than Engines on S. A. Rivers [ARTICLE]

Manpower Better Than Engines on S. A. Rivers

In civilization it doesn’t matter if an engine sputters and stops, for it’s only a moment to the nearest garage. But on the torrential rivers of the South American jungle an engine which sputters for only a moment may cause death to the occupants of the boat it powers, Hence, explorers in the Amazon country use craft powered by giant native blacks, who, when they get in a tight place, paddle all the harder to get out. The canoes are made of tough “greenheart,” so curved that when they hit rocks they will jump them. They are 40 feet long, hold 14,000 pounds of supplies, 20 to 24 paddlers, and a ton or so of incidentals.