ll night, a fire kept burning for the purpose. It
would only be necessary then to warm the beans for breakfast and
dinner, the two South American meals.
For meat the rubber hunter and explorer depends upon his rifle and
fish-hook. The rivers are full of fish which can readily be caught,
and, in Brazil, the tapir, capybara, paca, agouti, two or three
varieties of deer, and two varieties of wild pig can occasionally be
shot; and most of the monkeys are used for food. Turtles and turtle
eggs can be had in season and a great variety of birds, some of them
delicious in flavor and heavy in meat. In the hot, moist climate fresh
meat will not keep and even salted meat has been known to spoil. For
use on the Roosevelt expedition I arranged a ration for five men for
one day packed in a tin box; the party which went down the Duvida made
each ration do for six men for a day and a half, and in addition gave
over half the bread or hardtack to the camaradas. By placing the day's
allowance of bread in this same box, it was lightened sufficiently to
float if dropped into water. There were seven variations in the
arrangement of food in these boxes and they were numbered from 1 to 7,
so that a different box could be used every day of the week. In
addition to the food, each box contained a cake of soap, a piece of
cheese-cloth, two boxes of matches, and a box of table salt. These tin
boxes were lacquered to protect from rust and enclosed in wooden cases
for transportation. A number in large type was printed on each. No. 1
was cased separately; Nos. 2 and 3, 4 and 5, 6 and 7 were cased
together. For canoe travel the idea was to take these wooden cases
off. I did not have an opportunity personally to experience the
management of these food cases. We had sent them all ahead by pack-
train for the explorers of the Duvida River. The exploration of the
Papagaio was decided upon during the march over the plateau of Matto
Grosso and was accomplished with dependence upon native food only.
DAILY RATION FOR FIVE MEN
SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THUR. FRI. SAT.
Rice 16 16 16
Oatmeal 13 13 13
Bread 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Tea-biscuits 18 18 18
Gingersnaps 21 21 21 21
Dehydrated potatoes 11 11 11 11 11 11
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