“LOST WORLD"

Evening Star, Issue 20998, 12 January 1932, Page 9

“LOST WORLD"

IT MAY EXIST IN VENEZUELAN JUNGLES GREAT EXPEDITION In the uplands of Southern Venezuela there are a series of tablelands upon which no white man has ever trod. On the eastern flank Mount Roraima, “ grandfather of the mountains,” stands guard. On the south-west Cerro Duida, another giant bulwark, rears itself against intrusion by the adventurers of civilisation. Men have scaled the sides of these stone sentinels and one or two have followed the thin thread of a river into the depths of this unknown country (writes Harold Conway, in the ‘ San Francisco Chronicle ’). But, other than these scratches upon its boundaries, the area is a land of mystery, of wonder, and perhaps of marvels new to the human eye. When Conan Doyle wrote ‘ The Lost World ’ and peopled it with prehistoric monsters who had survived into modern times, he chose land around Roraima as the location of the fearsome beasts. Since the sixteenth century rumours have percolated to the coast that the area between Roraima and Cerro Duida is inhabited by men and animals, birds and plants, that date back to an earlier time. Pygmies, “ white ” Indians, descendants of the age of monstrous boasts, have been reported. _ Modern science is organising on a unique scale to penetrate the region and report on what is hidden in its remote hills. CLOSE TO BYRD’S. Three world-famous scientific organisations are uniting for the first time- to pool their experience and experts in an expedition which is second only to the Byrd Antarctic exploration in thorough preparation and modern facilities for transportation nad communication. Scientists from the staff of the Museum of Natural History, the_ American Geographical Society, and the New York Botanical Gardens are on the staff of the Pacaraima-Venezuela Expedition, Inc., which is the title of the outfit. Whether it is possible really to find species of animals which disappeared in other parts of the earth more than one million years ago is a subject upon which scientists are reluctant to speak, but the known and suggested facts concerning the “ Lost World ” country explain why the savants are so eager to explore thoroughly the 40,000 square miles area by aeroplane and intensive research.

The researches already made upon the rim of this upland have revealed the largest pitcher plants in the world, an extraordinary number of flesh-eating plants, ferns with spoon-shaped leaves related to the spearmint and growing as a tree 40ft high. A rapatea has been found with a leaf loft long and lin wide.

Since the limited investigation upon the two ends of this range has added to the knowledge of science an abundance of plant life which is one of the most remarkable in Nature, and since these prodigies have been gathered in the lower altitudes, scientists are ready to believe that a stranger and more magnificent profusion of vegetation will be found in the higher stretches of the hills. Such a presumption is in accord with the experience of trained investigators, MANY NEW PLANTS.

Considering the number of plants which already have been classified and added to the ivorld of botany, it is estimated that when this expedition has completed its labours and spent the 200,000d0l which has been raised to make the project possible, upward of 6,000 plants will have been added to those already known. On the side of living things there are also interesting specimens of organic life which suggest what further types may be discovered when the savants get into the depths of tms unexplored tableland. A small amphibian black toad of very ancient ancestry has already been spotted by the preliminary explorers. A frog which carries its young in a pocket on its back until the new generation is hatched and fully formed is another dweller in the forests. A diglossa, or honey creeper, has been seen. This .is a bird which dates from the Pleistocene Age, the age when the saurians began to disappear and man began to emerge; when the first species of birds—those that wade, those that perch, and birds of prey—were evolving into form. Then there is the fact that all South American Indians have discovered or developed potent medicines many of them probably unknown to civilised physicians. Cinchona, the source of quinine, was first brought to the world from South American forests, where it was commonly used by the natives for fevers. Vaudercook, who penetrated into the jungles of Surinam, Dutch Guiana, described some of their mysterious medicines.

The scientists of this joint expedition will, in addition to their other researches, make an effort to bring out this native knowledge of drugs for the benefit of mankind. DRAxMATIC FACTS.

What gives these tablelands their peculiar interest from the geological standpoint was explained in some detail by R. 11. Platt, head of the Department of Hispanic-American Research of the American Geographical Society.

“ Because the tablelands at Roraima and Cerro Duida arc sandstone scientific thought has developed the theory that there is a series of tablelands in between.

“ The region of exploration consists of about 40,000 square miles at the head waters of the Orinoco River at the junction of Venezuela, Brazil, and British Guiana ; and between the two mountains, which are about 400 miles apart. “If we find that there are tablelands in between it will indicate that the entire area from Southern Brazil to Mount Duida was one land mass, and it may help to confirm the theory that this land mass was connected to the spine of the Andes Range, which twists its way down the Pacific coastline of South America.

“ Explorers in the territory between Cerro thiida, which is on the western edge of this area, and the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes of Colombia have also reported sandstones at various places. Therefore the possibility that these mesas, Mounts Roraima and Duida, are remnants of an old sandstone plateau that may have reached from the border of the Andes across South-western British Guiana has interested geologists for many years, “ These may seem abstruse speculations of little interest to the public, but the facts are dramatic when they explain the isolation of this so-called ‘ Lost World ’ from its original link with the Andes Range.” “ How was this tableland country cut off from the west?” Mr Platt was asked. “ Either the rock under the sandstone caps was soft or the sandstone was very deep, so that erosion, operating through geologic eras, shaved down the vast plateau to valleys which cut the Duida-Roraima section away from the west,” he replied. ' MANY YEARS AGO. “ Is there any difference in climate?” “ There is considerable difference in climate. The Andes rise from 15,000 ft to 20,000 ft, and these Venezuela plateaus up to 8.000 ft,” was his answer. “ So that wo have in these mesas an area of milder climate cut off by colder regions some 1,000,000 years ago. And the isolated fauna and flora evolved without being affected by what evolu-

tion was doing in the Andes?” was the next query. “ That is correct. And it is one of the reasons why there is so much scientific interest in this region. We know the animal and plant life of. the Andes. And when we are able to study thoroughly the animal and plant life of these tablelands we can see what differences evolved in a milder climate during this period of separation, and much light may he thrown upon the processes of evolution.” FROM THE SKIES. Mr Platt pointed out that gold and possibly diamonds will be found in this region, as it is a continuation of the Guiana highlands, where ’ both are mined. He emphasised the fact, however, that the expedition was purely scientific, and any commercial developments which might be based upon the discoveries of the scientists would be outside of the scope of the expedition. Mr Platt said that natives living on the borders of the tablelands _ were known to be afraid of the inhabitants in the interior. How these primitive savages will feel when one of the mechanical birds with its steel wings drops down out of the sky, and they see an aeroplane in flight and landing for the first time, will be one of the interesting observations to be made by the members of the expedition.

The air fleet and its use is one of the unique elements of this project. There will be three units. A small amphibian will serve as a scout plane, taxiing up the numerous rivers to find a desirable landing place, perhaps permitting the crew to find a smooth spot in the savannah for a landing place or prepare one by levelling the anthills in a grassy plain. The others will have interchangeable pontoons and landing wheels, and the first flight probably will he to establish the permanent camp site, which is expected to be located at the headquarters of the Rio Caroni. Among the staff of scientists will be two veterans of the Byrd Expedition, George A Thorne, junior, chief pilot and topographer, who is one of the heroes of the Antarctic, and Captain Ashley C. M'Kinley, who will also assist in mapping the area. As a nurse to the planes they will take with them C. Broten, a buddy from the South Pole, who will be assistant aeroplane mechanic. While the .interior of unexplored land is now week's and months from Manhattan,- a fast aeroplane service for specimens is being planned. When the field men turn up delicate and important novelties which deserve nurturing and transplanting for investigation and experiment these specimen plants will bo loaded upon a plane, flown back to Port of Spain, or some airport, andwithin three days, or four at the most, the plants will be back in the soil at the Botanical Gardens in New York. Thus seeds and cuttings may be examined at leisure by men in New York while the members of the expedition continue their hunt for new wonders, A NEW METHOD.

The use of the plane will also make possible the quick delivery of film, to places where it can be developed more favourably. The Geographical Society has developed a new method of taking pictures from the air, known as oblique photography, to differentiate it from the common method of taking snapshots with a vertical focus. The vertical focus makes necessary a wide overlap of pictures in order to make possible the plotting of the contours. This sharply increases the expense, but the new oblique method makes possible a long camera “ shot ” over a large area witli a great decrease in the amount of film exposed. This film will definitely map for the first time the Brazil-Venezuela frontier and will enable the two countries to settle upon definite and indisputable boundary lines. The principal members of the expedition are:— „ _ H. E. Anthony, curator of the Depar trc.mt of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, who will be in command. G. H. H. Tate, second in command, who. has been in South America on seven biological expeditions for the museum in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela. C. C. Graves, geologist, who has explored Alaska and the Arctic. W. B. Miller, junior, also a geologist, who has worked in the field in Southwest United States, West and South Venezuela, and Northern Rhodesia. A. C. Smith, botanist, who has done research work in Peru and Brazil. “ Should this expedition succeed m justifying the hopes of its sponsors and staff, it may be the beginning of cooperative endeavour in South American exploration by the three institutions,” said Mr Anthofly. “ We think this is the most important expedition that ever went into South America. It has a better personnel, and covers more fields of science. And we are going into one of the major unexplored regions of the world to-day, rich in plant and animal life, about which we know nothing. At the border of this territory rises Mount Roraima, often called ‘ The Lost World,’ after the title of Conan'Doyle’s story, which was laid in a similar isolated upland containing unique forms of animal life.

“ It is also a region of unspoiled primitive people and gives us a rare scientific opportunity to bring forth new knowledge to the world.”-