“LOST WORLD”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21542, 14 January 1932, Page 14

“LOST WORLD”

IN VENEZUELAN JUNGLES GREAT EXPEDITION ORGANISED In the uplands of Southern Venezuela there is 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 sealed 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 Dpi da 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 beasts 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 and 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 Pacarainia-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 40 feet high. A rapatea has been found with a leaf 15 feet long and one inch 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 world of botany, it is estimated thaf when this expedition has completed it? labours and spent the 200,000 dollars which ha« been raised to make the project possible, upward of 6000 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 depth of this 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 tbe 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 Indian? have diecove-ed 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. Vandercook, 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. DRAMATIC FACTS.

What gives these tablelands , their" peculiar interest from the geological standpoint was explained in some detail by R. R. Platt, head of the Department of Hispanic-Ameriean Research of the American Geographical Society. “ Because the tablelands at Roraima and Cerro Duida are 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 headwaters 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 confitm- the theory that this land mass was connected to the spine of the Andes Range, which, twists its way down the Pacific coast line of South America. “ Explorers in the territory between Cerro Duida, 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 wesf? ” 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 DuidaRoraima 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 to 20,000 feet, and these Venezuela plateaux up to 8000 feet,” was his answer. “So that we 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 evolution was doing in the Andes? ” was the next query. “ That ig 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 Andos. And when we are able to study thoroughly the animal and plant life of these tablelands ws can see what differences evolved in a milder climate during this period of separation, and much light may be 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 b based upon the discoveries of the scientists would be outside the scope of the expedition.

Air 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 eky, 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 ae a scout plane, taxi-ing lithe numerous river 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 be to establish the permanent camp' site, which is expected to be located at the headwaters of the Rio Caroni.

Among the staff of scientists will be two veterans of the Byrd expedition, George A. Thorne, jun., chief pilot ami topographer, who is one of the heroes pf the Antarctic, and Gaptain Ashley 0. MTvinley, 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 weeks 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 be loaded upon a plane, flown back to Port of Spain or some airport, and within three days, or four ,at the most, the plants will be back in the soil at the Botanic 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 tvill 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 with 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 expedi : tion are; —

H. E. Anthony, curator of the Department 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 A-.-tic. W. B. Miller, junior, also , a geologist, who has worked in the field in South-west 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 in 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 Anthony.

“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 wo 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 Rornima. 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 primi-*-tive people and gives us a rare scientific* opportunity to bring forth new knowledge to the world.”