How Teddy Roosevelt Slew the Last Mighty T-Rex Read Online Free PDF Page B

as you have preferred.” He pointed. “Our actual embarkation point is six miles farther north.”
    Roosevelt had reviewed the plan with Rondon countless times over the past several weeks. They were to meet up here with Captain Amilcar and combine and reallocate their supplies and then split their group into two separate expeditions. Amilcar, along with the naturalist Leo Miller and several other men, would continue overland for three days to the west and then descend the previously explored waters of a stream named the Gy -Paraná, and then they would proceed down the Madeira River to the Brazilian city of Manaos. He and Rondon, and Rondon’s navigator Lyra, along with Kermit, Cherrie, and Dr. Cajazeira would strike out upon the unknown waters of the Dúvida. The only variable to this equation were the number and makeup of the camaradas eventually invited to partake in Roosevelt’s flotilla.
    If, as expected, Lieutenant Martin failed to secure the canoes from the   Nhambiquara natives, then the Dúvida mission would be delayed an entire week while the camaradas painstakingly constructed a half-dozen vessels for their river journey. Roosevelt inhaled deeply, wishing that the mysterious Englishman would come through in the end and prove Rondon wrong. Hope springs eternal, he thought, but, alas, practical realities appear to rule our sacred existence.
    Roosevelt and Rondon dismounted their mules, and the camaradas swarmed around the officers and gathered in their exhausted pack-beasts. Roosevelt stretched his stiffened back while Kermit leaned down and scratched Trigueiro’s ear . Captain Amilcar greeted the two Colonels with a firm handshake and a wide smile. “Welcome to our little retreat,” the stalwart Brazilian officer said. “We arrived nearly two days ago, safe to a man, yet our animals are certainly in poor shape. But now, thankfully, their journey is nearing completion.”
    Roosevelt replied, “And this while our adventure only enters a new phase.”
    “Yes, Colonel Roosevelt, yes.”
    “What of the supplies?” Rondon asked directly.
    Amilcar’s smile faded. “We have opened some of the crates and have found a large portion to be… How can I say this…? Useless.”
    Rondon’s eyes narrowed. “Useless?”
    “Yes commander, hundreds of kilos of stuffed olives and spices for gourmet meals, and even fine wines from Europe. Yes, quite heavy and quite impractical for a river journey in small canoes.”
    Roosevelt shook his head. “How many days of good, honest stake can be set aside for the Dúvida mission?”
    “Enough for forty or fifty days.”
    Roosevelt and Rondon exchanged wordless gazes. Roosevelt sighed. “Then we will have to make do with what fate has provided.” He laughed. “It appears that we have little choice at this point. I cannot speak for the others, but I have no intention of turning back. We have come too far and have risked too much.”
    “Indeed,” Rondon said. “We can fish and hunt when we are able. We can also supplement our meals with wild nuts and palmito , the core of immature palm trees which is bland to the tongue but will fill our bellies and fight off hunger.”
    Roosevelt rubbed his belly.
    “Besides,” Rondon continued. “Our canoes must be packed light and be flexible enough to withstand turbulent waters. Minimizing our provisions will have its advantages. We must also strive to reduce our personal baggage, stripping such to our most elemental needs.”
    Colonel Rondon’s eyes wandered amongst the camaradas, who werebusily tending to the pack animals and sorting provisions. “And have there been any disciplinary problems?”
    “No, commander,” Amilcar replied. “All has progressed without incident.”
    “Good, good.”
    Roosevelt noticed Amilcar peer at a group of three men, one of which was a young, brawny full-blooded Portuguese man that Amilcar had hired in Tapirapoan named Julio de Lima.
    True to his sociable nature, Theodore Roosevelt had gotten