When the boat departed, Zahm's wife and four children flew in from New York to bid him farewell. The American Museum was especially eager to acquire items from the region separating the Amazon River's southern affluents from its headwaters in Paraguay. The majority of colubrine snakes, which are the typical snakes we encounter everywhere, are completely harmless. However, certain snakes, like cobras, grow into what are generally thought to be the most dangerous snakes. On Christmas Day, we made steady progress upstream between upper Paraguay's lush and picturesque banks while fighting a strong current. The low, marshy, rich wastelands known as the Chaco were to the west across the river and were still occupied by either wild Indians or massive-scale cattle ranching. Our entire group, together with all of their baggage, boarded our fine small river boat, the Nyoac, at Corumba. The Amazon River, which flows from the Andes to the Atlantic from west to east, is the largest river in the world. A train of pack oxen left two days before our own departure with our mule train, hauling supplies, equipment, and other items. Most of them were thoroughly broken, but there was around a score that was either completely unbroken or horribly shattered.
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who lived from October 27, 1858, until January 6, 1919. From 1901 to 1909, he presided as the 26th president of the United States. From 1899 to 1900, he served as New York's 33rd governor. From 1901 until 1918, Franklin D. Roosevelt served as president of the United States. He was elected governor of New York in 1898 and was a military hero. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to mediate the conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War. Theodore Roosevelt wed Alice Hathaway Lee, a socialite, in 1880. The newborn mother passed away two days later from kidney failure that was untreated due to pregnancy. Roosevelt crossed out a page in his journal and then wrote, "The light has gone out of my life." On December 2, 1886, Theodore Roosevelt wed Edith Kermit Carow. In his sleep, Franklin Roosevelt passed away from a blood clot that had broken free from a vein and reached his lungs. To his family's housekeeper James E. Amos, he said his final words, "Please put out that light, James." The old lion is dead, and his son Archibald telegraphed to his brothers after his death.
