Colonel Roosevelt has been paying a flying visit to this
country, and on Tuesday lectured to the Royal Geographical Society on his recent travels in Brazil, and not only described how he discovered his new river, the Duvida, but also sketched his adventures among man-eating fishes and vampire bats, which sucked blood like leeches. His cheery and amusing description of the perils and hardships of the way delighted the distinguished audience which listened to him, for they felt that, as all had ended so well, and as Colonel Roosevelt was in such excellent form, that was the proper spirit in which to take the account of his travels. It must be remembered, how- ever, that not only did be achieve a serious piece of geographical work, but also that he and his party were, during the descent of the rapids, which lasted some forty days, in constant peril of complete disaster. Happily, good fortune and Colonel Roosevelt's splendid determination enabled them to pull through. For several days, however, it was touch.and-go. Colonel Roosevelt told the reporters that he had very greatly enjoyed his visit here—a sentiment which will be re-echoed by the ex-President's English friends, private and public. The latter, indeed, are almost synonymous with the nation.
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