Quito.
Jan. 9th, 1897.
Dear Mother,
I am in the office of Mr. Tillman, the American
Minister, and am writing the last communication you will receive until you
see me at home. My Expedition is ready, and I start to-morrow on foot for
the Napo forests, about six hundred miles, with the Indians who carry my
equipment. I expect to encamp upon the Napo River, a small creek, (sic)
and a tributary of the Marañon River, which enters the Amazon
about three thousand miles from its mouth, for about one month, in order
to build my canoes for the 4,000 mile trip. I take absolutely no money with
me, except sufficient for my journey from Pará to New York; my small
fortune I have invested in machetes, beads, and trinkets for the
Indians.
It will be useless to write me on receipt of this letter, as I will be upon
the way down the Napo, shooting the rapids at the rate of 150 miles a day
(sic) in a dugout and bounding down toward the great Amazon where
I will embark in a steamboat for Pará. I will arrive in Pará
sometime in March or in April, but perhaps sooner so don't fail to send me
the necessary papers at once. If I show up at the American Consul's office
without a hair-cut or shave for half a year he will throw me out....
Your affectionate son,
Fritz W. Up de Graff.
