Within the past decade, a scientific expedition into the upper basin, bearing the most modern equipment known to civilized man, was forced by fierce savages and fiercer sicknesses, to flee the jungle. Yet Orellana, without medicines, maps, or scientific data, without even knowing where he was, transiently mastered the river four hundred years ago, an incredible achievement in the light of modern knowledge."
Within the last ten years, a scientific expedition to the upper basin, equipped with the most advanced technology available to civilized people, was compelled by fierce tribes and even more severe illnesses to abandon the jungle. However, Orellana, without medicines, maps, or scientific data, and not knowing his location, briefly controlled the river four centuries ago, an extraordinary feat given modern knowledge.