Spot where Eugene Robuchon was last seen
The testimony was further weakened by the knowledge that about that time either the Menimehe or the Yahuna destroyed a Colombian settlement near the mouth of the Apaporis River, and made prisoners of white men. Whatever the truth of the bearded white man, there was certainly no memory remaining of the Indian woman nor of Othello, the Great Dane.
On my return to the Rubber Belt I learned that Robuchon had been lost on a previous expedition for a considerable period, and had lived during that time with Indians. Although this had occurred in the regions south of the Amazon on the Peru-Brazil-Bolivian frontier, somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Acre River, the general haziness of natives with respect to place and time may have accounted for the rumours of captivity among the semi-civilised Indians of the Rubber Belt, which set me on a fruitless search among the Indians of the Kahuinari-Japura.
To sum up the evidence with respect to the fate of Robuchon, it seems to me that he did not die of starvation at the mouth of the Kahuinari, because a certain amount of food-stuff was found by the first Relief Expedition at the site of the camp, but no signs of human remains. The illegible message nailed to the tree suggests that he vacated the spot and endeavoured to leave information as to his route for those who might come to his relief.
Robuchon had five courses open to him once he decided on abandoning the camp:
1. He could retrace his steps up the Japura. With respect to this means of escape, I consider it extremely improbable that he would attempt to return against stream over the route which he had already traversed with such difficulty when aided by the current and the full strength of his party.
2. He could proceed across the Japura to the country of the Menimehe. He was unlikely, however, to cross that river, owing to the bad name enjoyed by the Menimehe. He could not count upon a relief expedition following him there.
3. He could journey up the Kahuinari. He could hardly negotiate the difficulties of the upstream journey though with the inadequate assistance of a single woman. He was aware of the existence of unfriendly tribes on the banks. My inquiries among the Pama Boro yielded no trace of his ever having been seen upon the river. If he had made his way along the right bank of that river, probably some evidence of him would have been found by the relief party.
4. He could have voyaged down the Japura in a canoe or upon a raft. It would have been very hazardous to have attempted this alone—practically hopeless. In any event, if he did make the attempt, he failed to reach the nearest rubber settlement.