Robert H. Schomburgk Explores the Interior of British Guyana, Brazil, and Venezuela and Is the First European to Visit Mount Roraima
Overview
Because dense jungles and dangerous rivers made exploration difficult, little was known about the interior of South America in the early and mid nineteenth century. Despite the many dangers and difficulties in this region, Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804-1865), a German-born explorer and naturalist, hired by the British government, traveled the rivers of present-day Guyana, Brazil, and Venezuela. He mapped geographical features and collected geological and botanical specimens. After discovering how major rivers connected, Schomburgk marked the boundaries of what became the modern nations. His exploration and mapping also opened the rivers for transport and commerce. Schomburgk's efforts also had the unintentional impact of paving the way for the twentieth-century development of the tropical rainforests and the continued extermination of South American native peoples in Venezuela and Brazil.
Background
When the European powers—Great Britain, France, Spain, and Holland—began to colonize northeastern South America in the sixteenth century, little was known about the interiors of what became the modern nations of Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana. Because rivers, mountains, and other geographic features needed to be explored and charted before economic development could begin, explorers were often hired by European governments to investigate unknown lands.
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