Exploration Fawcett

by Percy Harrison Fawcett, Brian Fawcett

The mystic and legendary British explorer Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett disappeared in the unknown and unexplored territory of Brazil's Mato Grosso in 1925. For 10 years, he had wandered the forests and death-filled rivers in search of a "lost" cities; convinced he knew the location of one, he headed off for the last time--never to be heard from again. The thrilling story of what occurred during that time has now been compiled by his son from manuscripts, letters, and logbooks. What happened to him after remains a mystery. "...should be read by everyone."--Daily Telegraph.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Travel, Biography, Adventure, Memoir, Biography Memoir

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Lt. Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, DSO

Reviews

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked 'The Lost City of Z' written by David Grann and I wanted to learn more so I picked up this book that has been put together by Fawcett's youngest son Brian from his notes and letters.

Fawcett gives an extremely detailed description of his explorations in the Amazon. You learn more about the Indians, their way of life, the flora and fauna, the food, diseases etc. 'The Lost City of Z' left me with some questions and in this book I'm glad I found the answers. So it definitely added to my knowledge.

Brian describes his father as a much nicer man than David Grann did. Less harsh and more humane. Most probably the truth lies somewhere in between, but I'm certain that Fawcett did everything that was necessary for his men and himself to survive.

The adventurous parts were very interesting and my favorites and in spite of the detailed descriptions relatively fast paced, but the part about the history of the natives of Brazil dragged and Brian hardly wrote anything about his search for his father and what he wrote was pretty boring.

I would advise people to read 'The Lost City of Z' first and if they really like that book, i recommend them to read this one too, but I'd never advise anyone to read this one first.

[Elentarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is based on the manuscript written by P.H. Fawcett of his adventures in South America, surveying unexplored regions for various governments, and later as an explorer in his own capacity with whatever funding he could wrangle out of organizations and people. In 1925, H.P. Fawcett left on his last adventure with his son and a friend. They never returned home. The remainder of this book is arranged and edited by Fawcett's younger son, Brian, making use of his father's manuscripts, letters, log-books, and other records. Fawcett provides detailed descriptions, a snap-shot in time, of the hazards of traveling in a jungle (on foot, with mules or by canoe) and his meetings with the inhabitants of the more remote regions of the various countries in South America: rubber plantation owners, slaves, "wild Indians", businessmen, small towns and small village residents, adventurers, cannibals, hermits, anacondas, crocodiles, ticks and other wildlife etc. A fascinating account.

[George K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Βαθμολογία: 9/10

Αφού το "Αναζητώντας χαμένους κόσμους" περίμενε υπομονετικά στη βιβλιοθήκη για πάνω από δυο χρόνια, επιτέλους έστρωσα τον πισινό μου κάτω και το διάβασα. Είχα αρκετά υψηλές προσδοκίες για τούτο το βιβλίο -γιατί πρόκειται για το σύνολο των καταγραφών του θρυλικού Πέρσι Χάρισον Φόσετ από τις αναζητήσεις και τις εξερευνήσεις του στις ζούγκλες της Νότιας Αμερικής-, και μετά το τέλος της ανάγνωσής του δηλώνω εξαιρετικά ικανοποιημένος και άκρως χορτασμένος.

Το βιβλίο αυτό κατάφερε να με ταξιδέψει σε μια άλλη εποχή, σε μέρη μαγικά αλλά και επικίνδυνα, με τις γλαφυρές και ολοζώντανες περιγραφές ένιωσα ότι έβλεπα με τα ίδια μου τα μάτια αυτά που είδε ο ίδιος, ένιωσα στο πετσί μου τις κακουχίες, τα τσιμπήματα των εντόμων και τις επικίνδυνες συναντήσεις με Ινδιάνους και κάθε είδους άγρια ζώα (τι φιδούκλες υπάρχουν στη ζούγκλα, ε;), ένιωσα ότι συνάντησα όλους αυτούς τους ανθρώπους που συνάντησε. Είναι ορισμένοι άνθρωποι που δεν καταλαβαίνουν από δυσκολίες και όρια, που θέλουν να ξεπεράσουν τον εαυτό τους, να ανακαλύψουν πράγματα, να ζήσουν εμπειρίες μοναδικές και ανεπανάληπτες, και που δεν κωλώνουν μπροστά σε άγριους Ινδιάνους και ακόμα πιο άγρια ζώα και έντομα, και ένας από αυτούς ήταν ο Πέρσι Χάρισον Φόσετ.

Μιλάμε ο τύπος πέρασε πολλά χρόνια στις πόλεις, τα χωριά, τις φυτείες, τους καταυλισμούς και τα δάση της Νότιας Αμερικής, αρχικά σαν ένας από τους υπευθύνους για οριοθέτηση συνόρων στο Περού, τη Βολιβία και τη Βραζιλία, και στη συνέχεια σαν εξερευνητής, έχοντας ως μεγάλο στόχο την ανακάλυψη της Χαμένης Πόλης Ζ στη ζούγκλα του Μάτο Γκρόσο, που του έγινε μανία από τη στιγμή που το Χειρόγραφο 512 έπεσε στα χέρια του. Κατά την αναζήτηση αυτής της πόλης, ο Φόσετ, μαζί με τον γιο του και έναν φίλο του γιου του, εξαφανίστηκε μυστηριωδώς, το 1925.

Ποιος ξέρει τι απέγινε! Στο τέλος του βιβλίου υπάρχει ένας επίλογος του άλλου του γιου, του Μπράιαν Φόσετ (που είναι και υπεύθυνος της έκδοσης του βιβλίου), με εικασίες σχετικά με το τι απέγινε ο πατέρας του. Πιθανολογώ ότι ποτέ δεν θα μάθουμε. Ίσως και να ανακάλυψε την Χαμένη Πόλη Ζ και να είδε πράγματα θαυμαστά και μοναδικά, που δεν θα έπρεπε να μάθουν άλλοι άνθρωποι... Ποιος ξέρει! Όπως και να 'χει, το ταξιδιάρικο και άκρως περιπετειώδες αυτό βιβλίο, με τις φοβερές ιστορίες και τις γλαφυρές καταγραφές των συναρπαστικών εμπειριών του Φόσετ, ήταν το καλύτερο αντίδοτο για την ανία που νιώθω την περίοδο της καραντίνας.

Υ.Γ. Τσιμπημένη η τιμή της ελληνικής έκδοσης (Locus-7), αλλά κατά τη γνώμη μου αξίζει το κάθε ευρώ. Η μετάφραση είναι, φυσικά, εξαιρετική από τη στιγμή που την ανέλαβε ο Γιώργος Μπαλάνος. Ένα παράπονο έχω μονάχα: Θα ήθελα να υπάρχουν κάποιοι χάρτες των περιοχών που αναφέρονται. Εντάξει, βρίσκεις όσους θέλεις με λίγο ψάξιμο στο ίντερνετ, αλλά δεν είναι το ίδιο. Μικρό το κακό όμως!

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a number of earnest reviews of this book elsewhere, touting it as a great "true adventure" story, which never fails to amuse me: Fawcett was a crack-pot par excellence! He traipsed off into the Brazilian wilderness, eventually never to be heard of again, in search of a mythic lost civilization that he firmly believed was similar to Atlantis. Furthermore, he believed this civilization consisted of an ancient race of white-skinned, blue-eyed Indians.

This idea, of course, had much in common with late Victorian and Edwardian sensational literature, such as Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World. Fawcett believed his lost civilization to have been protected from discovery throughout the centuries because of its surrounding almost insurmountable terrain.

I should also mention that Fawcett was a great believer in the occult in general (cf. Talbot Mundy and others), and that he was a close friend of H. Rider Haggard, whose adventure novels such as Ayesha and She also posit a "lost civilization." Of course, in Haggard's case he had the sense to present his fantasy as just that -- a fictional fantasy.

Fawcett, however, supported his far-fetched theories with a superficially erudite yet outlandish mix of "facts" drawn from mythology, geology, archeology, folklore, obscure religious writings, and minor historical chronicles. He added any plausible rumor, however vague and unsubstantiated, into the mix and then served it up a dollop of whatever psychic emanations he was personally feeling that day. In short, the man was a complete nutter.

Still, his repeated expeditions to Brazil in search of this lost civilization gained a public following, and he became a poster child for the fringe elements. Somebody (I can't recall who, exactly) threw flying saucers into the bubbling cauldron (the civilization was supposedly extraterrestrial in origin, you see), while others claimed to be in telepathic communication with denizens of the hidden world. This element of the public went absolutely gah-gah when Fawcett went missing on one of his extended expeditions in Brazil's Mato Grosso. Fawcett simply disappeared -- and no one seems to really know what had happened to him. The press had a field day, though, speculating about it.

A number of "rescue" missions were sent in his wake, including one that Peter Fleming joined in 1932, but nothing conclusive was ever found. Meantime, Fawcett's status as a cult figure grew, and up until this very day his lost civilization theories are enthusiastically debated on the web. (Check it out: just type "Percy Fawcett" into Google and see what comes up.)

Now, as for the book at hand, it was basically compiled from Fawcett's notebooks by his son Brian as an exercise in hagiography/biography, meant to present his father as the Great White Adventurer.

With Fawcett, however, it's hard to tell where fact ends and fantasy sets in. Any reasonably discerning reader will soon realize there is a great deal of exaggeration if not downright fabrication in accounts of bloodsucking vampire bats feasting on bare feet at night not to mention venomous tarantulas descending from their webs (????) onto unsuspecting sleepers. Certainly, much of the material is embroidered, and yet Fawcett undoubtedly visited the places he described and had many of the adventures he recounts. It's just hard to take him that seriously, especially when he starts in on the white-skinned blue-eyed Indians.

I've installed him in my pantheon of eccentrics, though, as there never was or will be anyone else quite like him.

[Feisty Harriet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few months ago I read (and fell in love with) The Lost City of Z by David Grann and the story of Colonel Fawcett, famed South American explorer of the early 1900′s. This book is Fawcett’s own papers, edited by his son, about his adventures in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru leading up to his last exploration, from which he never returned. The details of the journey and exploration was interesting, but what I was most drawn to was the descriptions Fawcett provides of the blatant human rights violations of those wild places. Slaves–both European and native tribes–were sold back and forth, rubber barons killed thousands of men to lead to more profits, and the gold and silver mining industry wasn’t much better. Fawcett himself always treated the native tribes-people he encountered with kindness and respect and earned many friends in his travels. However, the barbaric treatment other explorers and industry titans imposed on not only the native tribes but also the urban dwelling peoples of Brazil is astonishing. It is baffling to me that this kind of disrespect for life, civil rights, and culture took place less than 100 years ago.

[Aleksandra Bekreneva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Вчера ночью я дочитала «Неоконченное путешествие» Перси Фосетта. Если перечислять голые факты о Фосетте, то история неизбежно становится фантастически-романтической:
⠀
1. Перси Фосетт — реальный прототип Индианы Джонса
2. После беседы с Фосеттом Конан Дойл написал свой «Затерянный мир»
3. Фосетта считали вруном и чудаком многие современники, но к настоящему времени почти все его предположения подтвердились археологами
⠀
Изначально Перси Фосетт оказался в Южной Америке по работе: во времена каучуковой лихорадки нужно было уточнить границу между Бразилией и Боливией. Каучук и его добыча приносили баснословные деньги, поэтому для уточнения границы привлекли нейтральную, незаинтересованную сторону, Англию, и Фосетта, у которого были для этого все навыки.
⠀
Большая часть книги — реальные записи Фосетта из его экспедиций. Много странных и необычных фактов о Южной Америке. Посреди этого — постепенное зарождение интереса и даже симпатии Фосетта к коренному населению, его культуре, языкам, обычаям, и понимание, что здесь «есть куда копать».
⠀
Фосетт не просто «верил», а считал, основываясь на своих многолетних путешествиях, на документах, которые находил в архивах, на артефактах, которые находил в джунглях, что в Южной Америке должны быть следы не только инков и ацтеков, но и другой, некогда более развитой, но деградировавшей цивилизации.
⠀
Под конец жизни он искал так называемый «Затерянный город Z» и из своей последней экспедиции, куда отправился вместе со старшим сыном, так и не вернулся. Останки не нашли, до сих пор мы не знаем, что случилось. Координаты в дневнике Фосетта записаны неверные — он намеренно скрывал свой настоящий маршрут.
⠀
Это не фикшн, не развлекательное чтение, это реальные записи настоящего путешественника. Мне было безумно интересно, и, если вы тоже «горите» подобными темами, то читайте!
⠀
К слову сказать, на курсе по Археоастрономии Миланского технического университета, который я недавно слушала онлайн, итальянский астрофизик и археоастроном Джулио Мальи рассказывал про город Тиуанако в Южной Америке: официальная версия возраста этого древнего города — не старше 1000-1500 до н.э.; по последним данным — не старше 200 до н.э., но некоторые археологи считают, что город гораздо древнее, и Фосетт также придерживался этой версии, о чём упоминает в этой книге.

[Nancy Oakes]

oopsie -- finished this one about a week ago & forgot to make a note of it. More soon.

[Carl Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard core adventure that puts Indiana Jones to shame. Fawcett wrote this account of his Amazonian adventures for his son before embarking on a doomed expedition to discover a fabled city of gold. The PBS documentary "Lost in the Amazon" presents a compelling reconstruction of the what might have happened: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/lost-...

I read this book several times while I was growing up in Colombia, and I later had the good fortune to experience something of the wonder of the jungle after signing on with a venture to grow shrimp in brackish ponds downriver from Guapi on the Pacific Coast. I have my own stories to tell from that time and from similar cirmunstnces, but none compare with the tales Fawcette tells.

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

« The dawn of knowledge was only just breaking after the dark night of the Middle Ages ; the world in its entirety was yet a mystery, and each venture to probe it disclosed new wonders. The border between myth and reality was not fixed, and the adventurer saw strange sights with an eye distorted by superstition. »

« but there is always something fascinating about mountains for the explorer. Who knows what may be seen from the topmost ridge ? »

« Clusters of rock crystals and frothy masses of quartz gave them the feeling of having entered a fairyland, and in the dim light filtering down through the tangled mass of creepers overhead all the magic of their first impressions returned. »

« Lake Titicaca can become surprisingly rough sometimes, and perhaps nowhere else is it possible for a traveller to suffer from sea-sickness and mountain-sickness at the same time ! »

« I awoke stiff the next morning, but standing at the bedroom window forgot it in the joy of filling my lungs with the delicious mountain air. »

« Near this place lived the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She was a Brazilian half-caste, with long silky black hair, perfect features, and the most glorious figure. Her large black eyes alone would have roused a saint, let alone an inflammable Latin of the tropic wilderness. I was told that no less than eight men had been killed fighting for her, and that she had knifed one or two herself. She was as she-devil, the living prototype of the ‘jungle girl’ of novel and screen, and dangerous to look at in more ways than one. »

« To venture into the haunts of the anaconda is to flirt with death. »

« Inactivity was what I couldn’t stand. »

« There are three kinds of Indians. The first are docile and miserable people, easily tamed ; the second, dangerous, repulsive cannibals very rarely seen ; the third, a robust and fair people, who must have a civilized origin, and who are seldom met with because they avoid the locality of navigable rivers. »

« Ahead of me was the glorious prospect of home. For the present I was satisfied with the wild, and my mind was full of the coming journey to the coast ; of the lazy sea voyage, and the sight of England, with its funny little trees, neat fields, and fariy-tale villages ; of my wife, the four-year-old Jack, and the latest arrival, Brian. I wanted to forget atrocities, to put slavery, murder and horrible disease behind me, and to look again at respectable old ladies whose ideas of vice ended with the indiscretions of so-and-so’s housemaid. I wanted to listen to the everyday chit-chat of the village parson, discuss the uncertainties of the weather with the yokels, pick up the daily paper on my breakfast-plate. I wanted, in short, to be just ‘ordinary’. »

« A nostalgic pang shot through me. Inexplicably – amazingly- I knew I loved that hell. Its fiendish grasp had captured me, and I wanted to see it again. »

« where human life is not respected superstition is the more marked. »

« Never had I seen suchwealth of flowers, such beauty as was flaunted that day in the vivid yellows, reds and purples. Brilliant butterflies, themselves more gorgeous than any flower, added to the wonder of it. No painter could have done it justice. No imagination could conjure up a vision equal to this reality ! »

« When human beings abandon a dwelling they inevitably leave behind some shred of their own personalities ; and a deserted city has a melancholy so powerful that the least sensitive visitor is impressed by it. Ancient ruined cities have lost much of it and do not impress in the same way. »

« Above us towered the Ricardo Franco Hills, flat-topped and mysterious, their flanks scarred by deep quebradas. Time and the foot of man had not touched those summits. They stood like a lost world, forested to their tops, and the imagination could picture the last vestiges there of an age long vanished. Isolated from the battle with changing conditions, monsters from the dawn of man’s existence might still roam those heights unchallenged, imprisoned and protected by unscalable cliffs. So thought Conan Doyle when later in London I spoke of these hills and showed photographs of them. He mentioned an idea for a novel on Central South America and asked for information, which I told him I should be glad to supply. The fruit of it was his Lost World in 1912, appearing as a serial in Strand Magazine, and subsequently in the form of a book that achieved widespread popularity. »

« Stangely enough, sugar was the thing we had hungered for more than anything else. »

« The Swiss Alps have peaks as spectacular as any the Andes can show – if not more so – though the altitudes are, of course, considerably lower. Nevertheless, there is a friendly feeling about them – they are domesticated, tamed as an elephant or any great beast might be. In the Andes are things not of our world at all. »

« At night the stars are a glory. One sees galaxies which in the denser air at sea level are invisible to the naked eye ; and, if the sky is clear, no night is really dark, so great is their illumination. »

« gold is to be found here, as in so many other places where the forests and mountains adjoin. »

« The moment we were in darkness there was the sound of a book being thrown across the room, its leaves fluttering. »

« In colour and consistency it is like green Chartreuse, but its flavour is entirely its own. »

« This part of the country is so beautiful that I could well understand why, scattered through the forests, there are hermits of many nationalities, preferring a life alone in the wild to a penurious and uncertain existence in civilization. »

« Time means less to the primitive peoples than it does to us. »

« The long beards of moss hanging from nearly every branch lent an air of solemn mystery to the woods, and gnarled limbs seemed to be waiting above ready to grab us. »

« The forest was spread out under us like a map – a dark green carpet broken here and there by little clearings and the distant gleam of streams winding crazily in and out of view. »

« Loneliness is not intolerable when enthusiasm for a quest fills the mind. The chief disadvantage seemed to be that were I to find anything of scientific or archaeological value there would be no witnesses to support my word. »

«But Spanish and Portuguese alike attach great importance to etiquette; and it is desirable for the foreigner to know the language. Some say these languages are easy to learn. To acquire a smattering of grammar-book talk may not be difficult, but that is not enough. Nor is it enough to reach the point of understanding either language rapidly spoken by a provincial. The necessary standard is the ability to tell a good joke, make witty remarks, and discuss philosophy and the arts. How many foreigners take the trouble to aim at that objective? The staccato and slangy pronunciation acquired by a child may be beyond the powers of an adult, but South Americans ignore the lack of this, and even shortcomings in grammar, so long as conversation is witty and intelligent. Conversation is the breath of life to them, and fifteen minutes of 'chawing the fat' with a peon about Plato or Aristotle will do more to build up mutual esteem than years of good intentions without the ability to express them. It is always a matter of suprise to Americans and Europeans to find how profound can be the conversation of even the humblest South American."

« If the journey is not successful my work in South America ends in failure, for I can never do any more. I must inevirtably be discredited as a visionary, and branded as one who had only personal enrichment in view. Who will ever understand that I want no glory from it – no money for myself – that I am doing it unpaid in the hope that its ultimate benefit to mankind will justify the years spent in the quest ? »

Journey to the Lost City of Z - Exploration Fawcett - Col. Percy Fawcett

[Chris Bertrand]

A very interesting read. I enjoyed learning about Fawcett's adventures in demarcating boundaries, but the start and finish of the book which discuss the lost City of Z was the most interesting to me. The book is very interesting, but there are a few dry spots here and there.

Fawcett is able to affront disease, death, parasites, and cannibals without batting an eye. On his adventures Fawcett lives a torturously rough life and narrowly escapes death several times. It is wild how tough and level headed this guy was. He also holds pretty modern views to the indigenous people or "savages" as they are known as in the book. Fawcett has an extreme case of wanderlust and his need to explore the unknown begins with navigating unknown rivers and eventually ends with his death.

There are tons and tons of stories about explorers, locals, natives, "savages," and rubber pickers within the book. Most of the people meet brutal ends. Most of "civilized" people are afflicted by disease or illness.

It is impressive how good of a writer Fawcett is. I imagine his son edited some of his work to help make it flow better as a continuous narrative, but my understanding is that most of this book is primary source material. The book is even more interesting knowing that Fawcett's theories about the great urban civilizations of the Amazon has now been proven correct in the last decade.

Kudos to the great explorer. I wish we knew what came of him.

[Kaashvi Ahuja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my favourites and it helped me when I wrote my dissertation on the Amazon. It made me slightly emotional because it’s a heavy topic and so many have lost their lives either trying to defend their way of life in the Amazon, or exploring the Amazon leaving their lives in civilisation behind. I have yet to write a proper review but for now 10/10 recommend.

[Scott Lyall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Autobiograhy of the British explorer who disappeared while searching for a lost city in South America. Packed with nuggets of interest to the Fortean- strange creatures, over sized snakes, mysterious tribes and ruins and so on. It's obviously dated and some of his attitudes to certain tribes are, ahem, of their time, though he's a complex character in that while he may display what amounts to racism to a degree in his choice of language, compared to many of this contemporaries who thought nothing of massacring or enslaving the indigenous population, which filled him with revulsion is relatively enlightened.

[Gail Stewart rumsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed most of this book. Some of the details of each expedition are repetitive but found the descriptions of the people, their homes and their lives very interesting. The author also provides colorful historical, plant and animal information. On one of his returns to his home in England he met Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and recounted some of his adventures and observations to him. Colonel Fawcett believed many of his stories formed the basis for The Lost World. Hopefully, the fate of the colonel, his son and their friend who were never heard from after leaving for the last expedition, will be discovered some day.

[caoboi · Rating 3 out of 5]

fascinating story but not very well told, if that makes any sense.
his son compiled the famed explorer's journals into a book but it can get very, very repetitive and the journal entries were not written with storytelling in mind, rather fact recording. so this version (unlike the more recent The Lost City of Z) reads more like, "and then....and then....and then...and then..."

of the two books, i strongly recommend reading the newer one (The Lost City of Z) first, and then if you are hungry for more detailed info, read this version, edited together by his son in the 1950s.

i'm saying this as someone who read them in the opposite order (old one first, new one second).

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The expeditions of the explorer who inspired The Lost World, Indiana Jones and countless other people and stories!

[Colin Baumgartner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many years ago, a friend described reading the journal of an explorer who recounts traveling through the rain forest by boat and seeing the bones of skeletons lying at the bottom of the river. I remember my friend’s describing the magic and whimsy of reading this journal. It wasn’t till a Skype call this year that I remembered hearing the story from him and finally asked him to remind me what the name of the book was. It was this book.

Reading this book exceeded what I had imagined from my friend’s account. The book is mind-boggling in the best sort of way. It is difficult to imagine the adventure and uncertainty of journeying into the Amazon during this time period (early 1900s). Colonel Percy Fawcett was a madman! He recounts time and again how he journeyed into the rainforest, facing uncharted terrain, hostile tribes, starvation, a constant barrage of insects and poisonous snakes, and the wildly incompetent men that always seem to be a part of his expeditions. Somehow despite it all he manages to capture the beauty and boyish excitement to be found. His observations are full of color and life, & the small vignettes about the strange goings-on and the colorful characters living in the jungle are always lovingly drawn. He deals with many of the tricky political and social issues with delicacy (considering the time). Fawcett was in S. America during a brutal time for the region (the wake of colonial subjugation of natives & beginning of the brutal expansion of rubber concerns). Despite his sometimes ethnocentric views on race and “civilization,” Fawcett has a strong individual moral compass. He writes unflinchingly & critically of religious, economic, and societal powers which harm the native people.

Probably the most fantastical accounts in the journals deal with encounters with the dangers of the jungles. Fawcett explains how small flies would lay grubs inside the skin (which would then form nasty boils). Killing the grubs with chemicals meant the critters would die inside the skin of the explorers and often lead to blood poisoning, so the men instead allowed some natives to make whistling sounds to attract the grubs, which would then emerge from the boils and could be plucked out. In another passage Fawcett recounts how natives would fish using the sap of a tree which would paralyze fish and make the creatures float to the top of the stream. Other sections recount camping in the bat-infested remnants of collapsing temples choked by hundreds of years of jungle growth. There are too many magical moments to capture.

Though it must have been extremely tough on his wife and children (who were without a father for the 10 years Fawcett was traipsing around S. America), his adventurous spirit and hunger to know this impenetrable part of the world are such a gift to the reader.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in 1953, this book was put together by Fawcett's younger son Brian from all his notes, letters and diary entries, and therefore authored by the man himself. I came upon this amazing real life mystery from reading The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon and was blown away by it. This book, while a primary source material was less of an exciting read though. We do get a first person perspective from Percy Fawcett himself, and it was an interesting glimpse into life in those days and a great travel narrative, with lots of history and postulation about geological events that shaped the South American continent. Of course, much of it is plain incorrect given our knowledge today. I did expect more about that last expedition where they got lost, but the entire book consisted of Fawcett's time spent in Bolivia, Peru and Brazil doing the work of demarcating land borders between these nations. Some of his observations really beggar belief, especially relating to animals like snakes. Anacondas and Bush Masters of unbelievable size, the former exceeding thirty feet. He also claimed to have witnessed paranormal phenomenon like hauntings and exorcisms. Only in the Epilogue do we get more information regarding his disappearance and the attempts at relocating the party, from investigations by his son. There wasn't much to go on however, and as the years pass less credit was given to reports of alleged sightings.

The worse aspect of traveling through the wilds of the Neotropics must surely be the unrelenting hoards of insect vermin encountered daily, from vicious wasps and bees to tiny flies, ticks and fleas, some of which cause lesions and infections by burrowing under the flesh. The only thing lacking are blood sucking leeches to complete the torture. The tropical rainforest may be beautiful and diverse, but it sure takes a lot of endurance and will to experience its true glory.

[Boyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astonishing read, much seeming if not first hand experience, making this a great first hand source and account. Because of this the telling is linear - no bouncing back and forth in time and place. The story begins with his first assignment as a cartographer to help determine a boundary in South America, and then goes to other assignments doing same for others. A very good way into the book there start to be ethnographic and geo political, the in even smaller scale nuances that seem to provoke the author that there is 'something there' that academics of his time had not imagined. Some astute observations of the vile corruption of the times and inhumanity to man, with the native peoples always losing, struck me many times how unfunny (and how that still happens) because of resources and greed. So it is far more than a put this foot in front of the other Indiana Jones fiction - this person has a conscience and compassion, no two dimensional character here, and in many places almost advocates for intoxicating and .enlightening aspects of native tribes and peoples. So be prepared to learn a little if not a lot very unpleasant history regarding the rubber trade and colonial slavery.

Any way, the Lost City of Z doesn't come into the book until about the final quarter. No mention at all until then. Keep in mind that historically what was happening in the archeological world with the Maya, Egypt, Babylon, Minoan Crete, the crazes, the times... who knows what? maybe a lost world?

I found the book a compelling account of his thoughts, his times, his travels, interests, personality. It functions as an anthropological work while retaining honest there at the times adventure. The historical character and understanding you can gain into a small part of the South American 'games of money and thrones' and it's impact on today should not be minimized.

Well worth taking the time to read on many levels.

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a real struggle to get through. The content was fascinating and perhaps if it was packaged differently it would have been more enjoyable. This felt like a cross between a journal of random field notes and a madman recalling stories that may or may not be true. The sheer number of stories to come from just one man is borderline unbelievable and I am assuming that many have either been exaggerated or conveniently borrowed from those that he met along his journey and spun to feel as though he experienced every one on his own. Stories of 70 feet anacondas are briefly mentioned and then passed by. One sentence he is being chased by cannibals, the next 40 crocodiles, and then the remainder of the chapter will talk about some random village that he thinks has potential to be a hub of rubber trade????? These points, although maybe useful to readers in the early 1900s just feel random to readers now. I often times am left wondering what the point of each chapter let alone the entire book was about. There are no payoffs. The stories are entertaining somewhat but get breezed through so quickly just to be drowned out by page after page detailing the most boring and nuanced details of trade villages. I think that this serves best in today's world as source material for a Dwayne the Rock Johnson movie. But to recommend this to a friend would be recommending them to have a headache either out of disbelief of pure boredom. I don't doubt that much of what he said was true. But my God man, this was a ridiculous way of presenting it all.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Amazon sounds like literal hell on earth, it is more surprising anybody ever survived there. I think he went crazy in the jungle but instead of committing heart of darkness style atrocities like the settlers and rubber corporations, he turned into a crazed scout master forcing his followers to complete their orienteering exercises even when their feet are rotting off, they're collapsing with yellow fever and yaws, insects are laying eggs that hatch under their skin, they're starving to death - but he perseveres, is it admirable or horrifying? I don't know.

He was advanced for his time, in some ways. He condemned genocidal Europeans, but then casually mentions that all but 1 of his followers died on 1 expedition. He was right that there were ruins in the Amazon but he probably wouldn't have recognized them or been able to excavate them with 1920s technology. He died doing what he loved but he was responsible for the deaths of his son and his friend. The epilogue that consists of excerpts from letters they wrote to their families before they disappeared is really moving. I like him, he is heroic - but terrifying and tragic

This is the most interesting book I have read for ages.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Percy Harrison Fawcett was a British explorer who attempted to find The Lost City of Z, as he called it. This location was supposedly a complex society of indigenous peoples that built a massive city, complete with homes, shops, and religious buildings. He was certain this place was located in the Amazon in Brazil. This book detailed his explorations, including some hardships that would have sent me packing back to my house. He was supported by the British government until the outbreak of World War I, when they pulled funding to support the war effort. After that, he raised his own money and privately funded his exploits. While he never found what he was looking for, modern day archaeology suggests that he was correct in his assumption that complex societies existed in the Amazon.

Interestingly, this expedition is the motivation for the Indiana Jones book about the Seven Veils. I would like to read a biography about Fawcett, but it was interesting to read his own thoughts and words in this book.

[Paky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Increíbles las historias de este explorador de primeros de siglo que estuvo tantas veces cara a cara con la muerte. Muy interesante por la visión que nos da de la vida y la sociedad de la época en Suramérica.
Me han gustado sobre todo los primeros capítulos, sobre todo sus primeros trabajos de delimitación de fronteras de Bolivia. La vida en los asentamientos en la selva amazónica, la explotación del caucho, las relaciones con los poderes políticos y económicos, las comunidades indígenas y mestizas, la esclavitud, los castigos, las minas, la justicia, la impunidad de los señores, las zonas sin control de los gobiernos donde la vida valía menos que un chasquido de un dedo, viajes a lo desconocido, a zonas todavía no exploradas, donde se desconocía las tribus que las habitaban y su actitud hacia el hombre blanco. En fin, una vida de aventuras apasionantes en un mundo todavía por descubrir.

[Susan Fetterer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books require slow reading. Time to reflect along the way, to process, visualize and imagine what might have been a nearly impossible undertaking. I relished EXPLORATION FAWCETT Journey to the Lost City of Z in bits and pieces two years following the reading of the David Grand book, written about Col. Percy Fawcett (which was immortalized (!) on film about two years ago and best left forgotten. The book was good, the movie not so much.
Through his own words and compiled by his son in the early fifties, we read his notes and journal entries which bring to life years of extraordinary adventure. Fawcett's disappearance remains a mystery despite years of research along the Amazonian trails he had clearly marked. The aura of the unsolved mystery remains.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stari Fawcett je iscrpan u opisima Amazone, baraka berača gume, nepodnošljivom životu u prašumi.. Ali on je proveo ogroman dio svog života i zasuta sam pretjeranom količinom podataka, od kojih ću nažalost zapamtiti samo fragmente. Koga god interesira povijest južnoameričkog kontinenta u doba ranog 20tog stoljeća može dobiti jasan uvid. A grad Z.. Hmmm.. Njegove teorije o drevnim civilizacijama (prije velike kataklizme, potopa i nastanka poznatih nam civilizavija Starog vijeka) još uvijek nisu dokazane, iako i ja vjerujem u njihovo postojanje. Fawcetta je prašuma i divljina privlačila demonskom privlačnošću (kao zov sirena mornare), a meni ona izgleda kao najopasnije, najnegostoljubivije i najstrašnije mjesto na svijetu.

[JD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having spent significant time in the Bolivian Amazon, this account rings true in so many ways. Yes, there are elements of period racism but nothing that was unusual at the time - indeed, PHF was kind to the slaves and tribes he encountered.
A direct inspriation for Indiana Jones and probably Conan Doyle's The Lost World, this frank and factual account put together by the son of Colonel Fawcett is a no-nonsense write-up of what life as an explorer in the Amazon was actually like.
Grann's book was excellent, the film Lost City of Z less so. This, the original, is fantastic and will soon make you understand why some call the jungle "green hell". You will become engrossed! And if you fancy visiting some of the places mentioned, do get in touch - I visit most years, especially Bolivia.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

2-3 This reads like a field journal with excruciating detail of every insect, person, town, village, tree, and step that was taken. One day of travel is many pages of detail. If you are reading this for Lost City stuff, you can skip ahead to Chapter 18 and start there without missing a beat.
The detail is too much but served a purpose: the remoteness, the length of time it takes to move (can only travel a certain river in wet season and wait 3 months for mail to travel), and the corruption and absence of law paint an accurate picture that would be lacking without such minute detail.
I’m not advocating that the journal be shortened or changed- it is what it is- but it might help someone deciding to read this to know.

[Sohail · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much better book than The Lost City of Z. This book is a collection of writings by the original explores, and although some accounts are greatly exaggerated and some urban myths have been represented as fact (the author claims that he has seen ghosts, for instance!), it is full of information about exploration, geography and history. An attentive reader may also learn about the author's psychology, and the writing style used by the explores at the time (I always wondered why novels such as Conan Doyle's The Lost World and Verne's The Mysterious Island have such an exaggerated and overly optimistic style of writing. Having read this book, I know the answer).

[Michael K Matteson · Rating 3 out of 5]

What happens was inevitable. Fawcett was destined to go until it was no longer physically a possibility. Shame that there cannot possibly be a sequel. This man was a true explorer. One has to appreciate the adventures and the appropriate Kipling quote at the epilogue. It would take a special sort of person to endure and survive the lifestyle that his sojourns would put one through. The most amazing characteristic is that Fawcett would go back and endure these hardships over and again. In this day of "Survivor" television shows and Bear Grylls "reality?" shows Fawcett was the real deal.

[Viktor Brešan · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the first two chapters I wanted to drop the book. Drop it and go straight to Amazonia.

It's shocking how brutal the world was there only about hundred years ago, in many ways not much different from Pizarro's time. One gold was replaced with other - rubber, but the exploitation of indigenous people, slavery and genocide remained much the same.

Percy Fawcett on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_F...

[Reflections Of · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book acts pretty much as a prequel for David's Grann book (the lost city of Z)
After reading David's book I just wanted more of it and this even if explained in a min re familiar way by his son it develops through the whole book until what happened at the start of David's Grann book, it adds a lot of details of the firsts Amazon exploration of Percy Fawcett.

I love the detail Percy Fawcett puts into everything he writes.