Brazilian Adventure
Encyclopedia
Brazilian Adventure is a book by Peter Fleming about his search for the lost Colonel Percy Fawcett
in the Brazil
ian jungle
. Fawcett along with his son and another companion had disappeared while searching for the Lost City of Z
in 1925. Fleming was working as literary editor for The Times
when he answered a small ad
asking for volunteers to join an expedition to find out what had happened to Fawcett. The story of Fleming's 1932 expedition is told in Brazilian Adventure.
Despite a great deal of fanfare, the expedition seems to have been very poorly organized and Fleming and his companions do not seem to have done much preparation, not even bothering to learn Portuguese
. The expedition, commanded by an eccentric American "Major George Lewy Pingle" (in reality, an alias for Captain J. G. Holman), eventually made its way to the Araguaya river and proceeded down it, blasting away at any creature that moved.
When the expedition reached the Tapirapé
River, which Fawcett was known to have traveled, the group broke up, with Major Pingle refusing to go any farther. Fleming and two other colleagues resigned from the expedition and headed up river alone. After some difficult traveling, they were forced to turn back without discovering anything about the fate of Fawcett.
The third part of the book describes Fleming and his friends racing Major Pingle and the loyalists down the Araguaya and Tocantins
rivers to the Amazon River
and the port of Belém
, from where they could get a ship home. This part of the journey actually has a purpose, whereas it is difficult to believe that members of the expedition were really serious about the search for Fawcett.
The book is a light and amusing read and Fleming writes well, although he is very much a product of his time and class. The book's claim to fame is that it is, in the word of the author, "honest," in the sense that it lampooned earlier works of travel literature, such as the sometime over-the-top descriptions of daring-do found in Colonel Fawcett's writings. For this reason it is often considered a classic of travel literature, along with Fleming's next two books, One's Company: A Journey to China in 1933 (published in 1934) and News from Tartary: A Journey from Peking to Kashmir (1936) which were widely read by the public and influential with other travel writers.
Peter Fleming was the brother of Ian Fleming
, author of the James Bond
thriller series.
Percy Fawcett
Lt. Colonel Percival Harrison Fawcett was a British artillery officer, archaeologist and South American explorer....
in the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
. Fawcett along with his son and another companion had disappeared while searching for the Lost City of Z
Lost City of Z
The Lost City of Z is the name given by Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett, a British surveyor, to a city that he thought existed in the jungle of the Mato Grosso region of Brazil...
in 1925. Fleming was working as literary editor for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
when he answered a small ad
Classified advertising
Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge...
asking for volunteers to join an expedition to find out what had happened to Fawcett. The story of Fleming's 1932 expedition is told in Brazilian Adventure.
Despite a great deal of fanfare, the expedition seems to have been very poorly organized and Fleming and his companions do not seem to have done much preparation, not even bothering to learn Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
. The expedition, commanded by an eccentric American "Major George Lewy Pingle" (in reality, an alias for Captain J. G. Holman), eventually made its way to the Araguaya river and proceeded down it, blasting away at any creature that moved.
When the expedition reached the Tapirapé
Tapirapé
The Tapirapé indigenous people is a Brazilian Indian tribe that survived the European conquest and subsequent colonization of the country, keeping with little changes most of their culture and customs...
River, which Fawcett was known to have traveled, the group broke up, with Major Pingle refusing to go any farther. Fleming and two other colleagues resigned from the expedition and headed up river alone. After some difficult traveling, they were forced to turn back without discovering anything about the fate of Fawcett.
The third part of the book describes Fleming and his friends racing Major Pingle and the loyalists down the Araguaya and Tocantins
Tocantins
Tocantins may refer to:* Tocantins, a state in Brazil* Tocantins River, a river in Brazil* Survivor: Tocantins, a reality show set in Tocantins, Brazil* Tocantins Esporte Clube, a Brazilian football club...
rivers to the Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
and the port of Belém
Belém
Belém is a Brazilian city, the capital and largest city of state of Pará, in the country's north region. It is the entrance gate to the Amazon with a busy port, airport and bus/coach station...
, from where they could get a ship home. This part of the journey actually has a purpose, whereas it is difficult to believe that members of the expedition were really serious about the search for Fawcett.
The book is a light and amusing read and Fleming writes well, although he is very much a product of his time and class. The book's claim to fame is that it is, in the word of the author, "honest," in the sense that it lampooned earlier works of travel literature, such as the sometime over-the-top descriptions of daring-do found in Colonel Fawcett's writings. For this reason it is often considered a classic of travel literature, along with Fleming's next two books, One's Company: A Journey to China in 1933 (published in 1934) and News from Tartary: A Journey from Peking to Kashmir (1936) which were widely read by the public and influential with other travel writers.
Peter Fleming was the brother of Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
, author of the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
thriller series.