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The Forest Exiles The Perils of a Peruvian Family in the Wilds of the Amazon By: Mayne Reid (1818-1883) |
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Thinly disguised as a book about the fortunes of a family of exiles in
the forests of Peru, this is actually a very well written book about the
natural history of the region. Its style makes it eminently readable,
and even today anyone reading it will be amused and interested. The story is supposed to have taken place in the early part of the
nineteenth century. There are a good many Spanish and native Indian words, but this does not
affect the readability of the various chapters, each of which deals with
some aspect of the natural history of the region. It makes a good
audiobook.
THE FOREST EXILES, BY CAPTAIN MAYNE REID. CHAPTER ONE. THE BIGGEST WOOD IN THE WORLD. Boy reader, I am told that you are not tired of my company. Is this
true? "Quite true, dear Captain, quite true!" That is your reply. You speak
sincerely? I believe you do. In return, believe me , when I tell you I am not tired of yours; and
the best proof I can give is, that I have come once more to seek you. I
have come to solicit the pleasure of your company, not to an evening
party, nor to a ball, nor to the Grand Opera, nor to the Crystal Palace,
nor yet to the Zoological Gardens of Regent's Park, no, but to the
great zoological garden of Nature. I have come to ask you to accompany
me on another "campaign," another "grand journey" through the fields of
Science and Adventure. Will you go? "Most willingly with you, dear Captain, anywhere." Come with me, then. Again we turn our faces westward; again we cross the blue and billowy
Atlantic; again we seek the shores of the noble continent of America. "What! to America again?" Ha! that is a large continent, and you need not fear that I am going to
take you over old ground. No, fear not that! New scenes await us; a
new fauna , a new flora , I might almost say, a new earth and a new
sky! You shall have variety, I promise you, a perfect contrast to the scenes
of our last journey. Then, you remember, we turned our faces to the cold and icy North, now
our path lies through the hot and sunny South. Then we lived in a
log hut, and closed every cranny to keep out the cold, now, in our
cottage of palms and cane, we shall be but too glad to let the breeze
play through the open walls. Then we wrapped our bodies in thick
furs, now we shall be content with the lightest garments. Then we were
bitten by the frost, now we shall be bitten by sand flies, and
mosquitoes, and bats, and snakes, and scorpions, and spiders, and stung
by wasps, and centipedes, and great red ants! Trust me, you shall have
a change! Perhaps you do not contemplate such a change with any very lively
feelings of pleasure. Come! do not be alarmed at the snakes, and
scorpions, and centipedes! We shall find a cure for every bite an
antidote for every bane. Our new journey shall have its pleasures and advantages. Remember how
of old we shivered as we slept, coiled up in the corner of our dark
log hut and smothered in skins, now we shall swing lightly in our
netted hammocks under the gossamer leaves of the palm tree, or the
feathery frondage of the ferns. Then we gazed upon leaden skies, and at
night looked upon the cold constellation of the Northern Bear; now, we
shall have over us an azure canopy, and shall nightly behold the
sparkling glories of the Southern Cross, still shining as bright as when
Paul and his little Virginie with loving eyes gazed upon it from their
island home. In our last journey we toiled over bleak and barren
wastes, across frozen lakes, and marshes, and rivers; now we shall pass
under the shadows of virgin forests, and float lightly upon the bosom of
broad majestic streams, whose shores echo with the voices of living
nature. Hitherto our travels have been upon the wide, open prairie, the
trackless plain of sand, the frozen lake, the thin scattering woods of
the North, or the treeless snow clad "Barrens... Continue reading book >>
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Genres for this book |
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Adventure |
Fiction |
Literature |
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