by David Grann
95 Conan Doyle reportedly: Doyle, notes to Lost World, p. 195. The other place commonly said to have inspired the novel's setting is Mount Roraima in Venezuela.
95 “What'll we do”: For details of their conversation, see Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, pp. 120–21.
96 “Starvation sounds almost”: Fawcett, “In the Heart of South America,” pt. 3, p. 549.
97 “The rain forest”: Millard, River of Doubt, p. 148.
97 “the aquatic equivalents”: Forsyth and Miyata, Tropical Nature, p. 93.
97 Nearly a month after: Thirty-eight years later, it was revealed that Fawcett and his men had actually been several miles from the principal source. Brian Fawcett noted that “my father would have been bitterly disappointed.”
98 “How long could”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 122.
98 “The voices of”: Ibid., p. 121.
98 “Starvation blunts one's”: Fawcett, “In the Heart of South America,” pt. 4, p. 89.
98 “[An ambush], in spite”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 110.
98 “For God's sake”: Ibid., p. 124.
CHAPTER 11: DEAD HORSE CAMP
101 “the most remarkable”: Percy Harrison Fawcett, “Case for an Expedition in the Amazon Basin” (proposal), April 13, 1924, RGS.
101 “This area represents”: Ibid.
101 “get the survivors”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 12: IN THE HANDS OF THE GODS
102 “glorious prospect”: Percy Harrison Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 108.
102 “I wanted to forget”: Ibid., pp. 108–9.
103 “Deep down”: Ibid., p. 109.
103 “prison gate”: Ibid., p. 138.
103 “a very uncertain”: Nina Fawcett to Joan, Jan. 24, 1946, Fawcett Family Papers.
103 “subject my wife”: Fawcett to John Scott Keltie, Oct. 3, 1911, RGS.
103 He had once shown: Nina Fawcett to Joan, Sept. 6, 1946, Fawcett Family Papers.
103 “I felt relieved”: Williams, introduction to AmaZonia, p. 24.
104 “riotous democracy”: Brian Fawcett to Nina, Dec. 5, 1933, Fawcett Family Papers.
104 “They have had”: Nina Fawcett to Keltie, Nov. 30, 1913, RGS.
104 “I, personally, am”: Nina Fawcett to Harold Large, April 12, 1926, Fawcett Family Papers.
104 She learned how: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 16.
104 “interesting to those”: Nina Fawcett, “The Transadine Railway,” n.d., RGS.
104 “equality … between man”: Nina Fawcett to Large, Dec. 6, 1923, Fawcett Family Papers.
“Some day perhaps”: Nina Fawcett to Keltie, Jan. 6, 1911, RGS.
“Daddy gave us”: Williams, introduction to AmaZonia, p. 30.
105 “By the look of it”: Percy Harrison Fawcett, “Gold Bricks at Badulla,” p. 234.
105 “the real apple”: Author's interview with Fawcett's granddaughter.
105 “Never forget us”: Percy Harrison Fawcett, “Jack Going to School,” 1910, Faw cett Family Papers.
106 “A leader of men”: Fawcett to Nina Fawcett, April 12, 1910, Fawcett Family Papers.
106 “He was probably”: Stanley Allen, New Haven Register, n.d., RGS.
106 “I have for years”: Barclay to David George Hogarth, Sept. 1, 1927, RGS.
106 60 percent of: Larson, Thunderstruck, p. 271.
106 “a disease bred”: Edward Douglas Fawcett, Hartmann the Anarchist, p. 27.
106 “Of the Houses”: Ibid., p. 147.
107 “ ‘The lure of ”: Quotations from newspaper articles found in Fawcett's scrap-book, Fawcett Family Papers.
107 “regions which have”: Suarez, Lembcke, and Fawcett, “Further Explorations in Bolivia,” p. 397.
107 “a great seeker”: Fawcett to Keltie, Dec. 24, 1910, RGS.
107 “What I hope”: Suarez, Lembcke, and Fawcett, “Further Explorations in Bolivia,” pp. 396–97.
108 “I must tell you”: Ibid.
108 “I am a rapid”: Fawcett to Keltie, Dec. 5, 1914, RGS.
108 “He was fever-proof”: Thomas Charles Bridges, Pictorial Weekly, n.d.
108 “a virtual immunity”: Furneaux, Amazon, p. 214.
108 “perfect constitution”: Fawcett to Keltie, March 10, 1910, RGS.
108 “What amazed me”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 178.
109 “the conviction that”: Barclay to David George Hogarth, Sept. 1, 1927, RGS.
109 “I am in the hands”: Fawcett to Esther Windust, March 24, 1923, PHFP.
109 “prepared to travel”: “Colonel Fawcett's Expedition in Matto Grosso,” Geographi- cal Journal, Feb. 1928, p. 176.
109 “By the way”: Nina Fawcett to Keltie, Oct. 9, 1921, RGS.
109 “Such journeys”: Fawcett to Keltie, March 2, 1912, RGS.
109 “hopeless rotter”: From scrapbook, Fawcett Family Papers.
109 “Why he would not”: Dyott, Man Hunting in the Jungle, p. 120.
109 “The strain has”: Percy Harrison Fawcett, “Bolivian Exploration, 1913–1914” (proposal), n.d., RGS.
110 “I have no mercy”: Fawcett to Keltie, Dec. 24, 1913, RGS. 110 “I am very glad”: Keltie to Fawcett, Jan. 29, 1914, RGS.
110 Born in Glasgow: For details about Murray, see Riffenburgh, Nimrod; Niven, Ice Master; “Captain Bartlett Has No Views,” Washington Post, July 6, 1914; Shackleton, Heart of the Antarctic; and Murray and Marston, Antarctic Days.
110 “Pulling, you are”: Murray and Marston, Antarctic Days, p. 88.
111 “He is an admirable man”: Fawcett to Keltie, Oct. 3, 1911, RGS.
111 “I had had rheumatism”: Murray and Marston, introduction to Antarctic Days, p. xvi.
111 “barren regions”: Fawcett, letter to the editor, Travel, n.d., RGS.
112 “A tough bugger”: Author's interview with Michael Costin. 112 “It's impossible”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 144.
112 “Several mules with”: James Murray diary, Oct. 2, 1911, NLS.
112 “We were all”: Costin to daughter Mary, Nov. 10, 1946, Costin Family Papers.
113 “We awoke to find”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 150.
113 “Surely an iron-bound”: Ernest Holt diary, Nov. 10, 1920, ADAH.
113 “The animals themselves”: Rice, “Further Explorations in the North-West Amazon Basin,” p. 148.
113 “My strength quite”: For this quotation and all others from Murray on the 1911 expedition, see his diary, part of the William Laird McKinlay Collection at the National Library of Scotland.
115 “I thought that”: Holt diary, Nov. 22, 1920, ADAH.
116 As Costin warned: Costin to daughter Mary, Nov. 10, 1946, Costin Family Papers.
117 “greatest cruelty that faithless”: Quoted in Hemming, Search for El Dorado, p. 114.
117 “Every party”: Mrs. Letheran to Fawcett, Oct. 30, 1919, Fawcett Family Papers. 117 “the motive power”: Percy Harrison Fawcett, “Occult Life,” p. 93.
117 “There is no disgrace”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 163.
117 “Civilization has”: Percy Harrison Fawcett, “Renegades from Civilization,” n.d., Fawcett Family Papers.
118“On such an expedition”: Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness, p. 303.
118 “It develops into”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 60.
119 “Being unarmed”: Costin, Daily Chronicle (London), Aug. 27, 1928.
120 “By this time”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 169.
121 “I will not detail”: Costin, Daily Chronicle (London), Aug. 27, 1928.
121 “You know that”: Murray diary, Nov. 17, 1911, NLS.
121 “Murray is”: Fawcett to Keltie, Dec. 31, 1911, RGS.
123 “I understand that”: Keltie to Fawcett, June 11, 1912, RGS.
123 “Everything that could”: Fawcett to Keltie, March 2, 1912, RGS.
123 “did not neglect”: Keltie to Hugh Mill, March 1, 1912, RGS.
123 “I am sure”: Keltie to Fawcett,
June 1, 1912, RGS.
123 “So far they”: Fawcett to Keltie, May 10, 1912, RGS.
124 “What a dreadful”: Keltie to Fawcett, March 7, 1912, RGS.
124 “It's hell”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 153.
124 “He and Costin”: Ibid., p. 154.
124 in June 1913: On Murray's disappearance, see Niven, Ice Master.
CHAPTER 14: THE CASE FOR Z
129 In 1910: Percy Harrison Fawcett, “Further Explorations in Bolivia,” p. 387.
129 “The moment”: Carvajal, Discovery of the Amazon, p. 438.
129 “Retire! Retire!”: Percy Harrison Fawcett, “In the Heart of South America,” pt. 3, p. 552.
130 “One of these”: Costin to daughter Mary, n.d., Costin Family Papers.
130 Over the years: Costin's and Fawcett's recollections differ in some minor details.
130 Fawcett, for instance, remembered one of his colleagues eventually taking him across the river in a canoe.
130 “The Major made”: Costin to daughter Mary, n.d., Costin Family Papers.
130 “On climbing the opposite”: Fawcett, “In the Heart of South America,” pt. 3, p. 552.
130 “[Fawcett] disappeared”: Costin to daughter Mary, n.d., Costin Family Papers.
131 “[They] helped us”: Fawcett, “Further Explorations in Bolivia,” p. 388. 131 “The men are”: Ibid.
131 “After a few minutes”: Costin to daughter Mary, n.d., Costin Family Papers. 131 “a most intelligent”: Fawcett, “Further Explorations in Bolivia,” p. 388.
131 “There are problems”: Fawcett to RGS, Oct. 15, 1909, RGS.
132 “Without any hesitation”: Costin to daughter Mary, Nov. 10, 1946, Costin Family Papers.
132 “Whenever he came”: Costin, Daily Chronicle (London), Aug. 27, 1928.
132 “I know, from persons”: Suarez, Lembcke, and Fawcett, “Further Explorations in Bolivia,” p. 397.
132 “standing deliberately”: Nina to Keltie, 1909, RGS.
133 “His encounter with”: Nina Fawcett to John Scott Keltie, Jan. 11, 1911, RGS. 133 There was, however: Costin, Daily Chronicle (London), Aug. 27, 1928.
133 “He did not wish”: Ibid.
133 “we could see”: Ibid.
134 “Food problems”: Percy Harrison Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 171. 134 “[The Echojas] would”: Ibid., p. 149.
134 “I sucked, whistled”: Fawcett, “In the Heart of South America,” pt. 2, p. 495.
134 “With illness and disease”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, pp. 168–69.
135 “In 99 cases”: Fawcett, “In the Heart of South America,” pt. 4, p. 92.
135 Though some of the first: For details on the first encounter between Native Americans and Europeans and on the Las Casas and Sepúlveda debate, see Huddleston, Origins of the American Indians; Todorov, Conquest of America; Pagden, European Encounters with the New World; and Greenblatt, Marvelous Possessions.
135 “The Spanish have”: Quoted in Columbia University, Introduction to Contemporary Civilization in the West, pp. 526–27.
135 “Are these not men?”: Quoted in Pagden, European Encounters with the New World, p. 71.
135 “pretending to be”: Las Casas, Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, p. 12.
135 “the simplest people”: Ibid., pp. 9–10.
136 “Is there any notable”: British Association for the Advancement of Science, Notes and Queries on Anthropology, pp. 10–13. These racist views toward Native Americans were by no means limited to the Victorians. In 1909, the scientific director of the São Paulo Museum, Dr. Hermann von Ihering, contended that because Indians contribute “neither to labour nor to progress,” Brazil had “no alternative but to exterminate them.”
136 many Victorians now: For my descriptions of Victorian attitudes on race, I've drawn on several excellent books. They include Stocking, Victorian Anthropology; Kuklick, Savage Within; Stepan, Idea of Race in Science; and Kennedy, Highly Civilized Man.
136 “ quasi-gorillahood”: Quoted in Kennedy, Highly Civilized Man, p. 133.
137 “ sub-species”: Ibid., p. 143.
137 “these poor wretches”: Quoted in Stocking, Victorian Anthropology, p. 105.
137 “firmness”: Quoted in A. N. Wilson, Victorians, pp. 104–5.
137 eugenics, which once: Victoria Glendinning, Leonard Woof: A Biography (New York: Free Press, 2006), p. 149.
137 “children in mind”: Quoted in Stocking, Victorian Anthropology, p. 157.
137 lost tribes of Israel: According to the Bible, in 722 B.C., the Assyrian army carried away and dispersed ten tribes from the northern Israelite kingdom. What happened to them has long mystified scholars. In the middle of the seventeenth century, Antonio de Montezinos, a Sephardic Jew who had escaped the Inquisition, claimed that he had found the descendants of the tribes in the Amazon jungle—that land “where never mankind dwelt.” Some of the Indians, he reported, had said to him in Hebrew, “Hear O Israel! The Lord Our God the Lord is One.” The influential European rabbi and scholar Menasseh ben Israel later endorsed Montezinos's account, and many believed that the Indians of America, whose origins had long confounded Westerners, were in fact Jews. In 1683, the Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, said that he was “ready to believe” that the Indians were indeed “of the stock of the Ten Tribes.”
137 These theories were also picked up by the Mormons, who believed the Indians had originated, in part, from a migration of Jews. 137 “There are all sorts”: Los Angeles Times, April 16, 1925.
137 “jolly children”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, pp. 170, 201.
138 “savages of”: Ibid., p. 215. 138 “My experience”: Ibid., p. 49.
138 “roasted over”: Percy Harrison Fawcett, “Bolivian Exploration, 1913–1914,” p. 225.
138 “elaborate ritual”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 203.
138 “plain proof”: Ibid., p. 170.
138 “He knew the Indians”: Thomas Charles Bridges, Pictorial Weekly, n.d.
138 “He understood them”: Costin, Daily Chronicle (London), Aug. 27, 1928.
138 “mental maze”: Kennedy, Highly Civilized Man, p. 143.
138 “There are three”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 95.
139 “white as we”: Quoted in Babcock, “Early Observations in American Physical Anthropology,” p. 309.
139 “men, women and”: Quoted in Woolf, “Albinism (OCA2) in Amerindians,” p. 121.
139 “very white”: Carvajal, Discovery of the Amazon, p. 214.
139 “Nietzschean explorer”: Hemming, Die If You Must, p. 78.
140 “Probably none of us”: Fawcett, “Bolivian Exploration, 1913–1914,” p. 222. 140 “They slipped in”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, pp. 199–200.
140 “Don't move!”: Costin, Daily Chronicle (London), Aug. 27, 1928.
140 “I myself made”: Ibid.
140 “Our friendship”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 199.
141 They had befriended: The renowned Swedish anthropologist Baron Erland Nor-denskiöld later reported that Fawcett had “discovered an important indigenous tribe that … has never been visited by the white man.”
141 “We do not”: Bowman, “Remarkable Discoveries in Bolivia,” p. 440.
141 “Perhaps this is why”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 173.
141 “The tribe is also”: Fawcett, “Bolivian Exploration, 1913–1914,” p. 224.
141 “intractable, hopelessly brutal”: Ibid., p. 228.
141 “brave and intelligent”: Fawcett, Exploration Fawcett, p. 200.
142 “Wherever there are”: Percy Harrison Fawcett, “Memorandum Regarding the Region of South America Which It Is Intended to Explore” (proposal), 1920, RGS.
142 “roads” and “causeways”: Ibid.
142 There was, for instance: For details on Henry Savage Landor, see Hopkirk's Trespassers on the Roof of the World and Landor's Everywhere and Across Unknown South America.
142
“I did not masquerade”: Landor, Across Unknown South America, vol. 1, p. 14.
143 “In Xanadu”: Quoted in Millard, River of Doubt, p. 3.
143 “I am going very slowly”: Church, “Dr. Rice's Exploration in the North-Western Valley of the Amazon,” pp. 309–10.
143 “We look upon”: H.E., “The Rio Negro, the Casiquiare Canal, and the Upper Orinoco,” p. 343.
144 “probably the first surgical”: Royal Geographical Society, “Monthly Record,” June 1913, p. 590.
144 one occasion they mutinied: New York Times, Sept. 7, 1913.
144 “He is a medical”: Keltie to Fawcett, Jan. 29, 1914, RGS.
144 “as much at home”: New York Times, July 24, 1956.
144 “Explorers are not”: Fawcett to RGS, Jan. 24, 1922, RGS.
145 “Keep your ears open”: Keltie to Fawcett, March 10, 1911, RGS.
145 “I see he even”: Quoted in Millard, River of Doubt, p. 338.
145 “a pure fake”: Ibid., p. 339.
145 “no mountaineer can”: Quoted in Hopkirk, Trespassers on the Roof of the World, p. 135.
145 “unintelligible”: New York Times, Oct. 6, 1915.
145 “for an elderly man”: Fawcett to Keltie, Feb. 3, 1915, RGS.
145 “I do not wish”: Fawcett to Keltie, April 15, 1924, RGS.
145 “a humbug from”: Fawcett to Keltie, Sept. 27, 1912, RGS.
146 “counted in with”: Fawcett to Keltie, April 9, 1915, RGS.
146 In 1900, Rondon: Millard, River of Doubt, p. 77.
146 “gentlemen, owing to”: Percy Harrison Fawcett, “Case for an Expedition in the Amazon Basin” (proposal), April 13, 1924, RGS.
146 “the idea of”: Brian Fawcett, Ruins in the Sky, p. 231.
146 “I think you worry”: Keltie to Fawcett, Jan. 29, 1914, RGS.
146 “sure to go out”: Ibid.
147 “prove to be”: Bingham, introduction to Lost City of the Incas, pp. 17–18.
147 “the pin-up of”: Hugh Thomson, Independent (London), July 21, 2001.
CHAPTER 15: EL DORADO
148 “The great lord”: Quoted in Hemming, Search for El Dorado, p. 97.
149 So, according to: For details, see Hemming's definitive account, The Search for El Dorado. Also see Wood, Conquistadors; Smith, Explorers of the Amazon; and St. Clair, Mighty, Mighty Amazon.