Customer Rating: 
Summary: In the AMAZON jungleAlthough writt
Comment: Although written approximately one hundred years ago, this book very vividlyrelates the adventuresof the author in the Amazon jungle.
Customer Rating:
Summary: In The Amazon
Comment: A delightful adventure on the Amazon and it's tributaries.
Enjoyed it and wanted more!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: This Was A Feast Indeed Such As Few White Men, I Believe, Have Witnessed
Comment:
And what, might you wonder, was on the menu? Clues are provided in the preceding description of the preparations:
"Here a woman was engaged in stripping the flesh from the palm of a hand and the sole of a foot, which operation finished, she threw both into a large earthen pot to boil..."
Yup. You guessed it...
Cannibals.
The author, Algot Lange, tells a remarkable tale of adventure. After enduring incredible hardships, starving, lost in the jungle, succumbing to fever, crawling on hands and knees he comes upon the communal village of the Mangeroma tribe. And sure enough, they are cannibals. But they only eat their enemies, and for some reason don't consider Lange to be one of them. Rather, they take him in, nurse him back to health, and eventually send him on his way back to civilization.
Why he is in the Amazon in the first place is never quite made clear. The book begins with his arrival at Remate de Males, an outpost 47 days of travel upriver from the Atlantic. The translation of Remate de Males is "Culmination of Evils", but in fact, as Lange soon finds out, it is only the beginning.
The author is a keen observer, and chronicles not only his experiences, but also the fauna, flora, and life of the region. His writing weaves a rich tapestry that transports the reader into the midst of it all.
Here's a description of the sounds of the jungle...
"The few sounds of birds and animals are, generally, of a pensive and mysterious character, and they intensify the feeling of solitude rather than impart to it a sense of life and cheerfulness. Sometimes in the midst of the noon-day stillness, a sudden yell or scream will startle one, coming from some minor fruit-eating animal, set upon by a carnivorous beast or serpent. Morning and evening, the forest resounds with the fearful roar of the howling monkeys, and it is hard, even for the stoutest heart, to maintain its buoyancy of spirit. The sense of inhospitable wilderness which the jungle inspires, is increased tenfold by this monstrous uproar. Often in the still hours of night, a sudden crash will be heard, as some great branch or a dead tree falls to the ground. There are, besides, many sounds which are impossible to account for and which the natives are as much at a loss to explain as myself. Sometimes a strange sound is heard, like the clang of an iron bar against a hard, hollow tree; or a piercing cry rends the air. These are not repeated, and the succeeding stillness only tends to increase the unpleasant impression which they produce on the mind."
Or how about this portrayal of a typical dwelling on stilts in Remate de Males...
"Through the roofs and rafters gambol all sorts of wretched pests. Underneath the houses roam pigs, goats, and other domestic animals, which sometimes appear in closer proximity than might be wished, owing to the spaces between the logs of the floor. That is in the dry season. In the winter, or the wet season, these animals are moved into the homes with you, and their places underneath are occupied by river creatures, alligators, water-snakes, and malignant, repulsive fish, of which persons outside of South America know nothing."
Let your imagination run wild.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Primitive Amazon Jungle
Comment: Excellent documentary of the amazon jungle as it was in the early 20th century (+/- 1910) Very simply but engrossing language.
Ganesh Blue Nirmul MD
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