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Afloat in the Forest
Afloat in the Forest
A Voyage among the Tree-Tops
Book Excerpt
te men appeared to be, and was, the proprietor of the montaria, and the employer of its swarthy crew. He was Ralph Trevannion.
The young girl was his daughter, and bore her Peruvian mother's name, Rosa, more often pronounced by its diminutive of endearment, Rosita. The younger of the two boys--also of dark complexion--was his son Ralph; while the older, of true Saxon physiognomy and hue, was the son of his brother, also bearing his father's Christian name, Richard.
The second white man was unmistakably of European race,--so much so that any one possessing the slightest knowledge of the Hibernian type would at once have pronounced him a "Son of the Sod." A pure pug nose, a shock of curled hair of the clearest carrot colour, an eternal twinkle in the eye, a volume of fun lying open at each angle of the mouth, were all characteristics by which "Tipperary Tom"--for such was his sobriquet--might be remembered.
About the negro there was nothing special, more than that he was a pure neg
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(1867) Young Reader / Adventure(Survival)
R: * * *
Plot bullets
The Trevannion brothers, Ralph and Richard, go to South America to seek their fortunes as miners. They have an agreement, to go back home, when they have made enough money to reclaim the ancestral home.
After a while, Richard seeks adventure in the Amazonian forest. Fifteen years later , Ralph and his son and daughter, plan a to travel to Richard, so they can fulfill their agreement.
He and his family and a friend travel down the Amazon River. They have only a final leg of the journey to make, down the river Solimoes. The journey is undertaken, even though the proper number of paddlers and guides, could not be obtained.
One native Indian of the Mundurucu tribe, will prove to be the salvation of all. .He knows the Amazon and it's animals and plants. He knows how to survive in the jungle, and that knowledge will be needed before the journey ends.
Misfortune strikes the party as the boat leaves the river channel and is lost in the vast flooded Amazon basin. It is known as 'The Gapo'. This would be bad enough but a violent storm wrecks their boat and leaves them with perhaps hundreds of miles of water between themselves and any land.
They are trapped on a vast fresh water sea which has flooded to the tops of the forest trees. Those tree tops are their only refuge. They are indeed, 'Afloat in the Forest'.
Reid's adventures are in the vein of those young reader adventure stories that supply fast and continuous perils to the brave, honest and upright characters.
He also, like Vern and others, explains things and events in an almost almanac fashion. Not a plant, animal or event is left undocumented. So, the pace is peril, scientific insight and resolution. In this story it is the Indian's knowledge and the young boys elaboration from his education that inform.
R: * * *
Plot bullets
The Trevannion brothers, Ralph and Richard, go to South America to seek their fortunes as miners. They have an agreement, to go back home, when they have made enough money to reclaim the ancestral home.
After a while, Richard seeks adventure in the Amazonian forest. Fifteen years later , Ralph and his son and daughter, plan a to travel to Richard, so they can fulfill their agreement.
He and his family and a friend travel down the Amazon River. They have only a final leg of the journey to make, down the river Solimoes. The journey is undertaken, even though the proper number of paddlers and guides, could not be obtained.
One native Indian of the Mundurucu tribe, will prove to be the salvation of all. .He knows the Amazon and it's animals and plants. He knows how to survive in the jungle, and that knowledge will be needed before the journey ends.
Misfortune strikes the party as the boat leaves the river channel and is lost in the vast flooded Amazon basin. It is known as 'The Gapo'. This would be bad enough but a violent storm wrecks their boat and leaves them with perhaps hundreds of miles of water between themselves and any land.
They are trapped on a vast fresh water sea which has flooded to the tops of the forest trees. Those tree tops are their only refuge. They are indeed, 'Afloat in the Forest'.
Reid's adventures are in the vein of those young reader adventure stories that supply fast and continuous perils to the brave, honest and upright characters.
He also, like Vern and others, explains things and events in an almost almanac fashion. Not a plant, animal or event is left undocumented. So, the pace is peril, scientific insight and resolution. In this story it is the Indian's knowledge and the young boys elaboration from his education that inform.
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