Published in 1952, explorer/adventurer Hassoldt Davis describes an expedition in French Guiana backed by France, UNESCO, the Explorers' Club, the New York Botanical Club, and others.The book is divided into three sections roughly equal in length. "The Damned" comes first, and describes the infamous penal colony of Devil's Island, where Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned, and which was popularized by a book and film called Papillon.
The remaining two sections describe the ascent by canoe of the Maroni River, which forms the border between French Guiana and Suriname. The expedition's goal was to reach the Tumuc-Humacs, a mountain range near the border with Brazil where El Dorado was once thought to be located.
The book includes a map, 16 pages of black-and-white photos, and a useful introduction by Lawrence Millman, who says that Davis had "a passion for the bizarre and the grotesque, a passion that was to become one of his trademarks."
Davis mentions lepers and vampire bats, pirhanas (whom they frequently ate "to their suprise"), a vomiting contest, a test of manhood involving wasps one-and-a-half inches long, the singing of anacondas and an encounter with one that was 27 feet long.
Although the expedition did not quite reach the Tumuc-Humacs, it succeeded in its secondary goal of producing a film that was later released by Warner Brothers as Jungle Terror.
The book sent me scampering to Wikipedia where I learned that French Guiana, once a colony, is now a part of France and the European Union, and the location of a French and European spaceport. The Euro is its official currency.
Hemingway
There are some obvious parallels between Davis and Hemingway. Both were heavy-drinking Americans who thirsted after risky adventure.
There are also some parallels between this book and The Green Hills of Africa. Both are written in the first person and set within a few degrees of the equator, though on different continents. Both men were accompanied by their second wives, and both marriages later came to an end. Davis drank cognac, Hemingway whiskey and German beer.
Unsurprisingly, they knew each other. However -- as Millman points out -- Hemingway "went to great lengths to prove that he was a war hero," while Davis actually was one. During WWII he fought with the Free French army in Africa and Europe, and was awarded the Legion of Honour and twice the Croix de guerre.
The cover shows a detail from "Tropical Forest" by Henri Rousseau.
