The Devil-Tree of El Dorado: A Novel

The Devil-Tree of El Dorado: A Novel

SHALL RORAIMA[1] BE GIVEN UP TO VENEZUELA? Shall Roraima be handed over to Venezuela? Shall the mysterious mountain long known to scientists as foremost among the wonders of our earthregarded by many as the greatest marvel of the worldbecome definitely Venezuelan territory? This is the question that hangs in the balance at the time these words are being written, that is inseparably associatedthough many of the public know it notwith the dispute that has arisen about the boundaries of British Guiana. Ever since Sir Robert Schomburgk first explored the colony at the expense of the Royal Geographical Society some sixty years ago, Roraima has remained an unsolved problem of romantic and fascinating interest, as attractive to the ordinary person as to the man of science. And to those acquainted with the wondrous possibilities that lie behind the solution of the problem,[vi] the prospect of its being handed over to a country so little worthy of the trust as is Venezuela, cannot be contemplated without feelings of disappointment and dismay. This is not the place in which to give a long description of Roraima. It will suffice here to say that its summit is a table-land which, it is believed, has been isolated from all the rest of the world for untold ages; no wilderness of ice and snow, but a fertile country of wood and stream, and, probably, lake. Consequently it holds out to the successful explorer the chancethe probability evenof finding there hitherto unknown animals, plants, fish. In this respect it exceeds in interest all other parts of the earths surface, not excepting the polar regions; for the latter are but ice-bound wastes, while Roraimas mysterious table-land lies in the tropics but a few degrees north of the equator. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 43944
Author: Aubrey, Frank
Release Date: Oct 13, 2013
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Illustrator: Ellis, Leigh , Hyland, Fred