Our Search for a Wilderness, An Account of Two Ornithological Expeditions to Venezuela and British Guiana

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By Listen TheBook Posted on May 31, 2023

In Category - Exploration, Memoirs, Nature, Animals

Authors: William Beebe, Blair Niles In Year : 1910

Book Language: English

Audiobook: Our Search for a Wilderness, An Account of Two Ornithological Expeditions to Venezuela and British Guiana

Preface
The Land of a Single Tree, Pt. 1
The Land of a Single Tree, Pt. 2
The Lake of Pitch, Pt. 1
The Lake of Pitch, Pt. 2
A Woman's Experiences in Venezuela, Pt. 1
A Woman's Experiences in Venezuela, Pt. 2
Georgetown, Pt. 1
Georgetown, Pt. 2
Steamer and Launch to Hoorie Creek, Pt. 1
Steamer and Launch to Hoorie Creek, Pt. 2
A Gold Mine in the Wilderness, Pt. 1
A Gold Mine in the Wilderness, Pt. 2
A Gold Mine in the Wilderness, Pt. 3
Through the Coastal Wilderness, Pt. 1
Through the Coastal Wilderness, Pt. 2
The Water Trail from Georgetown to Aremu, Pt. 1
The Water Trail from Georgetown to Aremu, Pt. 2
Jungle Life at Aremu, Pt. 1
Jungle Life at Aremu, Pt. 2
Aremu Jungle Diary, Pt. 1
Aremu Jungle Diary, Pt. 2
The Life of the Abary Savannas, Pt. 1
The Life of the Abary Savannas, Pt. 2

In 1908-1909, Mary Blair Beebe and her husband, C. William Beebe made two private expeditions to Venezuela and British Guiana, exploring and collecting live birds for the New York Zoological Park. They then collaborated on a book about their "search for a wilderness," with Mary Blair doing the bulk of the writing. The Beebe's supplemented tropical birding with visits to gold mines in British Guiana and a lake of pitch, which was being mined in the middle of the Venezuelan jungle. Mary Blair's take on things is evident. "A word must be said here from the woman's point of view about the costume which was adopted as being absolutely suited to the bush life. In the first place it was light... and thus freed from the drag of heavy clothing one would come in unfatigued from tramps which would have been impossible for a woman in orthodox dress, no matter how short the skirt. In light khaki knickerbockers, loose negligee shirts of scotch flannel or fibrous cellular cloth, stockings and tennis shoes and a waterproof felt hat, one was ready for anything. One realized as never before with what handicaps woman has tried to follow the footsteps of man; with the result that physical exhaustion has robbed her of all the joys of life in the open." After her divorce from C. William in 1913, Mary Blair wrote several more travel books in the 1920's and 1930's under the pen name Blair Niles. - Summary by Sue Anderson