This is one of the very best books I have ever read about diamond prospecting in South America. It is a true adventure story of a young man who left civilized life in the West Indies and set out alone to prospect in the remote mountain ranges where the borders of Brazil, Venezuela and (what used to be called) British Guiana meet. His object: diamonds; his tools: shovels and a sieve; his companions: the Macoushi and Patamona Indians.
He lived with these Indians for some years, searching for diamonds in the beds of jungle streams and greatly enjoying the potent mixture of lotus-eating and spartan endurance that was his lot in the grandiose diamond country.
For the prospector and general reader, some of the fascination of this story lies in the life of the tribes: hunting with bow and arrow, fishing with traps, participating in their feasts, observing their taboos, and countless other aspects of tribal existence - including their mysterious sexual code. Then there are tropical storms and floods, snakes and animals, which are an ever-present danger in this country.
