: The Young Llanero: A Story of War and Wild Life in Venezuela by Kingston William Henry Giles - Venezuela Juvenile fiction

@FreeBooksTue 06 Jun, 2023

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The Young Llanero, A Story of War and Wild Life in Venezuela, by W.H.G. Kingston.

Kingston seems to be quite good at writing about South America. One wonders why he is so anti-Spanish, but as he was brought up living in Portugal this may have something to do with the matter.

We are taken on a tour round Venezuela .

So there is a change of location from New Granada and Peru, but we have the same problems with Indians, Spanish troops, boa constrictors, and other flora and fauna. There are also the usual friendly priest and ditto doctor.

There were 44 engravings in the book, most of which are very nice indeed, and their quality can be seen in the pdf we have produced for the book. We try to produce a pdf for every book we scan, as a first task, even before we start to OCR the text. It's a pity that because of the size of these pdfs we can't easily make them available on the website.

We hope you will enjoy the book as much as I have enjoyed making it for you.

THE YOUNG LLANERO, A STORY OF WAR AND WILD LIFE IN VENEZUELA, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.

THE HOME OF MY CHILDHOOD IN SOUTH AMERICA--MY FATHER'S HISTORY--SENT TO SCHOOL IN ENGLAND--LIFE AT SCHOOL--SUMMONED BACK TO AMERICA--VOYAGE WITH MY UNCLE TO JAMAICA--SAIL FOR VENEZUELA--CHASED BY A SPANISH MAN-OF-WAR--CROSS THE BAR OF THE MAGDALENA RIVER--DRIVEN ON SHORE BY A STORM--BOAT NEARLY WRECKED--OUR NIGHT ENCAMPMENT--REPAIR BOAT--A DEER SHOT--DISTURBED BY GOAHIRA INDIANS--FLIGHT--PURSUED--REACH THE PORT OF CERVANOS--MEET TIM MOLLOY--HIS DELIGHT AT SEEING US--HOSPITABLY RECEIVED BY THE COMMANDANT, BUT VERY INHOSPITABLY BY THE MOSQUITOES.

I should like to draw a picture, though I may succeed but imperfectly, of the grand scenery amid which I passed my childhood's days.

Far in the west rose upwards in the intense blue sky the snow-capped peaks of the Cordilleras, or Andes, of South America, with range beyond range of lofty mountains intervening, the more distant rugged and barren, the nearer clothed to their summits with trees, glittering cascades leaping down their side? from rock to rock; while here and there could be seen the openings of deep glens, at the bottom of which copious streams came rushing forth, forming the headwaters of the mighty Orinoco. Palms and other tropical trees surrounded our house, which stood on a slightly elevated plateau, below which appeared a shining lake of considerable dimensions fed by the mountain-streams, its waters finding an outlet at one end, and from whence they flowed in a more gentle current towards the western branch of the great river. Far to the east and north extended a vast plain, in some parts covered with dense forests, in others presenting an arid desert; while beyond were to be found the wide-stretching llanos of Venezuela, bordered on the south by the Orinoco.

The region I have described will be seen marked on the map, in the more northern part of the South American continent. It is, indeed, a grand country, abounding in valuable trees of various descriptions, and wild animals and game of all sorts--jaguars, pumas, tapirs, and peccaries; reptiles innumerable--alligators, anacondas, rattlesnakes; and birds of various species, from the majestic condor and towering eagle down to the diminutive humming-bird. But as I shall have to describe all sorts of curious adventures, in which they and other animals played conspicuous parts, I will not further particularise them at present.

As I was born in the country, it may be concluded that my father and mother resided there. To my father, Barry Desmond, might have been applied those touching lines of the poet Campbell:--

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