Mysteries Of The Rainforest You've Never Heard Of

May 2024 · 2 minute read

British explorer and cartographer Percy Fawcett vanished in the Amazon in 1925. Fawcett, a World War I veteran, was also known for his mapmaking expeditions to the Amazon. He spent most of his career searching for a sophisticated and ancient city he called "Z." Fawcett attempted to set out to look for Z several times but was always set back due to illness or lack of funds. Eventually, he secured the money he needed and set out with his son Jack, as well as Jack's friend, Raleigh Rimell.

The group departed from New Jersey in January 1925, and by April, they had reached Brazil, where Fawcett intended to search. They hired native guides and traveled on through the end of May, dealing with ticks and mosquitos. On May 29, Fawcett sent the guides back to the city of Cuiabá with a packet of letters. To his wife, Fawcett wrote of their son, "Jack is well and fit and getting stronger every day." He added the following, the last thing he wrote to his wife (via History): "You need have no fear of any failure."

By 1927, Fawcett and his party had not yet returned, and it is still unclear what happened to them. Many explorers followed him, looking for his party, and several of them disappeared as well. According to History, Fawcett considered the Amazon rainforest to be "the last great blank space in the world."

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunCAl21uaWxfosa0wMSroJ6rXaSzbsDHnmSrmZmjs7C%2BxKyrZrGfqsOmec2erZ6qXZ2yor7DZqafZw%3D%3D