Given the emptiness of the glass, I think it’s more likely she’s calling for more rather than toasting to our health. Rather scandalous behavior, I’d say.
Her name is Madelein, Maddy to her friends, and normally she’s quiet and composed, as a proper Irish lass should be, or try to be anyway. She’s with her girl friends tonight however, and can be excused a little rowdy behavior, especially given the news that she had been accepted. Accepted? Accepted for what? you may well ask. Well, there’s a story here alright, one of those where we just don’t know how it ends but hope it turned out well.
The year before (1921) one of her best friends, Julia, who was gifted with more audacity than most of us combined, proposed to the National Geographical Union an expedition up the Amazon to find a never-before visited tribe of indigenous folk called the Urubanti. The men of the Union took a lot of convincing before they agreed to sponsor the effort, particularly because Julia insisted there be no males in the group. This, of course, was not only unheard of by the august society of international travelers and adventurers, machos all, but by anyone at all anywhere else. Just how Julia got these guys to back her is a story in itself, one that if you heard it would leave you with little doubt that she could indeed pull off such a dangerous exploit.
In any case, the next morning Maddy would be meeting the rest of the explorers on board the “Valiant”, a cargo ship that normally hauled bananas and coffee from Brazil to whoever would pay the best prices in Europe. It wasn’t the most comfortable of vessels to be sure and the sailors who worked aboard her weren’t all too sure it was a good idea to have so many young ladies aboard. But that was a decision for the Captain to make, not them, so they had no choice.
Now from here on the story becomes a bit murky and I have heard several versions. The most likely, and the one I want to believe, is summed up in the following few sentences. The women did indeed make it to the port city of Belem, as we know from more than a few eye witnesses. From there they steamed upriver to the fabled city of Manaus, where they were going to spend some time in the local forest acclimatizing and learning what they needed to know in order to survive the daunting rigours of the infamous Amazon rainforest. They hired a well-known local guide, a reputable man well trusted and vastly experienced in life and travel in the jungle, to teach and accompany them as far as the small tributary that would lead them eventually (they hoped) to the Urubanti. At this juncture it is believed that the guide felt responsible for the women and probably accompanied them upstream.
No one ever saw him, or the women, again.
On a final note, one that gives me some hope for a not so tragic outcome is that several years later there was circulated in Manaus, and many of the towns and villages upriver, a rumor of a white woman called “A Rainha Branca” (The White Queen) who lived with her princesses far into the dark forest. Normally, I wouldn’t lend much credence to such stories except that several variations actually called that queen “Madeena”.
Some might say I’m reading too much into that. Perhaps they’re right.
(Remember and honor the intrepid Maddie with this card!)
New Old Photo of the Week
I’ve scanned hundreds of old slides in the last few months and continue to find a gem here and there. This week I moved on to California, a state I know well and have explored thoroughly. Let’s see what pops up . . .
(Santa Cruz Boardwalk on a summer day - © 2020 David Ryan )
The 2-Sentence Novel
© David Ryan 2023
Putt Putt
Making a bet that he could cross the U.S with his new environmentally friendly car and one tank of gas was perhaps a bit rash.
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