In Pursuit Of Plants

Description

In Surinam plant hunter F.W. Hostmann allowed vampire bats to suck his toes; in west Africa William Grant Milne was forced to sell his clothes and travel naked for 200 miles; Thomas Drummond was attacked by a bear in the North American woods; George Forrest narrowly escaped rampaging lamas in western China; and, in Fiji, Berthold Seemann recorded which plants cannibals used as an accompaniment to human flesh. These and other incidents are recorded in this compilation of fascinating first-hand accounts of the experiences of nineteenth and early-twentieth-century collectors in their pursuit of plants from around the world. Extracted from journals and letters, some previously unpublished, the accounts are a mix of adventure, of sometimes grim but always captivating and occasionally humorous images of a lost world, and of stories of the practical problems associated with plant collecting.

Reviews

The narratives should appeal to both professional plant collectors and lovers of good adventure tales. -- Colin Boyle "Selbyana" (01/01/2005)