The Lost City of Z

1) "Fawcett had determined that an ancient, highly cultured people still existed in the Brazilian Amazon and that their civilization was so old and sophisticated it would forever alter the Western view of the Americas. He had christened this lost world the City of Z. 'The central place I call 'Z'–our main objective–is in a valley... about ten miles wide, and the city is on an eminence in the middle of it, approached by a barreled roadway of stone,' Fawcett had stated earlier. 'The houses are low and windowless, and there is a pyramidal temple.'"

2) "From its source, the river descends sharply. As it gathers speed, it is joined by hundreds of other rivulets, most of them so small they remain nameless. Seven thousand feet down, the water enters a valley with the first glimmers of green. Soon larger streams converge upon it. Churning toward the plains below, the river has three thousand more miles to go to reach the ocean. It is unstoppable. So, too, is the jungle, which, owing to equatorial heat and heavy rainfalls, gradually engulfs the riverbanks. Spreading toward the horizon, this wilderness contains the greatest variety of species in the world. And, for the first time, the river becomes recognizable–it is the Amazon."

3) "Finally, in the nineteenth century, as the British Empire was increasingly expanding, several English scientists, admirals, and merchants believed that an institution was needed to create a map of the world based on observation rather than on imagination, an organization that detailed both the contours of the earth and everything that lay within them. And so, in 1830, the Royal Geographical Society of London was born. According to its mission statement, the Society would 'collect, digest and print... new interesting facts and discoveries;' build a repository of 'the best books on geography' and 'a complete collection of maps;' assemble the most sophisticated surveying equipment; and help launch explorers on their travels. All this was part of its mandate to chart every nook and cranny of the earth. 'There was not a square foot of the planet's surface to which Fellows of this Society should not at least try to go,' a later president of the institution vowed. 'That is our business. That is what we are out for.'"

4) "Poring through the log, I noticed a word on the margins of one page: 'DEAD.' I looked at it more closely and saw two other words alongside it. They spelled out 'DEAD HORSE CAMP.' Underneath them were coordinates, and I quickly flipped through my notebook where I had scribbled down the position of the camp from Exploration Fawcett. They were significantly different. For hours, I went through the diaries, taking notes. I thought there was nothing left to glean, when Rolette appeared and said that she wanted to show me one more item. She vanished into the back room, and I could hear her rummaging through drawers and cabinets, muttering to herself. After several minutes, she emerged with a photograph from a book. 'I don't know where I put it,' she said. 'But I can at least show you a picture of it.' It was a photograph of Fawcett's gold signet ring, which was engraved with the family motto, 'Nee Aspera Terrent'–essentially, 'Difficulties Be Damned.'"

5) "Colonel T. E. Lawrence–the celebrated desert spy and explorer better known as Lawrence of Arabia–had volunteered to go with Fawcett on his next journey in search of Z, but Fawcett was wary of choosing a companion with a powerful ego who was unaccustomed to the Amazon. As Fawcett wrote to a friend, '[Lawrence] may be keen upon S. American exploration but in the first place he probably requires a salary I cannot pay him and in the second place excellent work in the Near East does not infer the ability or willingness to hump a 60 lbs pack, live for a year upon the forest, suffer from legions of insects and accept the conditions which I would impose.' Fawcett told Jack that, instead of Lawrence, he could take part in the expedition. It would be one of the most difficult and dangerous expeditions in the history of exploration-the ultimate test, in Fawcett's words, 'of faith, courage, and determination.'"

6) "Originally, Fawcett had described Z in strictly scientific terms and with caution: 'I do not assume that 'The City' is either large or rich.' But by 1924 Fawcett had filled his papers with reams of delirious writings about the end of the world and about a mystical Atlantean kingdom, which resembled the Garden of Eden. Z was transformed into 'the cradle of all civilizations' and the center of one of Blavatsky's 'White Lodges,' where a group of higher spiritual beings helped to direct the fate of the universe. Fawcett hoped to discover a White Lodge that had been there since 'the time of Atlantis,' and to attain transcendence."