The Life of My ChoiceWilfred Thesiger is the last of the great British eccentric explorers, a legendary figure, renowned for his travels through some of the most inaccessible places on earth. As a child in Abyssinia he watched the victorious armies of Ras Tafari returning from hand-to-hand battle, their prisoners in chains; at the age of twenty-three he made his first expedition into the country of the Danakil, a murderous race among whom a man's status in the tribe depended on the number of men he had killed and castrated. His widely acclaimed books, 'Arabian Sands' and 'The Marsh Arabs' tell of his two famous sojourns in the Empty Quarter and the Marshes of southern Iraq. But Thesiger's true character and motives have until now remained an enigma. In this, his autobiography, he highlights the people who most profoundly influenced him and the events which enabled him to lead the life of his choice. "One of the very few people who in our time could be put on the pedestal of the great explorers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries." "A treasure galleon built to the same specifications as 'Arabian Sands' and 'The Marsh Arabs' ... it is the record of a man magnificently and unabashedly out of step with his times." "He is, unquestionably, one of the greatest travellers the British have ever produced, the last of our recognizable primitives. He also writes with much distinction and honesty." |
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... Yaio insisted that the Awash ended in this lake and that it had no exit . I doubted this , after what I had seen of Aussa from Kulzikuma and more especially as the lake water was fresh ; so in the morning , despite his vigorous protests ...
... Yaio and Talahun suggested that we resume our march in the afternoon , I insisted that we must rest the camels : the last few days had tried them sorely and Yaio himself had warned me of bad marches ahead . Yaio , who never bore malice ...
... Yaio handed over the silver staff to the senior of the three headmen . I was sorry to part from Yaio , for I liked and respected him and was well aware of all that he had done for me . Without his good offices I should never have been ...
Contents
List of Maps | 7 |
Introduction | 15 |
Arrival in Addis Ababa | 23 |
Copyright | |
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