Contents

Browse through The Amazon Trail online manual for information about the program and about the Amazon itself. Whenever the arrow cursor changes to a hand, it is positioned over a hotspot. If you click, you see more information or jump to another topic.

Click on one of the topics listed here for more information.

How to get help from the online manual

How to play The Amazon Trail

What's on the menus

Technical information

Troubleshooting

Facts about the Amazon River Basin

Rainforest activities

Recommended reading


How to Play the Game
How to play The Amazon Trail

You must find cinchona and take it to the Inca King in Vilcabamba. As you play, read information carefully and make decisions based on what you read. Younger children may need help reading the information.

Getting started

Canoeing upriver

Exploring the rainforest

Visiting landmarks, and talking and trading with people

Ending your journey


Getting started

The Amazon Trail has buttons you click to help you play the game. Click on the hotspots in the picture below to find out what the game buttons are for.


Start upriver

Click here to begin your journey upriver.


Talk to your guide

This is the Guide button. Click here to consult with your guide about your journey. You can change your pace or rations or you can rest for awhile. Click Adiós to return to the game.


Consult with your guide

Click the Guide button to talk to your guide.

Click on the hotspots on the picture below for more information.


How are we doing?

Click here to see how long you've been traveling, what pace you are going, what rations you're eating, and how much food you have left. You can make decisions to change your pace or the amount of your rations based on this information.


Let's rest

Click here if you decide to rest; then choose how long to rest. Resting helps you recover from illness or injury.


Let's change our pace

Click here to change your traveling pace. You can choose either steady, strenuous, or grueling. The faster you travel, the more likely you are to get sick or injured.


Let's change our rations

Click here to change the amount of rations you want to eat. You can choose from bare-bones, normal, or filling. The faster you travel, the more food you'll eat.


Return to the game

Click here to return to the game.


Check your supplies

Click the Supplies button to check your supplies. Check your supplies to find out if you're running out of food or whether you have spare supplies to trade.

Click on the hotspots in the picture below for more information.


What supplies do you have?

It's very important to check your supplies. If you don't have a machete, you can't explore the rainforest. If you don't have a harpoon, you can't go fishing. If you're running out of food, you must find more by fishing or trading.


What have you collected for the Inca King?

Click here to see what you have collected for the Inca King. You can collect up to 16 items.


How to turn the pages

Click here to turn the pages.


Study the map

This is the Map button. Click here to see a map of the Amazon Basin. You can find out exactly where you are and how you're doing. If you're traveling in the wrong direction, you can turn around. Point the cursor at places along the rivers on the map to see the names of rivers and cities.


Consult the guidebook

Click on the Guidebook button to see the guidebook. It is full of useful information (and a few clues). You can read about plants, animals, people, places, trade items, and diseases.


Read the guidebook

Click on the Guidebook button to see the guidebook. It is full of useful information (and a few clues). You can read about plants, animals, people, places, items to trade, and diseases.

Click on the hotspots on the picture below for more information.


Stop it

Stop it! That tickles.


Help
Help!

Help! I'm drowning.


Table of Contents
Index

Click here to see the guidebook index listing all the major topics.


Listen

Click here and you can hear the guidebook entry being read to you.


Talk to people

This is the Talk button. Click here to talk to the two people at each landmark; then click on the questions you want answered. You can trade with either of the people if you think they have something you need or can give to the Inca King, such as cinchona. When you've finished talking to one person, click the Talk button again and you can question the second person.


Canoeing upriver

As you travel upriver, you can explore the rainforest, visit landmarks and talk to people, go fishing, or talk to your guide.

Click on the hotspots in the picture below for more information.


How healthy are you?

The shorter the red area on the health indicator, the less healthy you are! If you're sick, you can rest. If you're running out of food, you can get some by trading (at landmarks) or fishing (on the river).


How to canoe

Point the camera wherever you want to go and the canoe follows. You'll never run aground--your guide will make sure of that! Try to avoid the little disturbances in the water. They're either whirlpools or sunken logs that may capsize your canoe. If you think you are traveling in the wrong direction, study the map to see where you are and choose "Let's turn around."


Explore the rainforest

If you have a machete, click the Explore button to explore the rainforest.

Click on the hotspots in the picture below for more information.


Climb up

Click here to climb higher up into the canopy.


Climb down

Click here to climb down to the forest floor.

Note: When the arrow is dimmed like this, you are already on the forest floor and can go no lower.


Move left

Click here to move to the left in the forest.


Move right

Click here to move to the right in the forest.


What's in the rainforest

Watch for tiny movements betraying the presence of an animal. When you spot something, move the camera on top of it and click. If you "get" it, you'll see a close-up picture of the animal. You can also take photos of interesting vegetation.


What's in your supply basket?

This is the Supply button. Click here to check your supplies, see what you've collected for the Inca King, or check the contents of your photo album.


What's in your photo album?

When you identify a plant or animal, a photo of it is put in your album. Click the Photo Album button to see what's in your photo album. If you reach Vilcabamba, the Inca King gives you credit for each plant or animal in your album.

Click on the hotspots in the picture below for more information.


Identifying plants and animals

The Inca King gives you credit for any plants and animals you identify. The more photos you have in your album, the more jewels you will get on your shield!


Take a photo

Click with the camera to take photos and identify plants and animals.

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Return to River
Return to the river

Click here to continue your canoe journey.


Go fishing


How to go fishing

Click the Fishing button to try your hand at catching exotic fish. You must have a harpoon in your supplies to fish. Fishing (if you're successful) can supplement your food supplies. Aim the middle prong of the harpoon over the fish and click.

Click on the hotspots in the picture below for more information.


Keep it

Click here to keep the fish and add it to your food supplies. A photo of each fish you catch is put in your photo album.


Look it up

Click here if you're not sure whether the fish is safe to eat. Use the information in the guidebook to decide whether to keep the fish.


Release it

Click here if you think the fish is too dangerous to keep.


Visiting landmarks

As you travel upriver, you stop at landmarks. You can talk to two people at each landmark and trade with them if you wish. To talk, click on one of the questions. To trade, click on "Do you want to trade?"

Click on the hotspots in the picture below for more information.


Return to landmark

Click here to return to the landmark.


Who is this?

This is Captain Pedro de Teixeira. He is one of the two people at this landmark. To talk to the other person, click the Talk button.


Talk to the other person

Click here to talk to the other person at a landmark.


What would you like to know?

You can ask a series of questions to find valuable information that may help you with your quest.


What do you want?

It's a good idea to trade with the people at landmarks. You never know who may have cinchona or something else the Inca King wants. Simply click on the item you want.

Click on the hotspots in the picture below for more information.


How to trade

When you have clicked on the item you want:

1.	Browse through your possessions by clicking on the left- and right-arrows.

2.	Click on the item you are willing to trade.

3.	Click 1 (as in "I will trade 1 machete") to display a list of numbers.

4.	Click on the number representing the number of items you are willing to trade.

5.	Click "Is it a deal?". If your offer is accepted, click "It is a deal" and the item is added to your supplies. If the item is something the Inca King wants, it is added to the basket. If your offer is not accepted, increase the quantity of the item or try different trade items until you are successful.

Click on the hotspots in the picture below for more information.


Look at Your Posessions
Look at your possessions

Click here to browse through your possessions until you find an item you want to trade.


Choose a trade item

Click on the item you want to trade.


Don't trade after all

Click here if you decide not to trade.


Ending your journey

If you reach Vilcabamba, the Inca King honors you with a shield. If you have cinchona for the Inca King, your shield is gold; if you don't, your shield is bronze. The best eight shields are displayed in the Hall of Shields.

Click on the hotspots on the picture below for more information.


What's on Your shield
What's on your shield?

Jewels on the shield represent the plants and animals you identified, the items you collected for the king, and the people you talked to on your journey. The more jewels on your shield, the more valuable it is! Click on your shield and the Inca King will tell you about the jewels.


Return to the title screen

Click here to see the shields in the Hall of Shields and the dream scene before returning to the title screen.


Facts About the Amazon River Basin

The Amazon Basin is an amazing place. Click on one of the topics below to see interesting facts about the Amazon.

The rainforest

The Amazon River Basin

People and places of Amazonia

Fishing in the Amazon Basin


The rainforest

Vegetation along the banks of the Amazon River is very dense because it gets plenty of sunshine. That's why, in The Amazon Trail, you need a machete to go exploring. Further away from the banks of the river, the canopy blocks the sunlight (only 1% actually penetrates to the forest floor), so there is much less vegetation on the ground.

Animals living in the rainforest are well camouflaged and difficult to see. In fact, you are much more likely to hear them than see them. Until scientists began to use scaffold-and-rope systems to climb the trees, they couldn't study any of the animals living high in the canopy. As many as half of the earth's animal species may live in the rainforest canopies!

The entomologist (insect scientist) Edward O. Wilson once found 43 species of ants in one tree. Entomologists are continually discovering new species of insects in Amazonia.

It is very rare to see a snake, and even more rare to be bitten by one.

Rainforest soil is very poor because most of the nutrients are contained in the living plants. Leaf litter on the rainforest floor is usually only one inch deep, and topsoil is only two inches deep. In temperate forests, leaf litter can be a foot deep, and topsoil, seven feet deep.

No one knows for sure, but there may be as many as 800,000 plant species in the Amazon rainforests, about 16% of the world's total. Whereas North American forests have approximately 20 species of plant in a two-and-a-half acre area, the rainforest has between 40 and 50. It can be unusual to see two trees of the same species in one area.

Only 25% (one gallon out of every four) of the water in Amazonia ever leaves the basin; the rest evaporates and returns as rain. If this cycle of evaporation and precipitation is disrupted by cutting down too much of the rainforest, the rainforest will never be able to regenerate.


The Amazon River Basin

There are four basic types of rivers in the Amazon Basin:

•	White-water rivers are clear, pure rivers in the slopes of the Andes mountains.

•	Brown-water rivers slowly collect sediment. The Amazon river is a brown-water river.

•	Blue-water rivers are tributaries to the south of the Amazon river. They flow so slowly that the sediments sink to the bottom and collect in wide sections of the rivers.

•	Black-water rivers are tributaries to the north of the Amazon river. They get their dark brown/black color from rotting vegetation in the water. The vegetation usually sinks to the bottom in swampy areas before it reaches the main rivers.

At some points the Amazon River is more than 30 miles wide with many more islands and tributaries than appear in The Amazon Trail program. There are 10 tributaries over 10,000 miles long. One tributary, the Madeira River, is itself the fourth longest river in the world.

There is a lot of boat traffic on the Amazon River. Canoes are very common for covering short distances. Motorized boats are used for longer distances.

There are only two seasons in Amazonia: the dry season and the rainy season. Each lasts about six months. During the dry season, skies are clear for up to 10 hours each day and rain showers are brief. During the rainy season, skies are cloudy almost all the time and showers are heavy. There is so much rain that the level of the rivers can rise as much as 40 feet in the rainy season. Vast areas of the rainforest are flooded and navigation becomes more difficult.

The Amazon Basin is about the same size as the United States (without Alaska) or Europe. Twenty per cent of all the fresh water on earth (one gallon out of every five) is in the Amazon River. Some of that water comes from melting snow high in the Andes Mountains.


People and places of Amazonia

The pictures of the landmarks in The Amazon Trail do not always show how those landmarks look today; they convey a sense of how the landmarks may have looked during the historical period in which you visit them. The pictures are digitized versions of photos that were taken in the Leticia-to-Iquitos area of the river in 1992.

People in Amazonia speak many different languages. The official language of Brazil is Portuguese, and the official language of Peru is Spanish. There are dozens of Indian dialects; most are based on one of five main languages.

Trading is a way of life, especially for the caboclos (the people who live along the river). They commonly get things they need by trading fish or items that they collect in the rainforest.

The Amazon Basin's first inhabitants (commonly referred to as Indians) migrated there from the North about 10,000 years ago. There were between two and 15 million people in the Amazon Basin when the Europeans arrived in the sixteenth century. Today, only about 200,000 indigenous people remain. The rest died as a result of slavery, disease, and other disruptions to their societies. More than 90 Amazonian tribes have died out in the twentieth century.

Most destruction of the Amazon rainforest has occurred as the result of people trying to convert the Amazon's natural resources into monetary wealth. A few people, such as executives of big banks and corporations, do large-scale projects and, consequently, most of the destruction. Most people who move into Amazonia, however, are very poor. They move away from desperate poverty in other parts of Brazil and try to carve out a living from the rainforest. In most cases, their condition only worsens.


Fishing in the Amazon Basin

There are at least 2,000 species of fish in the rivers of the Amazon Basin. Many, including some that you encounter in the program, are commonly caught for food. Others are caught for the tropical fish market. The best place to see fish is at the fish markets in river towns.

Different species of fish live in different habitats and water depths. In The Amazon Trail, all the fish are mixed together.

Local people use a variety of methods to catch fish. Harpoons, spears, nets, and traps are all used. Some Indians use bows and arrows or make a potion that paralyzes fish.


Technical information

As you play, it's a good idea to save your game often. Although the sound and music are enjoyable, you may want to turn them off occasionally.

Choose a topic from the list below and you'll see detailed information about that topic.

How to save a game

How to load a saved game

Keyboard shortcuts


How to save a game

Why save a game?

•	If your computer unexpectedly breaks down, you won't have lost your game.

•	You may not have time to finish a game.

•	You never know when you might drown, succumb to yellow fever, or be captured by headhunters or conquistadors. If you saved your game, you can restart it at a point before disaster struck, change your strategy, and perhaps avert the disaster.

A good save strategy is to save your game at every landmark and name it after the landmark. That way you can return to a specific landmark and talk to the people there.

1.	Press Control-G, or pull down the File menu and choose Save Quest.

2.	Type a name, check the directory and then click OK or press Enter. If you type a name that is already being used, you will replace the older game with the one you are now saving. Click on the up- and down-arrows to see a complete list of your saved games.


How to load a saved game

If you want to play a game you previously saved, you can load it from the title screen. Here's how:

1.	Click on Load a Quest.

2.	Click on the name of the game you want to load, and then click OK (or press enter). If you decide not to load a game, click Cancel.

If you are in the middle of a game and decide to load a previously saved game, here's what to do:

1.	Pull down the File menu and choose Open a Saved Quest.

2.	Click on the name of the game that you want to load, and then click on the OK button (or press Enter). If you decide not to load a game, click on the Cancel button.


What's on the menus

At the top of the game screen are the four pull-down menus listed below. Click on one of the topics below for more information.

File menu

Game menu

Management menu

Help menu


File menu

New Quest	Starts a new game. If you are already in the middle of a game, you get a chance to save it before you start the new game.
Open a Saved Quest	Opens a saved game. If you were in the middle of playing a game, you see a dialog box where you can save that game before choosing another.  When you see the Open dialog box, double-click on the name of the game you want, or click on the game and then click OK.
Save Quest	Saves a game. 1. Type a name for your game in the dialog box. Check the directory. 2. Click OK. If you have saved a game with the same name before, you will replace the older game with the version that you are now saving. For instructions on going to another disk or folder, see your Microsoft Windows User's Guide.
Exit	Quits The Amazon Trail.


Game menu

Sound	Turns sound effects, including the guidebook entries, off and on.
Music	Turns the music off and on.
Time Out	Interrupts the game allowing you to take a break. When you are ready to continue, click on the Resume button.


Management menu

About Management	Summarizes the Management menu commands.
Enable Management	Displays a dialog box in which you enter the password (dream). After you use this command, its name changes to Disable Management. If you want to prevent people from using the Management menu commands, choose Disable Management.
Clear Hall of Shields	Lets you remove one or more shields from the Hall of Shields.
Options	Lets you do three things: Turn off the sound by disabling the commands on the Game menu. Turn off the music by disabling the commands on the Game menu. Adjust the length of time allowed for fishing. A shorter time makes fishing more challenging.
Change Password	This command lets you change the password (dream) to a word of your choice. Letters, numbers, and punctuation marks can be used. Spaces, tabs, and special keys (such as Shift and Control) cannot.


Help menu

About Amazon Trail	Lists the people at MECC who created The Amazon Trail and indicates the version number.
Online Manual	Gives detailed instructions for using the program.
Quick Help	Gives brief instructions for using the program.


Troubleshooting

Installing the Program

Problem	Solution
"Not enough hard disk space"	Make sure you have enough space available on your hard disk. The installation program shows the amount of hard disk space required. 1. Start the installation to check the amount of space required. When you find the information, press Esc to stop the installation. 2. Choose the File Manager icon from the Main group in the Program Manager. 3. Choose the icon for the drive you want to check. The number of bytes of free disk space is shown in the status bar at the bottom of the File Manager window. This number should be larger than the amount of space the installer indicates you need. (If the status bar does not appear, display it by choosing Status Bar from the Options menu.) 4. If there is not enough space, remove unneeded files from your hard disk and try installing The Amazon Trail again.
"Unknown" error message during installation	Data is not being transferred to your hard disk. This may be the result of a problem with your hard disk. Contact your computer dealer for assistance.
Starting and Using the Program

Problem	Solution
I installed The Amazon Trail, but it doesn't run.	You may have missed one of the installation steps. Follow the installation directions in the jewel case exactly.
The program is running very slowly.	Your system is probably low on memory. If the small light on your computer is lit often, you are probably low on memory. The light is lit when Windows swaps information to the disk to make more room for other information or rereads information from the disk. To speed up the program, you need to make more memory available by: • Closing other programs you have open or running. These programs may be using memory. • Consulting your Windows documentation for information on freeing up memory or optimizing Windows, if closing other programs does not speed things up.
The access time on my CD ROM is very slow. Is there anything I can do to improve it?	Sorry, no. The access time depends upon your CD drive.
In the Program

Problem	Solution
The Amazon Trail was running, but then it disappeared.	You may have clicked outside the game window. The game is still running, but it may be covered by another window. To return to your game, try one of these options: If you can see the edge of the game screen, click anywhere on the visible part of the game screen. Press Alt-Esc until the game screen appears and is active. Press and hold down the Alt key while pressing the Tab key to cycle through all of the open programs. Release the Alt key when you see The Amazon Trail icon.

Sound and Music

Problem	Solution
I don't hear any sound or music.	Make sure that the sound and music options are turned on. If they are, you see a check mark next to Sound and Music on the Game menu.
I turned on the Sound and Music, but I don't hear anything.	Check that you have a Microsoft-compatible sound card installed and that your sound device is set up properly for MIDI sound. If you are sure you have a sound card installed in your computer, you may not have installed the correct drivers for your card. To install the sound drivers for your sound card, follow the manufacturer's directions. (As a part of the Windows installation, the following sound drivers are installed: MIDI Mapper, Timer, [MCI] MIDI Sequencer, and [MCI] Sound.) To test your sound card and sound driver: 1. Go to the Windows Program Manager and open the Main Group. 2. Double-click on the Control Panel. Then double-click on MIDI Mapper. 3. Open the Name listing and select a name which includes the letters "FM" or "Ext FM." Then click on Close. 4. Select the File menu from the Program Manager, then select Run. 5. Type MPLAYER canyon.mid in the Command Line box and click OK. 6. Click on the Play button (the first lower left button) to play the music. To stop the song, click on the Stop button.  If your sound drivers are installed properly and the correct MIDI Mapper is selected, you should hear the song.  If you get an error message from windows ("There are no MIDI devices installed on the system" or "The current MIDI Mapper set-up refers to a MIDI device that is not installed on the system"), contact your sound card manufacturer for set-up instructions. If you can play the canyon.mid song in the Media Player, start The Amazon Trail program. If Music and Sound in the Game menu have check marks next to them, you should hear the sound and music for the program.


Keyboard Shortcuts

You can use these key combinations as shortcuts.

Control-G	Save your game
Control-X	Quit the program
Esc	From the dream sequence: Go to the title screen


How to Use the On-line Manual
How to get help from the online manual

Click text and hot spots

Whenever you see green underlined text, click that text and you'll jump to the page with information about that topic. It's a bit like an automatic page turner!

Whenever the cursor changes to a pointing hand, click and you'll magically see more detailed information, usually in a "pop-up" box.

Menu bar

Use the menu bar to get around in the online manual.

File lets you open the help file, print a topic from the online manual, change your print specifications, or exit from the program.

Edit lets you copy text to the clipboard or annotate a topic by adding comments.

Bookmark lets you mark a page in the online manual.

Help gives you access to detailed information about using Windows online help. Click Help and choose How to Use Help to see a Table of Contents. Click the topic you're interested in and you see detailed information.

Help file buttons

Contents lets you return to the table of contents.

Search lets you look for specific information in the online manual.

Back lets you return to the previous page of the online manual.

History lets you see a list of the Help screens you recently studied.

<<  >> let you browse through the Help topics.

Try a jump now. Click Contents to return to the list of contents, or click the Contents command on the menu bar.

Re-sizing the online manual window

You can keep the online manual open as you play The Amazon Trail. When the manual is open, re-size the window and move it out of the way.

To re-size the window:

1.	Point the mouse cursor at the re-sizing box in the lower right corner of the window (you see a double-headed arrow).

2.	Hold down the mouse button and drag until the window is the size you want.

To move the window:

1.	Point the mouse cursor at the Amazon Trail Manual title bar.

2.	Hold down the mouse button and drag the window to a convenient position on the screen.

Printing the manual

You can make printed copies of individual topics from the online manual. For instance, it may be helpful to print the list of activities.

To make a printed copy of a topic:

1.	Choose the topic you're interested in from the online manual's table of contents.

2.	Pull down the File menu and choose Print Setup.

3.	Check the printer options and change if necessary.

4.	Pull down the File menu and choose Print Topic.

Opening the manual

There are two ways for you to open the online manual:

1.	To open the manual when The Amazon Trail program is not running, open the File Manager and double-click the amazon2.hlp icon.

2.	To open the manual when The Amazon Trail program is running, pull down the Help menu and choose Online Manual.

Hint: For quick access, keep the manual open as you play.


Rainforest activities

If you enjoy The Amazon Trail, you may want to learn more about the real Amazon. Read on to learn about things you can do and books you can read.

Rainforest Activities

1.	Rainforest terrariums! Build a rainforest in a two-liter soda bottle. Use philodendron cuttings, potting soil, and water. Write to: Bottle Biology Project, University of Wisconsin, 1630 Linden Dr., Madison, WI 53706.

2.	Amazon adventure! Plan an Amazon trip. Contact travel agents to find out about trips there. Look for the March/April-1993 issue of Buzzworm -- The Environmental Journal. They have a directory of Ecotravel outfitters who lead Amazon expeditions.

3.	Letter writing! Write your public officials to find out what their position is on rainforest protection. Consult Barbara Lewis's book, The Kids' Guide to Social Action, 1991. It outlines projects and samples of letter writing for social causes. See also Betty Miles's book, Save the Earth: An Action Handbook for Kids. Alfred A. Knopf, 1991.

4.	Raise money for rainforests! Did you know that you can actually buy rainforest land? Contact Rainforest Rescue, c/o The National Arbor Day Foundation, 211 North 12th St., Lincoln, NE 68508.

5.	Get involved! Write to one of these organizations for more information about rainforests:

Center for Environmental Education: 624 9th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001

The Children's Rainforest: PO Box 936, Lewiston, ME 04240

National Wildlife Federation, International Programs: 1400 16th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036

Rainforest Action Network: 300 Broadway, Suite 28, San Francisco, CA 94133

Rainforest Alliance: 65 Bleeker St., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10012

World Wildlife Fund: 1250 24th St. NW, Washington, DC 20037.


Recommended reading

For Pre-Teens

Baker, Lucy. Life in the Rainforests: Animals, People, Plants. Franklin Watts, 1990. A reference book that addresses a number of rainforest topics.

Baptista, Lynne Hardie. Discover Rain Forests. Publications International, Ltd., 1992. A large, colorful book that introduces rainforest ecology.

Cherry, Lynne. The Great Kapok Tree. Gulliver Books, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990. An illustrated storybook that is considered a modern classic for younger readers.

Dorros, Arthur. Rain Forest Secrets. Scholastic, Inc., 1990. An illustrated introduction to rainforest concepts for younger readers.

Flora. Feathers Like a Rainbow: An Amazon Indian Tale. Harper Row, 1989. An enchanting retelling of an Amazonia myth.

Forsyth, Adrian. Journey Through a Tropical Jungle. Simon and Schuster, 1988. Description of a scientist's expedition in the rainforest of Costa Rica.

George, Jean Craighead. One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest. Simon and Schuster, 1988. An overview of life in the rainforest as seen in one 24-hour period.

Stone, L. Rain Forests. Rourke Corp., 1989. An introduction for 5th-8th graders.

Taylor, Barbara. Rainforest. A Dorling Kindersley - Look Closer Book, 1992. A colorful overview; one in a series of interesting new books.

Willow, Diane. At Home in the Rain Forest. Charlesbridge, 1991. A brief introduction to rainforests, with color illustrations.

For Older Kids and Adults

All of these books were used in doing research for The Amazon Trail.

Cowell, Adrian. The Decade of Destruction. Henry Holt and Company, 1990. An account of the work of the Villas Boas brothers, as well as reports on gold mining, rubber tapping, and cattle ranching in the 1980s.

Eu, Geoffrey, ed. Amazon Wildlife. APA Publications, 1992. An overview of Amazonia. Heavily illustrated. Includes information for tourists.

Goodman, Edward J. The Explorers of South America. University of Oklahoma Press, 1992. Stories of everyone from Francisco de Orellana to Gene Savoy.

Goulding, Michael. Amazon: The Flooded Forest. Sterling Publishing, 1990. Describes the phenomenon of flooded forests; includes detailed information on the fish and other animals that live in this ecosystem.

Hecht, Susanna, and Alexander Cockburn. The Fate of the Forest: Developers, Destroyers, and Defenders of the Amazon. Harper Collins Publishers, 1990. An account of what's happened from the sixteenth century to the present.

Kricher, John. A Neotropical Companion. Princeton University Press, 1989. A fact-filled book on the natural history of tropical rainforests in Central and South America.

McIntyre, Loren. Amazonia. Sierra Club Books, 1991. A blend of human history, natural history, and stunning photography.

Historical Adventures

Here's a list of books written by some of the characters in The Amazon Trail. A few of the books are relatively new or have been reprinted; these may be available at your bookstore. Most of the books are out-of-print and are available only at your library. These books may be hard to find, but the search is worth it. If you think Indiana Jones had some adventures in the Temple of Doom, wait 'til you read about Teddy Roosevelt on the River of Doubt!

Agassiz, Louis and Elizabeth. A Journey in Brazil. Fields, Osgood & Co., 1869.

Bates, Henry Walter. The Naturalist on the River Amazons. Penguin Books, 1988.

Fawcett, Col. P. H. Lost Trails, Lost Cities. Funk & Wagnalls Co., 1953.

Humboldt, Alexander von. Personal Narrative of Travels. . .(translated and edited by Thomasina Ross). Ayer, 1969.

Roosevelt, Theodore. Through the Brazilian Wilderness. Charles Scribner's & Sons, 1921.

Schultes, Richard E. Place Where God Reigns. Synergetic Press, 1988.

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