Cooped Up? Get Uncooped.

Peter Fleming is the brother of Ian Fleming (author of the Bond novels). While not a household name these days, Peter Fleming was quite famous and successful during his lifetime. One of his books, Brazilian Adventure, recounted a 3,000-mile journey he undertook in the Brazilian Amazon.

I am a sucker for dry British humor from the early to mid 20th century. Take, for example, these passages from Brazilian Adventure.

"I am as a rule easily and deeply impressed by the mumbo jumbo of learning. But about ten years ago I discovered, quite by chance, that the scientific name for the Harlequin Duck is Histrionicus histrionicus histrionicus; and ever since that day I have found it impossible, I don't know why, to treat ornithologists' Latin with the respect it deserves."

• birds
• flora
• fauna
• Amazon
• books
• adventure