Travel Stories PDF

Graham Greene
Michael Palin
Eric N ew by
Bill Bryson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Ewan McGregor and

Charley Boorman
Travel Stories
_____
Contents
M acm illan L iterature C ollections 4
In tro d u ctio n 6
U sing a dictionary 10
T h e genre of Travel 12
T h e Lawless Roads 15
by G rah am G reene
A journey across Mexico on a mule leads to exhaustion and illness
Himalaya 40
by M ichael Palin
Following in the footsteps of the men who climbed Mount Everest
T h e Land of the Camels 71

by Eric N ew by
Travelling by car through northern India to experience a religious
festival
H am m erfest 99
by Bill Bryson
Two long weeks in Norway waiting to see the Northern Lights
T he A m ateur Emigrant 124

by R obert Louis Stevenson
Sailing from Scotland to the USA in 1879
Long Way R ound 170

by Ewan M cG regor and C harley B oorm an
Riding motorbikes to a life-changing encounter with
Mongolian street children
Essay questions 198

Glossary 200
Language study index 212
Macmillan Literature Collections
Welcome to Macmillan Literature Collections - a series of advanced-level
readers containing original, unsimplified short stories or extracts from full
texts, written by famous classic and modern writers. Travel Stories contains
extracts from published travel journals.
Each collection in the series includes:
Introd u ction
- an introduction to the extract or short story
- tips for reading authentic texts in English
- an introduction to the particular genre in the collection
T h e extracts
Each extract is presented in three parts: the introduction and pre-
reading support material; the extract; and post-reading activities. Each
introduction includes the following sections:
- About the author - in-depth information about the author and their
work
- About the extract - information about the extract, including
background information about setting and cultural references
- Summary - a brief summary of the extract that does not give away
the ending.
P re-reading a ctivities
- Key vocabulary - a chance to look at some of the more difficult
vocabulary related to the main themes and style of the extract
before reading the extract
- Main themes - a brief discussion of the main themes, with questions
to keep in mind as you read.
4 | Macmillan Literature Collections

T h e extract
You will find numbered footnotes in the extracts. These explain
cultural and historical references, and key words that you will need to
understand the text. Many of these footnotes give definitions of words
which are very formal, old-fashioned or rarely used in modem English.
You will find more common, useful words and phrases from the extracts
in the Glossary at the end of the book. Words included in the Glossary<
will appear in bold.
P ost-reading activities
- Understanding the extract - comprehension questions that will help
you make sure you have understood the extract
- Language study - a section that presents and practises key linguistic
and structural features of authentic literary texts (you will find an
index of the areas covered at the end of the book)
- Literary analysis - discussion questions that guide you to an in-depth
appreciation of the extract, its structure, the people it is about and
its style.
In addition, at the end of each book there are:

- suggested Essay questions
- a comprehensive Glossary highlighting useful vocabulary from each
extract
- an index for the Language study section.
Macmillan Literature Collections | 5

Introduction
What is an extract?
A n extract is a piece of text taken from a novel or journal. In this
collection the extracts are usually between 1,000 and 20,000 words
long. They can usually be read quite quickly. They often concentrate
on one central event, have a limited number of characters, and take
place within a short space of time.
How to use these books

You can use these books in whatever way you want. You may want to
start from the beginning and work your way through. You may want
to pick and choose. The Contents page gives a very brief, one-line
introduction to each story to help you decide where to start. You may
want to learn about the author and the extract before you read each
one, or you may prefer to read the extract first and then find out more
about it afterwards. Remember that the extracts and exercises can be
challenging, so you may want to spend quite a long time studying each
one. The most important thing is to enjoy the collection - to enjoy
reading, to enjoy the extracts and to enjoy the language that has been
used to create them.
A n sw er k eys
In many cases you can check your answers in the extract by using the
page references given. However, an Answer key for all the exercises is
available at www.macmillanenglish.com/readers.
6 | Macmillan Literature Collections: Introduction

Reading authentic literary texts in English
Reading authentic literary texts can be difficult. They may contain
grammatical structures you have not studied, or expressions and sayings
you are not familiar with. Unlike graded readers, they have not been
written for language students. The words have been chosen to create a
particular effect, not because they are easy or difficult. But you do not
need to understand every word to understand and enjoy the extract.
W hen you are reading in your own language, you will often read so
quickly that you skip over words, and read for the general effect, rather
than the details. Try to do the same when you are reading in English.
Remember that looking up every word you don’t know slows you down
and stops you enjoying the extract.
W hen you are reading authentic extracts, remember:
- It should be a pleasure!
- You should read at your own pace.
- Let the extract carry you along - don’t worry about looking up every
word you don’t understand.
- Don’t worry about looking up difficult words unless they stop you
from understanding the extract.
- Try not to use the Glossary or a dictionary when you are reading.
You might want to make a note of words to look up later, especially
key words that you see several times (see Using a dictionary on page 10
for more tips on looking up and recording new words). But remember,
you can always go back again when you have finished the extract. T hat
is the beauty of reading extracts - they are short! You can finish one
quite quickly, especially if you do not worry about understanding every
single word; then you can start again at the beginning and take your
time to re-read difficult passages and look up key words.
Macmillan Literature Collections: Introduction | 7

Preparing yourself to read authentic literary texts
It is always a good idea to prepare yourself, mentally, before starting
to read an authentic literary text.
- Look at the title. W hat does it tell you? W hat do you expect the
extract to be about?
- If there is a summary, read it. This will help you follow the extract.
- Quickly read the first few paragraphs and answer these questions:
W here is it set?
W hen is it set?
W ho is the main character?
- As you read, concentrate on following the gist (the general idea) of
the extract. You can go back and look at the details later. You can
use the questions at the end of the extract (see Understanding the
extract) to help you understand what is happening.
Tips for dealing with difficult passages

Some of these extracts include particularly difficult passages. They are
usually descriptive and give background information, or set the scene.
They are generally difficult to follow because they are full of detail. Try
to read these passages quickly, understanding what you can, and then
continue with the extract. Make a note of the passage and come back
to it later, when you have finished the whole extract.
If, at any time, you are finding it difficult to follow the extract,
go back to this difficult passage. It may hold the answers to your
questions. Read through the passage again carefully and underline all
the unknown words. Try to understand as much as you can from the
immediate context and what you now know about the extract. Then,
look up any remaining words in the Glossary at the back of the book,
or in your dictionary.
8 | Macmillan Literature Collections: Introduction

Tips for dealing with difficult words
- Decide if the word (or phrase) is important to the overall message.
Read the whole paragraph. Do you understand the general meaning?
Yes? T hen the word isn’t important. Don’t worry about it. Keep
reading!
- If you decide the word is important, see if you can work out its
meaning from the context. Is it a verb, a noun or an adjective? Is *
it positive or negative? How would you translate it into your own
language? Underline the word or make a note of it and the page
number, but keep reading. If it really is important, you’ll see it
again.
- If you keep seeing the same word in the extract, and you still can’t
understand it, look in your monolingual dictionary!
Macmillan Literature Collections: Introduction | 9

Using a dictionary
Looking up words
Before you look up the word, look at it again in its context. Decide
what part of speech it is. Try to guess its meaning from the context.
Now look it up in your dictionary. There may be more than one
definition given. Decide which one is the most appropriate. If the word
is something very specific, eg the name of a flower or tree, you can use
a bilingual dictionary to give you the exact translation.
Let’s look at how this works in practice. Look at this short extract
and follow the instructions below.
...th e re is a little valley or rather lap of land am ong high hills, w hich is one of
th e quietest places in th e whole world. A small brook glides through it, w ith just
m urm ur enough to lull one to repose*
*literary : sleep or rest
The Legend o f Sleepy Hollow by W ashington Irvine
1 Look at the words in bold and decide what part of speech they are -
noun, verb, adjective, etc.
2 Try to guess what they might mean.
3 Look at the extracts below from the Macmillan English Dictionary for
Advanced Learners. Choose the most appropriate definition.
W ords w ith m ore th a n one en try brook1 noun
Som etim es the same word belongs a small river
brook2 verb
to more th an one word class: for n ot brook - to definitely not allow or accept
example, brook can be bo th a nou n something
and a verb. Each word class is shown lap1 noun
1 the top half of your legs above your knees
as a separate entry. T h e small num ber when you sit down
at the end of the head-word tells you 2 one complete turn around a course in a race
th a t a word has more th a n one entry. - ► mfrm in the lap of luxury in very
comfortable and expensive conditions
Idiom s and fixed expressions lap2 verb
Some words are often used in idioms if an animal laps water, it drinks it gently with
its tongue
and fixed expressions. These are shown lull1 noun
at the end of the entry, following the a quiet period during a very active or violent
small box th at says PHRASE. situation
lull2 verb
W ords w ith m ore th a n one m eaning - ► 1 to make someone feel relaxed and confident
so that they are not prepared for something
M any words have more th an one
unpleasant to happen to lull someone into a false
m eaning, and each different m eaning sense of security
is shown by a number. 2 to make someone relaxed enough to go to
sleep
Dictionary extracts adapted from the Macmillan English Dictionary © 2002 Macmillan Publishers Ltd
www.macmillandictionaries.com
10 | Macmillan Literature Collections: Using a dictionary

Keeping a record
W hen you have looked in your dictionary, decide if the word is
interesting or useful to you. If it is, make a note of it, and write down
its definition. Make a note of the sentence where you found it in the
extract, then write one or two more examples of your own. Only do
this for those words you think you will need to use in the future.
Here is an example of how you might record the word lull
j. . _ „ _ _ _ _ _ „ _ _ _ ^
i (wdhJust m a t m / t erouqh to lull o p e to repose*
I lull - to Mike you feel related erouqh to qo to sleep
j eq The quiet sound o f the waves lulled Me to sleep.
| T he mother sa.vq to her baby to lull it to sleep. J
Literary analysis
The Literary analysis section is written to encourage you to consider the
extracts in more depth. This will help you to appreciate them better
and develop your analytical skills. This section is particularly useful
for those students Ayho are studying, or intending to study, literature in
the medium of English. Each section includes literary terms you may
or may not be familiar with.
Macmillan Readei^ website

For more help with understanding these literary terms, and to find
Answer keys to all the exercises and activities, visit the Macmillan
Readers website at www.macmillanenglish.com/readers. There you
will also find a wealth of resources to help your language learning in
English, from listening exercises to articles on academic and creative
writing.
Macmillan Literature Collections: Using a dictionary | 11

U sing a dictionary
Looking up words
Before you look up the word, look at it again in its context. Decide
what part of speech it is. Try to guess its meaning from the context.
Now look it up in your dictionary. There may be more than one
definition given. Decide which one is the most appropriate. If the word
is something very specific, eg the name of a flower or tree, you can use
a bilingual dictionary to give you the exact translation.
Let’s look at how this works in practice. Look at this short extract
and follow the instructions below.
...th e re is a little valley or rather lap of land am ong high hills, w hich is one of
the quietest places in the whole world. A small brook glides through it, w ith just
m urmur enough to lull one to repose*
*literary: sleep or rest
The Legend o f Sleepy Hollow by W ashington Irvine
1 Look at the words in bold and decide what part of speech they are -
noun, verb, adjective, etc.
2 Try to guess what they might mean.
3 Look at the extracts below from the Macmillan English Dictionary for
Advanced Learners. Choose the most appropriate definition.
W ords w ith m ore th an one en try b r o o k 1 noun
Som etim es the same word belongs a small river
b r o o k 2 verb
to more th an one word class: for not brook - to definitely not allow or accept
example, brook can be both a noun something
and a verb. Each word class is shown la p 1 noun
1 the top half of your legs above your knees
as a separate entry. T h e small num ber when you sit down
at the end of the head-word tells you 2 one complete turn around a course in a race
th at a word has more th an one entry. p h rase in the lap of luxury in very
comfortable and expensive conditions
Idioms and fixed expressions la p 2 verb
Some words are often used in idioms if an animal laps water, it drinks it gently with
its tongue
and fixed expressions. These are shown lull1 noun
at the end of the entry, following the a quiet period during a very active or violent
small box th at says PHRASE. situation
lull2 verb
W ords w ith m ore th an one m eaning - ► 1 to make someone feel relaxed and confident
so that they are not prepared for something
Many words have more th an one
unpleasant to happen to lull someone into a false
meaning, and each different m eaning sense of security
is shown by a number. -► 2to make someone relaxed enough to go to
sleep
Dictionary extracts adapted from the Macmillan English Dictionary © 2002 Macmillan Publishers Ltd
10 | Macmillan Literature Collections: Using a dictionary

The genre of Travel
What is travel writing?
Travel writing usually describes the experiences of a person in a region
or country which is not their own. Sometimes, the writing focuses on a
journey rather than a place. For example, in this book, the chapters from
The Amateur Emigrant by Robert Louis Stevenson describe a journey by
boat from Scotland to N orth America. The focus is on the conditions
on the boat and the people that Stevenson meets. The other extracts in
this collection are a mixture of the authors’ travel experiences, using a
variety of transport, and their observations on the country, or countries,
they visit.
All the extracts in this collection are non-fiction and are written
in the first person. This means that we often learn as much about the
authors as we do about the places they visit.
The purposes of the journeys in this book are varied. Stevenson
travelled to America to be with his future wife and, at the same time,
he wanted to experience and write about sea-travel from an ordinary
man’s perspective. Graham Greene travelled because he had been
commissioned to write about Mexico. Eric Newby loved travelling
and enjoyed revisiting interesting places and writing about them. Bill
Bryson is a travel writer but also writes entertainingly in other genres.
Michael Palin is a talented writer but he is probably better known as an
actor and television presenter; he was commissioned to make a travel
programme for television. Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor are
long-time friends and established actors who were commissioned to
make a TV programme about their travels and who later wrote about
their experiences.
Why do we like travel writing?

People enjoy travel writing because they can ‘visit’ new places from the
safety and comfort of their own home. They can share in the author’s
experiences, enjoying the advantages and avoiding the disadvantages
of travel. All of the extracts included here describe the discomforts
as well as the pleasures of travel: Stevenson shows us seasickness and
crowded sleeping areas; Greene describes the pain of riding on a mule
for hours in terrible heat; Newby portrays the frustrations of trying
12 | Macmillan Literature Collections: The genre of Travel

to repair a car in India; Palin, Bryson, McGregor and Boorman all
describe the difficulties of coping with extreme cold.
However, the writers also describe beautiful landscapes and
interesting encounters with local people. As readers, we can share in
the authors’ discoveries and adventures. We can also learn something
about the history of the places visited. In other words, travel writing
is a complex genre which can teach us about many different topics -
geography, history, politics and human behaviour. #
Travel writing in English

Early travel writing in English was often the result of exploration:
people went to find new lands or explore known lands further.
Sometimes, these explorers recorded their adventures in the form of
a diary or journal. Later, they would turn their notes into an article
or a book. A well-known example of this is the diary kept by Captain
Scott who died in 1912 on an expedition to the South Pole. His diary
provided a record of his trip and an inspiration to future explorers.
In the 18th century, British writers such as Samuel Johnson, Laurence
Sterne and Mary Wollstonecraft found inspiration in travel for both
their fiction and non-fiction works.
In the 19th century, Charles Dickens combined writing fiction with
essays about his travels in Europe and N orth America. American
writers such as James Fenimore Cooper, Mark Twain and Henry James
also wrote about their travel experiences in the U SA and elsewhere.
By the 20th century, travel writing was an accepted and popular
genre. D.H. Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh, Laurens van der Post, Wilfred
Thesiger, Lawrence Durrell, Paul Theroux, Colin Thubron and Bruce
Chatwin are only some of the many authors who have written about
their experiences in other countries.
The extracts in this collection range in time from the mid 19th
century to the first decade of the 21st century. Robert Louis Stevenson
wrote interesting travel literature but he is better known for his works
of fiction, especially Treasure Island and Drjekyll and Mr Hyde. Graham
Greene is another ‘literary’ writer, known for works such as The Third
Man and The Power and the Glory, but his travel work is among the
best in the genre.
Macmillan Literature Collections: The genre of Travel | 13

Eric Newby is the only writer in this collection who wrote only
about travel. His book A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush (1958) became
a model for many younger travel writers. The American Bill Bryson
writes in many different genres - biography, science, history, language
and literature - and his travel writing reflects his many and varied
interests. Finally, the extracts by Michael Palin and Ewan McGregor
and Charley Boorman show the increasing interest of the public in film
and television: the men were commissioned to film their experiences
before they wrote about them.
14 | Macmillan Literature Collections: The genre of Travel

The Lawless Roads
by Graham Greene
About the author

4
Graham Greene was bom in 1904 in Hertfordshire in England, the

fourth of six children in an influential wealthy family. As a boy, Graham
attended Berkhamsted School where his father was headmaster. Bullied
at school, the young writer was so unhappy that he ‘self-harmed’ -
cutting himself - and even tried to kill himself several times. Aged 15,
he was sent to a psychoanalyst in London for six months, to help him
overcome his difficulties.
W hen he left school, Greene went to Oxford University to study
modern history. In his autobiography, A Sort of Life, Greene remembers
his days at university as a time of debt, drink and political debate -
at one point, he joined the Communist party. W hilst at university
he published various poems and stories and wrote his first novel,
Antony Sant. He was also editor of the Oxford Outlook. W hen he left
university, Greene became a journalist, working first for a local paper
in Nottingham, and then as sub-editor for The Times. W hile Greene
was in Nottingham, he met and fell in love with a Catholic woman,
Vivien Dayrell-Browning, who had written to him about some errors
in his writing about Catholicism. In 1926, Greene became a Catholic
himself. The following year, he and Vivien were married. The couple
had two children - Lucy Caroline and Francis.
Graham Greene travelled widely throughout his life and his books,
both fiction and non-fiction, are set in a wide range of countries.
He admitted that he actively looked for adventure in areas of conflict.
In 1935 he made a journey across Liberia in Africa which he describes
in Journey without Maps. In 1938 he was commissioned to visit Mexico
in order to report on the religious persecution there. As a result, he
wrote The Lawless Roads and later, his novel The Power and the Glory,
which is about a persecuted priest in Mexico. Greene also reported on
other conflicts and difficult political situations - his work took him
to Vietnam during the Indochina War, Kenya during the Mau Mau
outbreak and Poland during Stalin’s rule.
The Lawless Roads | 15

In 1940, Greene became editor of The Spectator, a weekly magazine
focused on political and current events. He also worked for the Foreign
Office which sent him to Sierra Leone in 1941-43. One of his major
post-war novels, The Heart of the Matter, is set in West Africa.
Greene also wrote screenplays, including those for many of his own
books. His books were made into popular films, including Brighton Rock
(1938), The End of the Affair (1951), The Honorary Consul (1973), and
The Human Factor (1978). His most famous film is The Third M an,
for which he wrote the screenplay. Set in Vienna after the Second
World War, it has many of the characteristics of G reene’s writing:
a background of conflict involving different countries, alienated
characters, intrigue and preoccupation with moral choices.
Greene was a friend of the British spy Kim Philby and some people
have suggested that Greene himself may also have been involved in
espionage - trying to find out military or political secrets about African
countries during his time there, working for the British government.
He joked about his Intelligence1 activities which he said were trivial.
A reflection of his attitude can be seen in Our Man in Havana (1958),
in which the hero pretends that drawings of a vacuum cleaner are of a
deadly secret weapon.
In 1948, Graham and Vivien separated. Although Greene had
relationships with other women in his life after this, he remained
married to Vivien for the rest of his life.
A colourful and controversial character, Graham Greene always
refused to define himself politically. Although his books sometimes
reflect anti-Americanism (such as The Quiet American, 1955), and he
had some sympathy for left-wing regimes, he always denied having any
definite political sympathies. Above all, he was a supporter of oppressed
people everywhere and a clear-eyed observer of human behaviour in
extreme circumstances.
In his later years, Greene lived in Antibes, in the south of France,
and continued to write prolifically. In 1986, he was given the British
honorary award the Order of Merit. In 1990, he moved to Switzerland
with his companion Yvonne Cloetta. He died in Vevey, Switzerland,
in 1991.
1 a government organization th at collects information about the secret plans and

activities of a foreign government, enemy etc; information collected about the secret
plans and activities of a foreign government, enemy etc
16 | The Lawless Roads

About the extract
The Lawless Roads was published in 1939. This excerpt is from Chapter
7 titled ‘Into Chiapas’. In 1938, Greene was commissioned to visit
Mexico to report on the religious persecution there. As a result, he
wrote The Lawless Roads and later his novel The Power and the Glory
(1940).
4
Background information
M ex ico in th e 1 9 3 0 s
Greene visited Mexico at a time of religious persecution - the
government of President Calles was taking away people’s homes, using
violence and even murdering people for their religious beliefs. Greene
told the Mexican authorities that he was a tourist who wanted to visit
the ruins at Palenque. In fact, he had been commissioned to visit the
only two states left - Chiapas and Tabasco - where many of the Catholic
churches had been destroyed, and the priests had been forced to leave
or shot. Greene intended to discover the extent of the persecution of
the Church and its effect on ordinary people. As a foreigner, he was
considered ‘undesirable’ under Clause 33 of the Mexican Constitution,
and he could have been expelled from the country. Greene found his
travels in Mexico extremely hard, physically and emotionally, as we
can see from the extract.
P alenqu e
Today, Palenque is known for its ancient Mayan ruins and is very
popular with tourists. W hen Greene went there, they were in a state of
neglect and in any case he felt too exhausted and ill to appreciate them.
W hen he arrived in Chiapas, Greene intended to stop pretending
that he wanted to go to Palenque. However, his Spanish was not good,
and it took a long time to explain that he wanted to go to the city of
Las Casas and not to Palenque. He tried to find a guide to take him
to Yajalon, which was on the route to Las Casas, but nobody wanted
to take him there. Finally, he agreed to be guided to Palenque instead.
The storekeeper told him there was a German-American there with a
beautiful daughter and a fine finca or property. Greene doubted this -
he had heard a similar story since leaving Mexico City - he had been
promised there would be a guide for Yajalon when he returned from
Palenque. After an uncomfortable night in the town of Salto, Greene
set off the next day to Palenque.
Summary
It may help you to know something about what happens in the
extract before you read it* This summary does not tell you every
detail but should help you understand the general meaning.
After an uncomfortable night in the tiny town of Salto, Greene sets
off early in the morning with his guide. They travel by mule, an animal
like a small horse used for carrying heavy loads. The route takes them
across a bare, exposed plateau - a long stretch of flat, high land. There
is very little shade and only a few patches of forest. It is very hot and
Greene’s cheap helm et (or protective hat) is useless against the heat.
Riding the mule is extremely uncomfortable. After six hours, they
reach a couple of huts. Greene wants to stay the night. But after half
an hour’s rest, the guide, who has never been to Palenque and only
knows the general direction, wants to continue. Greene does not
remember very much about the rest of the journey but it seems to go
on forever. His head and body ache and his mind is empty. The ways
eventually divide and the guide tells Greene that one way leads to
the German finca and the other to Palenque. Greene doesn’t believe
the finca exists so he chooses the path to Palenque. N ight falls and
the journey continues. Eventually, they see an abandoned cemetery
and a big ruined church. They have arrived in Palenque. They are
very thirsty and try to quench their thirst with warm beer and tequila.
They sleep in the local schoolmaster’s hut, beside the ruined church.
Greene, who has a fever, has a very uncomfortable night.
The next morning, still sick from the journey, Greene has to get
back on his mule for two and a half hours in order to reach the ruins.
After looking at one or two temples he can’t go on. He struggles to a
hut without walls and lies down. He isn’t certain what happens next.
The guide and the Indian who guards the ruins are worried about
him. They take him to another hut and give him coffee. Greene only
wants to sleep but the guide pushes him back onto the mule and
back to Palenque. There, Greene falls off the mule and goes to the
schoolmaster’s hut where he lies down. He drinks and drinks but is
unable to eat. He feels that ‘it was too hot for life to go on’.

Pre-reading activities
Key vocabulary
This section will help you familiarize yourself with some of the more
specific vocabulary used in the extract. You may want to use it to help
you before you start reading, or as a revision exercise after you’ve
finished the extract.
Riding the mule

1 Look at the words below which are connected with Greene’s
description of riding the mule. How many are verbs?
clip clop th e sound th at a horse’s hooves make w hen it is walking

muzzle the nose and m outh of an anim al such as a dog or horse
stirrup a m etal object th at supports your foot w hen you ride a horse
trot if a horse trots, it moves more quickly th a n w hen walking but it does n o t run
whinny the high sound th a t a horse makes through its nose and m outh
canter w hen a horse travels fairly fast but n o t as fast as it can go
heave to move up and down w ith large, regular m ovem ents
stable a building where horses or farm animals are kept
strain to try very hard to do som ething
stiffen to becom e stiff and difficult to move
amble to walk in a slow, relaxed way
wrench to pull or twist som ething or som eone suddenly and violently
dismount to get off som ething such as a horse or bicycle
saddle a leather seat th a t you put on a horse’s back w hen you ride it
2 Complete these sentences with an appropriate form of the words

in exercise 1.
1 Suddenly, h e the phone out of her hands.

2 W e ..........................to see the boat but it was too far away.
3 As the dog swam across the lake, only its .........................was visible
above the water.
4 I could hear th e ..........................of the horses’ hooves as they moved
down the street, then an angry-sounding.......................... from one
of them who got left behind, as though he was calling to the others
to wait.
5 As you get older, your legs tend t o ..........................
6 She rode up to the gate and slowly.........................., fed the horse and
gave him some water, before putting him into th e ..........................for
the night.

Summary
It may help you to know something about w hat happens in the
extract before you read it. T his summary does not tell you every
After an uncomfortable night in the tiny town of Salto, Greene sets
off early in the morning with his guide. They travel by mule, an animal
like a small horse used for carrying heavy loads. The route takes them
across a bare, exposed plateau - a long stretch of flat, high land. There
is very little shade and only a few patches of forest. It is very hot and
Greene’s cheap helmet (or protective hat) is useless against the heat.
Riding the mule is extremely uncomfortable. After six hours, they
reach a couple of huts. Greene wants to stay the night. But after half
an hour’s rest, the guide, who has never been to Palenque and only
knows the general direction, wants to continue. Greene does not
remember very much about the rest of the journey but it seems to go
on forever. His head and body ache and his mind is empty. The ways
eventually divide and the guide tells Greene that one way leads to
the German finca and the other to Palenque. Greene doesn’t believe
the finca exists so he chooses the path to Palenque. Night falls and
the journey continues. Eventually, they see an abandoned cemetery
and a big ruined church. They have arrived in Palenque. They are
very thirsty and try to quench their thirst with warm beer and tequila.
They sleep in the local schoolmaster’s hut, beside the ruined church.
Greene, who has a fever, has a very uncomfortable night.
The next morning, still sick from the journey, Greene has to get
back on his mule for two and a half hours in order to reach the ruins.
After looking at one or two temples he can’t go on. He struggles to a
hut without walls and lies down. He isn’t certain what happens next.
The guide and the Indian who guards the ruins are worried about
him. They take him to another hut and give him coffee. Greene only
wants to sleep but the guide pushes him back onto the mule and
back to Palenque. There, Greene falls off the mule and goes to the
schoolmaster’s hut where he lies down. He drinks and drinks but is
unable to eat. He feels that ‘it was too hot for life to go on’.

As the sea continued t o ......................... , everyone on the boat
began to feel sick.
I nearly fell off the horse a few times - t h e ...........................was
loose, and I couldn’t reach th e ..........................with my feet.
9 The m a n ..........................along the road; he was in no hurry.
10 The horse began to go faster: it began ......................... , then
..........................along the path.
Describing the effects of the heat

Greene finds the long, hot journey on the mule very difficult, and
becomes tired, ill and miserable.
3 Match the words in the list (1 -1 5 ) with the correct definitions

(a-o).
1 collapse a) a strange effect in a desert or at sea in

which you see something that is not really
there
2 cramp b) to walk in an uncontrolled way as if you are
going to fall over
3 exertion c) feeling as if you have no energy and no
interest in anything
4 faint d) to produce liquid on the surface of your
skin when you are hot, nervous or ill
5 flop e) the feeling that you are going to vomit
6 fever f) sudden severe pain in a tired muscle that
suddenly becomes very tight
7 grumble g)
g) to suddenly fall down and become very ill
or unconscious
8 listless h) to move or hang in a loose, heavy and
uncontrolled way
9 nausea i)
i) to sleep for a short time, especially during
the day
10 stagger j)
j) a medical condition in which the
temperature of your body is very high and
you feel ill
11 sunstroke k) to suddenly become unconscious for a time,
and usually fall to the ground
12 sweat 1)
0 when food comes up through your stomach
and out through your mouth because you
are ill
20 The Lawless Roads

13 vomit m) a dangerous physical condition that results
when your body temperature gets too hot,
when you have been working for too long
in the sun
14 doze n) great physical or mental effort
15 mirage o) to complain, especially continuously and
about unimportant things
4 Put the words in the list in exercise 3 into three categories —

nouns, verbs or adjectives.
Nouns Verbs Adjectives
The ruins at Palenque

Despite the fact that he is tired, ill and not very interested in the ruins,
Greene gives a fine description of them and their setting.
5 Look at the phrases (a—j). Which phrases describe the setting and
which describe the ruins?
a) a great circular plateau halfway up the mountainside

b) with the jungle falling precipitously below into the plain and rising straight
up behind
c) great mounds of rubble
d) low one-storey ruins of grey rock
e) they look more vegetable than mineral
f) no shade anywhere
g) steep loose slopes
h) dark cool little rooms like lavatories
i) old wrinkled faces
j) nothing but trees, going on and on out of sight

6 M atch words from the phrases in exercise 5 w ith the descriptions
below. T he first one has been done as an example.
1 rounded hill shapes - mounds

2 (buildings) of one level
3 an area of flat land on a hill or m ountain
4 land that is not flat
5 an area protected from the sun
6 the stones that are left after a building has fallen down
7 another word for toilets
8 marked by time or old age
9 an area of thick trees and plants
Main themes
Before you read the extract, you may want to think about some of its
main themes. The questions will help you think about the extract as
you are reading it for the first time. There is more discussion of the
main themes in the Literary analysis section after the extract.
T h e discom forts o f travel

Greene experiences both physical and mental discomfort on his
journey. The heat is overpowering. His body aches from riding the
mule. There are flies and mosquitoes everywhere. It is hard to obtain
food and even more difficult to obtain drink. He sleeps badly because of
the basic surroundings and the unknown noises. He thinks of England
and wonders why he is in Mexico. Despite all this, Greene can still
look at himself and his surroundings objectively, and his writer’s eye
is constantly busy observing his surroundings and his own reactions.
As you read the extract, ask yourself:
a) W hat gives Greene the strength to continue his journey?

b) How would you have felt in G reene’s situation?
T h e contrasts o f travel
Travel sharpens G reene’s perceptions. O n this journey he experiences
both the ugliness and beauty of Mexico and its people. This is one of
the worst experiences he has had and yet he is still able to appreciate
moments of pleasure: the ride across the river, the bananas ‘tasting tart
and delicious in the open air at dawn’. After a back-breaking ride, he
22 I The Lawless Roads

is given ‘coffee, delicious coffee’. The lack of anything else to drink
in Palenque means more coffee has to be drunk. By now, it is not so
welcome: ‘a good drink, but bad for the nerves’. The ride to the ruins is
an ordeal for Greene. There is water everywhere but he is afraid to drink
it. His description of the ruins is clever and detailed but, ironically, he
is too ill to visit them. Even at the height of his discomfort when he is
delirious with fever he notices the ‘silver ear-rings and happy sensual
face’ of the Indian girl who brings him something to drink.
a) Does Greene paint a realistic picture or does he exaggerate?

b) In what ways is travel different to ordinary everyday life?

The Lawless Roads
by Graham Greene
The Long Ride

1 left my suitcase behind, and because it seemed absurd to think
of rain I foolishly abandoned my cape and took only the net, a
ham m ock, and a rucksack.
A t a quarter past four I got up and dressed by the light of
my electric torch, folded up the huge tentlike mosquito net2.
Everybody in Salto3 was asleep but my guide - a dark, dapper
young man of some education who had come from Las Casas
by way of Yajalon - and his father, who had prepared us coffee
and biscuits in his home. It was the cool and quiet beginning of
one of the worst days I have ever spent. Only the first few hours
of that ride were to provide any pleasure - riding out of Salto
in the dark with one sleepy m ongrel raising its muzzle at the
clip clop of the mules, the ferry across the river in the earliest
light, the two mules swimming beside the canoe, with just their
muzzles and their eyes above the water like a pair of alligator
heads, and then the long banana plantations on the other bank,
the fruit plucked4 as we rode tasting tart and delicious in the
open air at dawn.
The trouble was, the way to Palenque lay across a bare
exposed plateau, broken only occasionally by patches of forest
and shade, and by nine in the morning the sun was blindingly
up. By ten my cheap helm et bought in Veracruz for a few pesos5
was just the damp hot cardboard it had pretended not to be. I
had not ridden a horse for ten years; I had never ridden a mule
before. Its trot, I imagine, is something like a camel’s: its whole
back heaves and strains. There is no rhythm you can catch by
2 a piece of material th at hangs over the bed and protects you from mosquito bites
3 a small town in the Mexican state of Chiapas
4 mainly literary: to pull a piece of fruit from a tree
5 Mexican money

rising in the stirrups; you must just surrender yourself to the
merciless uneven bump6. The strain on the spine to the n ovice
is appalling: the neck stiffens with it, the head aches as if it had
been struck by sun. And all the time the nerves are worn by the
stubbornness of the brute7; the trot degenerates into a walk,
the walk into an amble, unless you beat the mule continually.
“Mula. Mula. Mula. Echay mula8,” the dreary lament goes on. 4
And all the time Palenque shifted like a mirage; my guide had
never been there himself: all he could do on the wide plain was
to keep a rough9 direction. Ten hours away the storekeeper had
said, and after four hours I thought I could manage that quite
easily, but when we stopped at an Indian’s hut about eleven
in the morning (six hours from Salto) and heard them talk as
if it were now not quite halfway, my heart sank. A couple of
wattle10 huts like those of West African natives, chickens and
turkeys tum bling across the dusty floor, a pack of mongrels and
a few cows listless in the heat under some thorny trees - it was
better than nothing on that baked plateau, and I wished later
we had stayed the night. They swung a string hammock up and
I dismounted with im m ense difficulty. Six hours had stiffened
me. They gave us tortillas - the flat, dry pancake with which
you eat all food in the Mexican country - and an egg each in
a tin mug, and coffee, delicious coffee. We rested half an hour
and then went on. Six hours more, I said, with what I hoped
was cheerfulness to my guide, but he scouted11 the notion. Six
hours - oh, no, perhaps eight. Those people didn’t know a thing.
I can remember practically nothing of that ride now until its
close; I remember being afraid of sunstroke my head ached so - 1
would raise my hat for coolness, and then lower it from fear; I
remember talking to my guide of the cantinas12 there would be
in Palenque and how much beer and tequila13 we would drink. I
6 refers to the painful and very irregular m ovem ent of the mule
7 a big strong animal
8 ‘Move it, mule.’
9 not detailed or exact
10 a material for making fences or walls made of stakes and branches
II very unusual: dismissed
12 Spanish: a place th at sells food and drink
13 Spanish: a M exican drink, very high in alcohol

remember that guide getting smaller and smaller in the distance
and flogging at my mule (“Mula. Mula. Echa, mula”) until I
overtook him at a trot that wrenched the backbone. I remember
that we passed a man with the mails14 travelling on a pony at a
smart canter and he said he’d left Palenque in the night. And
then somewhere on that immense rolling plain, in a spot where
the grass grew long, the mule suddenly lay down under me. The
guide was a long way off; I felt I could never get up on that mule
again; I sat on the grass and tried to be sick and wanted to cry.
The guide rode back and waited patiently for me to remount, but
I didn’t think it was possible - my body was too stiff. There was a
small coppice15 of trees, some monkeys moved inquisitively, and
the mule got on its feet again and began to eat.
C an’t we stay the night somewhere, I said, in some hut, and
go on tomorrow? But the guide said there wasn’t a single hut
between here and Palenque. It was two o’clock in the afternoon;
we had been riding for nine hours, with half an hour’s break;
Palenque was, he said, about five hours away. Couldn’t we string
our hammocks up to the trees and sleep here? But he had no
hammock and besides, there was no food, no drink, and lots of
mosquitoes, perhaps a leopard. I think he meant a leopard - they
call them tigers in Chiapas - and I remember how Victorian Dr
Fitzpatrick16 had met one on his ride across these mountains,
standing across his path. It is rather terrifying to believe you
cannot go on, and yet to have no choice ...
I got back into the saddle, thanking God for the big Mexican
pommel17 which you can cling to with both hands when all else
fails, and again the ride faded into obscurity - I didn’t talk so
much now about the cantina, I grumbled to myself in undertones18
that I couldn't make it, and I began to hate the dapperness of
14 usually singular, ‘mail’, meaning post or letters

15 a small group of trees growing close together, especially if they are cut regularly
16 an English doctor whom Greene met in Villahermosa. Victorian refers to the period
when Queen Victoria reigned in Britain, 1837-1901
17 the upward curving or projecting front part of a saddle
18 saying something in a quiet voice so th at someone cannot hear you

my guide, his rather caddish19 white riding-breeches20 - it was
nothing to him, the ride; he rode just as he would sit in a chain
And then the mule lay down again; it lay down in the end four
times before we saw, somewhere about five o’clock when the
sun was low, a little smoke drifting over the ridge of the down21.
“Palenque,” my guide said. I didn’t believe him, and that was
lucky, because it wasn’t Palenque, only a prairie22 fire we had to
ride around, the mules uneasy in the smoke. And then we came
into a patch of forest and the ways divided; one way, the guide
said - on I don’t know whose authority23, for he had never been
here before - led to the German finca24, the other to Palenque.
W hich were we to take? I chose Palenque: it was nearer and the
lodging more certain, above all the drink. I didn’t really believe
in the German and his lovely daughter, and when after we’d
been going a quarter of an hour we just came out on the same
path, I believed less than ever in them. As the sun sank, the flies
emerged more numerous than ever; they didn’t bother to attack
me; great fat droning25 creatures, they sailed by and sank like
dirigibles26 on to the mule’s neck, grappled fast27, and sucked
until a little stream of blood flowed down. I tried to dislodge
them with my stick, but they simply shifted their ground. The
smell of blood and mule was sickening. One became at last a
kind of automaton, a bundle of flesh and bone without a brain.
And then a little party of riders came out of a belt of forest in
the last light and bore28 news - Palenque was only half an hour
distant. The rest of the way was in darkness, the darkness of the
forest and then the darkness of night as well. T hat was how we
began and ended. The stars were up when we came out of the
19 old-fashioned: a cad is a m an who behaves in an unkind or unfair way, especially
towards women
20 tight trousers th at are worn when riding a horse
2 1 a gently rolling hill
22 a large, open area of grassland, usually in N orth America
23 the source of the information
24 Spanish: a property, usually in the country
25 making a low continuous noise
26 an aircraft like a large balloon (=a bag filled with gas) w ith an engine
27 sank their mouths deeply and firmly into the mule’s neck
28 formal: past tense of the verb ‘to bear’, meaning ‘carry’

forest, and there at the head of a long parklike slope of grass was
a poor abandoned cemetery, crosses rotting at an angle and lying
in the long grass behind a broken wall, and at the foot of the
slope lights moved obscurely up towards a collection of round
mud huts thatched29 with banana leaves as poor as anything I
ever saw in West Africa. We rode through the huts and came
into a long wide street of bigger huts - square ones these, raised
a foot from the ground to avoid ants, some of them roofed with
tin - and at the head of the street on a little hill a big plain
ruined church.
My guide apparently had learned where we could get food, if
not lodging - a woman’s hut where the school teacher lived, and
while food was prepared we staggered out on legs as stiff as stilts30
to find the drink we had promised ourselves all the hot day. But
Palenque wasn’t Salto; the Salto cantina loomed in memory
with the luxury of an American bar. In the store near the church
they had three bottles of beer only - warm, gassy, unsatisfying
stuff. And afterwards we drank a glass each of very new and
raw tequila; it hardly touched our thirst. A t the other end of
the village was the only other store. We made our way there
by the light of electric torches, to find they sold no beer at all:
all we could get was mineral water coloured pink and flavoured
with some sweet chemical. We had a bottle each and I took a
bottle away with me to wash down my quinine31. Otherwise we
had to try and satisfy our thirst with coffee - endlessly; a good
drink, but bad for the nerves. The school teacher was a plump
com placent young half-caste32 with a patronising and clerical
manner33 and a soft boneless hand: that was what the village
had gained in place of a priest. His assistant was of a different
type: alert, interested in his job for its own sake and not for the
prestige it gave him, good with children, I feel sure. After we
had eaten, he led us up the street to his own room, where we
29 with their roofs made of, or covered with, banana leaves
30 one of two long narrow pieces of wood with places to put your feet on so th at you
can stand on them to walk high above the ground
3 1 a drug taken to treat or prevent malaria
32 offensive: an old-fashioned word, used to describe a person of mixed race
33 behaving like a priest

were to sleep. It was a small room in a tin-roofed hut beside the
ruined church, which they used now as a school. He insisted
that I should take his bed, my guide took my hammock, and our
host tied up another for himself from the heavy beams.
I think the hut had once been a stable; now it seemed to be
divided by thin partitions into three. In one division we slept,
in another small children cried all night, and behind my head*
in the third, I could hear the slow movements and the regular
coughing of cows. I slept very badly in my clothes - 1 had cramps
in my feet and a little fever from the sun. Somewhere around
midnight there was the sound of a horse outside and a fist beat
on the big-bolted barn door. Nobody moved until a voice called,
“Con amistad” (with friendship), and then the stranger was let
in. I put on my electric torch and he moved heavily round the
little room tying up a hammock; then he took off his revolver
holster34 and lay down, and again I tried to sleep. It seemed to
me that a woman’s voice was constantly urging me to turn my
face to the wall because that way I lay closer to Tabasco, the
Atlantic, and home. I felt sick, but I was too tired to go outside
and vomit. The hammocks creaked and something fluttered in
the roof and a child wailed. There was no ventilation at all.
Visiting the Ruins
Fate had got me somehow to Palenque, and so I thought I had
better see the ruins, but it was stupid, after the long ride and the
feverish night, to go next morning. A nd it was stupid, too, to
start as late as seven, for it was nearly half-past nine before we
reached them and the tropical sun was already high. It wasn’t so
much stiffness that bothered me now: it was the feel of fever, an
overpowering nausea without the energy to vomit, a desire to
lie down and never get up again, a continuous thirst. I had tried
to get some mineral water to take with me, but our purchases
had cleared the store right out, and all the time, if only I had
known it, I was in one of the few places in Mexico where it was
safe to drink the water. Springs rose everywhere; as we climbed
through the thick hot forest they sparkled between the trees,
34 a container for a revolver, or gun

fell in tiny torrents, spread out, like a Devonshire35 stream,
over the pebbles in a little clearing. But I didn’t drink, merely
watched with sick envy the mules take their fill, afraid that the
streams might be polluted further up by cattle, as if any cattle
could live in this deep forest: we passed the bleached skeleton
of something by the path. So one always starts a journey in a
strange land - taking too many precautions, until one tires of
the exertion and abandons care in the worst spot of all. How I
hated my mule, drinking where I wanted to drink myself and,
like the American dentist36, chewing all the time, pausing every
few feet up the mountainside to snatch grasses.
Nobody had properly opened up the way to Palenque;
sometimes the guide had to cut the way with his machete, and
at the end the path rose at a crazy angle - it couldn’t have been
less than sixty degrees. I hung on to the pommel and left it all
to the mule and anyway didn’t care. A nd then at last, two hours
and half from the village, the ruins appeared.
I haven’t been to Chichen Itza37, but judging from
photographs of the Yucatan remains they are immeasurably
more impressive than those of Palenque, though, I suppose, if
you like wild nature, the setting of Palenque is a finer one -
on a great circular plateau halfway up the mountainside, with
the jungle falling precipitously below into the plain and rising
straight up behind; in the clearing itself there is nothing but a
few Indian huts, scrub and stone and great mounds of rubble
crowned with low one-storey ruins of grey rock, so age-worn they
have a lichenous38 shape and look more vegetable than mineral.
And no shade anywhere until you’ve climbed the steep loose
slopes and bent inside the dark cool little rooms like lavatories
where a few stalactites have formed and on some of the stones
are a few faint scratches which they call hieroglyphics39. A t first
35 the adjective from ‘Devon’, an area in southern England
36 Greene had met this man on the boat to Villahermosa. He became Mr T ench the
dentist in The Power and the Glory
37 ancient Mayan ruins in the peninsula of Yucatan
38 shaped like a small soft plant that grows on surfaces such as trees and walls
39 writing th at uses pictures and symbols to represent sounds and words, especially in
A ncient Egypt

you notice only one of these temples or palaces where it stands
in mid-clearing on its mound with no more importance than
a ruined stone farm in the Oxford40 countryside, but then all
round you, as you gaze, they open up, emerging obscurely from
the jungle - three, four, five, six, I don’t know how many gnarled
relics. No work is in progress, and you can see them on the point
of being swallowed again by the forest; they have looked out for
a minute, old wrinkled faces, and will soon withdraw.
Well, I had told people I was here in Chiapas to visit the
ruins and I had visited them; but there was no com pulsion to see
them, and I hadn’t the strength to climb more than two of those
slopes and peer into more than two of the cold snaky chamber.
I thought I was going to faint; I sat down on a stone and looked
down - at trees, and nothing but trees, going on and on out of
sight. It seemed to me that this wasn’t a country to live in at all
with the heat and the desolation; it was a country to die in and
leave only ruins behind. Last year Mexico City was shaken more
than two hundred times by earthquake ... One was looking at
the future as well as at the past.
I slid somehow down on the ground and saw my guide set off
with the Indian who guards the site towards another palace; I
couldn’t follow. W ith what seemed awful labour I moved my legs
back toward the Indian huts; a kind of stubbornness surged up
through the fever - I wouldn’t see the ruins, I wouldn’t go back
to Palenque, I’d simply lie down here and wait - for a m iracle.
The Indian hut had no walls; it was simply a tw ig shelter with
a chicken or two scratching in the dust, and a hammock and
a packing case. I lay down on my back in the hammock and
stared at the roof; outside, according to the authorities, were
the Templo de las Leyes, the Templo del Sol, the Templo de
la Cruz de Palenque. I knew what they could do with their
temples ... And farther off still England. It had no reality. You
get accustomed in a few weeks to the idea of living or dying in
the most bizarre surroundings. Man has a dreadful adaptability.
40 a famous university city in southern England

I suppose I dozed, for there were the Indian and the guide
looking down at me. I could see the guide was troubled. He had
a feeling of responsibility, and no Mexican cares for that. It’s like
a disused limb they have learned to do without. They said if I’d
move into the other hut they would get me coffee. I felt that it
was a trap: if they could make me move, they could make me
get on that mule again and then would begin the two-and-a-half
hour ride back to Palenque. A n hour had lost meaning; it was
like a cipher41 for some number too big to comprehend. Very
unwillingly, very slowly, I shifted a dozen feet to another open
hut and another hammock. A young Indian girl with big silver
ear-rings and a happy sensual face began to make corn coffee -
thin grey stuff like a temperance42 drink which does no harm.
I said to the guide, without much hope, “Why shouldn’t we
sleep here?” I knew his answer - mosquitoes; he was a man who
liked his comforts. He brought up again that dream of a German
with a beautiful daughter; I lay on my back, disbelieving. The
fincay he said, was only a little way from Palenque. W e’d go
there tonight in the cool. I went on drinking corn coffee, bowl
after bowl of it. I suppose it had some tonic effect, for I have a
dim memory of suddenly thinking, “Oh, hell43, if I’m going to
collapse, I may as well collapse in the village where the damned44
guide won’t worry me ...” I got on the mule and when once I
was up it was as easy - almost - to sit there as in a hammock;
I just held on to the pommel and let the mule do the rest. We
slid down slowly over the tree roots toward the plain. I was too
exhausted to be frightened.
And when time did somehow come to an end, I fell off the
mule and made straight for the schoolmaster’s hammock and lay
down. I wanted nothing except just not to move. The plump
complacent schoolmaster sat on the steps and had a philosophical
4 1 a secret system of writing, used for sending messages so th at no one can understand
them unless they know the system
42 the practice of not drinking alcohol and the belief that it is wrong to do so; the
ability to control yourself, especially in eating and drinking
43 an exclamation used to express anger, surprise or for emphasis
44 offensive: an adjective used to emphasize anger or frustration

talk with a passing peasant45 - “The sun is the origin of life,” a
finger pointed upwards. I was too sick to think then of Rivera's46
school teachers in snowy-white blessing with raised episcopal47
fingers the little children with knowledge, knowledge like this.
“That is true. W ithout the sun we should cease to exist.” I lay
and drank cup after cup of coffee; the school teachers had lunch,
but I couldn't eat, just went on drinking coffee, and sweating ft
out again. Liquid had no time to be digested; it came through
the pores long before it reached the stomach. I lay wet through
with sweat for four hours - it was very nearly like happiness. In
the street outside nobody passed: it was too hot for life to go on.
Only a vulture or two flopping by, and the whinny of a horse in
a field.
45 old-fashioned: someone who works on another person’s farm or on their own small
farm. This word is used mainly about people in poor countries or people in history
46 Diego de Rivera (1886-1957) was a Mexican painter and Communist sympathizer
who painted large murals w ith a strong social content
47 like a bishop. Greene is comparing the teachers to bishops

Post>reading activities
Understanding the extract
Use these questions to help you check that you have understood the
extract.
The Long Ride
1 W hat does Greene take with him on his journey? Why do you
think his decision to leave his cape behind was ‘foolish’?
2 Where is Greene’s guide from? W hat does his father do for his son
and Greene?
3 W hat type of transport do they use to cross the river? How do they
travel after that?
4 W hat are the first few hours of the journey like?
5 W hat is the terrain like? W hat is the weather like? How does the
movement of the mule affect Greene?
6 How many hours does the storekeeper think the journey will take?
How many hours have they travelled when they stop for a rest?
How long does the guide think the journey will be after that?
7 Why does Greene keep raising and lowering his hat?
8 W hat does the guide do when Greene’s mule sits down under him?
9 According to the guide, why can’t they stop somewhere for the
night?
10 Why does Greene choose the way to Palenque when the ways
divide?
11 W hat news do the riders bring?
12 W hen do they finally arrive in Palenque?
13 Why is their search for something to drink unsatisfactory?
14 Why does Greene sleep badly?
Visiting the Ruins
15 Why is it ‘stupid’ to leave for the ruins at 7 in the morning?
16 Why doesn’t Greene drink water from the streams?
17 How many chambers does Greene visit? Why doesn’t he see more?
18 Why does Greene go to the Indian hut?
19 Why are the Indian and the guide ‘troubled’?
20 W hat does the Indian girl give Greene?
21 How does the guide persuade Greene to return to Palenque?
22 Where does Greene go when he arrives in Palenque? W hat does he
do? How does he feel?

Language study
Vocabulary
The use of similes
A simile is a comparison between one thing and another, of a different
kind. Similes are usually introduced with the word like.
1 Look at these similes from the extract. Match the first parts of the
sentences or phrases (1-6) with the second part (a-f).
1 the two mules swimming beside the canoe, with just their muzzles and
their eyes above the water
2 I had never ridden a mule before. Its trot, I imagine, is
3 And all the time Palenque
4 the flies... sailed by and sank
5 Springs.. .fell in tiny torrents, spread out
6 com coffee - thin grey stuff
a) shifted like a mirage
b) like dirigibles on to the mule's neck
c) something like a camel's
d) like a pair of alligator heads
e) like a Devonshire stream
f) like a temperance drink
2 Answer these questions.
1 W hich similes compare animals to another type of animal?
2 Which simile suggests that Greene might be feeling homesick?
3 W hich simile compares something animate (living) to something
inanimate (nondiving)?
4 W hat do you think a ‘temperance drink’ is?
5 In what way is the simile describing Palenque appropriate?
Forming adjectives with noun + like

Another way of making a comparison is to form an adjective using a
noun followed by the word like.
I folded up the huge tentlike mosquito net.
In this sentence, Greene compares the net to a tent because it normally
goes over a person’s head and around their body to protect them
from mosquito bites. Instead of saying ‘like a tent’, he uses the word
‘tentlike’.

3 Look at this sentence from the extract.
... there at the head of a long parklike slope of grass was a poor abandoned
cemetery.
W hat does ‘parklike’ describe? W hat impression does it give?
4 Rewrite these sentences using a noun + like. The noun is usually
used in the singular. The first one has been done as an example.
1 The flies were like helicopters that flew around the mule’s head.
The helicopterlike flies flew constantly around the mule's head.
2 The plain was like a desert that stretched for mile after mile.
3 He saw the face of the girl, like a beautiful statue.
4 She took his hands which were soft like cotton.
5 The temples were like caves that sat on the hillside.
6 The drink was like coffee but it made him even thirstier.
7 The man’s voice was sharp, like a bird’s.
8 The crosses were like trees that leaned at an angle.
Grammar
Adverbs of manner
Greene uses a variety of adverbs of manner to describe events and
actions. Most adverbs of manner answer the question How? and are
often formed by adding 4y to an adjective.
5 Which are the adverbs of manner in the extracts (1-8)?
1 I foolishly abandoned my cape and took only the net, a hammock, and
a rucksack.
2 By nine in the morning the sun was blindingly up.
3 The guide rode back and waited patiently for me to mount.
4 Some monkeys moved inquisitively.
5 I slept very badly in my clothes.

6 He moved heavily round the little room.
7 All around you, as you gaze, they open up, emerging obscurely from the
jungle.
8 Very unwillingly, very slowly, I shifted a dozen feet to another open hut.
6 Adverbs of manner often go after the verb. In which of the

sentences in exercise 5 is this true? In which sentences is this not
true? Why do you think this is?
7 Make adverbs from the adjectives in brackets and write them in

the correct place in the sentence. There may be more than one
correct answer.
1 The day began with the arrival of coffee and biscuits, (quiet)
2 W hen the flies came, the mule smelt of blood, (sickening)
3 They drank coffee, (endless)
4 A voice urged him to turn his face to the wall, (constant)
5 He watched as the mules drank from the stream, (envious)
6 The jungle fell below into the plain, (precipitous)
7 The men spoke of the origin of life, (philosophical)
8 They slid down over the tree roots towards the plain, (slow)
9 Liquid came through the pores before it could reach the stomach,
(quick)
10 A vulture or two flopped by. (clumsy)

Literary analysis
Events
1 Number the events below in the order in which they happen.
Greene and his guide go to Palenque.
After six hours, Greene and the guide stop to rest.
After visiting two temples, Greene gives up and goes to lie down.
The guide’s father makes breakfast. I
A n Indian girl gives Greene coffee.
As the sun sinks, flies attack Greene’s mule.
Greene and the guide return to Palenque.
Greene crosses the river on the ferry.
Greene lies down in the storekeeper’s hut.
Greene spends an uncomfortable night after his long ride.
Greene’s mule sits down under him.
They arrive in Palenque at night.
They look desperately round the town for something to drink.
People
2 Think about these people in the extract: the guide, the school
teacher, the teacher’s assistant. W hich words and phrases does
Greene use to describe them?
3 Do we know the names of the people in the extract? Is this
significant?
4 Think about the guide. W hat do we learn about him? W hat is
Greene’s attitude to him?
5 W hat impression do we get of the Mexican people from the extract?
6 W hat do you think the people thought of Greene?
Sense of place
Greene paints a vivid picture of the different landscapes through which
he travels.
Look at the phrases below and answer the questions.
The journey to Palenque
the two mules swimming beside the canoe
the banana plantations on the other bank
a bare exposed plateau

patches of forest and shade
a few cows listless in the heat under some thorny trees
that baked plateau
that immense rolling plain
a patch of forest and the ways divided
7 How does Greene cross the river?
8 W hich words tell us that the land is flat?
9 W hich words tell us that there aren’t many trees?
10 W hich words or phrases tell us that it is very hot?
11 W hich word gives the impression of great size and distance?
The ruins at Palenque

the thick hot forest
a great circular plateau halfway up the mountainside
the jungle falling precipitously below into the plain
great mounds of rubble crowned with low one-storey ruins of grey rock
dark cool little rooms.
cold snaky chambers
nothing but trees, going on and on out of sight
12 Where do you think the ruins are situated?
13 W hich word tells us that the land is very steep?
14 W hich word tells us that the ruins are neglected?
15 W hich adjectives are used to describe the inside of the ruins?
16 W hat do you think ‘snaky’ means?
The author’s voice

17 Look at paragraph 1. W hich word suggests that the author is
critical of his own actions? On which other occasions is he selL
critical? Think about the following: the mule, Greene’s headwear,
the visit to the ruins, the lack of drinking water.
18 Is Greene critical of other people he meets? When? Why do you
think he reacts in this way?
19 Greene observes his own discomfort objectively and even with
humour. Find some examples.
20 W hat is your impression of Greene from the extract? Write down
some adjectives to describe him.
Guidance to the above literary terms, answer keys to all the exercises and
activities, plus a wealth of other reading-practice material, can be found at:
www.macmillanenglish.com!readers.

Himalaya
by Michael Palin
About the author

Michael Edward Palin was bom in 1943 in Sheffield, England. He was
one of two children, though nine years younger than his sister, Angela.
His father was a civil engineer, who left his job managing a toilet'
paper factory to work as an export manager for a steel company, which,
among other things, made train tracks for the Indian railways.
Palin describes his own childhood as happy and secure. He was
close to his mother and sister, and remembers going on train journeys,
and to cricket matches with his father. Palin loved to read, particularly
adventure and travel stories; he also loved going to the cinema, and was
particularly impressed by the film version of Jules Verne’s book Around
the World in 80 Days. Although his family was not rich, they spent
the money they had on Michael’s education - he went to Birkdale
preparatory school, then Shrewsbury School.
In 1959, on holiday in Suffolk in eastern England, Palin met Helen
Gibbins, whom he later married, and with whom he has three children.
In 1962, Palin left home to go to Oxford University to study Modem
History. Around this time, Palin started writing and acting in his own
plays and sketches. W ith some friends, he formed a comedy team
called Monty Python which became very popular. They made frequent
appearances on television, performed live and also made films.
In 1965, Palin began to work in television. He wrote and performed
in many light entertainm ent shows for the BBC1. He also appeared in
films and played a wide variety of comic and more serious roles. Palin’s
first travel documentary was part of the 1980 BBC television series
Great Railway Journeys of the World, in which he travelled through the
United Kingdom by train.
In 1989, he presented a travel series called Around the World in 80
Days in which he tried to travel around the world like Jules Verne’s hero
Phileas Fogg - using different types of transport, but not the aeroplane.
He then made a number of very popular travel programmes: Pole to Pole
1 British Broadcasting Corporation, the original broadcasting network of Great Britain
40 | Himalaya
in which he travelled from the N orth to the South Pole; Full Circle
in which he travelled around the Pacific Rim; Hemingway Adventure
in which he followed in the footsteps of the famous American author
Ernest Hemingway; Sahara in which he crossed the Sahara Desert; and
Himalaya in which he travelled from the borders of Afghanistan to
southwest China.
More recently, Palin has travelled around eastern Europe, visiting
former Communist countries. He has also celebrated the 20th
anniversary of his Around the World in 80 Days trip, by revisiting many
of the people and places he met the first time round. Most of Palin’s
journeys have been turned into books written by Palin himself and
illustrated with the photographs of Basil Pao.
About this extract

Michael Palin was commissioned by the BBC to make a television
series about travelling in the Himalayas. He and the film crew began
their journey on 12th May 2003 and finished it on 7th April 2004.
The book Himalaya, from which this extract is taken, was written by
Palin and is based on the notes he took during the journey.
The Himalayas is a m ountain range in Asia, which rises in six different
countries - Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
Palin and the crew travelled 3000 miles (4800 kilometres) in 125 days
and visited each of these six countries.
The highest place they visited was Everest Base Camp though
Palin climbed higher towards the glacier and came within two miles
of the summit. His television series was very popular as was the book
Himalaya which contains photographs by Basil Pao.
Himalaya | 41
Summary
extract before you read it. This summary does not tell you every
The extract describes four days in Palin’s long journey or ‘expedition’

to the Himalayas - days 59 to 62 - during which he and the film crew
travel from Xangu in Nepal to the Base Camp of Mount Everest and
then on to Shigatse, Tibet’s second biggest city. On day 59, the film
crew cross the border between Nepal and Tibet. They arrive in Tingri
after dark and spend the night there.
On day 60, they leave the main road and take a dirt road into the
heart of the Himalayas. As they climb higher, the Himalayas spread
out before them with Everest dominating the peaks. They turn past
the highest monastery in the world and continue on to the guest
house at Rogbuk.
Day 61 is spent at the guest house so that the film crew can
acclimatize to the altitude - allow their bodies to adjust to the height
and air quality. Palin meets the nuns and monks and gives a present
(a thangka, or traditional painting, from Kathmandu) to the leader of
the monastery, the abbot.
On day 62, the team finally travel to Everest Base Camp. Palin
observes the yaks and their herders. After lunch with the herders,
he climbs with them towards the glacier until he has to turn back.
42 | Himalaya
Key vocabulary
The sounds of Xangu

W hen Palin tries to go to sleep in Xangu, he finds that the town is
noisier at night than during the day. The street outside his room is
filled with different sounds.
1 Match the words and phrases (1 -7 ) with the correct definitions

(a-g).
1 drilling a) the sound that someone makes when they
force air through their mouth
2 thumping b) a long ‘s’ sound like the sound that a snake
makes
3 banging c) a low sound made when one heavy object
hits another
4 hissing d) making a hole with a tool
5 clunking e) making a short loud noise with something
6 crackle f) hitting someone or something with your fist
or a heavy object
7 whistling g) a short continuous sound like the sound of
wood burning
2 Choose the best word to complete these sentences.
1 Before he could hang the picture, he had to drill/crackle a hole in

the wall.
2 The man was furious and clunked/thumped his fist on the table.
3 She left the room, angrily hissing/banging the door behind her,
4 The boy whistled/hissed happily as he walked down the street.
5 ‘W hat are you doing?’ she hissed/drilled under her breath.
6 There was a whistling/clunking sound as the train carriages came
together.
7 As the logs began to catch fire, they made a loud crackling/banging
sound.
Himalaya | 43
Summary
extract before you read it. T his summary does not tell you every
The extract describes four days in Palin’s long journey or ‘expedition’

to the Himalayas - days 59 to 62 - during which he and the film crew
travel from Xangu in Nepal to the Base Camp of M ount Everest and
then on to Shigatse, Tibet’s second biggest city. O n day 59, the film
crew cross the border between Nepal and Tibet. They arrive in Tingri
after dark and spend the night there.
O n day 60, they leave the main road and take a dirt road into the
heart of the Himalayas. As they climb higher, the Himalayas spread
out before them with Everest dominating the peaks. They turn past
the highest monastery in the world and continue on to the guest
house at Rogbuk.
Day 61 is spent at the guest house so that the film crew can
acclimatize to the altitude - allow their bodies to adjust to the height
and air quality. Palin meets the nuns and monks and gives a present
(a thangka, or traditional painting, from Kathmandu) to the leader of
the monastery, the abbot.
O n day 62, the team finally travel to Everest Base Camp. Palin
observes the yaks and their herders. After lunch with the herders,
he climbs with them towards the glacier until he has to turn back.
42 | Himalaya
Yaks
Yaks are large cow-like animals with long hair and horns that live in
the Himalayas. They are very important to the inhabitants of the area,
and are looked after by herders.
3 Look at the sentences below and match the words in bold (1 -1 1 )
with the correct definitions (a-k).
The rancid smell of the tea and the sharp aroma of yak ( 1) dung smoke is
not as horrible as it sounds.
I open the curtains to find a yak (2) calf helping itself to a bowl of water
which has been put outside my room.
The yaks (3) graze nearby. Their hair is mostly black, though some have
white faces. All have the soft eyes of cows and the same sad, (4) long-
suffering look, as if resigned to whatever s going to happen. I’m warned
that they can turn very (5) truculent.
They are the preferred carriers at this height...(6) sure-footed on the
rocks. They (7) thrive at altitude, protected from the cold by a thick
(8) saddle of insulating fat across their backs.
The herders seem not the slightest bit sentimental about their (9) furry
charges.
In return for some grass the yaks give their owners milk, cheese, butter,
meat, (10) fuel, building materials, clothes and transport.
There isn't much room at the customs, and trucks, individuals, a
bewildered-looking tour group and a (11) flock of sheep are all trying to
get through at the same time.
a) to become very successful, happy or healthy

b) a young animal such as a young cow, elephant, whale or giraffe
c) easily annoyed and always ready to argue or fight
d) a seat that you put on a horse’s back when you ride it
e) good at walking or climbing and unlikely to fall
f) to eat grass growing in a field
g) waste from the body of a large animal such as an elephant or cow
h) a group of birds, sheep or goats
i) patient despite having problems or being badly treated over a long
period of time
j ) covered with fur or soft hair
k) a substance such as oil, gas, coal or wood that produces heat or
power when it is burned
44 | Himalaya
Descriptions of people
Life in the Himalayas is hard and this is reflected in the appearance of
the local people.
4 Look at the words below and their definitions. Then complete the
paragraph with the correct form of the words.
4
etch (v) to make marks on a hard surface by cutting into it
w eathered (adj) m arked by the effects of rain, wind, h eat and cold
aged (adj) very old
rough (adj) n o t sm ooth
stunted (adj) prevented from growing to norm al size
features (n, usually plural) a part of your face such as your eyes, nose or m outh
complexion (n) the appearance of the skin o n som eone’s face and w hether it is
pale, dark, sm ooth etc
craggy (adj) a face like this looks strong and has deep lines in it
The ( 1 ) .......................... of the farmers and their families is red from

the effects of wind, cold and sun. O n the faces of these prematurely
(2) ....... people, the lines are (3) ...........................on their
faces like marks on a rock. Even the children have ( 4 ) .........................
red cheeks from being outside in the cold air. Their ( 5 ) .........................
reflect the climate: their eyes seem small in their ruddy faces, and their
noses run continually. Both young and old are short in height, their
bodies ( 6 ) .......................... from the harshness of their lives. The men
who look after the yaks have faces which are (7) .......................... by
years of rain and wind. Their ( 8 ) .........................appearance seems to
mirror the mountains and sharp peaks that surround them.
Descriptions of the mountain landscape

Palin describes his own journey through the high mountainous
landscape, and the journeys of others before him.
5 Read the passage. Then match the words (1 -1 0 ) with the correct
definitions (a-j).
Neither of us had ever been at this altitude before. We had felt sick
and dizzy as we climbed higher, and we thought about going back
down. Instead, we decided to stay at a guesthouse for few days so
that we could acclimatize. We started our ascent at 4am, when it
was still dark. The air was thin and freezing cold, and we had to walk
slowly as the climb was so steep. A t around 6am, the sun appeared
Himalaya | 45
on the horizon and we could see the glacier shimmering in the light,
like a beautiful frozen river, creeping along the slopes of the gorge
below, a few inches every year. It was a tough climb through the
mountain pass but we could see the summit, and this kept us going.
Our descent would be easy after this.
1 altitude (n) a) a very large mass of ice that moves very slowly
2 acclimatize (v) b) to become familiar with a new place, different
weather conditions, or a new situation
3 ascent (n) c) a climb upwards, especially up a hill or
mountain
4 steep (adj) d) a straight surface that has one end higher
than the other; the side of a hill or mountain
5 glacier (n) e) the top of a mountain
6 slope (n) f) a deep valley with high straight sides where a
river has cut through rock
7 gorge (n) g) the height of a place or thing above sea level
(=the surface of the sea)
8 pass (n) h) a path or road that goes through an area of
mountains
9 summit (n) i) rising quickly and difficult to climb
10 descent (n) j) the act of moving down to a lower place or
position
Making personal observations

Palin uses adjectives to make personal observations about the people,
places and food he comes across on his journey.
6 Look at the words and definitions. Then choose the appropriate

adjective to complete the sentences.
aloof n o t friendly or does n o t w ant to be involved in som ething

bewildered confused and n o t certain w hat to do
daunting som ething th at makes you worried because you th in k th at it will be very
difficult or dangerous to do
in accessib le difficult or impossible to reach
inhospitable unfriendly, unpleasant or difficult to visit or live w ith
mysterious n o t explained or understood
officious showing an annoying tendency to take your position or status
too seriously
rancid n o t fresh, having an unpleasant taste and smell
1 She had not had a job for five years, and had lost confidence in
her abilities. She found the prospect of returning to work very
46 | Himalaya
2 The man was q u ite ................................. - he kept himself to himself,
did not speak to anyone else in the group, and sat alone at mealtimes.
3 I got lost several times when I arrived in the tow n,................................
by the maze of tiny streets.
4 The meat w as - it must have been sitting in the
sun for days. «
5 The phone rang in the middle of the night, and she wouldn’t say
who it was. The next day she left the house before breakfast without
saying where she was going - it was all very................................ .
6 The lodging was almost com pletely.................................., set high in
the mountains, at the end of a very narrow, undulating track.
7 The man behind the desk was unbelievably..................................! He
refused to listen to us - everything had to be in writing.
8 The valley was steep, dark and rocky, and had very few trees or
greenery - it was one of the m o st..................................places I have
ever been to. We drove straight through without stopping.
7 Look at the extracts below, in which Palin uses adverbs to describe

how he feels about what is happening around him. The adverbs
are formed by adding -ly to their related adjectives. U se the
extracts to match the adjectives (1 -4 ) with their definitions (a-d).
A t the summit, a smooth, wide hill at 17,000 feet (5180 m ), one of the
finest views in the world is suddenly, almost abruptly, revealed.
Leaving the fire is the hardest thing, but once across the yard, beneath a
bracingly clear night sky, I’m into a pretty little room, so different from
last night.
...the monumental pyramid of Everest, rising serenely above them all at
29,021 feet (8850 m).
Apart from the guesthouse and a new, red-brick hotel nearby, ready but
tantalizingly un-opened, Rongbuk consists of a line of low cottages and
the monastery ...
1 abrupt a) making you feel excited about
having something that you want
but hardly ever get
2 bracing b) sudden and unexpected, often in
an unpleasant way
3 serene c) cold in a way that makes you feel
full of energy
4 tantalizing d) calm or peaceful
Himalaya | 47
Main themes
T ravelling w ith a film crew

The main purpose of Palin’s journey in the Himalayas was to produce
a television series for BBC television. He travels with quite a large film
crew and a series of local guides who act as interpreters: Palin mentions
their ‘minder’ Mr Yang, whose job it is to look after or protect them,
and their young guide Migmar. He also talks about John Pritchard, the
sound recordist, and Basil Pao, the photographer. Palin gives us an idea
of the problems involved in travelling with so many other people, with
heavy filming equipment. He mentions, for example, that crossing the
border into Tibet takes a long time, because of the formalities involved
and the fact that ‘a British film crew is a very rare sight in Tibet’. W hen
they climb up from Everest Base Camp, the ‘requirements of filming’
slow them down and some of the crew are affected by altitude sickness.
8 As you read the extract, ask yourself:
a) How does filming a journey affect the journey itself?

b) W hat are the advantages of travelling alone and travelling with
other people?
M o u n t E verest
M ount Everest lies in the Himalayas between China and Nepal. A t
8850 metres, it is the highest m ountain in the world. It was given the
name Everest in 1865, in recognition of Sir George Everest who made
the first maps of India. One of the highlights of Palin’s journey through
the Himalayan region is his trip to the Base Camp of Mount Everest,
the highest m ountain in the world. His fascination with the mountain
began in 1953 when he was ten years old. In that year, Edmund
Hillary, a New Zealander, climbed the m ountain with his Tibetan
guide, Sherpa Tenzing. Since then, it has been climbed many times but
remains a difficult and dangerous mountain. Palin is not a mountaineer
and although he travels beyond Base Camp, he is two miles from the
summit when he eventually turns back.
48 | Himalaya
It may be that the m ountain was climbed for the first time by the
British climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine 29 years before
Hillary reached the summit. Mallory and Irvine disappeared very
near the summit. This ‘heroic failure’ captures Palin’s imagination,
particularly as the two men left from a base camp very near the one he
was in at the time. George Mallory’s well-preserved body was actually
found in 1999, near the summit, but it is still unclear whether he was
on his way up or down.
9 As you read the extract, ask yourself:
a) W hy are so many people fascinated by Everest?

b) Why has the history of Everest captured Palin’s imagination?
Himalaya | 49
Himalaya
by Michael Palin
Day Fifty Nine: Xangmu to Tingri

Xangmu high street, quiet as the grave when we arrived, erupts
into life at night. Sounds of shouting, drilling, thumping and
banging drift, unhampered2, through tightly-closed windows and
into my head. I pull all the blankets off the unoccupied bed next
to me, curl up in a foetal ball and hope it will all just go away. It
doesn’t. It gets worse. The hissing, clunking, industrial sounds
seem to be augmented by flashes and crackles. Can someone
really be spot-welding3 out there at 12.15? The prospect of how
exhausted I’ll feel in the morning keeps me awake for at least
another hour.
Wake at eight, but it’s still pitch dark. In fact, it doesn’t begin
to get light for another half-hour. The government of China,
in their wisdom, decreed4 that the whole country, wider than
the United States, should have only one time zone. The further
west you are the later daybreak comes.
The street outside, apart from the frequent clearing of throats
and whistling of spittle5, is quiet again this morning. I can find
no satisfactory explanation for the nocturnal activity other
than that Xangmu is a frontier town and frontier towns have a
life of their own. We walk down the hill to resume the customs
procedures.
A truck marked Tour Friends Transport. Live Long Friendship
Nepal, India, China, Bhutan’ is at the head of a long queue of
vehicles heading towards Nepal. There isn’t much room at the
customs, and trucks, individuals, a bewildered-looking tour
2 free from difficulties or responsibilities
3 a type of welding, ie joining two pieces of metal by heating them and pressing them
together
4 if a leader or government decrees something, they officially decide or order it
5 old-fashioned: word for saliva, the liquid produced by glands in your m outh
50 | Himalaya
group and a flock of sheep are all trying to get through at the
same time. Young, officious border guards in slack uniforms
either push people around or ignore them completely. High
up on the wall, and conveniently inaccessible, is a small box
marked ‘Complaints about Immigration’.
By the time all the formalities have been completed - and to
be fair, a British film crew is a very rare sight in Tibet - it’s early
afternoon. Our final departure is marked by a small ceremony
at which the manager of the Bai Ma Hotel gives us each a
white scarf to bring us good luck on our journey. He seems a
decent man, doing his best, though I notice he doesn’t have a
complaints box.
As we drive out of Xangmu (with few regrets, in my case) the
squash of white-tiled buildings eases and we can see the wooded
gorge we climbed yesterday, plunging picturesquely down to
Nepal. The road to Lhasa (now, inevitably, re-christened the
Friendship Highway) continues to climb steeply, through
forested slopes and past tumbling waterfalls, until it brings us at
last to the edge of the Tibetan plateau. The Roof of the World6
was once a seabed. W hat lay beneath the ancient Sea of Tethys
was heaved up onto the top of the world by the same collision of
the Indian and Eurasian plates that built the Himalaya. It now
rests at an average height of 13,100 feet (4000 m) and from its
steep sides stream some of the world’s greatest rivers: the Indus,
Salween, Yangtze, Irrawaddy, Yellow River and Brahmaputra.
In the relatively short distance from Xangmu, we’ve made
dramatic progress, vertically, if not horizontally. We’re only 20
miles from the Bai Ma Hotel, but 5000 feet (1520 m) above it.
Apart from a few poplar groves7, the tree cover has gone and
on the mountainsides bare rock shows through tight, tussocky8
cover. A t a cold, exposed little town called Nyalam we stop to
have papers checked before entering a new administrative zone.
Women in masks sweep the street, outside a modem building
a prosperous-looking man makes two of his employees unroll a
6 the Himalayan mountains are known as this because of their great height
7 a group of trees of a particular type, especially trees arranged in lines
8 a small area of stiff grass th at is higher than the grass around it
Himalaya | 51
length of carpet, which he proceeds to examine with great care.
Recently completed terraced housing runs along the side of the
road, an early indication of Beijing’s plans to make Tibet a new
frontier. This is a cheerless9 place, though J-P10, never daunted,
manages to find a shop selling wine and we roll across the River
Matsang two bottles of Dynasty Red to the better11.
The road continues upwards, over long, undulating, brown
hills, until we reach the prayer flag-bedecked12 pass of Tong La,
over 17,000 feet (5180 m) above sea level and the highest place
I’ve ever been on earth (coming in well ahead of my previous
record, the hot springs in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile at
14,700 feet/4480 m).
Everything is bewildering, strange and wonderful. Running
the length of the southern horizon is a chain of towering, white
peaks and on the grassland below us a herd of yak, short-legged
creatures, bodies close to the ground, their thick, black hair
standing out against greeny-brown hills behind them.
We stop and walk a little way from the car, every step feeling
like 20 at this altitude.
But that doesn’t dampen the exhilaration.
It’s dark when we reach the town of Tingri and, after some
initial confusion, find our way off the highway and into a
capacious13 courtyard, which looks like that of a monastery,
but in fact belongs to the Snow Leopard Hotel. Life centres
around a big, low, woody room with painted beams and a brick
parqueted floor, largely lit by the glow from a stove of burning
yak dung in the centre of the room. This is what was lacking in
those inhospitable Annapurna cabins: a fire, so simple and so
intensely welcoming. We cluster round it and a lady with braided
hair and rubicund, muddied face offers us yak butter tea. Nigel
describes the taste as ‘liquid gorgonzola14’, which is absolutely
9 mainly literary: making you feel sad because of being cold, dark or unpleasant
10 John Pritchard, the m an who worked as sound recordist w ith the film crew
11 with the addition of two bottles of local red wine
12 literary: with lots of decoration - in this case, flags
13 formal: large enough to contain a lot of things easily
14 a type of soft white and blue Italian cheese with a strong taste
52 | Himalaya
spot on15. The rancid smell of the tea and the sharp aroma of
yak dung smoke is not as horrible as it sounds, I find it odd,
yes, but interestingly strange and unfamiliar, quintessentially
Tibetan and proof that north of the Himalaya everything is very
different.
In the dim recesses of the room we’re served a very good meal
of noodles with mushrooms, pork, green peppers and lumps of
soft, white, doughy Tibetan bread.
We’re advised to break out the sleeping bags tonight. It will
be below zero in our un-heated rooms.
Leaving the fire is the hardest thing, but once across the yard,
beneath a bracingly clear night sky, I’m into a pretty little room,
so different from last night. Proper curtains, a colourful wall
with a frieze of painted flowers. Beside the bed I have a wooden
cabinet, also very charmingly painted. By the light of a very dim
bulb I can make out leering gods, dragons, clouds, waves and
what look very much like flying teeth.
The only setback tonight is that the bottles of wine from
Nyalam proved undrinkable.
Day Sixty: Tingri to Rongbuk
Though perfectly comfortable in my congenial little room, sleep
was light and fleeting and broken by twinges of headache and
nausea. The zero temperatures with which Mr Tse Xiu threatened
us didn’t materialize and when I should have been sleeping I was
engaged in an energy-consuming nocturnal striptease, peeling
off the various layers of clothing I’d gone to bed in and dropping
them out of my sleeping bag one by one.
Open the curtains to find a yak calf helping itself to a bowl of
water which has been put outside my room.
Wash in what’s left of it and join the others for breakfast. O n
the way there I notice a big satellite dish in one corner of the
courtyard. There’s no evidence of a television anywhere about
the place.
This is my first chance to have some time with Migmar,
who has so far been preoccupied with getting us into China.
15 informal: exactly right
Himalaya | 53
H e’s 27, the son of Tibetan nomads16 who were enlightened
enough to send him to school, from where he won a place at
Lhasa University. He read Chinese (the Dalai Lama would have
approved) and English, which, despite the fact he’s never left
Tibet, he speaks pretty well.
I’m impressed by the richness of the decoration on almost
every inch of the timber columns17, beams and ceiling boards,
and Migmar explains that in the 9th century a Tibetan warlord
tried to eradicate Buddhism18 and the only way that the culture
survived was through a pictorial code. The Buddhist heroes were
depicted as animals: dragons, tigers, even sheep. W hat began
as a cipher19 developed into a rich tradition of imaginative
painting, a particular target during the Cultural Revolution20,
when a renewed and virulent attempt was made to destroy
Tibet’s Buddhist past.
Instead of continuing along the Friendship Highway to
Lhasa, we turn south on a dirt road, towards the heart of the
Himalaya. Apart from the occasional four-wheel drives like our
own, traffic consists of horses and carts trotting between isolated
settlements, usually of low, whitewashed houses with prayer flags
fluttering from poles at each corner of the roof. The harshness
of life up here in this dry and windy rain shadow of the Himalaya
is etched on the faces of the farmers and their families. Skin
is weathered and faces prematurely aged. The children, noses
running and cheeks red and rough from the sun, cluster round as
soon as we stop, asking us to give them something.
A t one stop the villagers are celebrating with music and
dancing. Music seems to lighten the load, and getting out the
three-string guitars is a popular move. Soon a circle is formed
and the dancers are moving slowly round with a step that doesn’t
seem to vary, though, judging by reactions, the words they sing
16 people who move from place to place in order to find food or water for their animals
or themselves
17 tall thick posts, made of wood (timber), used for supporting a roof or decorating a
building
18 the set of religious beliefs based on the teaching of Siddhartha Gautam a
19 a secret system of writing, used for sending messages so that no one can understand
them unless they know the system
20 a political m ovem ent led by Mao Zedong in C hina in the 1960s and 70s
54 | Himalaya
have been brought up to date. The women wear big, coral
earrings, flower pattern shirts and the traditional Tibetan chuba,
a long, sleeveless dress tied with a sash at the waist. Some of the
men wear their version of the chuba, big, wide-sleeved coats, and
one or two are in sheepskin jackets, leggings and heavy boots of
the kind I haven’t really seen since the pop festivals of the late 4
sixties.
Migmar says that at times like New Year dances like this can
be spun out for several days.
We move on, through desert scenery, with minimal vegetation
but every kind of eye-catching rock formation: deep gullies21,
bluffs22 with soaring, scree-covered slopes, exposed synclines
and anticlines23, red and angry, as if freshly split from the cliffs
around them. A brisk wind creates the only movement in this
dead landscape, sending dust devils24 spiralling across the track
in front of us.
A military checkpoint, beside a big, modern PLA (People’s
Liberation Army) barracks with a red-tiled roof, stands at the
entrance to the Qomolangma National Park, and a metalled
road, recently upgraded, leads us smoothly up to the next big
pass, Pang La. This is the highest point of our day’s journey,
in every respect. A t the summit, a smooth, wide hill at 17,000
feet (5180 m), one of the finest views in the world is suddenly,
almost abruptly, revealed. The full, majestic spread of the
central Himalaya is laid out before us, like white-topped waves
in a frozen ocean. It’s an horizon full of giants: Cho Oyu, a
huge massif that peaks at 26,928 feet (8210 m), Makalu 1 at
27,594 feet (8410 m), Lhotse 1 at 27,883 feet (8500 m) and the
monumental pyramid of Everest, rising serenely above them all
at 29,021 feet (8850 m).
The highest point of the earth’s surface, which I am seeing
today for the first time with my own eyes, is known to the
Tibetans as Qomolangma (pronounced ‘Chomolungma’),
2 1 a long narrow valley with steep sides

22 a steep cliff by the sea or by a river
23 in geology, folded layers of rock
24 small but strong circular winds
Himalaya | 55
Goddess M other of the Earth, to the Sherpas25 as Sagamartha
and when the Imperial Survey of India first determined the
m ountain’s precise height it was known on British maps as Peak
XV. It was given the name Everest in 1865, in recognition of Sir
George Everest, the man who pioneered the mapping of India.
(To add to the confusion, what we call Everest should really
be called Eev-rest, which was the way Sir George’s name was
pronounced.)
None of these things goes through my head as I stand at
the top of the pass, unable to take my eyes off this stupendous
panorama.
Like K2, the world’s second highest mountain, which straddles
C hina and Pakistan, Everest is divided between two countries,
China and Nepal. In the 1920s and 1930s Nepal was a closed
country and the pioneering expeditions of George Mallory all
came in from Tibet and concentrated on the N orth Face.
W hen the expeditions resumed after the Second World War,
it was Tibet’s turn to be closed off, after the Chinese Communist
invasion of 1949, whilst Nepal opened up at around the same time.
The main bulk of Everest ascents, now running at around
100 a year, are made via the South East Ridge from which
Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing had conquered the mountain in
1953. The N orth Face remains the more mysterious; aloof,
daunting and much more dangerous. It was first climbed by a
Chinese expedition in 1960. They laid a dirt road to transport
their equipment up here, which is why we are able to drive up
to Base Camp. The track bounces over impacted, corrugated
earth strewn with small boulders, but the four-wheel drives
don’t find it too difficult, and by late afternoon, after winding
our way through valleys fed by glacial melt from the slopes of
Everest, we turn past the Rongbuk gompa, the highest monastery
in the world, and in to the walled courtyard of the guesthouse,
administered by the monastery.
It looks, for a moment, like the most wonderful place in the
world. The same long, low, Tibetan-style layout as the Snow
25 someone from Tibet or Nepal whose job it is to help people who walk in the
Himalayas
56 | Himalaya
Leopard in Tingri, but with a hugely more spectacular location.
This turns out to be its only redeeming feature. From the filthy,
littered courtyard to the soulless concrete rooms with broken
windows and the foul, doorless lavatories, Rongbuk Guest
House is pretty much26 a hell hole27.
The redeeming feature, however, is not to be underestim ated/
There is only one mountain to be seen from here and that is
Everest. It stands, massive, grand and solitary, only a few miles
away across the end of the valley. It is the horizon.
Day Sixty One: Rongbuk
Last night was desperately uncomfortable. A fierce wind blew,
occasionally gusting with such ferocity that I feared it might tear
the windows out. I lay awake, mouth dry despite regular swigs
of water, listening to, the village dogs fighting and detritus28 in
the yard being flung about by the wind. As soon as I drifted off
to sleep my breathing slowed and within moments I was wide
awake, gasping for breath. I need the sleep so much, but I find
myself fighting it, forcing myself to stay awake and breathe slow
and deep.
The latrine29 is almost subhuman. It s hard enough to aim
through a hole reduced to a slit by the calcified accretions30
of many previous visitors, without at the same time having to
flash a torch to warn other guests and extract thin sheets of
Boots travel tissue31 in a freezing, force 8 gale. Many years ago,
encountering similarly appalling conditions in a boat on Lake
Tanganyika, I took Imodium32 to prevent me having to go to
the toilet ever again. As I squat in this howling tempest33 three
miles up in the sky, I think cyanide34 might be the better option.
26 informal: almost
27 informal: a place th at is very dirty and unpleasant
28 formal: waste that remains after something has been destroyed, used or is finished
29 a toilet outside, eg in a military camp
30 formal, here: waste which has gradually increased in size and has hardened
31 toilet paper for travellers, sold in Boots, a well-known chain of chemist shops in
Britain
32 a medicine which stops you from having bowel movements
33 literary: a severe storm with strong winds and heavy rain
34 a very poisonous chemical
Himalaya | 57
One advantage of this fierce wind is that when daylight
comes it is clear and pristine. The summit of Everest trails a
plume35 of spindrift36, blown off the mountain by winds which,
at that height, must be in excess of 100 miles an hour. The rest
of the mountain, including the long, flanking shoulders below
the arrow-head peak, is crystal clear.
The remainder of the guests who were here last night -
Spaniards, Norwegians and a group of Australians - all leave
today. They can’t believe we’re here for three nights, and whoop
with joy as they’re driven away.
Our cooks are making yak butter tea, which the Tibetans call
Bo Cha, in the traditional, long, thin, cylindrical churn. It’s a
mixture of yak butter and tea leaves, with salt and milk added,
and is a taste I’ve yet to acquire, and I’m sure I shall have plenty
of opportunity to do so.
We had hoped to move up to Base Camp today, but with the
wind still strengthening the decision is taken to stay down here
and acclimatize. W ith atmospheric pressure about half that at
sea level, everyone is suffering to some degree and Mr Yang, our
minder, and John Pritchard, our sound recordist, are particularly
uncomfortable.
Apart from the guesthouse and a new, red-brick hotel nearby,
ready but tantalizingly un-opened, Rongbuk consists of a line
of low cottages and the monastery, which looks old but was
built less than 20 years ago to replace the one destroyed, along
with thousands of others in Tibet, by fanatical Red Guards37 in
the 1960s. Outside it stands a sizeable chorten38 topped with a
small, black pyramid and hung with prayer flags like ribbons
on a maypole39. I walk into a courtyard of two-storey buildings
with a painted balcony running round for access, and I follow
the sound of chanting up a flight of steps on the far side of the
square and into the temple. There are 30 monks and 30 nuns
35 a long narrow cloud of dust, smoke etc th at moves upwards
36 snow which is blown by the wind
37 a group of people who supported the regime of Mao Zedong in C hina
38 a Buddhist temple or sanctuary
39 a tall pole with long, thin pieces of cloth fastened to the top th at people
traditionally danced round in England, especially on May Day
58 | Himalaya
here at the world’s highest monastery. W ith their shaven heads
and loose robes, it’s difficult to tell them apart.
After prayers they gather outside and I present them with a
thangka40 (from Kathmandu). It’s accepted by the abbot41, a big,
amiable man with a very dirty, cherry-red duvet jacket over his
robes. The monks gather round and study it with great interest. *
By evening the wind has dropped as forecast. I sit in the room
I share with Basil and make my notes as Everest, now completely
clear of the cloud, turns pink in the dying sunlight. Apart from
the very top, Everest is not one single, symmetrical shape like a
Kilimanjaro42 or a Machhapuchhre43, its outline being composed
of a series of huge blocks.
Suddenly my view is obscured by two women banging on the
window, staring in at me and holding their hands out. They’re
some of the saddest pepple I’ve seen and for a moment I feel a
sense of frustration that the monastery can do so little for them.
Getting in and out of my sleeping bag are the most
uncomfortable moments of the day. The cold snaps at my
heels and yet dressing and undressing cannot be hurried at this
altitude.
Day Sixty Two: Rongbuk to Everest Base Camp
Last night I slept. Indeed, I slept so long and so deeply that Basil
thought I might be dead.
W hat a difference it makes to everything. The sky looks
bluer, the food tastes better, the yak butter tea is like nectar44
and the prospect of a trek beyond Everest Base Camp and up
toward the Rongbuk Glacier is the only thing I want to do with
the rest of my life.
It takes us 20 minutes to drive the eight miles from Rongbuk
to Base Camp, passing on the way the remains of the old
monastery.
40 a traditional Tibetan painting

4 1 a man who is in charge of an abbey, or in this case a monastery
42 the highest m ountain in Africa (Tanzania)
43 a peak in the G reat Himalayas
44 a drink th at tastes very good
Himalaya | 59
Some of the walls still stand, but it’s little more than a
skeleton, barely distinguishable from the rubble-covered slopes
on which it stands. Above these desiccated ruins a flock of blue
sheep are nosing some nourishment out of the rocks.
Everest Base Camp is nowhere near as romantic as it sounds.
Part of it is protected by a 100-foot-high moraine, a wall of
stone and shale, carried down and dumped by the glacier that
has gouged out the valley. A stream trickles through but any
standing water is frozen solid. In high season, between June and
August, this area and the rock-strewn valley floor beyond are
packed with mountaineers and trekkers. This year there were 32
separate expeditions.
Now, in early November, the camp is all but deserted though
the legacy of the summer lies around: discarded brandy bottles,
playing cards, batteries and bits of sodden, scrumpled clothing.
A couple of motorbikes are parked beside a caretaker’s tent,
outside which a young man sits in the sun, having his hair cut
by two ladies. Nearby, the yak herders with whom we shall be
walking up to the glacier have set up two or three small tents
of their own, while the yaks graze nearby, nibbling at the
scatterings of wheat and dry grass laid out for them. One has
made a small hole in the ice and is drinking from it. Their hair
is mostly black, though some have white faces. All have the soft
eyes of cows and the same sad, long-suffering look, as if resigned
to whatever’s going to happen. Despite looking eminently
embraceable45, they don’t seem at all interested in my friendly
advances, and I’m warned that they can turn very truculent.
I learn, too, that though yak is their generic name, it refers
only to the male; a female is called a dri and a yak crossed with
a cow is a dzo (this is a useful word to know when playing
Scrabble46, as my ever helpful Bradt guide points out). They are
the preferred carriers at this height, stoical and persistent, sure
footed on the rocks. They thrive at altitude, protected from the
cold by a thick saddle of insulating fat across their backs, and
the big expeditions rely on them to transport heavy equipment
45 unusual: likeable, so th at you want to embrace or put your arms around them
46 a board game in which players build up words from small lettered squares or tiles
60 | Himalaya
up as high as 21,500 feet (6550 m). It’s on the lower slopes that
the yaks suffer. Anything below 8000 feet (2440 m) can be very
uncomfortable for them, as they tend to overheat.
Though the herders seem not the slightest bit sentimental
about their furry charges47, theirs is one of the most one-sidedly
symbiotic relationships between man and beast. In return for
some grass the yaks give their owners milk, cheese, butter, meat,
fuel, building materials, clothes and transport.
I join the herders around a fire of brush wood and bamboo
kindling, which they keep alive by tossing on the odd yak
nugget and pumping hard with an ancient sheep’s bladder
bellows48. Sitting in a circle, eating cake made from tsampa, the
barley flour and tea mix, they’re jolly company, naturally given
to smiling and cracking jokes, most of which are at my expense.
Their clothes are made from skins and fur and look as if
they have been part of their bodies since they were bom. Their
complexions, skin textures, their whole physiognomy49 is a
reflection of the life they lead. Coloured by the wind and rain,
stunted by the bitter cold, their features sculpted in a craggy
resemblance to the weird and wonderful landscape around
them, they’re elemental figures, created by and in the likeness
of the mountains.
Maybe all this accounts for the ease of their manner. They
know what to do here. They know what to expect and how to
deal with it. They have slope cred50.
This morning means having fun with foreigners, and being
paid for it. First of all, it’s tea, invigoratingly salty, with a knob
of yak butter thrown in, then it’s time to get out the chang, a
fermented barley beer, for me to try. It’s poured out of a stained,
dusty container, the sort of thing you might find at the back
of the shed ten years after you put it there. Before drinking,
Migmar shows me the important procedure of giving thanks.
47 this refers to the hairy yaks th at the herders look after

48 a tool used for blowing air into a fire
49 very formal: the way th at someone’s face looks
50 slope credibility; a variety of the informal expression ‘street cred’ which means
worthy of respect or admiration among young, fashionable people
Himalaya | 61
I must dip my third finger into the brew, and, flicking it each
time, give thanks first to the mountain, second to the Buddha
and third to the assembled company. It’s a pleasing taste, chang,
like chilled ginger beer, with a hint of apples.
This is the start of one of those magical meals that may not
win any gastronomic51 medals but are unique and unforgettable
- a Sunday lunch 16,900 feet (5150 m) up in the heart of the
Himalaya. The ingredients include perfect weather, cloudless
blue sky, light breeze, generous sunshine, the comforting
presence of the yaks and the cheeriness of their owners, the
reassuring company of big black crows, and the presence, at our
backs, of the highest mountain in the world.
The conquest of Everest in 1953 was one of the milestones
of my childhood. I was ten at the time and, like every other
Briton, bursting with national pride (we somehow dealt with
the fact that Everest had been conquered by a Tibetan and a
New Zealander). W hat happened on the mountain behind
me 50 years ago defined the heroic, and led to a fascination
with exploration that I suppose has brought me here today,
completing the circle.
Only later did I learn that Everest might have been conquered
29 years earlier, when George Mallory and Andrew Irvine
disappeared into a cloud close to the summit and were never
seen again.
As the years went by, this heroic failure came to fascinate me
more than Hillary and Tenzing’s success. The fact that Mallory
and Irvine left from a base camp almost exactly where we are
now and lost their lives on the face of the mountain I can see
clearly ahead of me makes this a very special place, somewhere
that has been in my imagination for so long.
Lunch completed, the yaks are loaded up, the tents struck
and we begin the walk up to the glacier.
The warmth of the sun and the gentle tinkle of yak bells makes
up for the grimly lunar landscape of grey stones and boulders.
The herders seem in no hurry, whistling every now and then
51 formal: relating to skilful cooking and the enjoyment of good food
62 | Himalaya
to keep the yaks together and occasionally singing as we plod
slowly upwards. As the afternoon wears on, and the snowdrifts
become less avoidable, it becomes increasingly obvious that the
requirements of filming are slowing us down and we shall not
reach the glacier before the light goes. We’ve also lost Basil and
John Pritchard, both of whom seemed fine at lunch but, unable #
to cope with the increased altitude, have had to turn back.
We carry on for as long as we can, past valley walls hung
with rocks eroded into wonderful sculptural shapes: pinnacles
of mud with enormous boulders poised on top of them and
Stonehenge5Mike slabs teetering on the edge of mud cliffs. A t
just over 18,000 feet (5480 m), I get as close to Everest as I
think I ever shall. A moment of regret as we turn back. The
ribbed stone pyramid above looks daunting but beckoning at
the same time. I can see why it makes people do crazy things. In
the 1930s a man called Maurice Wilson planned to crash-land a
plane on the side of Everest and climb on up to the summit. In
1980 Re inhold Messner made a successful ascent of the North
Face, on his own, there and back, in four days, without oxygen.
As I take one last look, I put myself, as I have done so many
times in the past, in Mallory and Irvine’s stout53 walking boots
and tweed54 jackets and feel what it must have been like for
them to stand here 80 years ago, knowing that only two miles
separated them from the top of the world.
52 a prehistoric monum ent in Wiltshire, England, consisting of large, standing stones

53 strong and thick
54 a type of thick, rough cloth made from wool of different colours
Himalaya | 63
Post-reading activities
extract.
Day Fifty Nine: Xangmu to Tingri
1 Why does Palin find it difficult to sleep in Xangmu?
2 How does Palin explain to himself what happened during the night?
3 Why does it take a long time to go through customs?
4 How fast do they travel into Tibet? Why?
5 W hat does Palin find particularly welcoming in the hotel at Tingri?
6 W hat do they eat and drink at the hotel?
Day Sixty: Tingri to Rongbuk
7 Why does Palin sleep badly in Tingri?
8 Who is Migmar? W hat does he tell Palin about the decoration on
the wooden beams?
9 W hat do the children in the villages do when the film crew stops?
10 W hich activities ‘lighten the load’ of the villagers?
11 W hat does Palin describe as a ‘monumental pyramid’?
12 W hen was the North Face of Everest first climbed? Who climbed it?
13 W hat is the Rongbuk Guest House like?
Day Sixty One: Rongbuk
14 Why is Palin ‘desperately uncomfortable’ on his first night in
Rongbuk?
15 W hat is the attitude of the other guests when they leave the
guesthouse?
16 Why don’t they make the trip to Base Camp on the first day?
17 How does Palin feel when he sees the two women looking through
his window?
Day Sixty Two: Rongbuk to Everest Base Camp
18 How does Palin feel after his second night in Rongbuk?
19 How far is it from Ronbuk to Everest Base Camp?
20 W hat time of year is it? How is the Base Camp different between
June and August?
21 Why are the yaks so important?
22 Who does Palin eat with? Why is it a ‘magical’ meal for him?
23 W hen did Palin’s fascination with Everest begin?
24 Why is progress up to the glacier slow? Why do Basil and John
Pritchard turn back?
25 How close does Palin get to the summit of Everest?
64 | Himalaya
Language study
Vocabulary
Com pound adjectives
These are adjectives made up of two or more words. Palin uses them 4
frequently to describe people and clothes, animals, buildings and
landscape.
1 Which adjectives below refer to these four categories - a) people
and clothes; b) animals; c) buildings; and d) landscape?
bewildered-looking tourists
prosperous-looking man
cherry-red jacket
sure-footed yaks
short-legged creatures
white-tiled buildings
two-storey buildings
much-repaired windows
prayer flag-bedecked pass
greeny-brown hills
eye-catching rock formation
scree-covered slopes
rock-strewn valley floor
-ed or -mg?
The ending -ed can be used to turn nouns into adjectives.
The meaning of -ed in these cases is similar to with or having, eg
prayer flag-bedecked pass - the pass [was] bedecked with prayer flags
The ending -mg can also be used to describe how things look or sound,
eg sad-looking faces = faces that look sad
Notice that when a noun is used as an adjective before another noun,
it is usually singular even if the the meaning is plural, eg worm-eaten =
eaten by worms.
2 Rewrite the phrases below using a compound adjective.
1 trousers which are green like an apple
apple-green trousers
2 roofs with red tiles
Himalaya | 65
3 people who look happy
4 walls with blue tiles
5 a beach covered with pebbles
6 doors which have been painted heavily
7 a hotel of ten storeys
8 men with strong arms
9 pots decorated by hand
10 music that sounds harsh
Grammar
Ellipsis
In informal spoken English, we often omit words at the beginning
of sentences if the meaning is clear from the context - this is called
ellipsis. We also use ellipsis when making written notes. Palin’s writing
is developed from notes he makes on his journeys in the form of a diary.
Sometimes, he uses ellipsis in his final written account. This gives the
writing a more conversational style, gives us a sense of immediacy, as
though we are there, and brings an incident to life.
3 Look at these examples from the extract. Which word has been
left out?
Open the curtains to find a yak calf helping itself to a bowl of water which
has been put outside my room.
Wash in what’s left of it and join the others for breakfast.
66 | Himalaya
4 W rite the phrases below as complete sentences.
1 You got a passport?
2 Not very pretty here, is it?
3 Anybody want more noodles?
4 Wrote my diary this morning.
5 Better this morning, John?
6 Wife and I are going up Everest tomorrow.
7 Finished your lunch yet, Bas?
8 Don’t know why I feel so cold.
T he use of the passive

Palin uses the passive when he wants to emphasize the action taking
place more than the people performing it. For example:
Our final departure is marked by a small ceremony.
A t a cold, exposed little town, we stop to have papers checked.
He also uses it when the specific identity of the people performing the
action is unknown:
The Buddhist heroes were depicted as animals: dragons, tigers, even
sheep.
A renewed and virulent attempt was made to destroy Tibet’s Buddhist
past.
Another use of the passive is in the description of landscape:
The full, majestic spread of the central Himalaya is laid out before us.
Everest is divided between two countries, China and Nepal.
W hen the performer of the action is important, the word by is used:
[The North Face] was first climbed by a Chinese expedition in 1960.
Himalaya | 67
5 R ew rite these sentences using the passive voice.
1 They did not underestimate the difficulty of the climb.
The difficulty of the climb was not underestimated.
2 The monastery administered the guest house.
3 Our cooks were making yak butter tea.
4 They called the mountain Everest after Sir George Everest.
5 You can see only one mountain from here.
6 They have cancelled our visas.
7 The Red Guards destroyed the original buildings.
8 Two women obscured my view.
Literary analysis
Events
1 Look at the events below (1-10) and put them into the following
categories:
a) Historical and factual information
b) Personal reaction and reflection
c) Description of landscape
d) Description of people
e) Description of things that happen on the journey
1 The government of China.. .decreed that the whole country should
have only one time zone.
2 ...the manager of the Bai Ma Hotel gives us each a white scarf to bring
us good luck on our journey.
3 The road to Llasa continues to climb steeply, through forested slopes
and past tumbling waterfalls.
4 Everything is bewildering, strange and wonderful.
5 I’m impressed by the richness of the decoration on almost every inch of
the timber columns.
68 | Himalaya
6 When expeditions resumed after the Second World War, it was
Tibet’s turn to be closed off.
7 Skin is weathered and faces prematurely aged.
8 I join the herders around a fire of brush wood and bamboo kindling.
9 Their clothes are made of skins and fur and look as if they have been
part of their bodies since they were bom.
10 The conquest of Everest.. .was one of the milestones of my childhood.
2 Think about the extract as a whole. Is there a good balance of the
above categories or do some categories occur more than others?
People
3 Think about the different people Palin meets on his journey. Match
the phrases (1-7) with the people (a-g).
1 ... they’re jolly company, naturally given to smiling and cracking jokes
2 With their shaven heads and loose robes, it’s difficult to tell them apart
3 ...a lady with braided hair and rubicund, muddied face
4 Young, officious.. .[they] push people around or ignore them completely
5 The women wear big, coral earrings...Some of the men wear...big,
wide-sleeved coats
6 He seems a decent man, doing his best... though 1 notice he doesn’t
have a complaints box
7 He’s 27, the son of Tibetan nomads.
a) the border guards
b) the manager of the Bai Ma Hotel
c) the woman at Tingri who serves yak butter tea
d) Migmar the guide
e) the dancing villagers
f) the monks and nuns
g) the yak herders
4 Is Palin interested in the people he meets? How do you know?
5 Palin does not speak the local language. How do you think he
communicates with the people?
6 Why do you think Palin writes in such detail about the yak herders?
7 Why does Palin write about Mallory and Irvine?
Sense of place
8 Look at the first three paragraphs of Day 59. W hat impression does
Palin give us of Xangmu? How does he achieve this?
Himalaya | 69
9 Palin often tells us the height, in feet and metres, of the mountains
he is travelling through or observing. Find some examples of this.
W hat effect does it give?
10 Palin uses similes and comparisons to make his impressions more
vivid. In Tingri, a member of the crew compares the yak butter
tea to ‘liquid gorgonzola, which is spot on’. His bedside cabinet
is painted with ‘what look very much like flying teeth’. The men
dancers in the village wear ‘heavy boots of the kind I haven’t really
seen since the pop festivals of the late sixties’.
Do you find these comparisons effective? Why?
11 Look at Palin’s description of Everest Base Camp (Day 62). Is it an
attractive place? Why?
12 W hich of Palin’s descriptions of the Himalayan landscape do you
find most effective? Why?

13 Palin is a comedian as well as a traveller and writer. Find some
examples of his humour. How would you describe his humour -
cruel, gentle, eccentric, observant, slapstick... or something else?
14 Palin is an enthusiastic traveller despite the inevitable discomforts.
On Day 59, as he climbs up to the ‘highest place I’ve ever been
on earth’, he is filled with exhilaration and writes: ‘Everything is
bewildering, strange and wonderful.’ Find some more examples of
this enthusiasm.
15 Look again at the second paragraph of Day 61 beginning: ‘The
latrine is almost subhuman...’ W hat does this tell us about Palin?
How would you feel in the same situation?
16 W hat evidence is there that Palin has a social conscience and that
he takes a personal interest in people?
17 W hat is your overalL impression of Palin? Are the adjectives below
appropriate?
friendly interested in people tolerant
Can you think of some more adjectives or phrases to describe him?
70 | Himalaya
The Land of the Camels
by Eric Newby
About the author

George Eric Newby was bom in London in 1919. His father was a
partner in a firm of wholesale dressmakers, but shared his excitement
about travel with his son, reading him stories about faraway places.
The stories fired Eric’s imagination and, as a child, he tried to run away
to sea - but he only got a few miles. He went to St Paul’s School,
where he was inspired by a lecture by Apsley Cherry-Gerrard, who had
accompanied Robert Falcon Scott on his journey to the Antarctic,
about which he wrote a book, The Worst Journey in the World. The title
didn’t put Newby off travelling.
Newby left school at 16, and took a job in an advertising agency. In
1938 he left and became an apprentice on a Finnish grain ship which
was bound for Australia. His first book, The Last Grain Race (1956),
was partly based on that experience.
World War II started a few months after Newby returned to England.
He joined the army, but later became a member of the Special Boat
Section - in 1942 he was captured whilst on a mission off the coast
of Sicily, and remained a prisoner of war in northern Italy until 1945.
During this time, he met a Slovenian woman called Wanda. W hen
the Italians surrendered, she, and an Italian doctor, helped Newby to
escape for a short time, first to a hospital run by the church, then to a
village in the Appenine mountains. However, he was recaptured and
stayed in a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Germany until the end
of the war, when he received a Military Cross for his services in the
Special Boat Section. Newby returned to Italy to find Wanda, and they
married in Florence in 1946. He later published a book, Love and War
in the Appenines (1971), about his time in the mountains.
Newby spent the next ten years working for his father’s dressmaking
business. After that, he worked for the fashion house of W orth Paquin
(1955-56) and then for the publishers Seeker & Warburg. After this,
he returned to fashion as a buyer for the John Lewis department stores,
but he did not like the routine and was always more interested in travel
and writing.
The Land of Camels | 71

9 Palin often tells us the height, in feet and metres, of the mountains
he is travelling through or observing. Find some examples of this.
W hat effect does it give?
10 Palin uses similes and comparisons to make his impressions more
vivid. In Tingri, a member of the crew compares the yak butter
tea to ‘liquid gorgonzola, which is spot on’. His bedside cabinet
is painted with ‘what look very much like flying teeth’. The men
dancers in the village wear ‘heavy boots of the kind I haven’t really
seen since the pop festivals of the late sixties’.
Do you find these comparisons effective? Why?
11 Look at Palin’s description of Everest Base Camp (Day 62). Is it an
attractive place? Why?
12 Which of Palin’s descriptions of the Himalayan landscape do you
find most effective? Why?

13 Palin is a comedian as well as a traveller and writer. Find some
examples of his humour. How would you describe his humour -
cruel, gentle, eccentric, observant, slapstick...or something else?
14 Palin is an enthusiastic traveller despite the inevitable discomforts.
On Day 59, as he climbs up to the ‘highest place I’ve ever been
on earth’, he is filled with exhilaration and writes: ‘Everything is
bewildering, strange and wonderful.’ Find some more examples of
this enthusiasm.
15 Look again at the second paragraph of Day 61 beginning: T h e
latrine is almost subhum an...’ W hat does this tell us about Palin?
How would you feel in the same situation?
16 W hat evidence is there that Palin has a social conscience and that
he takes a personal interest in people?
17 W hat is your overall impression of Palin? Are the adjectives below
appropriate?
friendly interested in people tolerant
Can you think of some more adjectives or phrases to describe him?
70 | Himalaya
Newby’s best-known work, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, was
published in 1958, and inspired a lively new genre of British travel
writing: the humorous portrait of an Englishman abroad - innocent,
amateur and understated. In the book, Newby describes how his travels
in the Afghan mountains, where he and his friend, Hugh Car less,
both inexperienced, set out to climb Mir Samir, a peak of 20,000 feet
(6,100 m) in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan.
Newby was finally sacked from his job with John Lewis in 1963. For
the next ten years, he was travel editor for The Observer newspaper,
and travelled widely as a result, often accompanied by Wanda - his
book Slowly Down the Ganges, published in 1963, describes one such
adventure, a three-m onth voyage down the Ganges River in India.
Newby stayed at The Observer until 1973, and he said afterwards that
it was the only job that he was sorry to leave.
In 1977 he fulfilled his ambition to travel with Wanda on the Trans-
Siberian Railway, about which he wrote The Big Red Train Ride, which
was published in 1978. More books followed including On The Shores
of the Mediterranean (1984) and Round Ireland in Low Gear (1987)
which described a bicycle journey round Ireland. In 1994, Newby was
given a CBE - an honorary award from the Queen to recognize his
services to Britain.
Newby also made travel films for the BBC, returning to Parma with
his wife in The Travel Show in 1994 and visiting one of his favourite
cities, Istanbul in Turkey, in 1996. Newby continued to be active,
cycling from Scotland to Dorset on the south coast of England when
he was over 70. His autobiography, A round the World in Eighty Years
(2000), celebrated his many travels. Eric Newby died in Guildford,
England, in 2006 aged 86.
About the extract

The Land of the Camels is included in Departures and Arrivals (1999),
a collection of travel essays. It describes the visit of Newby and his
wife Wanda to Rajasthan in northern India in 1989. The highlight of
their visit was the time spent at the important religious festival near
Pushkar.
72 | The Land of the Camels

Visiting India
W hen he visited Pushkar, Newby was 70 years old and his love of
travel was as strong as ever. Although he had visited India before and
had even seen some of the same places, he still felt a strong curiosity
about, and interest in, the culture. This essay shows Newby’s custom of
making frequent, detailed notes in pencil while he was travelling: he
gives us a visual picture of the country, but he brings the picture alive
through historical anecdotes and stories that convey India’s rich and
turbulent past. This short piece gives a strong flavour of the experience
that Newby brings to his observations.
Summary
The story begins in N orthern Rajasthan, India, about 150 miles from
the Pakistan border. Newby and his wife are travelling in an old car
driven by an Indian driver. Newby describes the landscape as they
head south west - the Aravalli Range of mountains, the Luni river,
the ‘semi-desert’. It is November and it is hot. They pass sheep, goats
and large herds of camel but the only real colour they see is in the
jewellery and clothes of the local people.
There is very little water, and Newby comments on the importance
of the wells that they pass along the way. He describes the magnificent
Thar desert between India and Pakistan. He also tells us about the
history of the area and the many fortresses (or castles) built by the
Rajputs.
A t last they arrive at the town of Ajmer. They are late because of
problems with the car. It takes several hours to repair it, and there
is no time to visit the local shrine and mosques. They travel on to
Pushkar, their main destination and the site of the huge annual
festival. Arriving at sunset, they look for the tent reserved for them
by the local tourist board. This takes some time as there are 600 of
these tents and the ‘streets’ ail look the same.
The Land of the Camels | 73

Visiting India
W hen he visited Pushkar, Newby was 70 years old and his love of
travel was as strong as ever. Although he had visited India before and
had even seen some of the same places, he still felt a strong curiosity
about, and interest in, the culture. This essay shows Newby’s custom of
making frequent, detailed notes in pencil while he was travelling: he
gives us a visual picture of the country, but he brings the picture alive
through historical anecdotes and stories that convey India’s rich and
turbulent past. This short piece gives a strong flavour of the experience
that Newby brings to his observations.
Summary
The story begins in N orthern Rajasthan, India, about 150 miles from
the Pakistan border. Newby and his wife are travelling in an old car
driven by an Indian driver. Newby describes the landscape as they
head south west - the Aravalli Range of mountains, the Luni river,
the ‘semi-desert’. It is November and it is hot. They pass sheep, goats
and large herds of camel but the only real colour they see is in the
jewellery and clothes of the local people.
There is very little water, and Newby comments on the importance
of the wells that they pass along the way. He describes the magnificent
Thar desert between India and Pakistan. He also tells us about the
history of the area and the many fortresses (or castles) built by the
Rajputs.
A t last they arrive at the town of Ajmer. They are late because of
problems with the car. It takes several hours to repair it, and there
is no time to visit the local shrine and mosques. They travel on to
Pushkar, their main destination and the site of the huge annual
festival. Arriving at sunset, they look for the tent reserved for them
by the local tourist board. This takes some time as there are 600 of
these tents and the ‘streets’ all look the same.
The Land o f the Camels | 73

The Fair has been going on for seven days. It is the night of the
12th—13th of November; at 4 o’clock in the morning of the 13th,
thousands of Hindu pilgrims will bathe in the sacred lake under the
full moon of Kartik. The local people light camp fires and prepare
evening meals, while Newby spends some time finding his tent,
the toilets and somewhere to put his rubbish and his valuables. At
4am, the bathing starts and people enter the lake from the 25 ghats,
or entry points, around the lake. Newby tells the story behind the
tradition, which involves Lord Brahma, the Creator of the Universe.
Newby spends most of the next day on a hill overlooking the
camp, drinking a strange drink and observing the scene. He watches
the camel sellers and the astrologers telling people’s fortunes.
The closing ceremony lasts several hours and ends with a
competition between local and foreign women to see, who is the
strongest. Newby stays on the hill until sunset and then makes his
way back to the camp through the crowds of departing pilgrims.

Key vocabulary
Describing the wells

Newby describes the ornate wells he sees on his journey, where people
can collect their water from underground springs.
1 Look at the extract below. Try to picture what the wells look
like. Then match the words and phrases (1 -8 ) with the correct
definitions (a-h).
The wells were unique. They were so beautiful to look at that when you
first set eyes on them, you thought that you were looking at some sort of
domed tomb or temple. The shaft itself was surrounded by four slender
columns that resembled minarets, or sometimes there were only two, one
on either side of it. The water from these wells was, and in some cases
still is, raised to the surface in leather waterskins by bullocks driven down
an inclined ramp. The wells were popular meeting places and at each
one there was a shrine to Hanuman, the Monkey God, who was much
venerated by the Rajputs who lived there.
1 well a) a deep hole that is dug in the ground to

provide a supply of water
2 domed b) a tall tower that is traditionally part of a
mosque, where someone stands to call
people to prayer
3 tomb c) a young male cow
4 shaft d) shaped like the top half of a ball
5 minaret e) a religious place built to remember a particular
holy person or event
6 bullock f) a grave where a dead person is buried
7 shrine g) formal: very respected or often worshipped
8 venerated h) a long narrow passage which often leads from
the surface down into the ground

The Fair has been going on for seven days. It is the night of the
12th—13th of November; at 4 o’clock in the morning of the 13th,
thousands of Hindu pilgrims will bathe in the sacred lake under the
full moon of Kartik. The local people light camp fires and prepare
evening meals, while Newby spends some time finding his tent,
the toilets and somewhere to put his rubbish and his valuables. A t
4am, the bathing starts and people enter the lake from the 25 ghats,
or entry points, around the lake. Newby tells the story behind the
tradition, which involves Lord Brahma, the Creator of the Universe.
Newby spends most of the next day on a hill overlooking the
camp, drinking a strange drink and observing the scene. He watches
the camel sellers and the astrologers telling people’s fortunes.
The closing ceremony lasts several hours and ends with a
competition between local and foreign women to see who is the
strongest. Newby stays on the hill until sunset and then makes his
way back to the camp through the crowds of departing pilgrims.
74 | The Land o f the Camels

2 Complete the sentences using a suitable form of the words in
exercise 1.
1 The Indian farmer used to pull his cart.

2 The king’s ............................ was marked by a tall stone.
3 In the dry season, t h e . was almost empty.
4 The Monkey God is .. in parts of India.
5 Many Greek churches have roofs.
6 The m in e....... .............. went down a long way into the earth.
7 The woman kept a small to her favourite saint.
8 The many looked like fingers pointing into the
sky.
Words relating to religious practice

Newby explains the religious significance of the wells. He also describes
words that relate to the religious beliefs and practices of Hindus,
Muslims and Sikhs.
3 Look at the words and definitions. T hen answer the questions

(1 -4 ).
m osque (n) a building in w hich Muslims (followers of Islam) worship

cerem ony (n) th e formal traditions, actions or words used to celebrate
a traditional or religious event
tem ple (n) a building used for worship in some religions, typically religions other
th a n C hristianity
pilgrim (n) som eone who travels to a holy place th a t is im portant in th eir religion
sacred (adj) considered to be holy or connected w ith G od in a special way
sacrifice (n) the act of killing a person or anim al as part of a cerem ony to honour
a god or a spirit
saint (n) som eone who the C hristian church officially honours after their death
because they have lived an especially holy life
inviolable (adj) too im portant or respected to be attacked
worshipper (n) someone who feels or shows love and respect forsom ething or
someone, usually a god
1 W hich words relate to people?

2 W hich words relate to buildings?
3 W hich words relate to religious practice(s)?
4 W hich word(s) could be used to describe a place of religious
importance?

Describing the landscape
Newby describes the diverse landscape around him - from farmland
to desert.
4 Look at the words and definitions. Then answer the questions.
abundant existing or available in large quantities

crop a p lan t grown for food, usually on a farm
dam a wall built across a river to stop the water from flowing, especially in order to
create a lake or to help produce electric power
desert a large area of land w ith few plants and little water, where th e w eather is
always dry
fertile fertile land is able to produce good crops or plants
marsh an area of soft wet land
peninsula a long piece of land th a t is mostly surrounded by water, but is joined at
one end to a larger area of land
reservoir an artificial or natural lake where water is stored so th a t it can be
supplied to the houses in an area
sand dune a hill of sand th at is formed by th e wind in a desert or near a beach
shrub a low thick bush, especially one th a t has been planted in a garden
1 W hich words are adjectives?

2 W hich words relate to plants?
3 W hich words describe manmade structures?
4 W hich words describe natural structures?
Words connected with military action

Newby spent time in the army and he is very interested in the fortresses
- or castles - and the military past of Rajasthan.
5 Look at the words and definitions. Then use the appropriate word
to complete the paragraph on page 78.
warrior a soldier, especially in the past

chieftains in the past, the leaders of tribes in Scotland
martial prow ess skill in fighting
clansm en members of a large group of families th a t are related to each other,
especially in S cotland
artillery bombardment an attack on a place made by dropping bombs from
planes or by firing large guns for a long tim e
garrison a group of soldiers living in and defending a particular place
fortress a strong, well-protected building used for defending a place
impregnable (adj) very well protected and difficult to attack
soldier off fortune som eone who is willing to fight as a soldier in any army th at
pays them

The great .................................. rose up majestically in the middle
of the desert. Most of it was intact, although it had suffered
an .................................. in the previous year. It certainly looked
................................ , with its strong walls and towers. Inside lived a
................................ of several hundred soldiers. They were known for
their g re a t.................................. : nobody was more skilled in fighting.
People compared them to the ................................. of ancient times
because they fought to the death. They were extremely loyal to each
other, just like the ................................. of Scotland. Their leaders
resembled the S cottish................................. and led their men fearlessly
into battle. Nobody ever left the fortress or becam e................................
with a foreign army. Such a thing was unthinkable.
Main themes
Travelling independently
Newby writes about travelling independently, without a travel agent or
holiday rep to make sure everything is comfortable, well planned and
organized in advance. This kind of travel is unpredictable, and requires
a particular kind of approach by or spirit in the traveller.
O n his journey, Newby travels across a difficult and dangerous
landscape in an old car with a very bad driver. It is not the first time
he has done this and he accepts the problems involved with good
humour. The journey is mostly across ‘semi-desert’ but Newby finds
things of interest there: the animals, especially camels, which help
with farming, the bright jewellery and clothes of the people, the beauty
of occasional trees and crops. He also tells us something of the history
of the area and describes the striking appearance of wells and fortresses
that appear on the way. There is no time to visit certain places of
interest because the old car is damaged and replacement parts must
be found. Newby is philosophical about this: he is a very experienced
traveller and knows that things do not always go as planned.

a) W hat would it be like to live somewhere like this?
b) Would you enjoy a trip like this?
Religious life and celebration

The religious festival at Pashkar takes place every year and is attended *
by thousands of people. It is typical of extended spiritual events,
which are very important and numerous across India throughout the
year. These colourful festivals are celebrations, as well as an act of
religious devotion, and usually feature huge crowds of people, taking
part in rituals and activities involving animals, special food, prayer
and meditation, and often water. The festivals are a familiar image
associated with India around the world, and many tourists travel long
distances just to experience them.
W hen Newby arrives, the festival - or Fair as he calls it - has been
going for seven days. Newby has reserved one of 600 ‘identical’ tents
and it takes him some time to locate his own. T hat night, there is a
full moon and many of the pilgrims bathe in the holy lake. Newby tells
us something of the history of the festival and the legends associated
with it. He describes the colour and activity, clearly enjoying all the
life and colour. The account ends as the people leave the camp in their
thousands and Newby observes the scene from a nearby hill. Over the
years, this festival has become increasingly popular with tourists.
a) Why do you think so many tourists go to the Pushkar festival?

b) W hat aspects of the festival do you find attractive/unattractive?

by Eric Newby
We were out in the sticks1, which were very abundant up in

N orthern Rajasthan, about 150 miles from the Pakistan border
Our vehicle was a Hindustan Ambassador2, a faithful copy of an
early 1950s Morris Oxford3. The driver was also a faithful copy
of every other early 1950s-vintage driver we had ever travelled
with in India.
We were heading south-westwards, towards Ajmer. To the
left, running in the same direction, was the Aravalli Range,
the only mountain range in Rajasthan, which is what used to
be known as Rajputana, and the oldest mountain range in the
world.
It is, therefore, not surprising that having been where it is for
some 700 million years - it originally extended from the Kumaon
Himalaya to the southern end of the Indian peninsula - it is
now the colour of old bones and so worn down that it rarely
exceeds 3,000 feet (Mount Abu is 5,000 feet but is detached
from the main range).
The Aravalli begin near Delhi and finally expire on the inner
edge of the Rann of Kutch, a spooky, 8,000-square-mile expanse
of saline marsh or saline desert, according to the time of year,
which borders on the Arabian Sea, south of Karachi, in Gujarat
(and is, or was - nothing is for ever - populated with wild asses4,
which must be one of the few places remaining in India where
they have a chance of not being mucked about5).
The only river of any value in this part of Rajasthan is the
Luni. It rises near Pushkar, which we were on our way to visit,
1 informal: an area far from a town or city
2 a car first made in India in 1958
3 a British car which was the model for the Ambassador
4 old'fashioned: word for donkeys
5 informal: to spoil or damage something

and it, too, ends up in the Rann of Kutch. O n its banks, before
it becomes brackish6 further downstream, barley and wheat7 can
be grown, the only place in N orthern Rajasthan where this is
possible. Apart from this fine fertile bit the whole of Northern
and Western Rajasthan is a vast, more or less sandy tract8.
It was midday in mid-November 1989 and the temperature
was still about 32°C (89.6°F), and whatever anyone tells you
at this time of year there is no need to wrap up well in the
evenings. This is a region of extremes. In May/June, when no
sane traveller would be here, the main day temperature is 94°F,
but it can and does go up to 120°F, which is insupportable unless
you are a fire worshipper. In December/January you really need
your woollies9, when the night temperature often falls below
freezing. October-M arch are the best months in Rajasthan.
We were in the midst of seemingly endless expanses of
sandy semi-desert, but one in which, in spite of being a semi-
desert, equally endless groves of trees gave merciful shade
and a touch of variety to what would otherwise have been an
utterly monotonous landscape, and, goodness knows10, it was
monotonous enough even with them.
They were pretty trees, at a distance a bit reminiscent of
olives. From time to time they were rigorously pruned so that
their leaves could be used as feed for the animals and after
this was done they looked terrible, like trees after an artillery
bombardment.
Under them were flocks of sheep, bred mostly for their wool,
goats that had done their best to make the semi-desert what it
is and had every intention of keeping it that way, great herds of
camels, of what looked like various degrees of domesticity11, the
same colour as the sand, which did all the pulling and ploughing
here and, rather surprisingly, cows.
6 brackish water has a slight taste of salt and is therefore not pure
7 plants th at produce grain for making food
8 a large area of land
9 informal: clothing made from wool, especially k nitted clothing
10 phrase used for emphasizing what you say, or expressing surprise
11 referring to hom e and family life - some of the animals were wilder than others

A t that season, apart from some stunted shrubs, some clumps
of coarse grass, and what looked like pampas grass12, the only real
colour in that wilderness was provided by the people who lived
in it - the women loaded with chunky jewellery which must
have weighed a ton and would have done well in Van Cleef and
Arpels13, all dressed in the brilliantly coloured wraps which took
the place of saris14; the men in their equally dazzling headcloths,
in shades of pink and green and every other conceivable colour
under the sun, which there, in the land of the Rajputs, seemed
to be twice the size of similar headgear worn anywhere else in
India.
There were few enough hamlets15, let alone villages, and
those that could be seen from the road mostly consisted of mud
huts roofed with thatch and were so far apart that you wondered
how anyone ever got to the intervening fields to work them.
In fact the only reason why those habitations16 were where
they were was because there was water. If it failed, as it sometimes
did, then the occupants moved.
In that part of Rajasthan almost all the surface water was
brackish and on the borders of Jaipur and Jodhpur we passed
Lake Sambhar which produced large quantities of salt, said to
be carried to it on the wind from the Rann of Kutch. Some
rainwater was collected in reservoirs called johras.
The wells were unique. They were so beautiful to look at that

when you first set eyes on them, you thought that you were
looking at some sort of domed tomb or temple. The shaft
itself was surrounded by four slender columns that resembled
minarets, or sometimes there were only two, one on either side
of it. The water from these wells was, and in some cases still is,
raised to the surface in leather waterskins by bullocks driven
down an inclined ramp. The wells were popular meeting places
1 2 a plant with very tall stems and long white flowers th at look like feathers
13 a famous French jeweller’s
14 a very long wide piece of cloth, especially silk, th at women in India wrap around
their bodies to make a type of long dress
15 a small village
16 literary: houses

and at each one there was a shrine to Hanuman, the Monkey
God, who was much venerated by the Rajputs who lived there.
The only crop in the semi-desert was millet17, although gram-
chick pea18was grown for fodder. The monsoon rains began, that
is if they came at all, towards the second half of September, and
continued, more off than on, until the beginning of November, -
but never amounted to more than ten inches a year, more often
five. The rain gods were invoked19 with the air of fire. The sands
were ploughed with wooden ploughs pulled by camels. Only a
few showers were needed to bring the crop to maturity.
To the north and west of where we were, somewhere north
of Ajmer, was the Thar, the Indian Desert, the Sanskrit name
for which, pre-dating any other, is Marusthali, which signifies
Death. The Thar separates India from Pakistan along a 300-mile
front and its sands, wind-borne, make deep inroads into20 the
semi-desert and in some places, where we were then, the roads
were partially blocked by it.
It was an awe-inspiring sight: long, straight, parallel ridges of
sand, each one up to a couple of miles long, as regularly spaced
as ripples on a seashore, their summits, blown up to a height
of between fifty and a hundred feet by the prevailing westerly
winds, were constantly on the move. Difficult to believe that
a friendly monsoon could turn it into a temporary paradise of
succulent vegetation for sheep and cattle almost overnight.
There were a lot of birds in the semi-desert: peacocks in
thousands, regarded as inviolable by Hindus, made the air
hideous with their screaming, and there were partridges and
Indian rollers. We also saw nilgai, a sort of deer.
Most of the inhabitants were Hindus, although it was the
Rajputs of the warrior (Kshatriya) caste21 who still had the
most clout, as they had done since time immemorial22. To
them, rather like Scottish chieftains, riches have always been
1 7 a type of grain often used as food for birds
18 a round yellow-brown seed
19 to ask for help from someone who is stronger or more powerful, especially a god
20 to take or use a large part of something
21 one of the traditional social classes th at people were bom into in H indu society
22 a phrase meaning for an extremely long time

less important than birth and martial prowess. Their clansmen
could be penniless23 but they were just as welcome at the chief's
house.
Like the Normans24, these Rajputs were mighty fortress
builders. The fortresses looked impregnable with their gates
covered with iron plates and spikes at an appropriate level to
discourage elephants from bashing them in with their heads.
Some of them had huge catchment systems which delivered the
rainwater to cisterns25 underneath the courtyards.
Some of these fortresses looked impregnable but they were
not always so. If they were penetrated by the enemy, usually
Muslims, the Rajput garrisons, their robes stained with bright
yellow turmeric, the garb of doom26, and inflamed by large doses
of bhang (hashish27), fought to the last, leaving their women to
practise jauhar, self-immolation28 on a great pyre, taking their
children with them.
But not every Rajput fought to the last man, or the last woman.
Sometimes, when forced out of their positions by Muslim force
majeure29, they either managed to found a new town or city, or
else went off to serve as soldiers of fortune either with those who
had defeated them, or any other employers who could afford
their services.
T hat afternoon we arrived in Ajmer, late as we invariably
were whenever we travelled by car in Rajasthan, due to events
beyond anyone's control. This time the sump30 fell off and a
back wheel ran over it, squashing it flat, a mishap unusual even
for India.
It took two sump beaters three and a half hours to unsquash
it and then it wouldn't fit. Eventually a replacement was found
23 literary: having no money

24 people from Normandy in northern France. T he Normans ruled England in the 11th
and 12th centuries
25 a container for holding water
26 here, clothes signifying death, destruction or complete faliure
27 a form of the drug cannabis
28 very formal: suicide by burning
29 French: greater strength or power
30 the part at the bottom of the engine th at holds the oil

in a dump full of old, wrecked Ambassadors, where any sane
person would have looked in the first place.
No time, in Ajmer, to visit the Dargah, burial place of Khwaja
Muin ud din Chishti, a Sufi31 saint (1143-1235), whose shrine is
regularly visited by innumerable Muslims, many of whom travel
long distances on foot. Akbar, who used to come every year from
Agra, built a mosque there; Shah Jahan built another; Humayun
completed the shrine and the Nizam of Hyderabad had the doors
made which are now covered with horse shoes nailed to them by
horse copers32 in memory of successful deals.
No time either to visit the mosque called Adhai-din-ka-
Jhopra, otherwise the ‘hut of two and a half days', which was
what it took to build it. A bit slow considering that it was all
done supernaturally33.
Why no time? Because in order to get to Pushkar we had another

seven miles to go; the sun was already sinking in the west, and
when we got there we had to find a tent reserved for us in a
tented village set up by Rajasthan Tourism, one of 600 more
or less identical tents, not une mince affaire (an insignificant
matter) after nightfall, as one French couple described it to us
the following morning, having been faced with the necessity of
doing just this.
And so we set off along the beautiful shores of the Ana Sagar,
a lake made in the twelfth century by damming the river Luni,
the one that flows into the Rann of Kutch, which had a luxury
hotel on its shores and two marble pavilions built by Shah Jahan
in 1637.
Then the Ambassador ground up over a rocky saddle in the
Nag Pahar, the Snake Mountains, and after a long freewheel34
downhill we found ourselves in the environs of Pushkar where
3 1 a member of an Islamic religious group whose aim is to communicate directly with
G od and to understand spiritual mysteries
32 someone who looks after and sells horses
33 events/actions th at seem to come from a power such as magic and do not have a
natural or scientific explanation
34 to move on a bicycle without moving the pedals, or to move in a car w ithout
switching on the engine, usually down a slope
The band of the Camels | 85

the Fair was going full blast35. It had already been going on for
seven days.
This was the night of 12-13 November and four o'clock on
the morning of the 13 th would be Kartik Purnima, the auspicious
moment of the full moon of Kartik (October/November) when
every Hindu present in and around Pushkar at that moment
would be trying to bathe in the Pushkar Sarowar, the sacred
lake.
Pushkar lies between ranges of stony mountains with the lake
hidden away below it to the south, and it is overlooked by two
steep hills with temples on top of them - the one to the south
west is the Ratnagiri Hill which supports the temple of Savitri.
To the west of the village the great sand dunes of the Thar desert
begin.
A t this moment, around five o'clock in the evening, there
was not much to see of Pushkar, what with about 200,000
Rajasthani and other assorted pilgrims on its doorsteps, hordes36
of sadhus37 down from the Himalayas (one of them hanging in a
tree), innumerable merchants in innumerable booths selling all
sorts of merchandise, including trappings38for camels and cattle,
not all of it tourist junk39, plus thousands of foreign tourists.
(The Rajasthan Tourist Authority estimated 100,000 for the
whole fair, but one never quite believes hundreds of thousands
and millions in India.)
The tented camp was on the edge of the sands with the temple
of Savitri looming up behind it on its hill. O n them a large
proportion of the 200,000 humans, together with something
like 50,000 camels, cows, bullocks, calves, sheep, goats and
horses were encamped, together with the carts in which they
had come, some hauled by bullocks, some by camels, a few by
tractors.
The sun was setting now, a big, red blood orange that looked
as if it was floating in a jar of honey, and the smoke of whatever
35 as loudly or with as much power as possible
36 a large number of people
37 H indu holy men
38 possessions th at show th at someone is rich, powerful or im portant
39 things that are of very low quality

number of camp fires 200,000 people need to cook their evening
meals rose in the air, together with all the noises that domestic
animals make before settling down for the night, grunts and
groans and the excruciating noise made by one camel which,
for some reason, was having its nostrils pierced. Soon it was
quite dark.
The de luxe40 tents were not all that luxe, but how can you
make a tent luxe in the middle of a sandy waste unless it has a
wooden floor? They were laid out on a simple grid-iron plan41
but nevertheless it was difficult to find one's own and we had
some interesting encounters with various Japanese, Swedes,
Americans, Germans and Brits42 in the course of looking for it,
some of them being without clothes.
Take a big plastic bag, if you are a luxe tent inhabiter, or a
non-luxe one for that matter, as it is almost impossible to find a
dustbin. The loos were some way off but, once there, you could
get hot water for washing, brewed up on an open fire.
The principal problem was to know what to do with one's
valuables as tents don't have locks. There were some strong
boxes43 in ‘Reception' but they were usually full, so you had
to carry anything you didn’t want to lose with you. In fact we
didn't hear of anyone being robbed. There were also dormitory
sleeping tents which were much cheaper.
Serve-yourself meals were taken in a huge, communal, gaily-
coloured44 tent, most dishes of Indian inspiration - vegetables
only and no alcoholic drinks in it or anywhere else in Pushkar.
The food was not bad. The bathing began at 4 a.m., with the
huge full moon of Kartik overhead, from the twenty-five bathing
ghats45 which almost entirely surround it.
This is the most sacred lake in the whole of India, the place
where Lord Brahma, Creator of the Universe, while flying
40 used about things th at are better in quality and more expensive than other things of
the same type
4 1 a street plan based on parallel lines and lines th at cross at right angles
42 informal: someone who comes from the UK
43 a box th at can be locked to keep money and other im portant things inside
44 with bright, attractive colours
45 in India, the steps leading down to a river or lake where people wash themselves

overhead on his tame goose, dropped a lotus46 petal while
searching for a suitable place to perform a yagna (a Vedic
sacrifice). W here the petal landed the lake appeared and there
Brahma landed to perform it.
In order to perform the yagna satisfactorily it was necessary
for Savitri, Brahmas wife, to be present, but she took so long
to get ready that Brahma used a complaisant47 milkmaid48 as a
stand-in. By the time Savitri arrived the whole thing was over.
She put a curse on Brahma to the effect that henceforth
he would only be worshipped in Pushkar, and today the
Brahma temple there is the only temple in India in which he
is worshipped. Savitri then left for the Ratnagiri Hill, above
the lake, one of the two now crowned with temples, and there
immolated herself in one of these feats49 of combustion50 so
irresistible to Hindu gods and goddesses.
Watching this vast concourse of brilliantly clad bathers
entering the turgid waters of the lake, hour after hour, for it is
impossible for 200,000 people to do so at one time, I couldn’t
help worrying about a passage in Murray’s great Handbook for
Travellers in India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon, 19th edition,
1962. It reads: ‘The sacred crocodiles in the lake will be fed by
the Mahants [the guardians of the temples] on request, when
a small gratuity51 of one or two rupees52 will be appropriate.’ I
hoped that this information was out of date.
For much of the rest of the day we sat out under a canvas tilt53
on top of a sandhill, in what was a temporary teahouse, drinking
endless cups of what I thought was a delicious beverage which
didn’t taste of anything recognizable, certainly not tea.
46 an A sian water plant with large white or pink flowers

47 unusual use: trying to please other people
48 an old word meaning ‘a woman whose job is to milk cows’
49 something impressive and often dangerous th at someone does
50 the process of burning
5 1 a small amount of money th at you give to someone to thank them for doing
something for you
52 the unit of money used in India, Pakistan and some other countries
53 a sloping cover above your head

From this eminence, looking out towards the temple of Savitri
on the hill above, we watched the owners putting their camels
through their paces for prospective customers, or consulting a
team of Brahman54 astrologers out on the sands about prospects
for the Hindu equivalent of 1990.
The closing ceremony took hours and ran late. We left after
a great tug-of-war55 between a hastily assembled team of young
memsahibs56 from all over the world and their tough Rajasthani
equivalents, which ended in a draw.
We stayed on the hill until the moment when the sun sank
and the moon, now on the wane, was already high in the sky
behind it. Then we churned our way through the sand back
through the encampments from which the country people were
now in full retreat57 in bullock and camel carts and painted
buses that looked like brilliant insects. It was all over. In all our
lives we had seldom enjoyed ourselves more.
54 a Hindu who belongs to the highest caste, in which men were traditionally priests
55 a game in which two teams pull on opposite sides of a rope until one team succeeds
in pulling the other team across a line between them
56 Indian English: an old word used for referring to European women
57 they were all leaving

Post>reading activities
extract.
1 W hich country is Newby travelling in?
2 W hat kind of transport is he using?
3 W ho is driving?
4 W hat is ‘the colour of old bones’?
5 W hat is the Rann of Kutch?
6 W hat is most of Rajasthan like?
7 W hat is possible because of the river Luni?
8 W hat time of year is it? W hat is the weather like?
9 Why is Newby grateful for the ‘groves of trees’?
10 W hich animals do most of the ‘pulling and ploughing’?
11 W hat do the local men and women wear?
12 Why are the villages located in certain places?
13 Why are the wells ‘unique’?
14 W hen do the rains usually come?
15 W hat is the Thar?
16 W hat is ‘difficult to believe’?
17 W hat form of wildlife does Newby see?
18 W hat religion are most of the inhabitants of the area?
19 How does Newby describe the Rajputs?
20 W hat is jauhur?
21 W hat did the Rajputs often do if their fortresses were taken by
their enemies?
22 Why does Newby arrive late in Ajmer?
23 W hat does Newby not visit in Ajmer? Why?
At the Fair
24 How long has the Fair been going on when Newby arrives?
25 W hat takes place on 13th November?
26 Who is at the Fair?
27 How many people and animals are there at the Fair?
28 W hat are the tractors used for?
29 How do the pilgrims cook their food?
30 Why is the camel making a noise?
31 Why do you think it is difficult for Newby to find his tent?
32 Who are ‘without clothes’?
33 Why is it important to have a plastic bag?

34 How can hot water be obtained?
35 W hat is the ‘principal problem’ according to Newby?
36 W hat are the ‘serve-yourself’ meals like?
37 W hat time does the bathing begin?
38 According to the legend, what did Brahma perform on the lake?
39 Why was Savitri angry?
40 W hat curse did Savitri put on her husband?
41 Why is Newby worried as he watches the bathers enter the lake?
42 W hat does Newby observe from the hill?
43 W hat takes a long time?
44 How does Newby feel as the Fair ends?
Language study
Vocabulary
Formal language
The author sometimes mixes rather formal vocabulary with more
informal vocabulary. This occasionally results in a comic effect.
1 Match the formal words in bold in the examples below with the
informal equivalents in the box.
means crowd hill biggest drink end

like meetings from that time dressed
The principal problem <was to know what to do with one’s valuables.

The Aravalli finally expire on the inner edge of the Rann of Kutch.
To the north and west of where we were.. .was the Thar, the Indian
desert, the Sanskrit name for which.. .is Marusthali, which signifies
death.
...we had some interesting encounters with various Japanese, Swedes,
Americans, Germans and Brits.
They were pretty trees, at a distance a bit reminiscent of olives.
.. .watching this vast concourse of brilliantly clad bathers...
we sat.. .drinking endless cups of what I thought was a delicious
beverage.
She put a curse on Brahma to the effect that henceforth he would only be
worshipped in Pushkar.
From this eminence...we watched the owners putting their camels
through their paces.
34 How can hot water be obtained?
35 W hat is the ‘principal problem’ according to Newby?
36 W hat are the ‘serve^yourself’ meals like?
37 W hat time does the bathing begin?
38 According to the legend, what did Brahma perform on the lake?
39 Why was Savitri angry?
40 W hat curse did Savitri put on her husband?
41 Why is Newby worried as he watches the bathers enter the lake?
42 W hat does Newby observe from the hill?
43 W hat takes a long time?
44 How does Newby feel as the Fair ends?
Language study
Vocabulary
Formal language
The author sometimes mixes rather formal vocabulary with more
informal vocabulary. This occasionally results in a comic effect.
1 Match the formal words in bold in the examples below with the
informal equivalents in the box.
means crowd hill biggest drink end

like meetings from that time dressed
The principal problem was to know what to do with ones valuables.

The Aravalli finally expire on the inner edge of the Rann of Kutch.
To the north and west of where we were.. .was the Thar, the Indian
desert, the Sanskrit name for which.. .is Marusthali, which signifies
death.
...we had some interesting encounters with various Japanese, Swedes,
Americans, Germans and Brits.
They were pretty trees, at a distance a bit reminiscent of olives.
.. .watching this vast concourse of brilliantly clad bathers...
we sat.. .drinking endless cups of what I thought was a delicious
beverage.
She put a curse on Brahma to the effect that henceforth he would only be
worshipped in Pushkar.
From this eminence., .we watched the owners putting their camels
through their paces.
The Land o f the Camels | 91
Grammar
M ultiple'dause sentences
Newby often uses longer, multiple-clause sentences, especially when
he is describing the landscape and surroundings. Look at this extract
describing the animals in the desert.
Under them were flocks of sheep, bred mostly for their wool, goats that
had done their best to make the semi-desert what it is and had every
intention of keeping it that way, great herds of camels, of what looked like
various degrees of domesticity, the same colour as the sand, which did all
the pulling and ploughing here and, rather surprisingly, cows.
Notice how all this information can be broken down into separate
sentences:
There were flocks of sheep under them [the trees].
The sheep were bred mostly for their wool.
There were goats.
The goats had done their best to make the semi-desert what it is.
They had every intention of keeping it that way.
There were great herds of camels.
They were of what looked like various degrees of domesticity.
They were the same colour as the sand.
They did all the pulling and ploughing here.
Rather surprisingly, there were cows.
Notice how Newby uses that and which to connect the clauses
describing the animals.
Here is another example. This extract describes the hot, dry conditions
in the desertdike landscape.
In May /June, when no sane traveller would be here, the main day
temperature is 94°F, butit can and does go up to 120°F, which is
insupportable unless you are a fire worshipper.
2 Try and break down the above sentence into shorter sentences.
Use these phrases to help you.
No sane traveller...........................................................................................
The main day tem perature...........................................................................
It can and does go u p ....................................................................................
This is .............................................................................................................

Do the same with this sentence.
The shaft itself was surrounded by four slender columns that resembled
minarets, or sometimes there were only two, one on either side of it.
The use of preposition + which

Newby sometimes uses a preposition followed by which to introduce a
new clause. This is quite a formal structure. Look at this example:
Then we churned our way through the sand back through the
encampments from which the country people were now in full retreat in
bullock and camel carts.
This could be expressed using two separate sentences:
Then we churned our way through the sand back through the
encampments.
The country people were now in full retreat from the encampments in
bullock and camel carts.
3 Look at these examples from the extract and underline the
prepositions + which. How could you express the same ideas
without using a preposition + which?
Example: To the north and west of where we were, somewhere north

of Ajmer, was the Thar, the Indian Desert, the Sanskrit name for which,
pre-dating any other, is Marusthali, which signifies Death.
To the north and west of where we were, somewhere north of Ajmer,
was the Thar, the Indian Desert. The Sanskrit name for the Thar,
predating any other, is Marusthali, which signifies Death.
On [the hills] a large proportion of the 200,000 humans, together with

something like 50,000 camels, cows, bullocks, calves, sheep, goats and
horses were encamped, together with the carts in which they had come,
some hauled by bullocks, some by camels, a few by tractors.

We were in the midst of seemingly endless expanses of sandy semi-desert,
but one in which, in spite of being a semi-desert, equally endless groves of
trees gave merciful shade.
4 Write the following as single sentences using a preposition +

which.
1 There were a lot of animals. About half were camels.
2 We stopped at an old well. There was a dome on the top of it.
3 The merchants carried large bags. There was a variety of goods in

them.
4 The fortress had been huge. There was very little left.
5 The village was very poor. We stopped to eat there.
6 The women wore saris. Some of them were brightly coloured.

Literary analysis
Events
1 Write these events from the extract in the correct order.
a) The bathers enter the sacred lake.
b) The car breaks down.
c) Newby looks for his tent at Pushkar.
d) They arrive at Ajmer.
e) Newby sees the sand dunes of the Thar desert.
f) The closing ceremony takes place.
g) The camel complains when its nostrils are being pierced.
h) Newby watches the Fair from up on a hill.
2 Match the extracts (a-h) with the following four categories.
1 Historical background
2 Legend
3 Description of landscape
4 Advice to travellers
a) Take a big plastic bag, if you are a luxe tent inhabiter, or a non-luxe
one for that matter, as it is almost impossible to find
a dustbin.
b) It was an awe-inspiring sight: long, straight, parallel ridges of sand,
each one up to a couple of miles long, as regularly spaced as ripples on
a seashore...
c) She put a curse on Brahma to the effect that henceforth he would only
be worshipped in Pushkar.
d) In December/January you really need your woollies, when the night
temperature often falls below freezing.
e) Pushkar lies between ranges of stony mountains with the lake hidden
away below it to the south
f) Most of the inhabitants were Hindus, although it was the Rajputs of
the warrior (Kshatriya) caste who still had the most clout, as they had
done since time immemorial.
g) This is the most sacred lake in the whole of India, the place where
Lord Brahma, Creator of the Universe, while flying overhead on his
tame goose, dropped a lotus petal while searching for a suitable place to
perform a yagna (a Vedic sacrifice).
h) Humayun completed the shrine and the Nizam of Hyderabad had the
doors made which are now covered with horse shoes nailed to them by
horse copers in memory of successful deals.

People
3 Does Newby name any of the people he meets? W hat effect does
this have?
4 W hich words does Newby use to convey the great number and
variety of people at the Fair?
5 Newby worked as a fashion buyer for some years. How is this
experience reflected in his description of the way people dress?
Sense of place
Newby gives his impression of different places by mixing description,
personal comment and historical anecdote. Look at the extracts below
and answer the questions.
It is, therefore, not surprising that having been where it is for some 700
million years - it originally extended from the Kumaon Himalaya to the
southern end of the Indian peninsula - it is now the colour of old bones
and so worn down that it rarely exceeds 3,000 feet (Mount Abu is 5,000
feet but is detached from the main range).
6 W hat is Newby describing here? W hat is ‘not surprising’?
The Aravalli begin near Delhi and finally expire on the inner edge of the
Rann of Kutch, a spooky, 8,000-square-mile expanse of saline marsh or
saline desert, according to the time of year, which borders on the Arabian
Sea, south of Karachi, in Gujarat (and is, or was - nothing is for ever -
populated with wild asses, which must be one of the few places remaining
in India where they have a chance of not being mucked about).
7 W hat is the Rann of Kutch? How does it change ‘according to the
time of year’? Why? Why do the asses ‘have a chance of not being
mucked about’? W hich adjective describes Newby’s reaction to it?
It was an awe-inspiring sight: long, straight, parallel ridges of sand,
each one up to a couple of miles long, as regularly spaced as ripples on
a seashore, their summits, blown up to a height of between fifty and a
hundred feet by the prevailing westerly winds, were constantly on the
move.
8 W hat is Newby describing here? W hich adjective describes his
reactions to the landscape? W hich comparison does he use? Which
phrases tell us that the sand hills are huge but also changing?
9 Find the paragraph beginning: ‘The wells were unique’. W hat is
unique about them? How does Newby convey this uniqueness to
the reader?

10 Find the paragraph beginning: ‘Some of these fortresses looked
impregnable’. How does Newby use his imagination to convey
what happened when a fortress was penetrated?
11 Find the paragraph beginning: ‘The sun was setting now’, in which
Newby describes the camp in the evening. W hich of our senses
does this description appeal to?

12 Newby often inserts phrases into a sentence which modify what he
is saying or give us an idea of what he is thinking. For example, in
his description of the Rann of Kutch, he says:
[it] is, or was - nothing is for ever - populated with wild asses
The phrase ‘nothing is for ever’ shows that Newby has travelled
widely and has seen big changes even in his lifetime.
Look at the examples below and underline the phrases in which
Newby gives a personal comment on something or speaks directly
to the reader. W hat do the phrases show in each case?
It was midday in mid-November 1989 and the temperature was still
about 32°C (89.6°F), and whatever anyone tells you at this time of
year there is no need to wrap up well in the evenings.
In May IJune, when no sane traveller would be here, the main day
temperature is 94°F.
We were in the midst of seemingly endless expanses of sandy semi-
desert, but one in which, in spite of being a semi-desert, equally
endless groves of trees gave merciful shade and a touch of variety to
what would otherwise have been an utterly monotonous landscape,
and, goodness knows, it was monotonous enough even with them.
That afternoon we arrived in Ajmer, late as we invariably were
whenever we travelled by car in Rajasthan, due to events beyond
anyone’s control.
The Rajasthan Tourist Authority estimated 100,000 for the whole
fair, but one never quite believes hundreds of thousands and millions
in India.
13 Newby often comments humorously on events, for example, when
he sees the bathers entering the lake. W hat does the guide book
tell him? Why does he hope it is ‘out of date’?
14 Think about the episode of the squashed sump and the amount of
time it takes to fix. Do you find Newby’s comments amusing? Can
you find any other examples of his humour?

15 W hich of the following words would you use to describe Newby?
experienced patient funny curious bored

ignorant enthusiastic humble tolerant lazy
W hat other words might describe him?
www.macmillanenglish.com/readers.

Hammerfest
by Bill Bryson
About the author

Bill Bryson was bom William McGuire Bryson in 1951 in Des Moines,
Iowa, USA, one of three children. His father, William Bryson, was a
sports journalist for the Des Moines Register, a job he held for 50 years.
Bill Bryson went to Drake University but left in 1972, without finishing
his degree, and decided to travel around Europe for four months. He
found this so interesting that he returned to Europe in 1973, this time
with a friend from school. Eighteen years later, in 1991, in his book
Neither Here Nor There, Bryson writes about a later trip to Europe and
includes reflections on his earlier experiences there.
As part of his trip in 1973, Bryson visited the U nited Kingdom
for the first time and decided to find a job there. He worked in a
psychiatric hospital where he met a nurse, Cynthia, whom he later
married. They moved to the U nited States in 1975 so that Bryson
could complete his university studies. In 1977, the couple returned
to England, where they remained until 1995 and had four children.
Bryson worked mainly as a journalist and for the business sections of
The Times and The Independent newspapers. He also wrote books in a
variety of genres which reflected his interest in travel, history, science
and the English language. His book about Britain, Notes from a Small
Island (1995), became a best seller and was later adapted for television.
In 1995, the Brysons returned to the U nited States where they
lived in Hanover, New Hampshire. Bryson wrote about these years in
Notes from a Big Country (1999). He also wrote A Walk in the Woods
(1998), based on his attem pt to walk the Appalachian Trail, a long
walk through the Blue Ridge Mountains of the east coast of the U nited
States. In 2003 the Brysons returned to England to live in Norfolk.
In 2004, Bryson won the prestigious Aventis Prize for best general
science book with A Short History of Nearly Everything, in which he
explores the origins of scientific discoveries. In 2005, he was appointed
Chancellor of Durham University in the north of England where he
became actively involved in the world of higher education. He also
continued to write prolifically. His most recent works include a book
Hammerfest | 99
15 Which of the following words would you use to describe Newby?
experienced patient funny curious bored

ignorant enthusiastic humble tolerant lazy
W hat other words might describe him?

on Shakespeare, Shakespeare: The World as Stage (2007), and At Home:
A n Informal History of Private Life (2010) in which he writes a history
of the world through common, everyday rooms and objects.
Bryson and his wife continue to live in England. His warm
personality and lively, accessible style of writing ensure that his
activities and books are as popular as ever.
About the extract

Hammerfest is a chapter from Bryson’s book Neither Here Nor There,
published in 1991. The book is about the author’s tour of Europe in
1990. He also reflects on two earlier trips made in the early 1970s.
Bryson’s trip begins in the winter, in Hammerfest, Norway, where his
goal is to see the natural spectacle of the N orthern Lights.
Hammerfest
Hammerfest in Norway is said to be the most northerly town in the
world, with a population of about 10,000 people. It is situated on the
island of Kvaloya. Despite its location, the harbour of Hammerfest is
free of ice all the year round because of the warming N orth A tlantic
current. The sun shines continuously between mid May and the end of
July, and there is no sunlight from 21st November to 21st January.
In the past, Hammerfest had an important fishing industry but this
has been in decline in recent years and the local economy now relies
on developing other sources of income. One of these is tourism, and
the spectacle of the N orthern Lights. Increasing numbers of people
visit the town in the hope of seeing this natural phenomenon.
The Northern Lights

The N orthern Lights are one of several astronomical1 phenomena2
called polar lights which can be seen in the northern hemisphere3 at
certain times of year. They are often described as columns or curtains
of coloured light and can last from a few minutes to several hours. The
N orthern Lights are also known as the aurora borealis.
1 relating to the scientific study of the stars and planets

2 events or situations that can be seen to happen or exist
3 the northern half of the Earth, north of the equator (= the imaginary line th at
marks the middle of the Earth)
100 | Hammerfest
Summary
Bryson is staying at the H&ja Hotel in Hammerfest at the end of

December. On his first walk through the town, he finds little to
interest him. The shops are closed and there are very few people in
the streets. He walks to the harbour and is blown off his feet by the
strong wind. After visiting a monument called the Meridianst0tten,
he returns to the hotel.
In the evening, Bryson expects some excitement because it is New
Year’s Eve. However, the only thing that happens in the hotel is an
incident in which the waiter throws one of the few customers into
the street. Bryson goes outside where again, nothing is happening.
However, just before midnight, the people come out of their houses
and set fireworks off in the street. This display continues for half an
hour.
The days pass and Bryson gets more and more frustrated because
he hasn’t seen the Northern Lights, his main aim in coming to
Hammerfest. He spends the time walking, looking at the sky and
reading on his bed. He tries to watch the local TV station but finds
it extremely boring.
Little by little, Bryson begins to meet people in the town. He visits
the Mayor. An Englishman and his wife invite him to dinner at their
house. There, he learns something of the history and the local news
of Hammerfest. He gradually becomes more interested in the town.
On the sixteenth day of his visit, Bryson sees a cloud of different
colours above the town - the Northern Lights. It is a short display but
he is delighted with it. In the evening the Lights return but this time
they last much longer. Despite the cold, Bryson stays and watches for
about two hours, unable to pull himself away.
The next day, Bryson goes to the tourist office to tell Hans, the
tourism director, about his experience and to book a place on the
bus for the following week. He finds that there is a bus leaving in ten
minutes and runs back to the hotel for his luggage. Soon, he is on his
way to Oslo.
Hammerfest | 101
Summary
Bryson is staying at the H&ja Hotel in Hammerfest at the end of

December. O n his first walk through the town, he finds little to
interest him. The shops are closed and there are very few people in
the streets. He walks to the harbour and is blown off his feet by the
strong wind. After visiting a monument called the M eridianst0tten,
he returns to the hotel.
In the evening, Bryson expects some excitement because it is New
Year’s Eve. However, the only thing that happens in the hotel is an
incident in which the waiter throws one of the few customers into
the street. Bryson goes outside where again, nothing is happening.
However, just before midnight, the people come out of their houses
and set fireworks off in the street. This display continues for half an
hour.
The days pass and Bryson gets more and more frustrated because
he hasn’t seen the N orthern Lights, his main aim in coming to
Hammerfest. He spends the time walking, looking at the sky and
reading on his bed. He tries to watch the local TV station but finds
it extremely boring.
Little by little, Bryson begins to meet people in the town. He visits
the Mayor. A n Englishman and his wife invite him to dinner at their
house. There, he learns something of the history and the local news
of Hammerfest. He gradually becomes more interested in the town.
O n the sixteenth day of his visit, Bryson sees a cloud of different
colours above the town - the N orthern Lights. It is a short display but
he is delighted with it. In the evening the Lights return but this time
they last much longer. Despite the cold, Bryson stays and watches for
about two hours, unable to pull himself away.
The next day, Bryson goes to the tourist office to tell Hans, the
tourism director, about his experience and to book a place on the
bus for the following week. He finds that there is a bus leaving in ten
minutes and runs back to the hotel for his luggage. Soon, he is on his
way to Oslo.
Hammerfest | 101
Key vocabulary
Around the harbour

Bryson describes Hammerfest as a very quiet harbour town. The life
and economy of the town centres around the sea - mainly with fishing,
and around the sky - the tourism for the N orthern Lights.
1 Look at the extracts below, then m atch the words (1 -1 1 ) with

their definitions (a-k ).
I took a room in the Haja Hotel near the qu ay...1 dumped my things,
briefly investigated the amenities and went out to bok at Hammerfest.
The hotel was in a dark neighbourhood of shipping offices and
warehouses.
1 walked up to the main street, Strandgatan, which ran for about 300
yards abng the harbour, lined on the inhnd side by an assortment of
businesses...
Beyond the high street, the road curved around the bay, leading out to a
narrow headland.
...on the harbour side by the town hall, a few more shops and the dark
hulking mass of a Birds Eye Findus fish-processing plant. The headland
proved unrewarding, just a jumble of warehouses and small ship-repair
yards, homed over by groaning cranes.
The town itself was wonderfully bright and snug-looking, a haven of
warmth and light in the endless Arctic night.
1 quay a) a very tall machine used for lifting or

moving heavy objects and building tall
buildings
2 amenities b) a hard surface next to a sea or river,
where boats can stop
3 shipping c) a place where people or animals can
feel safe or happy
4 warehouse d) a big building where large amounts of
goods are stored
102 | Hammerfest
5 harbour e) a narrow piece of land that sticks out
into the sea
6 bay f) an area of water near the land where it
is safe for boats to stay
7 headland g) an area of the coast where the land
curves inwards
8 processing plant h) the business of carrying goods,
especially in a ship
9 ship yard i) usually plural something that makes it
comfortable or enjoyable to live or
work somewhere
10 crane j ) a place where ships are built or repaired
11 haven k) a factory that treats a food or another
substance to make it ready for use
Describing the Northern Lights

Bryson uses a range of words to describe the movement and appearance
of the N orthern Lights.
2 Look at the verbs below and their definitions. Imagine the lights
they describe. Which verbs do you think only describe light
(including the light from a fire)? Which verbs could be used to
describe other things?
glimmer to shine w ith a soft weak light th at is n o t steady

swirl to tu rn round and round quickly
shoot to move very suddenly and quickly
hang to be suspended in the air or sky
glitter to shine with a lot of small quick flashes of light
creep to move quietly and slowly
flash to shine brightly for a very short tim e, or to shine o n and off very quickly
spin to move quickly in circles
flicker to go on and off (a light), or n o t bu m evenly (a flame)
vanish to disappear suddenly
Hammerfest | 103
3 Choose the best word to complete the sentences below.
1 The flame flickered/crept briefly and then went out.
2 The full moon hung/swirled in the night sky like a beautiful jewel.
3 The burglar flashed/crept quietly into the darkened house.
4 He flashed/flickered his torch on and off several times to warn
his friend.
5 The fireworks glimmered/shot across the sky like giant rockets.
6 The cat’s eyes glittered/spun in the shadows.
7 The aeroplane appeared briefly and then flickered/vanished into
the clouds.
8 As the dancer turned around, her skirts swirled/shot around her.
9 It’s hard to imagine that the planet is creeping/spinning all the
time.
10 As her jewels caught the light, they glimmered/vanished softly.
Describing the experience of seeing the Northern Lights

4 Look at the adjectives and definitions in the box, and then answer
the questions below.
luminous very bright

weird strange and unusual, sometimes in a way th a t upsets you
eerie strange and mysterious, and sometimes frightening
unsettling som ething like this makes you feel nervous, confused or upset
shimmering reflecting a gentle light th a t seems to shake slightly
terrifying extremely frightening
translucent clear enough for light to pass through but n o t com pletely clear
frantic done in a very urgent way
languorous slow, calm and relaxed
1 a) W hich four words describe the effect of the N orthern Lights on

Bryson? b) W hich of these words describes the most intense feeling?
2 W hich three words describe the quality of light?
3 W hich two words are neanantonyms or opposites?
5 Complete the paragraph with the words above. More than one
word is sometimes possible.
1 The Lights were sometimes a little ................................. but at other
times they were absolutely................................ .
104 | Hammerfest
2 The smoke from his pipe made its way upwards in a ................................
fashion towards the ceiling.
3 W hen she found the house was on fire she immediately made a
................................. phone call to the emergency services.
4 The clouds were so thin they were alm ost..................................
5 The weak sun reflected gently on t h e ................................ water.
6 W hat a ..................................person he is; I can never tell what he’s
thinking.
7 In the dark, the wolf’s eyes were alm ost................................ .
Main themes
Living in an isolated area

Hammerfest, traditionally a fishing port, is an isolated place, without
much entertainm ent. A lot of modem travel involves people looking
for an experience, trying to ‘get away from it all’ - the busy city life -
and finding a peaceful and remote place. However, they may find that
they are not as happy with the peace and quiet as they expect.
Bryson describes Hammerfest as ‘agreeable enough’ but adds that
he would not want to live there. There isn’t much for the visitor to
do and at night particularly the town is very quiet. A t first, the people
do not seem very welcoming and Bryson spends his days walking near
the harbour, drinking beer and lying on his bed reading. Gradually,
however, people begin to recognize him and accept him. He begins
to feel more at home when he is invited to dinner by Ian Tonkin and
his wife. They help him to understand the history of Hammerfest and
he feels admiration for the town, which has been through hard times
in the past and is struggling to adapt after the decline of its fishing
industry. By the end of the extract, Bryson is genuinely fond of the
town and feels almost sorry to leave it.
a) How easy is it for Bryson to adapt to life in Hammerfest?
b) W hat would it be like to live in such a place?
Hammerfest | 105
Natural tourism
Bryson is writing about travelling to a natural event or phenomena,
rather than a place. In some ways, this kind of tourism involves a lot of
uncertainty, as no one can control nature, and there are no guarantees
that nature will show you what you have gone to see.
Norway is a popular place to see the N orthern Lights and some
people go there specifically to see them. However, they do not always
appear and people can go home disappointed. In the extract, Bryson
humorously describes how he waits in Hammerfest, hoping to see the
Lights. His first glimpse of them is brief but exciting. He accepts that
he may not see them again. T hen they appear again for much longer
and in a more spectacular fashion. Bryson feels privileged to have been
there at the right time and says that the long wait has been worthwhile.
a) How would you feel if you went to Hammerfest and didn’t see the
N orthern Lights?
b) How does Bryson feel when he finally sees the Lights?
106 | Hammerfest
Hammerfest
by Bill Bryson
I took a room in the Haja Hotel near the quay. The room
was small but comfortable, with a telephone, a small colour
television and its own bathroom. I was highly pleased and full of
those little pulses of excitement that come with finding yourself
in a new place. I dumped my things, briefly investigated the
amenities and went out to look at Hammerfest.
It seemed an agreeable enough town in a thank-you-God-for-
not-making-me-live-here sort of way. The hotel was in a dark
neighbourhood of shipping offices and warehouses. There were
also a couple of banks, a very large police station, and a post
office with a row of telephone kiosks in front. In each of these, I
noticed as I passed, the telephone books had been set alight by
some desperate thrill seeker4 and now hung charred from their
chains.
I walked up to the main street, Strandgatan, which ran for
about 300 yards along the harbour, lined on the inland side by
an assortment of businesses - a bakery, a bookstore, a cinema
(closed), a cafe called Kokken’s - and on the harbour side by the
town hall, a few more shops and the dark hulking mass of a Birds
Eye Findus fish-processing plant. Christmas lights5 were strung
at intervals across the street, but all the shops were shut and
there wasn’t a sign of life anywhere, apart from an occasional
cab speeding past as if on an urgent mission.
It was cold out, but nothing like as cold as I had expected.
This pleased me because I had very nearly bought a ridiculous
Russian-style fur hat - the kind with ear flaps - for 400 kroner in
Oslo. Much as I hate to stand out in a crowd, I have this terrible
4 someone who likes doing exciting and dangerous things

5 lights which decorate the streets during the period before and after 25th December,
celebrated by Christians as the day Jesus Christ was bom
Hammerfest | 107
occasional compulsion to make myself an unwitting6 source
of merriment7 for the world and I had come close to scaling
new heights with a Russian hat. Now, clearly, that would be
unnecessary.
Beyond the high street, the road curved around the bay,
leading out to a narrow headland, and after a half a mile or so
it presented a fetching8 view back to the town, sheltering in
a cleft9 of black mountains, as if in the palm of a giant hand.
The bay itself was black and impenetrable; only the whooshing10
sound of water hinted at what was out there. But the town itself
was wonderfully bright and snug-looking, a haven of warmth
and light in the endless Arctic night.
Satisfied with this initial reconnaissance11, I trudged back
to the hotel, where I had a light but astonishingly expensive
dinner and climbed gratefully into bed.
In the night I was woken by a storm. I crept to the window
and peered out. Snow was blowing wildly, and the wind howled.
Lightning lit the sky. I had never seen lightning in a snowstorm.
Murmuring, 'Oh, sweet Jesus, where am I?’, I climbed back into
bed and buried myself deep in the covers. I don’t know what
time I woke, but I dozed and tossed for perhaps an hour in the
dark until it occurred to me that it never was going to get light. I
got up and looked out of the window. The storm was still raging.
In the police-station car park below, two squad cars12 marked
POLITI were buried in drifts almost to their roofs.
After breakfast, I ventured out13 into the gale. The streets
were still deserted, snow piled in the doorways. The wind was
playing havoc with the town. Street lights flickered and swayed,
throwing spastic shadows across the snow. The Christmas
6 n ot conscious or deliberate
7 mainly literary: laughter and fun
8 old'fashioned: attractive
9 a narrow space in the surface of something, for example in a rock or in someone’s
chin
10 informal: making a sound like the wind when it blows
11 the use of soldiers or aircraft to go into an area and get information about an enemy;
here, used humorously
12 cars used by police officers
13 to go somewhere unpleasant, dangerous or exciting
108 | Hammerfest
decorations rattled. A cardboard box sailed across the road
ahead of me and was wafted high out over the harbour. It was
intensely cold. O n the exposed road out to the headland I began
to wish again that I had bought the Russian hat. The wind was
unrelenting: it drove before it tiny particles of ice that seared14
my cheeks and made me gasp. I had a scarf with me, which I tied
around my face bandit-style15 and trudged on, leaning heavily
into the wind.
Ahead of me out of the swirling snow appeared a figure. He
was wearing a Russian hat, I was interested to note. As he drew
nearer, I pulled my scarf down to make some cheering greeting -
'Bit fresh out, what?16’ or something - but he passed by without
even looking at me. A hundred yards further on I passed two
more people, a man and his wife tramping stolidly17 into town,
and they too passed as if I were invisible. Strange people, I
thought.
The headland proved unrewarding, just a jumble of warehouses
and small ship-repair yards, loomed over by groaning cranes.
I was about to turn back when I noticed a sign pointing the
way to something called the M eridianst0tten and decided to
investigate. This took me down a lane on the seaward side of
the headland. Here, wholly exposed to the pounding sea, the
wind was even more ferocious. Twice it all but18 picked me up
and carried me forward several yards. Only the toetips of my
boots maintained contact with the ground. I discovered that
by holding out my arms I could sail along on the flats of my
feet, propelled entirely by the wind. It was the most wonderful
fun. Irish windsurfing, I dubbed it. I had a great time until an
unexpected burst whipped my feet from under me. I cracked my
head on the ice so hard that I suddenly recalled where I put
the coal-shed19 key the summer before. The pain of it, and the
14 here, caused a painful sensation like burning or cutting
15 a thief who attacks travellers, usually with other thieves
16 Bryson is parodying an oldTashioned, English way of commenting on the weather.
T he phrase means something like: ‘It’s a bit cold outside today, isn’t it?’
17 in a slow, serious manner
18 almost
19 a small building, often made of wood and usually in a garden, used for storing coal, a
hard, black fuel used to provide heat
Hammerfest | 109
thought that another gust might heft me into the sea like the
cardboard box I had seen earlier, made me abandon the sport,
and I proceeded to the Meridianst0tten with prudence20.
The Meridianst0tten was an obelisk21 on a small elevation in
the middle of a graveyard of warehouses. I later learned that it
was a memorial erected to celebrate the completion in 1840, on
this very spot, of the first scientific measurement of the earth’s
circumference. (Hammerfest’s other historical distinction is
that it was the first town in Europe to have electric street lights.)
I clambered up to the obelisk with difficulty, but the snow was
blowing so thickly that I couldn’t read the inscription, and I
returned to town thinking I would come back again another
day. I never did.
In the evening I dined in the hotel’s restaurant and bar, and
afterwards sat nursing Mack beers at fifty 0re22 a sip, thinking
that surely things would liven up in a minute. It was New
Year’s Eve23, after all. But the bar was like a funeral parlour
with a beverage service. A pair of mild-looking men in reindeer
sweaters24 sat with beers, staring silently into space. After a time
I realised there was another customer, alone in a dark corner.
Only the glow of his cigarette revealed him in the gloom. W hen
the waiter came to take my plate away, I asked him what there
was to do for fun in Hammerfest. He thought for a moment and
said, ‘Have you tried setting fire to the telephone directories by
the post office?’
Actually he didn’t say that, because just as he was about
to speak, the lone figure in the corner addressed some slurred
remark to him, which I gathered was something along the lines
of ‘Hey, you dismal, slope-headed slab of reindeer shit25, what
does it take to get some service around here?’ because the waiter
dropped my plate back onto the table with a suddenness that
20 carefully
2 1 a tall, pointed, stone pillar that has been built to remember an im portant person
or event
22 Norwegian currency; there are 100 ore in one kroner
23 31st December
24 sweaters w ith pictures of reindeer on them
25 an elaborate insult, which Bryson has invented
110 | Hammerfest
made the silverware26 jump and went straight to the man and
began furiously dragging him by his arm and shoulder from
his seat and then pushing him with enormous difficulty to the
door, where he finally heaved him out into the snow. W hen
the waiter returned, looking flushed and disconcerted, I said
brightly, ‘I hope you don’t show all your customers out like that!*
but he was in no mood for pleasantries and retired sulkily to the
bar, so I was unable to determine just what there was to do in
Hammerfest to pass the time, other than set telephone books
alight, insult the waiter and w eep.
A t eleven-thirty, with the bar still dead, I went out to see
if there was any life anywhere. The wind had died but there
was hardly anyone about. Every window in every house blazed
with light, but there was no sign of revelry27 within. T hen just
before midnight, as I was about to return to the hotel, an odd
thing happened. Every person came out of every house and
began to set off firew orks - big industrial-sized fireworks that
shrieked across the sky and exploded with a sharp bang and
filled the night with colour and sparks. For half an hour, from
all around the peninsula, fireworks popped and glittered over
the harbour and drifted spent into the sea. And then, precisely
thirty minutes after it all began, everyone went back inside and
Hammerfest slept again.
The days passed. A t least three times a day I went for long
walks and searched the sky for the N orthern Lights, and in the
evenings I went out every hour to see if anything was happening
yet, but it never was. Sometimes I rose in the night to look out
of the window, but I never saw anything. Once or twice a day
it would snow - fat, fluffy snowflakes, like the ones you see in
a Perry Como Christmas special28 - but the rest of the time the
sky was clear. Everyone told me it was perfect N orthern Lights
weather. ‘You should have been here just before Christmas - ah,
fabulous,’ they would say and then assure me that tonight would
26 objects made from silver, especially objects used at meals
27 mainly literary: a situation in which people celebrate or enjoy themselves in a lively
and noisy way, especially by singing, dancing and drinking alcohol
28 a television programme made especially for Christmas and starring Perry Como
(1912-2001), a popular Am erican singer
Hammerfest | 111
almost certainly be the night. ‘About eleven o’clock you go out.
Then you’ll see.’ But it didn’t happen.
W hen I wasn’t walking or searching the sky, I sat in the bar
of the hotel drinking beer or lay on my bed reading. I tried once
or twice to watch television in my room. There is only one
network in Norway and it is stupefyingly bad. It’s not just that
the programmes are dull, though in this respect they could win
awards, but that the whole thing is so wondrously unpolished29.
Films finish and you get thirty seconds of scratchy white circles
like you used to get when your home movies30 ran out and your
dad didn’t get to the projector fast enough, and then suddenly
the lights come up on the day’s host, looking faintly startled,
as if he had been just about to do something he wouldn’t want
the nation to see. The host, always a handsome young man or
woman with a lively sweater and sculpted hair, fills the long gaps
between programmes by showing endless trailers for the rest of
the evening’s highlights: a documentary on mineral extraction
in Narvik. A Napoleonic31 costume drama in which the main
characters wear moustaches that are patently not their own and
strut around as if they have had a fence post inserted rectally32
(but are trying not to let it affect their performance) and a jazz
session with the Sigi Wurtmuller Rhythm Cadettes. The best
that can be said for Norwegian television is that it gives you the
sensation of a coma without the worry and inconvenience.
I began to feel as if a doctor had told me to go away for a
complete rest (‘someplace really boring, where there’s nothing
at all to do’). Never had I slept so long and so well. Never had
I had this kind of leisure just to potter about. Suddenly I had
time to do all kinds of things: unlace my boots and redo them
over and over until the laces were precisely the same length,
rearrange the contents of my wallet, deal with nose hairs, make
long lists of all the things I would do if I had anything to do.
Sometimes I sat on the edge of the bed with my hands on my
29 poor quality, not properly finished

30 informal: films which sdjneone makes for their own use, often about their own life
and family
31 about N apoleon, the French military and political leader
32 medical: into the lowest part of the tube through which solid waste leaves your body
112 | Hammerfest
knees and just gazed about me. Often I talked to myself. Mostly
I went for long, cold walks, bleakly watching the unillumined33
sky, then stopped for coffee at Kokken’s Cafe, with its steamy
windows and luscious warmth.
It occurred to me that this was just like being retired. I even
began taking a small notebook with me on my walks and keeping
a pointless diary of my daily movements, just as my dad had
done when he retired. He used to walk every day to the lunch
counter at our neighbourhood supermarket and if you passed by
you would see him writing in his notebooks. After he died, we
found a cupboard full of these notebooks. Every one of them was
filled with entries like this: ‘January 4. Walked to supermarket.
Had two cups of decaff34. W eather mild.’ Suddenly I understood
what he was up to.
Little by little I began to meet people. They began to recognise
me in Kokken’s and the post office and the bank and to treat me
to cautious nods of acknowledgement. I became a fixture35 of the
hotel bar, where I was clearly regarded as a harmless eccentric,
the man from England who came and stayed and stayed.
One day, lacking anything at all to do, I went and saw the
Mayor36. I told him I was a journalist, but really I just wanted
someone to talk to. He had an undertaker’s face and wore blue
jeans and a blue work shirt, which made him look unsettlingly
like a prisoner on day release, but he was a kind man. He told
me at length about the problems of the local economy and as we
parted he said:
‘You must come to my house one evening. I have a sixteen-
year-old daughter.’ Gosh, that’s jolly gracious37 of you, I thought,
but I’m a happily married man. ‘She would like to practise her
English.’
Ah. I’d have gone, but the invitation never came. Afterwards,
I went to Kokken’s and wrote in my diary, ‘Interviewed Mayor.
W eather cold.’
33 literary: dark, n ot lit
34 informal: decaffeinated coffee is coffee without caffeine, a substance th at makes you
feel awake
35 used about a person considered to be permanently established in a job, place, etc
36 the most im portant elected official in a town or city
37 old-fashioned expression: very kind
Hammerfest | 113
One Sunday afternoon in the hotel I overhead a man about
my age talking to the proprietor in Norwegian but to his own
children in Home Counties38 English. His name was Ian Tonkin.
He was an Englishman who had married a Hammerfest girl and
now taught English at the local high school39. He and his wife
Peggy invited me to their house for dinner, fed me lavishly
on reindeer (delicious) and cloudberries (mysterious but also
delicious) and were kindness itself, expressing great sympathy
for my unluckiness with the N orthern Lights. ‘You should have
seen it just before Christmas - ah, fabulous,’ they said.
Peggy told me a sad story. In 1944 the retreating Germans, in
an attempt to deprive the advancing Russian Army of shelter,
burned down the town. The residents were evacuated by ship
to live out the rest of the war billeted with strangers. As the
evacuation flotilla left the harbour, they could see their houses
going up in flames. Peggy’s father took the house keys from his
pocket and dropped them overboard, saying with a sigh, ‘Well,
we shan’t be needing those any more.’ After the war the people
returned to Hammerfest to find nothing standing but the chapel.
W ith their bare hands and almost nothing else they built their
town again, one house at a time. It may not have been much,
it may have been on the edge of nowhere, but it was theirs and
they loved it and I don’t think I have ever admired any group of
people quite so much.
From Peggy and Ian and others I met, I learned all about the
town - about the parlous40 state of the fishing industry on which
everyone depended in one way or another, about the previous
year’s exciting murder trial, about accusations of incom petence
concerning snow removal. I began to find it engrossing.
Hammerfest grew to feel like home. It seemed entirely natural to
be there and my real life in England began to feel oddly distant
and dream-like.
O n my sixteenth day in Hammerfest, it happened. I was
returning from the headland after my morning walk and in an
38 Southern England; used for describing attitudes or qualities th at are thought to be
typical of conservative, middle-class English people
39 in the USA, a school for children between the ages of 14 and 18
40 very formal: full of dangers or difficulties
114 | Hammerfest
empty piece of sky above the town there appeared a translucent
cloud of many colours - pinks and greens and blues and pale
purples. It glimmered and seemed to swirl. Slowly it stretched
across the sky. It had an oddly oily quality about it, like the
rainbows you sometimes see in a pool of petrol. I stood transfixed.
I knew from my reading that the Northern Lights 4are
immensely high up in the atmosphere, something like 200
miles up, but this show seemed to be suspended just above the
town. There are two kinds of N orthern Light - the curtains of
shimmering gossamer41 that everyone has seen in pictures and
the rather rarer gas clouds that I was gazing at now. They are
never the same twice. Sometimes they shoot wraith-like42 across
the sky, like smoke in a wind tunnel, moving at enormous speed,
and sometimes they hang like luminous drapes43 or glittering
spears of light, and very occasionally - perhaps once or twice in
a lifetime - they creep out from every point on the horizon and
flow together overhead in a spectacular, silent explosion of light
and colour.
In the depthless blackness of the countryside, where you may
be a hundred miles from the nearest artificial light, they are
capable of the most weird and unsettling optical illusions. They
can seem to come out of the sky and fly at you at enormous
speeds, as if trying to kill you. Apparently it’s terrifying. To this
day, many Lapps44 earnestly believe that if you show the Lights
a white handkerchief or a sheet of white paper they will come
and take you away.
This display was relatively small stuff, and it lasted for only a
few minutes, but it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen
and it would do me45 until something better came along.
In the evening, something did - a display of Lights that
went on for hours. They were of only one colour, that eerie
luminous green you see on radar screens, but the activity was
frantic. Narrow swirls of light would sweep across the great
41 literary: something very light and delicate
42 literary: like a ghost
43 mainly US English: curtains made of heavy cloth
44 people from Lapland
45 it would be enough for me
Hammerfest | 115
dome of sky, then hang there like vapour trails. Sometimes
they flashed across the sky like falling stars and sometimes they
spun languorously, reminding me of the lazy way smoke used
to rise from my father’s pipe when he was reading. Sometimes
the Lights would flicker brightly in the west, then vanish in an
instant and reappear a moment later behind me as if teasing me.
I was constantly turning and twisting to see it. You have no idea
how immense the sky is until you try to m onitor it all. The eerie
thing was how silent it was. Such activity seemed to demand at
the very least an occasional low boom or a series of static-like
crackles, but there was none. All this immense energy was spent
without a sound.
I was very cold - inside my boots I wore three pairs of socks
but still my toes were num b and I began to worry about frostbite
- but I stayed and watched for perhaps two hours, unable to pull
myself away.
The next day I went to the tourist office to report my good
news to Hans, the tourism director who had become something
of a friend, and to reserve a seat on the following week’s bus.
There was no longer any need to hang around. Hans looked
surprised and said, ‘Didn’t you know? There’s no bus next week.
It’s going to A lta for its annual m aintenance.’
I was crushed46. Two more weeks in Hammerfest. W hat was I
going to do with myself for two more weeks?
‘But you’re in luck,’ Hans added. ‘You can go today.’
I couldn’t take this in. ‘W hat?’
‘The bus should have arrived yesterday but it didn’t get
through because of heavy snows around Kautokeino. It arrived
this morning. Didn’t you see it out there? They’re going back
again today.’
‘Today? Really? W hen?’
He looked at his watch with the casualness47 of someone who
has lived for years in the middle of nowhere and will be living
there for years more yet. ‘Oh, in about ten minutes, I should
think.’
46 very disappointed, embarrassed or upset
47 relaxed, unworried attitude
116 | Hammerfest
Ten minutes! I have seldom moved so quickly. I ran to the
bus, begged them not to leave without me, though without any
confidence that this plea48 was understood, ran to the hotel,
threw everything into my suitcase, paid the bill, made my thanks
and arrived at the bus, trailing oddments49 of clothes behind me,
just as it was about to pull out. -
The funny thing is50 that as we were leaving Hammerfest,
just for an instant I had a sudden urge not to go. It was a nice
town. I liked the people. They had been kind to me. In other
circumstances, I might just have settled down and stayed. But
then, I realised, such thinking was crazy. It was time to return to
Oslo and the real world. Besides, I had a hat to buy.
48 formal: an urgent or em otional request for something

49 pieces of something th at are left after you have done or made something
50 spoken: used for saying th at you think something is strange
Hammerfest | 117
extract.
1 W hat is the hotel room like?
2 How does Bryson feel at the beginning of his stay in Hammerfest?
3 W hat are Bryson’s first impressions of the town?
4 W hat does Bryson suggest is the reason behind the burning of the
telephone books?
5 W hat is the main street like at night? W hat is the only sign of life?
6 Why is Bryson glad that the weather is not as cold as he expected?
7 W hat does the town look like from a distance?
8 Why doesn’t Bryson sleep well on his first night?
9 W hat is the weather like the next day?
10 Why does Bryson think the people of the town are ‘strange’?
11 W hat is the headland like?
12 W hat does Bryson describe as ‘Irish windsurfing’? Why does he stop
doing it?
13 W hat is the Meridianst0tten? W hat is Hammerfest’s ‘other
historical distinction’?
14 W hat is the atmosphere like in the hotel on New Year’s Eve?^
15 W hat does Bryson ask the waiter? Why doesn’t he answer him?
16 Where does Bryson go at eleven-thirty? W hat happens?
17 How does Bryson spend the following days?
18 W hat is his impression of Norwegian television?
19 W hat effect does all his free time begin to have on him?
20 W ho does Bryson compare himself to? Why?
21 W ho does Bryson have dinner with?
22 W hat happened'in Hammerfest in 1944? W hat effect does this
story have on Bryson?
23 W hat else does Bryson learn about the town? How does he begin
to feel about it?
24 W hat happens on Bryson’s sixteenth day in Hammerfest? W hat is
Bryson’s reaction?
25 W hat happens in the evening? W hat is ‘eerie’ about it?
26 Why does Bryson go to the tourist office the next day?
27 How does Bryson feel when he learns that there is no bus the
following week?
28 Why does Bryson run back to the hotel?
118 | Hammerfest
29 W hat does Bryson feel ‘just for an instant’ as he leaves
Hammerfest?
30 W hat has he finally decided to buy? W hat do you think it will
be like?
Language study
Grammar
M aking com parisons w ith as if and like
Bryson often uses the expression as if to make an unreal comparison, in
which he compares a feeling or situation to something he has imagined.
As if is usually followed by a clause.
Look at these examples from the extract in which Bryson uses as if to
comic effect.
I began to feel as if a doctor had told me to go away for a complete rest
( ‘somewhere really boring where there s nothing at all to do’).
.. .and then suddenly the lights come up on the days host, looking faintly
startled, as if he had been just about to do something he wouldn’t want the
nation to see.
In ‘unreal’ comparisons, were can be used instead of was.
. ..they too passed, as if I were invisible.
Bryson also uses the preposition like, followed by a noun, to make more
direct comparisons between things or people.
[The Mayor] had an undertakers face and wore blue jeans and a blue
work shirt, which made him look unsettlingly like a prisoner on day
release...
Sometimes [the Lights] shoot wraithdike across the sky, like smoke in a
wind tunnel.
1 Complete the following sentences with as if or like.
1 The lights seem to come out of the sky and fly at you at enormous
speeds,....................they were trying to kill you.
2 The cloud had an oddly oily quality about i t ,................... the
rainbows you sometimes see in a pool of petrol.
3 The waiter’s face turned red ,..................he were very angry.
4 My feet felt heavy,.................. there were stones in my boots.
5 The town looked.................. a toy in the palm of a giant hand.
6 The fireworks exploded all around................... jewels in the night
sky.
Hammerfest | 119
7 In his thick coat, he looked ju st....................a large, brown bear.
8 The street was in darkness,....................someone had suddenly
turned out all the lights.
2 Join these phrases to make one sentence using as if or like* You
may have to make some other changes.
1 A cab sped past. It seemed to be on an urgent mission.
2 The cars were buried in snow. They resembled large boulders lying
by the side of the road, covered with a fluffy white blanket.
3 I tied my scarf around my face. I looked like a bandit.
4 The man was still and silent. He seemed to have fallen asleep.
5 The Lights flashed across the sky. They were like falling stars.
6 The clouds rushed towards me. I thought they wanted to attack me.
7 I wrote busily in my notebook. I tried to make it look important.
8 He watched the Lights for hours. He was hypnotized by them.
T alking about the past: u se d to and w o u ld

Both used to and would can be used to talk about past habits. Look at
these examples from the extract.
Films finish and you get thirty seconds of scratchy white circles like you
used to get when your home movies ran out and your dad didn’t get to the
projector fast enough...
He used to walk every day to the lunch counter at our neighbourhood
supermarket and if you passed by you would see him writing in his
notebooks.
Used to can be used to talk about states and situations as well as actions.
Would can only be used for repeated actions.
For example: We used to have an old projector, (not would)
120 | Hammerfest
3 Complete these sentences with used to or would. Sometimes both
are possible.
1 My father be a storekeeper.
2 During those Arctic nights, the Lights....................flicker briefly in
the West.
3 Bryson....................live in the USA.
4 During his visit, h e ................... drink endless cups of tea.
5 Every day, h e ...................walk to the end of the harbour and back.
6 W e .................. travel a lot after I retired.
7 W hen she was a child, sh e ................... never eat fish.
8 T hey ...................have a dog before they moved to the city.
9 H e .................. sit there, just staring into space.
10 He was very rich and h e .................. own several houses.
Literary analysis
Events
1 Number the events below in the order in which they happen.
Bryson catches the bus to Oslo.
Bryson has dinner with Ian and Peggy.
Bryson sees the Northern Lights.
Bryson is woken by a storm.
Bryson watches the fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
Bryson arrives in Hammerfest. 1
Bryson is blown off his feet by the wind and hurts his head.
The waiter at the hotel throws a man into the street.
Bryson visits the obelisk.
2 Is Bryson’s stay in Hammerfest eventful? W hich is the most
important event?
3 Some of the longest passages in the extract are not based on
important events, for example, the description of Norwegian
television. W hich other examples are there?
4 Bryson has a lively imagination. How is this shown in the episode of
the waiter in the hotel?
5 Why do you think Peggy’s story about the evacuation of the local
people affects Bryson?
6 Do you think Bryson exaggerates what happens after he discovers
that the bus is leaving in ten minutes? Why?
Hammerfest | 121
People
7 W hat is Bryson’s impression of the local people at first? Think
about his encounters with other people walking in the street, the
waiter and customers in the bar and the people setting off fireworks
on New Year’s Eve.
8 How is Bryson’s opinion of the Norwegians affected by what he
sees on television?
9 W hat do you think Bryson thinks of the Mayor? How does he find
humour from their conversation?
10 W hat does Bryson think of Peggy and Tom? W hat words does he
use to describe them?
11 How does Bryson describe the Hammerfest people after he hears
Peggy’s story?
12 Does Bryson make any friends during his stay? W ho are they?
13 How does Bryson’s attitude to the local people change during his
stay? W hat does he say about them as he is leaving Hammerfest on
the bus?
14 W hat do the people in the hotel think of Bryson?
15 How would you describe the people of Hammerfest?
Sense of place
16 W hat is Bryson’s first impression of Hammerfest? W hich detail tells
us that there isn’t much to do there? How does the weather affect
his opinions?
17 How does Hammerfest appear looking back from the harbour?
18 How does Bryson convey the effects of boredom on his own
behaviour?
19 W hat moments of pleasure or beauty does Bryson experience
during his stay?
20 Does Bryson describe the Northern Lights only as he sees them?
W hat effect does this have?
21 How do Bryson’s feelings about Hammerfest change during his
stay? How do you think he will remember the town in future?
22 Does the extract give you a vivid impression of Hammerfest? Is
there any extra information that you would like to have about the
town?
122 | Hammerfest
23 W hich phrase in the first paragraph tells us that Bryson enjoys
travelling?
24 Bryson often livens up his narrative by inserting a personal opinion
or confession. Find an example of this in the second paragraph.
W hat other examples are there? 4
25 Bryson also obtains a comic effect by imagining or developing the
story behind what he sees. Find an example of this in the second
paragraph. Look again at the episodes involving the hotel waiter
and the Mayor. How does Bryson treat dialogue in a humorous
way?
26 The humour in the extract is often a result of exaggeration. Look
at the passage about Norwegian television. Do you think Bryson
exaggerates? Are there any more examples of this?
27 Can Bryson laugh at himself? W hat effect does this have?
28 How does Bryson convey the drama and beauty of the Northern
Lights?
29 W hat is your impression of Bryson as a person?
Hammerfest | 123
The Amateur Emigrant
by Robert Louis Stevenson
About the author

Robert Louis Stevenson was bom in Edinburgh in 1850. His father
was a wealthy engineer and Robert was his only child. From his early
childhood Robert suffered from poor health, and he was often at home
in bed. His nurse, Alison Cunningham, read him Bible stories and
tales from Scottish history, and he dreamed of adventure and travel.
Stevenson studied engineering at Edinburgh university, but he
did not complete his studies. He then studied law in order to have a
profession, but he really wanted to be a writer. The Scottish climate
and the strict social conventions of his family did not suit him, and he
went in search of other places, societies and lifestyles.
Stevenson’s travels started in Europe, and he visited fashionable
health resorts on the French Riviera with his parents. His health
problems did not stop him from travelling and writing. In 1876 he
canoed through the rivers and canals of Belgium and north-east France
with a friend. This journey was described in An Inland Voyage (1878).
Two years later, he walked across the hills and valleys of the Cevennes
region of southern France, this time with a donkey for company. Travels
with a Donkey was published in 1879.
W hile Stevenson was staying in an artists’ colony in northern
France, he met the American artist Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne, who
was there with her two young children. In 1879, after Fanny had
returned to the U nited States, Stevenson followed her, sailing to New
York, and then taking a train across America to the West coast. He
married Fanny in San Francisco in 1880. They returned to Britain as a
family, and for several years he divided his time between Scotland and
mountain towns in the Alps.
The 1880s were the most productive decade of Stevenson’s writing
career. In 1883, his first novel was published - an adventure about
pirates, treasure and mutiny at sea, called Treasure Island. His next
novel, Kidnapped, published in 1886, was another adventure story -
this time, about one m an’s experiences of the Jacobite Rebellion of
1745. Stevenson followed this with his famous study of good and
124 | The Amateur Emigrant

evil, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He also wrote a book
of poems for children, A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885), and wrote
widely for newspapers and magazines.
In 1887, Stevenson left Europe for the U nited States. He then
travelled on to the South Seas, where he hoped to find a healthier
climate and lifestyle. He eventually settled with his family on a small #
island in Samoa, where he was known as ‘Tusitala’ or storyteller. He
did a lot for the community and was popular with his neighbours.
Stevenson died in 1894, at the age of 44, from a brain haemorrhage.
He was buried in Samoa. His essays, diaries, short stories, novels and
poems have all survived him, and his reputation as a writer has grown
since his death.
About the extract

The three chapters come from the beginning of The Amateur Emigrant,
Robert Louis Stevenson’s travel memoir of his journey from Scotland
to California in 1879-1880. The book covers the first part of the trip,
the journey by ship across the A tlantic from Glasgow via Ireland to
New York. The Amateur Emigrant was not published in full until 1895,
one year after Stevenson’s death.
Em igration to th e N e w W orld
W hen Stevenson first met Fanny Vandegrift, she was still married. In
July 1879, he received word that Fanny’s divorce was almost complete
and he left Scotland to meet her in her native California. He decided
to travel by ship from Glasgow. Initially, he wanted to travel steerage
class - the cheapest fare - to see how poor people travelled and to
write about it afterwards. A t the last minute his friends convinced him
to travel in slightly better conditions, in ‘second cabin’. However, he
still had plenty of opportunity to mix with the people in steerage and
share their experiences. This was a time of mass emigration to the New
World, as the U nited States was then known. Conditions in Great
Britain and other European countries were hard for many working
people and the USA promised great opportunities in work and general
social improvement for those who had very little.
A t the time it was written, An Amateur Emigrant was considered
by Stevenson’s family and friends to be almost too realistic. His
The Amateur Emigrant | 125

description of the working class and their difficult lives shocked the
author’s middle class friends. Today, the book is thought by many to
be one of Stevenson’s most interesting works. He writes about a wide
variety of topics with humour and kindness - sleeping arrangements,
food, social class, character traits, passengers of different nationalities,
entertainment and children - and all in the dramatic context of a ship
taking hopeful emigrants towards a new life.
Summary
The Second Cabin

In the first chapter, The Second Cabin, Stevenson sails down the River
Clyde to Greenock where he joins the ship that will take him to
New York. He describes the ship and the location of the different
cabins. Although he is ‘anxious to see the worst of emigrant life’,
he is not travelling with the lowest-paying passengers but by ‘the
second cabin’. He explains the advantages of this: Redding and dishes
are provided, there is a small table to work on, and there are some
small improvements in diet - for example, there is a choice of tea or
coffee at breakfast. The poorer passengers travel in ‘steerage’ class.
Stevenson observes that in steerage, people are ‘males and females’
while in the second cabin, a brass plate gives passengers the label
of ‘ladies and gentlemen’. He is pleased that for eight guineas he is
travelling more comfortably than the lowest-paying passengers.
He describes the other people in the second cabin: a group of
Scandinavians and various Scotsmen and Irishmen, some of whom
do not behave very well. There is also a devoted married couple and
a woman who spends her time trying to keep her watch ‘to Glasgow
time’. Stevenson makes good friends with Mr Jones, a hopeful,
positive-thinking Welshman who shares Stevenson’s love of looking
into people’s characters.
Early Impressions
In the second chapter, Early Impressions, the ship leaves the Clyde and
heads for Ireland where the last group of emigrants come on board.
People begin to meet on the decks - there are plenty of Scotsmen

and Irishmen, a few English, a few Americans, some Scandinavians,
one or two Germans and one Russian. They have a ten-day journey
in front of them.
After observing the other passengers, Stevenson begins to change
his mind about emigration. He had associated it with bravery and new
ideas and thought the emigrants would be young and heroic. In fact, *
the majority of the passengers are ‘quiet, orderly, obedient citizens’,
many are over thirty and some of them are quite old. Stevenson
reflects on the circumstances that have brought them to the ship and
concludes that he is in the company of failures, ‘the rejected, drunk,
incompetent and weak’. However, he praises their cheerfulness. They
are full of hope for the future and try to get to know each other. He
admires the children and their mothers who watch them swinging
dangerously from the rails without running after them. The men
are slower to become friends, mostly talking about their jobs and
their hopes for the future. Most of all, they complain about the food
onboard and the conditions in steerage. Stevenson is surprised at
their attitude to the food and concludes that they are used to eating
better food than he previously thought.
The weather is calm and Stevenson decides to sleep on deck so
that he can enjoy some fresh air. He is surprised when nobody comes
to join him but eventually enjoys being alone.
The next day, the weather gets worse. The passengers entertain
themselves by singing songs in different languages. Some of the
Scotsmen prepare to do a dance but are too shy to perform it
successfully. Stevenson describes the variety of popular songs, most of
which are cheerful although some reflect the sadness of the emigrants’
situation.
On Sunday, the weather is bad and a lot of passengers are seasick.
Despite this, many go to the religious service. The sea eventually
calms.
Steerage Scenes
In the third chapter, Steerage Scenes, Stevenson describes the area in
Steerage 2 and 3 where passengers often gather to sing and dance.
On Monday morning, he finds a man there playing his fiddle (violin).
The man is obviously seasick and so are the women listening to him.
Stevenson observes how the music improves their spirits and he tells
the fiddler that he is lucky to have his talent. The fiddler agrees.

description of the working class and their difficult lives shocked the
author’s middle class friends. Today, the book is thought by many to
be one of Stevenson’s most interesting works. He writes about a wide
variety of topics with humour and kindness - sleeping arrangements,
food, social class, character traits, passengers of different nationalities,
entertainm ent and children - and all in the dramatic context of a ship
taking hopeful emigrants towards a new life.
Summary
It may help you to know something about w hat happens in the
The Second Cabin

In the first chapter, The Second Cabin, Stevenson sails down the River
Clyde to Greenock where he joins the ship that will take him to
New York. He describes the ship and the location of the different
cabins. Although he is ‘anxious to see the worst of emigrant life’,
he is not travelling with the lowest-paying passengers but by ‘the
second cabin’. He explains the advantages of this: bedding and dishes
are provided, there is a small table to work on, and there are some
small improvements in diet - for example, there is a choice of tea or
coffee at breakfast. The poorer passengers travel in ‘steerage’ class.
Stevenson observes that in steerage, people are ‘males and females’
while in the second cabin, a brass plate gives passengers the label
of ‘ladies and gentlemen’. He is pleased that for eight guineas he is
travelling more comfortably than the lowest-paying passengers.
He describes the other people in the second cabin: a group of
Scandinavians and various Scotsmen and Irishmen, some of whom
do not behave very well. There is also a devoted married couple and
a woman who spends her time trying to keep her watch ‘to Glasgow
time’. Stevenson makes good friends with Mr Jones, a hopeful,
positive-thinking Welshman who shares Stevenson’s love of looking
into people’s characters.
Early Impressions
In the second chapter, Early Impressions, the ship leaves the Clyde and
heads for Ireland where the last group of emigrants come on board.
People begin to meet on the decks - there are plenty of Scotsmen

and Irishmen, a few English, a few Americans, some Scandinavians,
one or two Germans and one Russian. They have a ten-day journey
in front of them.
After observing the other passengers, Stevenson begins to change
his mind about emigration. He had associated it with bravery and new
ideas and thought the emigrants would be young and heroic. In fact,
the majority of the passengers are ‘quiet, orderly, obedient citizens’,
many are over thirty and some of them are quite old. Stevenson
reflects on the circumstances that have brought them to the ship and
concludes that he is in the company of failures, ‘the rejected, drunk,
incompetent and weak’. However, he praises their cheerfulness. They
are full of hope for the future and try to get to know each other. He
admires the children and their mothers who watch them swinging
dangerously from the rails without running after them. The men
are slower to become friends, mostly talking about their jobs and
their hopes for the future'. Most of all, they complain about the food
onboard and the conditions in steerage. Stevenson is surprised at
their attitude to the food and concludes that they are used to eating
better food than he previously thought.
The weather is calm and Stevenson decides to sleep on deck so
that he can enjoy some fresh air. He is surprised when nobody comes
to join him but eventually enjoys being alone.
The next day, the weather gets worse. The passengers entertain
themselves by singing songs in different languages. Some of the
Scotsmen prepare to do a dance but are too shy to perform it
successfully. Stevenson describes the variety of popular songs, most of
which are cheerful although some reflect the sadness of the emigrants’
situation.
O n Sunday, the weather is bad and a lot of passengers are seasick.
Despite this, many go to the religious service. The sea eventually
calms.
Steerage Scenes
In the third chapter, Steerage Scenes, Stevenson describes the area in
Steerage 2 and 3 where passengers often gather to sing and dance.
O n Monday morning, he finds a man there playing his fiddle (violin).
The man is obviously seasick and so are the women listening to him.
Stevenson observes how the music improves their spirits and he tells
the fiddler that he is lucky to have his talent. The fiddler agrees.
The A m ateur Emigrant | 127

That night, in Steerage 4 and 5, the fiddler appears again. This
time he accompanies a group of young men and women as they
dance. The fiddler’s brother is his greatest admirer and spends all of
his time praising him and encouraging other people to do the same.
Stevenson finds this admirable but a bit boring.
Later that night, Stevenson and Mr Jones visit Steerage 1 where
they have friends. The sea is rough and Steerage 1 is at the front of
the ship where the movement is strongest.
The heat, smell and noise are awful as most people are being sick.
A small group of men try to forget everything by singing. One man
sets a riddle for the others to guess. This takes such a long time that
Stevenson and his friend leave soon afterwards. Stevenson spends
the night on the floor in second cabin where there is a current of air.
The night is filled with the sounds of coughing, crying and people
being sick, and a man who thinks the ship is sinking. Stevenson
thinks what a tragedy it would be if this happened and how many
families would be affected.
The next day, the weather has calmed and the sun shines. Different
games are played to pass the time - chess, cards, puzzles and guessing
the ship’s progress. The air is filled with the sounds of story telling and
laughter. Stevenson is kept busy making cigarettes for various people.
The fiddler plays his tunes. Suddenly, ‘a gentleman and two young
ladies’ appear on the scene. They do not say anything but they seem
to think they are better than everyone else, and Stevenson is upset
by this. Stevenson feels that they have brought an ‘icy influence’ to a
cheerful and good-hearted scene.

Key vocabulary
Words for describing a person’s character or personality

One of Stevenson’s favourite activities on board ship is observing his
fellow passengers and discussing them with his friend Mr Jones.
1 Look at the adjectives Stevenson uses to describe different people,

then consider the questions below.
voluble used for describing som eone who talks a lot

devoted loving som eone very m uch
quaint interesting or attractive w ith a slightly strange and old-fashioned quality
skilful very good at doing som ething th a t involves special ability or training
industrious always working very hard
bold confident and n o t afraid of people
eager very keen to do som ething or enthusiastic about som ething
obedient doing w hat a person, law or rule says th at you must do
incom petent lacking th e ability or skills to do som ething
merry happy and lively
sober n o t drunk
vehem ent involving extrem ely strong feelings or beliefs
imperturbable always calm and n o t easily upset
1 W hich words are positive, or complimentary?

2 W hich words are negative, or critical?
3 W hich words do you think are neither complimentary nor critical?
2 Complete the sentences with the words above.
1 The girls were bored and seemed.........................for new experiences.

2 I was feeling so I went and asked him for more
money.
3 He is a wonderful painter with a very use of colour.
4 They were to each other throughout their marriage.
5 Despite the shock, her face remained
6 The doctor was to tally ....................... and was banned from
practising medicine.

T hat night, in Steerage 4 and 5, the fiddler appears again. This
time he accompanies a group of young men and women as they
dance. The fiddler’s brother is his greatest admirer and spends all of
his time praising him and encouraging other people to do the same.
Stevenson finds this admirable but a bit boring.
Later that night, Stevenson and Mr Jones visit Steerage 1 where
they have friends. The sea is rough and Steerage 1 is at the front of
the ship where the movement is strongest.
The heat, smell and noise are awful as most people are being sick.
A small group of men try to forget everything by singing. One man
sets a riddle for the others to guess. This takes such a long time that
Stevenson and his friend leave soon afterwards. Stevenson spends
the night on the floor in second cabin where there is a current of air.
The night is filled with the sounds of coughing, crying and people
being sick, and a man who thinks the ship is sinking. Stevenson
thinks what a tragedy it would be if this happened and how many
families would be affected.
The next day, the weather has calmed and the sun shines. Different
games are played to pass the time - chess, cards, puzzles and guessing
the ship’s progress. The air is filled with the sounds of story telling and
laughter. Stevenson is kept busy making cigarettes for various people.
The fiddler plays his tunes. Suddenly, ‘a gentleman and two young
ladies’ appear on the scene. They do not say anything but they seem
to think they are better than everyone else, and Stevenson is upset
by this. Stevenson feels that they have brought an ‘icy influence’ to a
cheerful and good-hearted scene.
128 | The A m ateur Emigrant

7 She is very..........................and never stops working until the job is
finished.
8 The party was loud a n d , with lots of singing and
dancing.
9 Don’t drive the car unless you are perfectly..........................
10 The workers were angry and made a protest to the
authorities.
11 T hat old lady uses some very..........................expressions.
12 T hat politician is certain ly : his speech lasted for
three hours.
13 They a re ..........................children and always do what I tell them.
W ords con n ected w ith poverty, hunger and bad lu ck

3 U se the words in the box to complete the sentences.
famine homeless strike starving

calamity struggle defeat misfortune
1 A .........................is an event that causes serious damage, or causes a

lot of people to suffer, for example a flood or a fire.
2 T o .........................is to try hard to do something that you find very
difficult.
3 People who a re ..........................have nowhere to live.
4 If you a r e .......................... , you are ill or dying because of a lack of
food.
5 means bad luck.
6 If you suffer a .......................... , you fail to win a competition or to
succeed in doing something.
7 People who go o n .......................... refuse to work as a protest about
pay or conditions of work.
8 There are countries where people regularly suffer from .......................,
a serious lack of food that continues for a long time and causes
illness and death.
W ords co n n ected w ith ships and the sea

4 U se the paragraph below to match the words with their definitions.
The voyage from Scotland to New York took ten days. The ship was
incredible - it was my first time on a steamer. W hen everyone was
on board the heavy anchor was raised. Soon we had left behind the
river and its wide estuary. Little by little the shore of our country
disappeared. A t first the sea was calm but after a while the waves
grew and the vessel began to lurch from side to side. I lay in my
cabin, trying to read but I felt too ill. Coming out on deck, I turned
right to the starboard side and stood by the rail. Spray from the
huge waves blew into my face. A n officer stopped and asked kindly
if I was well - he said it might be better on the port side. I could not
stop thinking of my comfortable bed at home. W hat a contrast to
the hard berth down below in my cabin!
1 voyage a) a private room on a ship for a passenger or one
of the ship’s workers
2 steamer b) a large boat or ship
3 on board c) the part of a large river where it becomes wide
and flows into the sea
4 anchor d) a bed on a train or ship
5 estuary e) a heavy object dropped into the water to
prevent a boat from moving
6 shore f) many small drops of water that are forced into
the air together, for example from the sea
7 vessel g) a ship that moves by steam power
8 lurch h) one of the levels on a ship where you can walk
9 cabin i) the land that is on the edge of a lake, river or
sea
10 deck j ) the right side of a ship as you look towards the
front
11 starboard k) the side of a ship that is on your left as you
look towards the front
12 spray 1) to move suddenly in a way that is not smooth
or controlled
13 officer m )in or on a ship, bus, plane or train
14 port n) someone with a position of power in the army,
navy or air force
15 berth o) a long journey, especially by boat
Literary language
Stevenson wrote in a very formal, literary style. Some of the words
and phrases that he uses are no longer in use or have changed their
meaning.
Below is a selection of some of the language used in the extract
which we would now describe as ‘old-fashioned’, as well as some
extracts from the text. We have included them here to give you an idea
of what you will find in the extract - you don’t need to learn the words.

7 She is very and never stops working until the job is
finished.
8 The party was loud a n d .......................... , with lots of singing and
dancing.
9 Don’t drive the car unless you are perfectly..........................
10 The workers were angry and made a protest to the
authorities.
11 T hat old lady uses some very..........................expressions.
12 T hat politician is certainly : his speech lasted for
three hours.
13 They a re ..........................children and always do what I tell them.
W ords connected w ith poverty, hunger and bad luck

3 Use the words in the box to complete the sentences.
famine homeless strike starving

calamity struggle defeat misfortune
1 A ..........................is an event that causes serious damage, or causes a

lot of people to suffer, for example a flood or a fire.
2 T o .......................... is to try hard to do something that you find very
difficult.
3 People who a re ..........................have nowhere to live.
4 If you a r e .......................... , you are ill or dying because of a lack of
food.
5 ..........................means bad luck.
6 If you suffer a .......................... , you fail to win a competition or to
succeed in doing something.
7 People who go o n refuse to work as a protest about
pay or conditions of work.
8 There are countries where people regularly suffer from .......................,
a serious lack of food that continues for a long time and causes
illness and death.
Words connected w ith ships and the sea

4 U se the paragraph below to match the words with their definitions.
The voyage from Scotland to New York took ten days. The ship was
incredible - it was my first time on a steamer. W hen everyone was
on board the heavy anchor was raised. Soon we had left behind the
river and its wide estuary. Little by little the shore of our country
disappeared. A t first the sea was calm but after a while the waves
130 | The A m ateur Emigrant

5 Look at the words and definitions, and then see how they are
used in the extracts below.
behove very formal: used for saying th at someone should do som ething because it
is the right thing to do
ere literary: an old word m eaning ‘before’
hitherto very formal: until the present time
thenceforward literary: starting from a particular period of time
le st formal: in case som ething unpleasant happens
m aladies old-fashioned: illnesses
partake old-fashioned: to take or be given som ething to eat or drink
anon literary: an old word m eaning ‘soon’
in the midst old-fashioned, formal: while som ething else is happening
own old-fashioned: to adm it th a t som ething is true
As you read the extract, do not worry if you cannot understand every
word - you are reading for a general understanding.
Describing a woman and her watch

Once, when prostrated by sickness, she let it run down. It was inscribed
on her harmless mind in letters of adamant that the hands of a watch must
never be turned backwards; and so it behoved her to lie in wait for the
exact moment ere she started it again. When she imagined this was about
due, she sought out one of the young second-cabin Scotsmen, who was
embarked on the same experiment as herself and had hitherto been less
neglectful.
Describing emigration and his journey

1 began for the first time to understand the nature of emigration. Day by
day throughout the passage, and thenceforward across all the States,
and on to the shores of the Pacific, this knowledge grew more clear and
melancholy.
Describing medicine
But lest I should show myself ungrateful, let me recapitulate every
advantage. It was called Golden Oil, cured all maladies without
exception; and I am bound to say that I partook of it myself with good
results.
Describing one of the passengers

...at our concerts, of which more anon, he was the president who called
up performers to sing,...

Describing being ‘caught’ observing the other passengers
Once, in the midst of a serious talk, each found there was a scrutinising
eye upon himself; I own I paused in embarrassment at this double
detection; but Jones, with a better civility, broke into a peal of unaffected
laughter.
Main themes
you’re reading it for the first time. There is more discussion of the main
themes in the Literary analysis section after the extract.
Emigration
Stevenson was on the ship so that he could go to California to see
Fanny Vandegrift. However, many people on the ship are going to the
U nited States to escape from a bad situation in their own countries.
Stevenson describes many of the social and political problems which
have led people to emigrate. He has not seen these situations first-hand
but has heard of the industrial unrest and unemployment throughout
Great Britain at this time. He talks about the frequency of strikes,
people who are out of work, starvation and homelessness. He says
that many of the emigrants are people who have struggled to survive
in their home country for various reasons and are looking for a new
opportunity abroad. As the voyage progresses, however, Stevenson
seems increasingly to admire the self-reliance and cheerfulness of the
people in steerage. They make their own entertainm ent and are mostly
friendly and optimistic.

a) W hat are the differences between Stevenson and the people he
mixes with?
b) Is it true that most of the emigrants are escaping difficulties in their
own countries?
Life on board ship

A t this time, the passage to the U SA from Scotland took between 10
and 14 days. During this time, the people on board the emigrant ships
became a miniature society, with all its social dynamics and activities.
In addition to this, richer passengers were kept separate from the poorer

ones, so there were several different ‘societies’ travelling at the same
time. The ship Stevenson is travelling on is called the Broomielaw;
Stevenson describes in detail how the passengers entertain themselves
on board.
We learn a lot in the extract about Victorian games, songs and
dances. Music is a distraction from the unpleasant conditions in
steerage but it is also a pleasure in itself. O n several occasions, people
meet to listen to the violin and accordion and to sing popular tunes.
W hen the weather is fine, the passengers tell stories and try to solve
puzzles and riddles. They also have a competition to guess how far the
ship has travelled each day, and they look forward to seeing the result
which is displayed in the wheebhouse. Stevenson participates in these
activities and he is amused to see how people behave when they are
asked to sing or dance. He notes that working men and women become
shy when they have to ‘perform’ in a prepared way and that they prefer
more spontaneous activities.
a) W hat kinds of entertainm ent are most popular among the

passengers?
b) How is the entertainm ent different from that of today?

The Am ateur Emigrant
by Robert Louis Stevenson 4
The Second Cabin

I first encountered my fellow-passengers on the Broomielaw in
Glasgow. Thence we descended the Clyde in no familiar spirit,
but looking askance on each other as on possible enemies. A few
Scandinavians, who had already grown acquainted1on the N orth
Sea, were friendly and voluble over their long pipes; but among
English speakers distance and suspicion reigned supreme2. The
sun was soon overclouded, the wind freshened and grew sharp
as we continued to descend the widening estuary; and with the
falling temperature the gloom among the passengers increased.
Two of the women wept. Any one who had come aboard might
have supposed we were all absconding from the law3. There was
scarce a word interchanged, and no common sentiment but that
of cold united us, until at length, having touched at Greenock,
a pointing arm and a rush to the starboard now announced that
our ocean steamer was in sight. There she lay in mid-river, at the
Tail of the Bank, her sea-signal flying: a wall of bulwark4, a street
of white deck-houses, an aspiring forest of spars5, larger than a
church, and soon to be as populous6 as many an incorporated
town in the land to which she was to bear7 us.
I was not, in truth, a steerage passenger. Although anxious to
see the worst of emigrant life, I had some work to finish on the
voyage, and was advised to go by the second cabin, where at least
I should have a table at command. The advice was excellent;
1 formal: got to know someone

2 formal: were the most im portant
3 running away from the police
4 a wall th at is built as a defence
5 thick poles th at support the sails of a boat
6 full of people
7 literary: to take somewhere

but to understand the choice, and what I gained, some outline
of the internal disposition of the ship will first be necessary.
In her very nose is Steerage No. 1, down two pair of stairs. A
little abaft, another companion, labelled Steerage No. 2 and 3,
gives admission to three galleries, two running forward towards
Steerage No. 1, and the third aft towards the engines. The
starboard forward gallery is the second cabin. Away abaft the
engines and below the officers’ cabins, to complete our survey
of the vessel, there is yet a third nest of steerages, labelled 4 and
5. The second cabin, to return, is thus a modified oasis in the
very heart of the steerages. Through the thin partition you can
hear the steerage passengers being sick, the rattle of tin dishes
as they sit at meals, the varied accents in which they converse8,
the crying of their children terrified by this new experience, or
the clean flat sm ack of the parental hand in chastisement9.
There are, however, many advantages for the inhabitant of
this strip10. He does not require to bring his own bedding or
dishes, but finds berths and a table completely if somewhat
roughly furnished. He enjoys a distinct superiority in diet; but
this, strange to say, differs not only on different ships, but on
the same ship according as her head is to the east or west. In
my own experience, the principal difference between our table
and that of the true steerage passenger was the table itself, and
the crockery plates from which we ate. But lest11 I should show
myself ungrateful, let me recapitulate12 every advantage. A t
breakfast we had a choice between tea and coffee for beverage;
a choice not easy to make, the two were so surprisingly alike.
I found that I could sleep after the coffee and lay awake after
the tea, which is proof conclusive of some chemical disparity13;
and even by the palate I could distinguish a smack of snuff14
8 formal: have a conversation

9 old-fashioned: punishm ent
10 here, he refers to himself, a passenger in the second cabin, which is better than
steerage, having bedding, dishes, a table and better food
I I formal: in case
12 formal: repeat
13 formal: a difference between things
14 a taste of tobacco in the form of powder th at you take in through your nose

in the former from a flavour of boiling and dish-cloths in the
second. As a matter of fact, I have seen passengers, after many
sips, still doubting which had been supplied them. In the way
of eatables at the same meal we were gloriously favoured; for in
addition to porridge, which was common to all, we had Irish
stew15, sometimes a bit of fish, and sometimes rissoles16. The -
dinner of soup, roast fresh beef, boiled salt junk17, and potatoes,
was, I believe, exactly common to the steerage and the second
cabin; only I have heard it rumoured that our potatoes were of
a superior brand; and twice a week, on pudding-days, instead
of dufP8, we had a saddle-bag filled with currants under the
name of a plum-pudding. A t tea we were served with some
broken meat from the saloon; sometimes in the comparatively
elegant form of spare patties or rissoles; but as a general thing
mere chicken-bones and flakes of fish, neither hot nor cold. If
these were not the scrapings of plates their looks belied them 19
sorely; yet we were all too hungry to be proud, and fell to20 these
leavings greedily. These, the bread, which was excellent, and
the soup and porridge which were both good, formed my whole
diet throughout the voyage; so that except for the broken meat
and the convenience of a table I might as well have been in
the steerage outright. Had they given me porridge again in the
evening, I should have been perfectly contented with the fare21.
As it was, with a few biscuits and some whisky and water before
turning in, I kept my body going and my spirits up to the mark22.
The last particular in which the second cabin passenger
remarkably stands ahead of his brother of the steerage is one
altogether of sentiment. In the steerage there are males and
females; in the second cabin ladies and gentlemen. For some
time after I came aboard I thought I was only a male; but in the
15 a thick soup made from meat, potatoes, onions and other root vegetables
16 a food made from m eat or fish cut into very small pieces, pressed into a flat, round
shape or a ball and cooked in oil
17 corned beef
18 a type of cake
19 formal: here, they looked like they must be scrapings
20 here, started to eat with enthusiasm
21 formal: the type of food th at is available, especially in a restaurant or cafe
22 to an acceptable level or standard

course of a voyage of discovery between decks, I came on23 a
brass plate24, and learned that I was still a gentleman. Nobody
knew it, of course. I was lost in the crowd of males and females,
and rigorously confined to the same quarter of the deck. W ho
could tell whether I housed on the port or starboard side of
steerage No. 2 and 3? And it was only there that my superiority
became practical; everywhere else I was incognito, moving
among my inferiors with simplicity, not so much as a swagger to
indicate that I was a gentleman after all, and had broken meat
to tea. Still, I was like one with a patent of nobility in a drawer
at home; and when I felt out of spirits I could go down and
refresh myself with a look of that brass plate.
For all these advantages I paid but25 two guineas26. Six guineas
is the steerage fare; eight that by the second cabin; and when you
remember that the steerage passenger must supply bedding and
dishes, and, in five cases out of ten, either brings some dainties27
with him, or privately pays the steward for extra rations, the
difference in price becomes almost nominal. Air comparatively
fit to breathe, food comparatively varied, and the satisfaction
of being still privately a gentleman, may thus be had almost for
the asking. Two of my fellow-passengers in the second cabin had
already made the passage by the cheaper fare, and declared it
was an experiment not to be repeated. As I go on to tell about
my steerage friends, the reader will perceive that they were not
alone in their opinion. O ut of ten with whom I was more or less
intim ate, I am sure not fewer than five vowed, if they returned,
to travel second cabin; and all who had left their wives behind
them assured me they would go without the comfort of their
presence until they could afford to bring them by saloon28.
Our party in the second cabin was not perhaps the most
interesting on board. Perhaps even in the saloon there was
as much good-w ill and character. Yet it had some elements
23 old-fashioned: found by chance
24 a small piece of shiny yellow metal w ith information on it
25 formal: only
26 a unit of money or a gold coin used in Britain in the past
27 old-fashioned: here, attractive or special items of food
28 where the first class passengers stay

of curiosity. There was a mixed group of Swedes, Danes, and
Norsemen29, one of whom, generally known by the name of
‘Johnny,’ in spite of his own protests, greatly diverted30 us by his
clever, cross-country efforts to speak English, and became on the
strength of that an universal favourite - it takes so little in this
world of shipboard to create a popularity. There was, besides, a
Scots mason, known from his favourite dish as ‘Irish Stew,’ three
or four nondescript Scots, a fine young Irishman, O ’Reilly, and a
pair of young men who deserve a special word of condem nation.
One of them was Scots; the other claimed to be American;
admitted, after some fencing31, that he was bom in England;
and ultimately proved to be an Irishman bom and nurtured, but
ashamed to own his country. He had a sister on board, whom
he faithfully neglected throughout the voyage, though she was
not only sick, but much his senior, and had nursed and cared
for him in childhood. In appearance he was like an imbecile32
Henry the Third of France. The Scotsman, though perhaps as
big an ass33, was not so dead of heart; and I have only bracketed
them together because they were fast34 friends, and disgraced
themselves equally by their conduct at the table.
Next, to turn to topics more agreeable, we had a newly-
married couple, devoted to each other, with a pleasant story of
how they had first seen each other years ago at a preparatory
school, and that very afternoon he had carried her books home
for her. I do not know if this story will be plain to southern
readers; but to me it recalls many a school idyll35, with wrathful36
swains37 of eight and nine confronting each other stride-legs38,
flushed with jealousy; for to carry home a young lady’s books was
both a delicate attention and a privilege.
29 people from Norway
30 old-fashioned: amused, entertained
31 here, avoiding answering a question
32 old-fashioned: used to describe someone with a mental disability
33 old-fashioned: a stupid or annoying person
34 old-fashioned: close
35 literary: a place or situation where everyone is happy and there are no problems
36 mainly literary: extremely angry
37 literary: a young man, especially a young m an who is in love
38 unusual: standing with legs astride, or apart
The Amateur Emigrant [ 139

Then there was an old lady, or indeed I am not sure that she
was as much old as antiquated39 and strangely out of place, who
had left her husband, and was travelling all the way to Kansas by
herself. We had to take her own word that she was married; for
it was sorely contradicted by the testimony of her appearance.
Nature seemed to have sanctified40 her for the single state; even
the colour of her hair was incompatible with matrimony, and
her husband, I thought, should be a man of saintly spirit and
phantasmal41 bodily presence. She was ill, poor thing; her soul
turned from the viands42; the dirty tablecloth shocked her like an
impropriety; and the whole strength of her endeavour43 was bent
upon keeping her watch true to Glasgow time till she should
reach New York. They had heard reports, her husband and she,
of some unwarrantable44 disparity of hours between these two
cities; and with a spirit commendably scientific, had seized on
this occasion to put them to the proof. It was a good thing for
the old lady; for she passed much leisure time in studying the
watch. Once, when prostrated by sickness45, she let it run down.
It was inscribed on her harmless mind in letters of adamant46
that the hands of a watch must never be turned backwards; and
so it behoved her to lie in wait for the exact moment ere she
started it again. W hen she imagined this was about due, she
sought out47 one of the young second-cabin Scotsmen, who was
embarked on the same experiment as herself and had hitherto
been less neglectful. She was in quest48 of two o’clock; and
when she learned it was already seven on the shores of Clyde,
she lifted up her voice and cried ‘Gravy!’ I had not heard this
innocent expletive since I was a young child; and I suppose it
39 old-fashioned
40 made holy or blessed
41 unusual: ghostly or unreal
42 an old, formal word meaning food
43 formal: an effort to do something, especially something th at is new or difficult
44 unwarranted, n ot fair or necessary
45 formal: extremely upset or ill
46 unusual: written in stone, unchangeable
47 found by looking in a determined way
48 mainly literary: making a long, difficult search for something

must have been the same with the other Scotsmen present, for
we all laughed our fill49.
Last but n ot least, I come to my excellent friend Mr Jones.
It would be difficult to say whether I was his right-hand man,
or he mine, during the voyage. Thus at table I carved, while he
only scooped gravy; but at our concerts, of which more anon, he*
was the president who called up performers to sing, and I but his
messenger who ran his errands and pleaded privately with the
over-modest. I knew I liked Mr Jones from the moment I saw him.
I thought him by his face to be Scottish; nor could his accent
undeceive50 me. For as there is a lingua franca of many tongues on
the moles51 and in the feluccas52 of the Mediterranean, so there
is a free or common accent among English-speaking men who
follow the sea. They catch a twang53 in a New England Port; from
a cockney54 skipper55, even a Scotsman sometimes learns to drop
an H 56; a word of a dialect is picked up from another band in the
forecastle57; until often the result is undecipherable58, and you
have to ask for the m an’s place of birth. So it was with Mr Jones.
I thought him a Scotsman who had been long to sea; and yet
he was from Wales, and had been most of his life a blacksm ith
at an inland forge; a few years in America and half a score59
of ocean voyages having sufficed to modify his speech into
the common pattern. By his own account he was both strong
and skilful in his trade. A few years back, he had been married
and after a fashion a rich man; now the wife was dead and the
money gone. But his was the nature that looks forward, and goes
on from one year to another and through all the extremities of
49 laughed until they couldn’t laugh any more
50 unusual: reveal the truth to someone
51 strong walls built from the land into the sea to protect the land from the waves
52 small boats used on the Nile and formerly more widely in the M editerranean region
53 the way th at someone’s voice sounds when they speak through their nose as well as
their m outh
54 someone bom in the East End of London, especially a working-class person
55 informal: the captain of a small ship or fishing boat
56 to speak in a careless way, especially dropping the first letter from words beginning
in ‘h ’
57 the front part of a ship
58 indecipherable; impossible to read or understand
59 twenty

fortune undismayed60; and if the sky were to fall to-morrow, I
should look to see Jones, the day following, perched on a step-
ladder and getting things to rights61. He was always hovering
round inventons like a bee over a flower, and lived in a dream of
patents. He had with him a patent medicine, for instance, the
composition of which he had bought years ago for five dollars
from an American pedlar62, and sold the other day for a hundred
pounds (I think it was) to an English apothecary63. It was called
Golden Oil, cured all maladies without exception; and I am
bound to say that I partook of it myself with good results. It is
a character of the man that he was not only perpetually dosing
himself with Golden Oil, but wherever there was a head aching
or a finger cut, there would be Jones with his bottle.
If he had one taste more strongly than another, it was to
study character. Many an hour have we two walked upon the
deck dissecting our neighbours in a spirit that was too purely
scientific to be called unkind; whenever a quaint or human trait
slipped out in conversation, you might have seen Jones and me
exchanging glances; and we could hardly go to bed in comfort
till we had exchanged notes and discussed the day’s experience.
We were then like a couple of anglers comparing a day’s kill.
But the fish we angled for were of a metaphysical species, and
we angled as often as not in one another’s baskets. Once, in the
midst of a serious talk, each found there was a scrutinising eye
upon himself; I own I paused in embarrassment at this double
detection; but Jones, with a better civility, broke into a peal of
unaffected laughter, and declared, what was the truth, that there
was a pair of us indeed.
Early Impressions
We steamed out of the Clyde on Thursday night, and early on
the Friday forenoon64 we took in our last batch of emigrants
60 mainly literary: not worried by something bad th at has happened
61 putting things right, fixing things
62 someone who goes from one place to another selling things
63 an old word for someone whose job was to prepare and sell medicines
64 before noon (12 o ’clock) in the morning
65 a number of things or people that arrive or are dealt with at the same time

at Lough Foyle, in Ireland, and said farewell to Europe. The
company was now complete, and began to draw together, by
inscrutable magnetisms, upon the decks. There were Scots and
Irish in plenty, a few English, a few Americans, a good handful
of Scandinavians, a German or two, and one Russian; all now
belonging for ten days to one small iron country on the deep66.
As I walked the deck and looked round upon my fellow-
passengers, thus curiously assorted from all northern Europe, I
began for the first time to understand the nature of emigration.
Day by day throughout the passage, and thenceforward across all
the States, and on to the shores of the Pacific, this knowledge
grew more clear and melancholy. Emigration, from a word of the
most cheerful import67, came to sound most dismally68 in my ear.
There is nothing more agreeable to picture and nothing more
pathetic to behold. The abstract idea, as conceived at home, is
hopeful and adventurous. A young man, you fancy69, scorning70
restraints and helpers, issues forth71 into life, that great battle,
to fight for his own hand. The most pleasant stories of ambition,
of difficulties overcome, and of ultimate success, are but as72
episodes to this great epic of self-help. The epic is composed
of individual heroisms; it stands to them as the victorious war
which subdued an empire stands to the personal act of bravery
which spiked73 a single cannon74 and was adequately rewarded
with a medal. For in emigration the young men enter direct and
by the shipload on their heritage of work; empty continents
swarm, as at the bo’s’un’s75 whistle, with industrious hands, and
whole new empires are domesticated to the service of man.
66 literary: the sea

67 very formal: the importance or meaning of something
68 in a way that makes you feel unhappy and without hope or enthusiasm
69 literary: to believe or imagine th at something is true
70 not willing to accept something, looking down on something
71 literary: to come out of a place or thing
72 only, nothing more than
73 disabled, put out of use
74 a large powerful gun used in the past th at shot large, solid metal balls
75 more commonly bosun or boatswain; an officer on a shop whose job is to look after
the ship’s equipment

This is the closet picture76, and is found, on trial, to
consist mostly of embellishments. The more I saw of my
fellow-passengers, the less I was tempted to the lyric note77.
Comparatively few of the men were below thirty; many were
married, and encumbered with families; not a few were already up
in years78; and this itself was out of tune with my imaginations79,
for the ideal emigrant should certainly be young. Again, I
thought he should offer to the eye some bold type of humanity,
with bluff80 or hawk-like81 features, and the stamp82 of an eager
and pushing disposition83. Now those around me were for the
most part quiet, orderly, obedient citizens, family men broken
by adversity, elderly youths who had failed to place themselves
in life, and people who had seen better days. Mildness84 was the
prevailing85 character; mild m irth86 and mild endurance. In a
word, I was not taking part in an impetuous and conquering
sally87, such as swept over Mexico or Siberia, but found myself,
like Marmion88, ‘in the lost battle, borne down by the flying.’
Labouring mankind89 had in the last years, and throughout
Great Britain, sustained a prolonged and crushing series of
defeats. I had heard vaguely of these reverses90; of whole streets
of houses standing deserted by the Tyne91, the cellar-doors
broken and removed for firewood; of homeless men loitering at
the street-corners of Glasgow with their chests92 beside them;
76 the idea (of emigrants) in theory
77 wanting to describe something in a poetic way
78 quite old
79 imaginings
80 direct, bold
8 1 a hawk is a large bird with sharp eyes and a large beak
82 literary: a particular type of person or thing
83 the way th at someone normally thinks and behaves, th at shows what type of person
they are
84 a mild person is gentle and does not often become angry
85 the most common
86 mainly literary: happy laughter
87 literary: a journey, especially one w ith a definite purpose
88 an epic poem by the Scottish poet and novelist W alter Scott (1771-1832)
89 the working classes
90 times of bad luck
9 1 a river in the north-east of England
92 large, strong, heavy boxes used for moving or storing things

of closed factories, useless strikes, and starving girls. But I had
never taken them home to me or represented these distresses
livingly to my imagination.
A turn of the market93 may be a calamity as disastrous as the
French retreat from Moscow; but it hardly lends itself to lively
treatment, and makes a trifling figure in the morning papeps.
We may struggle as we please, we are not bom economists.
The individual is more affecting94 than the mass. It is by the
scenic95 accidents, and the appeal to the carnal96 eye, that for
the most part we grasp the significance of tragedies. Thus it
was only now, when I found myself involved in the rout97, that
I began to appreciate how sharp had been the battle. We were
a company of the rejected; the drunken, the incompetent,
the weak, the prodigal98, all who had been unable to prevail99
against circumstances in the one land, were now fleeing pitifully
to another; and though one or two might still succeed, all had
already failed. We were a shipful of failures, the broken men of
England. Yet it must not be supposed that these people exhibited
depression. The scene, on the contrary, was cheerful. N ot a tear
was shed100 on board the vessel. All were full of hope for the
future, and showed an inclination to innocent gaiety101. Some
were heard to sing, and all began to scrape acquaintance with
small jests102 and ready laughter.
The children found each other out like dogs, and ran about
the decks scraping acquaintance103 after their fashion104 also.
‘W hat do you call your mither?105’ I heard one ask. ‘Mawmaw,’
93 a change in the economic system

94 formal: making you feel a strong em otion such as sympathy, sadness, etc
95 seen
96 mainly literary: relating to the body
97 disorganized retreat of defeated soldiers
98 wasting a lot of money or supplies
99 to defeat in a game, competition, argument, etc
100 mainly literary: to cry, or to feel very sad
101 old-fashioned: a feeling or state of happiness and fun
102 old-fashioned: jokes
103 to get to know someone little by little and with some difficulty
104 here, as children do
105 old-fashioned, Scottish: m other

was the reply, indicating, I fancy, a shade of difference in the
social scale. W hen people pass each other on the high seas of
life at so early an age, the contact is but slight, and the relation
more like what we may imagine to be the friendship of flies than
that of men; it is so quickly joined, so easily dissolved, so open
in its communications and so devoid of deeper human qualities.
The children, I observed, were all in a band, and as thick as
thieves at a fair, while their elders were still ceremoniously
manoeuvring on the outskirts of acquaintance. The sea, the
ship, and the seamen were soon as familiar as home to these
half-conscious little ones. It was odd to hear them, throughout
the voyage, employ shore words106 to designate portions of the
vessel. ‘Go ’way doon to yon dyke107,’ I heard one say, probably
meaning the bulwark. I often had my heart in my mouth,
watching them climb into the shrouds108 or on the rails, while
the ship went swinging through the waves; and I admired and
envied the courage of their mothers, who sat by in the sun
and looked on with composure at these perilous109 feats. ‘H e’ll
maybe be a sailor,’ I heard one remark; ‘now’s the time to learn.’
I had been on the point of running forward to interfere, but
stood back at that, reproved110. Very few in the more delicate
classes have the nerve111 to look upon the peril of one dear to
them; but the life of poorer folk112, where necessity is so much
more immediate and imperious113, braces even a mother to this
extreme of endurance. And perhaps, after all, it is better that
the lad should break his neck than that you should break his
spirit.
And since I am here on the chapter of the children, I must
mention one little fellow, whose family belonged to Steerage
No. 4 and 5, and who, wherever he went, was like a strain of
106 use words they would normally use on land

107 Go away down to th at dyke (wall)
108 ropes
109 mainly literary: very dangerous
110 formal: criticized or blamed for doing something wrong or bad
111 the ability to control your fear when something dangerous is happening
112 informal: people
113 behaving in a proud and confident way th at shows you expect to be obeyed

music round the ship. He was an ugly, merry, unbreeched114 child
of three, his lint-white hair in a tangle115, his face smeared with
suet116 and treacle117; but he ran to and fro118 with so natural a
step, and fell and picked himself up again with such grace and
good-humour, that he might fairly be called beautiful when he
was in motion. To meet him, crowing with laughter and beating
an accompaniment to his own mirth with a tin spoon upon a
tin cup, was to meet a little triumph of the human species. Even
when his mother and the rest of his family lay sick and prostrate
around him, he sat upright in their midst119 and sang aloud in
the pleasant heartlessness of infancy120.
Throughout the Friday, intimacy among us men made but
a few advances. We discussed the probable duration of the
voyage, we exchanged pieces of information, naming our trades,
what we hoped to find in the new world, or what we were fleeing
from in the old; and, above all, we condoled121 together over
the food and the vileness122 of the steerage. One or two had
been so near famine that you may say they had run into the
ship with the devil at their heels; and to these all seemed for
the best in the best of possible steamers. But the majority were
hugely contented123. Coming as they did from a country in so
low a state as Great Britain, many of them from Glasgow, which
commercially speaking was as good as dead, and many having
long been out of work, I was surprised to find them so dainty124
in their notions125. I myself lived almost exclusively on bread,
porridge, and soup, precisely as it was supplied to them, and
found it, if not luxurious, at least sufficient. But these working
114 old-fashioned: not wearing trousers
115 the untidy shape th at things make when they are twisted round each other or
round something else
116 hard fat from around an anim al’s kidneys th at is used for cooking
117 a thick sweet black liquid used in cooking
118 in one direction and then back again
119 formal: inside the group
120 the time when you are a baby or a very young child
121 obsolete: showed sympathy to each other
122 formal: extreme unpleasantness
123 very pleased
124 particular or demanding
125 old-fashioned: ideas, opinions

men were loud in their outcries. It was not ‘food for human
beings,’ it was ‘only fit for pigs,’ it was ‘a disgrace.’ Many of them
lived almost entirely upon biscuit126, others on their own private
supplies, and some paid extra for better rations from the ship.
This marvellously changed my notion of the degree of luxury
habitual to the artisan. I was prepared to hear him grumble, for
grumbling is the traveller’s pastime; but I was not prepared to find
him turn away from a diet which was palatable to myself. Words
I should have disregarded, or taken with a liberal allowance; but
when a man prefers dry biscuit there can be no question of the
sincerity of his disgust.
W ith one of their complaints I could most heartily sympathise.
A single night of the steerage had filled them with horror. I had
myself suffered, even in my decent-second-cabin berth, from the
lack of air; and as the night promised to be fine and quiet, I
determined to sleep on deck, and advised all who complained of
their quarters to follow my example. I dare say a dozen of others
agreed to do so, and I thought we should have been quite a party.
Yet, when I brought up my rug127 about seven bells128, there was
no one to be seen but the watch129. That chimerical130 terror
of good night-air, which makes men close their windows, list131
their doors, and seal themselves up with their own poisonous
exhalations, had sent all these healthy workmen down below.
One would think we had been brought up in a fever country;
yet in England the most malarious132 districts are in the
bedchambers133.
I felt saddened at this defection134, and yet half-pleased to
have the night so quietly to myself. The wind had hauled a little
126 ship’s biscuit was a hard biscuit made of flour and water th at was formerly taken on
sea voyages
127 a cloth made of wool th at you use to keep yourself warm
128 on a ship, seven o’clock
129 old-fashioned: the person who keeps watch, or guards, something
130 a chimera is a frightening, imaginary creature in old stories
131 put something to keep out the draught
132 malaria is a serious illness caused by a mosquito bite, usually in h ot countries
133 an old word meaning bedrooms
134 leaving or betrayal

ahead on the starboard bow, and was dry but chilly. I found a
shelter near the fire-hole, and made myself snug for the night.
The ship moved over the uneven sea with a gentle and
cradling movement. The ponderous135, organic labours of the
engine in her bowels136 occupied the mind, and prepared it for
slumber137. From time to time a heavier lurch would disturb rne
as I lay, and recall me to the obscure borders of consciousness; or
I heard, as it were through a veil, the clear note of the clapper138
on the brass and the beautiful sea-cry, ‘A ll’s well!’ I know
nothing, whether for poetry or music, that can surpass the effect
of these two syllables in the darkness of a night at sea.
The day dawned fairly enough, and during the early part we
had some pleasant hours to improve acquaintance in the open air;
but towards nightfall the wind freshened, the rain began to fall,
and the sea rose so high that it was difficult to keep ones footing
on the deck. I have spoken of our concerts. We were indeed a
musical ship’s company, and cheered our way into exile with
the fiddle139, the accordion, and the songs of all nations. Good,
bad, or indifferent - Scottish, English, Irish, Russian, German or
Norse, - the songs were received with generous applause. Once
or twice, a recitation140, very spiritedly rendered141 in a powerful
Scottish accent, varied the proceedings; and once we sought142
in vain to dance a quadrille143, eight men of us together, to the
music of the violin. The performers were all humorous, frisky
fellows, who loved to cut capers144 in private life; but as soon as
they were arranged for the dance, they conducted themselves
like so many mutes145 at a funeral. I have never seen decorum146
135 mainly literary: moving slowly because of being big and heavy
136 in the deepest inner part of something
137 literary: sleep
138 the small metal object inside a bell th at hits against the bell to make it ring
139 violin
140 a performance in which you recite a poem or a story
141 formal: expressed, performed
142 tried
143 a slow formal dance done by several people who form a square
144 old-fashioned: dance about in a lively way
145 old-fashioned: a professional attendant at a funeral
146 formal: polite behaviour

pushed so far; and as this was not expected, the quadrille was
soon whistled down, and the dancers departed under a cloud.
Eight Frenchmen, even eight Englishmen from another rank
of society, would have dared to make some fun for themselves
and the spectators; but the working man, when sober, takes an
extreme and even melancholy view of personal deportm ent147. A
fifth-form schoolboy is not more careful of dignity. He dares not
be comical; his fun must escape from him unprepared, and above
all, it must be unaccompanied by any physical demonstration.
I like his society under most circumstances, but let me never
again join with him in public gambols148.
But the impulse to sing was strong, and triumphed over
modesty and even the inclemencies149 of sea and sky. O n this
rough Saturday night, we got together by the main deck-house,
in a place sheltered from the wind and rain. Some clinging to a
ladder which led to the hurricane deck, and the rest knitting150
arms or taking hands, we made a ring to support the women
in the violent lurching of the ship; and when we were thus
disposed, sang to our hearts’ content. Some of the songs were
appropriate to the scene; others strikingly the reverse. Bastard
doggrel151 of the music-hall152, such as, ‘Around her splendid
form, I weaved the magic circle,’ sounded bald, bleak, and
pitifully silly. ‘We don’t want to fight, but, by Jingo, if we do153,’
was in some measure saved by the vigour and unanimity with
which the chorus was thrown forth into the night. I observed
a Platt-Deutsch mason, entirely innocent of154 English, adding
heartily to the general effect. And perhaps the German mason
is but a fair example of the sincerity with which the song
was rendered; for nearly all with whom I conversed upon the
147 formal: the way in which you walk or stand
148 literary: usually a verb to run, jump and play like a young child or animal
149 formal: inclem ent weather is bad
150 putting your arm through another person’s arm
151 doggerel is bad poetry; offensive: ‘bastard’ literally means ‘without a father and
m other’ - it is used as a more general insult
152 a type of entertainm ent of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that consisted of a
series of short performances by singers, dancers and comedians
153 from a British music-hall song of 1878
154 w ithout

subject were bitterly opposed to war, and attributed their own
misfortunes, and frequently their own taste for whisky, to the
campaigns in Zululand and Afghanistan.
Every now and again, however, some song that touched
the pathos of our situation was given forth155; and you could
hear by the voices that took up the burden how the sentiifient
came home to each, ‘The A nchor’s Weighed’ was true for us.
We were indeed ‘Rocked on the bosom of the stormy deep.’
How many of us could say with the singer, ‘I’m lonely to-night,
love, without you,’ or, ‘Go, some one, and tell them from me,
to write me a letter from home’! And when was there a more
appropriate moment for ‘Auld Lang Syne156’ than now, when
the land, the friends, and the affections of that mingled but
beloved time were fading and fleeing behind us in the vessel’s
wake? It pointed forward to the hour when these labours should
be overpast157, to the return voyage, and to many a meeting in
the sanded158 inn, when those who had parted in the spring of
youth should again drink a cup of kindness159 in their age. Had
not Bums contemplated emigration, I scarce160 believe he would
have found that note.
All Sunday the weather remained wild and cloudy; many
were prostrated by sickness; only five sat down to tea in the
second cabin, and two of these departed abruptly ere the meal
was at an end. The Sabbath161 was observed strictly by the
majority of the emigrants. I heard an old woman express her
surprise that ‘the ship didna gae doon162,’ as she saw someone
pass her with a chess-board on the holy day. Some sang Scottish
psalms163. Many went to service, and in true Scottish fashion
155 given out, expressed through singing
156 a poem by the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796) often sung in different
countries on New Year’s Eve. It is written in Scottish dialect and the title means
‘times gone by’ or ‘a long time ago’
157 over, finished
158 with sand on the floor
159 a phrase fro m ‘Auld Lang Syne’
160 scarcely, hardly
161 Sunday, when some Christians go to church
162 didn’t go down
163 songs or poems that praise God

came back ill pleased164 with their divine165. ‘I didna think he
was an experienced preacher,’ said one girl to me.
It was a bleak, uncomfortable day; but at night, by six bells,
although the wind had not yet moderated, the clouds were all
wrecked and blown away behind the rim of the horizon, and the
stars came out thickly overhead. I saw Venus burning as steadily
and sweetly across this hurly-burly of the winds and waters as
ever at home upon the summer woods. The engine pounded, the
screw166 tossed out of the water with a roar, and shook the ship
from end to end; the bows167 battled with loud reports168 against
the billows169: and as I stood in the lee-scuppers170 and looked
up to where the funnel171 leaned out, over my head, vomiting
smoke, and the black and monstrous top-sails blotted172, at each
lurch, a different crop of stars, it seemed as if all this trouble were
a thing of small account, and that just above the mast reigned
peace unbroken and eternal.
Steerage Scenes
Our companion173 (Steerage No. 2 and 3) was a favourite
resort174. Down one flight of stairs there was a comparatively
large open space, the centre occupied by a hatchway175, which
made a convenient seat for about twenty persons, while barrels,
coils of rope, and the carpenter’s bench afforded perches176 for
perhaps as many more. The canteen, or steerage bar, was on one
side of the stair; on the other, a no less attractive spot, the cabin
of the indefatigable177 interpreter.
164 old-fashioned: phrase for ‘displeased’ or unhappy
165 priest or preacher
166 the ship’s propeller, th at moves the ship forward
167 the front end of the ship
168 a sudden loud noise caused by a gun or an explosion
169 literary: large waves in the sea
170 holes in the ship’s side to allow water to run away from the deck
171 a tube th at lets out smoke and steam from the ship’s engine
172 hidden, covered
173 a staircase of ladder from one deck to another
174 meeting place
175 an opening in a floor or wall
176 provided somewhere to sit (a perch is usually used by a bird)
177 formal: never showing signs of getting tired

I have seen people packed into this space like herrings178 in
a barrel, and many merry evenings prolonged there until five
bells, when the lights were ruthlessly extinguished and all must
go to roost179.
It had been rumoured since Friday that there was a fiddler
aboard, who lay sick and unmelodious in Steerage No. 1; and *
on the Monday forenoon, as I came down the companion, I was
saluted180 by something in Strathspey tim e181. A white-faced
Orpheus182 was cheerily playing to an audience of white-faced
women. It was as much as he could do to play, and some of
his hearers were scarce able to sit; yet they had crawled from
their bunks at the first experimental flourish, and found better
than medicine in the music. Some of the heaviest heads began
to nod in time, and a degree of animation looked from some
of the palest eyes. Humanly speaking, it is a more important
matter to play the fiddle, even badly, than to write huge works
upon recondite183 subjects. W hat could Mr Darwin184 have
done for these sick women? But this fellow scraped away; and
the world was positively a better place for all who heard him.
We have yet to understand the economical value of these mere
accomplishments. I told the fiddler he was a happy man, carrying
happiness about with him in his fiddle-case, and he seemed alive
to185 the fact.
‘It is a privilege,’ I said. He thought a while upon the word,
turning it over in his Scots head, and then answered with
conviction, ‘Yes, a privilege.’
T hat night I was summoned by ‘Merrily danced the Quake’s
wife’ into the companion of Steerage No. 4 and 5. This was,
178 long, thin, silver sea fish

179 when birds roost, they go somewhere to rest or sleep
180 greeted, welcomed
181 to the rhythms of a Scottish tune; Strathspey is a place in the central Highlands of
Scotland
182 a figure in Greek mythology who was a wonderful musician
183 not easily understood
184 Charles Darwin (1809-1882), English naturalist who developed the Theory of
Evolution
185 aware of

properly speaking186, but a strip across a deck-house, lit by a
sickly lantern187 which swung to and fro with the motion of the
ship. Through the open slide-door we had a glimpse of a grey
night sea, with patches of phosphorescent foam flying, swift as
birds, into the wake188, and the horizon rising and falling as the
vessel rolled to the wind. In the centre the companion ladder
plunged down sheerly189 like an open pit. Below, on the first
landing, and lighted by another lamp, lads and lasses190 danced,
not more than three at a time for lack of space, in jigs and reels
and hornpipes191. Above, on either side, there was a recess railed
with iron, perhaps two feet wide and four long, which stood for192
orchestra and seats of honour. In the one balcony, five slatternly193
Irish lasses194 sat woven in a comely195 group. In the other was
posted Orpheus, his body, which was convulsively in motion,
forming an odd contrast to his somnolent196, imperturbable
Scots face. His brother, a dark man with a vehement, interested
countenance197, who made a god of the fiddler, sat by with open
mouth, drinking in the general admiration and throwing out
remarks to kindle198 it.
‘T hat’s a bonny199 hornpipe now,’ he would say, ‘it’s a great
favourite with performers; they dance the sand dance to it.’ And
he expounded200 the sand dance. Then suddenly, it would be a
long, ‘Hush201!’ with uplifted finger and glowing, supplicating202
186 really, correctly

187 a light inside a transparent container; the light is ‘sickly’ or not very strong
188 the track that appears in the water behind a moving boat
189 steeply
190 informal: young men and women
191 lively dances
192 took the role of
193 old-fashioned: untidy or dirty
194 Scottish, plural: girls or young women
195 old-fashioned: attractive
196 literary: feeling ready to sleep
197 literary: your face or expression
198 literary: encourage or develop
199 Scottish: very pleasant or attractive
200 very formal: to explain something, or express your opinion about something,
in detail
201 used for telling someone to be quiet
202 asking for something

eyes, ‘he’s going to play “Auld Robin Gray” on one string!’ And
throughout this excruciating movement, - ‘O n one string, that’s
on one string!’ he kept crying. I would have given something
myself that it had been on none; but the hearers were much
awed203. I called for a tune or two, and thus introduced myself
to the notice of the brother, who directed his talk to me for
some little while, keeping, I need hardly mention, true to his
topic, like the seamen to the star. ‘H e’s grand of it204,’ he said
confidentially. ‘His master was a music-hall m an.’ Indeed the
music-hall man had left his mark, for our fiddler was ignorant
of many of our best old airs205; ‘Logie o’ Buchan,’ for instance,
he only knew as a quick, jigging figure206 in a set of quadrilles,
and had never heard it called by name. Perhaps, after all, the
brother was the more interesting performer of the two. I have
spoken with him afterwards repeatedly, and found him always
the same quick, fiery bit of a man, not without brains; but he
never showed to such advantage as when he was thus squiring207
the fiddler into public note. There is nothing more becoming208
than a genuine admiration; and it shares this with love, that it
does not become contemptible although misplaced.
The dancing was but feebly carried on. The space was almost
impracticably small; and the Irish wenches209 combined the
extreme of bashfulness210 about this innocent display with a
surprising impudence and roughness of address211. Most often,
either the fiddle lifted up its voice unheeded212, or only a couple
of lads would be footing it213 and snapping fingers on the landing.
And such was the eagerness of the brother to display all the
acquirements214 of his idol, and such the sleepy indifference of
203 full of admiration
204 old-fashioned, Irish: h e’s good at it
205 tunes
206 obsolete: a dancing tune
207 accompanying, escorting
208 old-fashioned: making you look attractive
209 an old word meaning young women
210 feeling easily embarrassed when you are with other people
211 old-fashioned: the way you speak to someone
212 ignored
213 dancing
214 talents, skills

the performer, that the tune would as often as not be changed,
and the hornpipe expire215 into a ballad before the dancers had
cut half a dozen shuffles216.
In the meantime, however, the audience had been growing
more and more numerous every moment; there was hardly
standing-room round the top of the companion; and the strange
instinct of the race moved some of the newcomers to close both
the doors, so that the atmosphere grew insupportable217. It was a
good place, as the saying is, to leave.
The wind hauled ahead with a head sea218. By ten at night
heavy sprays were flying and drumming over the forecastle; the
companion of Steerage No. 1 had to be closed, and the door of
communication through the second cabin thrown open. Either
from the convenience of the opportunity, or because we had
already a number of acquaintances in that part of the ship, Mr
Jones and I paid it a late visit. Steerage No. 1 is shaped like an
isosceles triangle219, the sides opposite the equal angles bulging
outward with the contour of the ship. It is lined with eight
pens220 of sixteen bunks221 apiece, four bunks below and four
above on either side. A t night the place is lit with two lanterns,
one to each table. As the steamer beat on her way among the
rough billows, the light passed through violent phases of change,
and was thrown to and fro and up and down with startling
swiftness. You were tempted to wonder, as you looked, how so
thin a glimmer could control and disperse such solid blackness.
W hen Jones and I entered we found a little company of our
acquaintances seated together at the triangular foremost table.
A more forlorn party, in more dismal circumstances, it would
be hard to imagine. The motion here in the ship’s nose was very
violent; the uproar of the sea often overpoweringly loud. The
yellow flicker of the lantern spun round and round and tossed
215 literary: die or end
216 slow, noisy movements of the feet
217 formal: impossible to accept or deal with
218 with the sea moving the opposite way to the ship
219 a triangle in which two sides are the same length
220 small areas with fences round them, used for keeping animals in
221 narrow beds, often fixed to the wall

the shadows in masses. The air was hot, but it struck a chill from
its foetor222.
From all round in the dark bunks, the scarcely human noises
of the sick joined into a kind of farmyard chorus. In the midst,
these five friends of mine were keeping up what heart they could
in company. Singing was their refuge from discomfortable223
thoughts and sensations. One piped, in feeble tones, ‘O h why
left I my hame224?’ which seemed a pertinent question in the
circumstances. Another, from the invisible horrors of a pen
where he lay dog-sick225 upon the upper-shelf, found courage, in
a blink of his sufferings, to give us several verses of the ‘Death
of Nelson’; and it was odd and eerie to hear the chorus breathe
feebly from all sorts of dark corners, and ‘this day has done his
dooty226’ rise and fall and be taken up again in this dim inferno,
to an accompaniment of plunging, hollow-sounding bows and
the rattling spray-showers overhead.
All seemed unfit for conversation; a certain dizziness had
interrupted the activity of their minds; and except to sing they
were tongue-tied. There was present, however, one tall, powerful
fellow of doubtful nationality, being neither quite Scotsman nor
altogether Irish, but of surprising clearness of conviction on
the highest problems. He had gone nearly beside himself on
the Sunday, because of a general backwardness to indorse227 his
definition of mind as ‘a living, thinking substance which cannot
be felt, heard, or seen’ - nor, I presume, although he failed to
m ention it, smelt. Now he came forward in a pause with another
contribution to our culture.
‘Just by way of change,’ said he, ‘I’ll ask you a Scripture228
riddle. There’s profit in them too,’ he added ungrammatically.
This was the riddle -
222 obsolete: unpleasant smell

223 obsolete: uncomfortable
224 old-fashioned, Scottish: home
225 the m odem expression is ‘sick as a dog’, very ill indeed
226 duty
227 endorse, support
228 the Bible

C and P Did agree To cut down C ; But C and P Could not agree
Without the leave of G; All the people cried to see The crueltie229 O f
C and P.
Harsh are the words of Mercury230 after the songs of Apollo231!
We were a long while over the problem, shaking our heads and
gloomily wondering how a man could be such a fool; but at
length he put us out of suspense and divulged the fact that C
and P stood for Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate232.
I think it must have been the riddle that settled233 us; but the
motion and the close air lik ew ise hurried our departure. We had
not been gone long, we heard next morning, ere two or even
three out of the five fell sick. We thought it little wonder234 on
the whole, for the sea kept contrary235 all night. I now made my
bed upon the second cabin floor, where, although I ran the risk
of being stepped upon, I had a free current of air, more or less
vitiated236 indeed, and running only from steerage to steerage,
but at least not stagnant; and from this couch237, as well as the
usual sounds of a rough night at sea, the hateful coughing and
retching of the sick and the sobs of children, I heard a man
run wild with terror beseeching238 his friend for encouragement.
‘The ship’s going down!’ he cried with a thrill of agony. ‘The
ship’s going down!’ he repeated, now in a blank whisper, now
with his voice rising towards a sob; and his friend might reassure
him, reason with him, joke at him - all was in vain, and the old
cry came back, ‘The ship’s going down!’ There was something
panicky and catching in the emotion of his tones; and I saw in a
clear flash what an involved and hideous tragedy was a disaster
to an emigrant ship. If this whole parishful239 of people came
229 old-fashionedspelling: cruelty
230 god of commerce
231 Greek and Roman god of music and poetry
232 in the Bible, the high priest and Rom an governor who tried Jesus and sentenced
him to death
233 decided
234 not surprising
235 continued to be rough
236 very formal: made less effective
237 bed on board ship or train
238 literary: asking someone for something in an urgent and sincere way
239 a parish is a small area or district

no more to land, into how many houses would the newspaper
carry woe240, and what a great part of the web of our corporate241
human life would be rent242 across for ever!
The next morning when I came on deck I found a new world
indeed. The wind was fair; the sun mounted into a cloudless
heaven; through great dark blue seas the ship cut a swath of
curded foam. The horizon was dotted all day with companionable
sails, and the sun shone pleasantly on the long, heaving deck.
We had many fine-weather diversions to beguile243 the time.
There was a single chess-board and a single pack of cards.
Sometimes as many as twenty of us would be playing dominoes244
for love. Feats of dexterity, puzzles for the intelligence, some
arithmetical, some of the same order as the old problem of the
fox and goose and cabbage245, were always welcome; and the
latter, I observed, more popular as well as more conspicuously
well done than the former. We had a regular daily competition
to guess the vessel’s progress; and twelve o’clock, when the result
was published in the wheel-house246, came to be a moment of
considerable interest. But the interest was unmixed. N ot a bet
was laid upon our guesses. From the Clyde to Sandy Hook I
never heard a wager247 offered or taken. We had, besides, romps
in plenty. Puss in the Com er248, which we had rebaptized249, in
more manly style, Devil and four Corners, was my own favourite
game; but there were many who preferred another, the humour
of which was to box a person’s ears250 until he found out who had
cuffed251 him.
240 literary: a strong feeling of sadness
241 formal: shared by or including all the members of a group
242 tom , broken
243 formal: to charm, persuade or trick someone, especially by saying nice things to
them
244 a game th at uses small flat pieces of wood or plastic with dots on them
245 a problem-solving game where a man has to work out how to transport a fox, goose
and cabbage across a river
246 a small room on a boat where the wheel and other controls are
247 an agreement to win or lose an am ount of money depending on the result of a
com petition
248 a traditional children’s game
249 given the new name of
250 informal, old-fashioned: to h it someone on the side of the head, as a punishm ent
251 h it someone with your open hand

This Tuesday morning we were all delighted with the change
of weather, and in the highest possible spirits. We got in a cluster
like bees, sitting between each other’s feet under lee of the deck
houses. Stories and laughter went around. The children climbed
about the shrouds. W hite faces appeared for the first time, and
began to take on colour from the wind. I was kept hard at work
making cigarettes for one amateur after another, and my less
than moderate skill was heartily admired. Lastly, down sat the
fiddler in our midst and began to discourse252 his reels, and jigs,
and ballads, with now and then a voice or two to take up the air
and throw in the interest of human speech.
Through this merry and good-hearted scene there came three
cabin passengers, a gentleman and two young ladies, picking
their way with little gracious titters253 of indulgence, and a Lady-
Bountiful254 air about nothing, which galled me to the quick255.
I have little of the radical in social questions, and have always
nourished an idea that one person was as good as another. But
I began to be troubled by this episode. It was astonishing what
insults these people managed to convey by their presence. They
seemed to throw their clothes in our faces. Their eyes searched
us all over for tatters256 and incongruities257. A laugh was ready
at their lips; but they were too well-mannered to indulge it in
our hearing. Wait a bit, till they were all back in the saloon,
and then hear how wittily they would depict the manners of
the steerage. We were in truth very innocently, cheerfully, and
sensibly engaged, and there was no shadow of excuse for the
swaying elegant superiority with which these damsels258 passed
among us, or for the stiff and waggish259 glances of their squire260.
252 play
253 quiet laughter th at shows you are nervous or embarrassed
254 a woman who gives money generously but makes sure th at people see her
generosity; the name comes from a character in an 18th century English play
255 old-fashioned: very upset or angry
256 old tom pieces of clothing
257 strange things
258 an old word for young women
259 behaving in a humorous way or saying humorous things
260 here, a young, well-to-do man who accompanies the ladies

N ot a word was said; only when they were gone Mackay sullenly
damned their impudence261 under his breath; but we were all
conscious of an icy influence and a dead break in the course of
our enjoyment.
261 impolite: criticized their lack of respect
The Amateur Emigrant [ 161

extract.
The Second Cabin
1 Where does Stevenson first meet the other passengers? How do the
English-speaking passengers behave towards each other at first?
2 Where do the passengers first see the ship that is taking them to
the USA?
3 Why did Stevenson want to travel as a steerage passenger? Why
does he change his mind and how does he feel about it?
4 W hat are the main differences between second cabin and steerage?
5 How does Stevenson know the difference between coffee and tea
on board ship?
6 W hat is the difference in the food between second cabin and
steerage?
7 How does Stevenson learn that he is classed as a ‘gentleman’ and
not just a ‘male’?
8 How much are the different fares? How do steerage passengers
supplement their diet?
9 Why is ‘Johnny’ popular with the other passengers? W hich two
young men behave badly? W hat do they do?
10 How did the devoted married couple first meet?
11 W hat is the old lady’s obsession? Why does she say ‘Gravy!’?
12 Why is it difficult for Stevenson to guess where Mr Jones is from?
W hat is Golden Oil?
13 W hat do Stevenson and Mr Jones enjoy doing? Why does Jones
laugh?
Early Impressions
14 Where does the ship go after leaving Scotland? Why?
15 How long is the voyage to the USA?
16 W hat did Stevenson think emigrants were like before he joined
the ship?
17 W hat are most of the passengers like, according to Stevenson?
18 W hat has happened in Great Britain in recent years to make life
difficult?
19 W hat is the attitude of most of the passengers to the future?
20 W hat does Stevenson admire about the children on board? W hat
does he admire about their mothers?
21 Who is ‘a little triumph of the human species’? Why?
22 W hat do the male passengers talk about most?
23 W hat surprises Stevenson about the men’s attitude to the food
on board?
24 Why does Stevenson decide to sleep on deck? Why is he alone?
25 How do the passengers react to all the different songs they hear?
26 Why is the quadrille a failure?
27 W hat kind of songs do the passengers sing?
28 W hat do most of the passengers do on Sunday?
Steerage Scenes
29 W hen must the passengers stop singing and dancing? Why?
30 W hat effect does the fiddler’s music have on the sick passengers?
31 Why does Stevenson go to Steerage 4 and 5 ?
32 W hat are the young men and women doing?
33 How does the fiddler’s brother treat him?
34 Why does Stevenson finally leave the concert?
35 Where is Steerage 1 ? Why do Jones and Stevenson go there?
36 W hat are conditions like in Steerage 1?
37 How do the men at the table try to forget their situation?
38 W hat is Stevenson’s reaction to the Scripture riddle?
39 Where does Stevenson sleep that night? Why?
40 Why are the passengers happier the next day? W hat do they do to
pass the time?
41 Why is Stevenson disturbed by the visit of the three cabin
passengers?
Language study
Vocabulary
W ords and exp ressions w ith h e a rt
There are many words and expressions which include the word heart.
Look at these examples from the extract.
I often had my heart in my mouth, watching them [the children] climb
into the shrouds.
He sang aloud with the pleasant heartlessness of infancy.
In the midst, these five friends of mine were keeping up what heart
they could in company.
With one of their complaints I could most heartily sympathise.
[It was] a merry and good-hearted scene.
We sang to our hearts’ content.

1 Which of the expressions with heart mean the following?
1 good humour and courage
2 in an enthusiastic way
3 felt afraid or anxious
4 a lack of feeling
5 as much as you want
6 kind or making you feel happy
2 Complete the sentences with one of the words or expressions with
heart.
1 W hen I get some free time, I’m going to sleep.....................................
2 You’re right! I agree with you.
3 W hen the aeroplane made a strange noise I ..................................... .
4 The landlord showed great.......................................in throwing them
out of their house.
5 Take.......................................! We’ll soon be home again.
6 He’s very...................................... and always volunteers to help out.
W ords and expression s w ith sp irit and sp irits

The word spirit(s) is often used by Stevenson, either as an individual
word or as part of an expression. Look at these examples from the
extract.
1 We descended the Clyde in no familiar spirit.
2 W ith a few biscuits and some whisky and water.. .1 kept my body
going and my spirits up to the mark.
3 W hen I felt out of spirits I could go down and look and refresh
myself with a look of that brass plate.
4 Her husband, I thought, should be a man of saintly spirit and
phantasmal bodily presence.
5 .. .dissecting our neighbours in a spirit that was too purely scientific
to be called unkind
6 Perhaps it is better...that the lad should break his neck than that
you should break his spirit.
7 .. .a recitation very spiritedly rendered in a powerful Scottish accent
8 This Tuesday morning, we were all delighted with the change in
weather and in the highest possible spirits.
Spirit or spirits, in these sentences, can refer to:
a) your character
b) your attitude to life or other people
c) the attitude of people in a group

d) your general mood
e) doing something (with) enthusiasm or determination.
3 Look at the examples again* Which of the definitions (a-e) applies
in each case? For example:
1 We descended the Clyde in no familiar spirit.
This use of the word spirit refers to the general mood of the individuals. «
4 Look at the examples again. Match each phrase with one of the
following four categories:
a) in a really good mood
b) put a stop to someone’s enthusiasm
c) depressed
d) in such a way v
Grammar
Conditional tenses -
Look at these examples of the second conditional from the extract.
If this whole parishful of people came no more to land, into how many
houses would the newspaper carry woe!
If the sky were to fall tomorrow I should look to see Jones, the day
following, perched on a step ladder and getting things to rights.
The tenses used in the first example are more usual. However, the
second example could be expressed differently in more modem English:
If the sky fell tomorrow I would look to see Jones, the day following,
perched on a ladder and getting things to rights.
Now look at these examples of the third conditional.
Had they given me porridge again in the evening I should have been
perfectly contented with the fare.
Had not Bums contemplated emigration I scarce believe he would have
found that note.
In more modem English, these sentences could be expressed in the
following way.
If they had given me porridge again in the evening I would have been
perfectly happy with the food.
If Bums had not contemplated emigration I can hardly believe he
would have found that note.

5 W rite these examples o f conditionals in a more conventional way.
1 If you were to tell me the story twenty times, I shouldn’t believe you.
If you told me the story twenty times, I wouldn't believe you.
2 If it were to rain tomorrow, we should have the meal indoors.
3 He could study something different if he were to fail the exam.
4 W hat would you do if the train were to arrive late?
5 Were he to dance all night, I shouldn’t be surprised.
6 Had she realized how bad the food was, she wouldn’t have gone.
7 He was so ill that had the sky fallen he wouldn’t have noticed.
8 Had you spoken to me politely, I might have answered you.
9 W hat would they have done had the shop been closed?
10 I should have preferred it had he not continued to play the violin.
Participle clauses w ith 4ng and having + past participle

We can use an 4ng form of a verb in a clause which has an adverbial
meaning.
A clause like this gives the reader additional information, usually about
the subject of the clause. Look at these examples from the extract.
There she lay, her sea signal flying.
We descended the Clyde...looking askance on each other as on possible
enemies.
Everywhere else I was incognito, moving among my inferiors with
simplicity.
1 had heard vaguely...of homeless men loitering at the street comers.
We can also use having + past participle in adverbial clauses.
Coming as they did from a country in so low a state as Great Britain...
and many having long been out of work...

Sometimes, the past participle clause refers to an action that goes
before another.
Having closed the door behind me, I sat down at my desk.
6 Write these pairs of sentences as one sentence using a present
participle or having + past participle.
«
1 I have seen passengers. Some still doubted whether they had drunk
tea or coffee.
I have seen some passengers still doubting whether they had drunk tea or
coffee.
2 We walked around the deck for ages. We dissected the characters
of our fellow passengers.
3 I heard stories about people. They were asking for money on the
streets.
4 She said goodbye. Then she put down the phone.
5 I recalled a story. It was about two small children who fought with
each other.
6 They went on board ship. They ran to the rails.
7 He talked continuously. He worked as he talked.
8 I finished work. I decided to go home.
9 He was a young man. He was looking for a wife.
10 The child was delightful. He ran around the ship and laughed all
the time.

Literary analysis
Events
1 Look at the following quotes from different sections of the extract.
a) At breakfast we had a choice between tea and coffee.
b) She was in quest of two o'clock; and when she learned it was already
seven on the shores of Clyde, she lifted up her voice and cried ‘Gravy!’
c) The ideal emigrant should certainly be young.
d) The starboard forward gallery is the second cabin.
e) I heard a man run wild with terror.
f) Below, on the first landing, lads and lasses danced.
g) We may struggle as we please, we are not bom economists.
h) When people pass each other on the high seas of life at so early an age,
the contact is but slight.
i) It is lined with eight pens of sixteen bunks apiece, four bunks below
and four above on either side.
j) I have little of the radical in social questions, and have always
nourished an idea that one person was as good as another.
Now look at the categories below. W hich category does each quote
belong to? We have done one for you as an example.
- things that happen on board
- a description of the ship or conditions on board
- personal reflections of the author The ideal emigrant should
certainly be young.
2 W hich does Stevenson describe more: specific events or general
conditions?
3 Why do you think Stevenson includes so much personal reflection?
4 Is there a good balance in the extract between factual description
and personal reflection?
5 W hat would you like to know about the remainder of the voyage?
People
6 Is Stevenson interested in his fellow passengers? How do you
know?
7 W hat examples are there of Stevenson generalizing about human
behaviour?
8 W hich individuals does Stevenson describe in detail? Why?
9 W hich individuals does Stevenson name? Why?
10 W hich things surprise Stevenson about his fellow passengers?
W hat things does he admire about them?

11 Does Stevenson like his fellow passengers? How do you know?
12 Do we know what the other passengers think of Stevenson?
13 W hich details tell you that Stevenson is from a different social
class to most of the passengers in steerage?
14 Is Stevenson a sociable person? How do you know?
15 Why is Stevenson so friendly with Mr Jones?
4
Sense of place
16 W hat is your impression of travel in steerage? Would you like to
experience it?
17 Do you think that Stevenson was wise to travel in second cabin?
Why?
18 Find the passage (Steerage Scenes) where Stevenson visits
Steerage 1 with Mr Jones. How does this make you feel?
19 Find the passage (Steerage Scenes) where Stevenson describes the
fine day on deck. How does he convey the relief and happiness of
the passengers?
20 W hat are the most important factors on a voyage like this? W hat
makes the journey more bearable or pleasant?
21 How would a journey by ship be different today? How would it be
the same?

22 Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in Scotland. He often refers to
Scotland and the Scots in the extract. Find some examples of this.
23 Stevenson writes that he was ‘anxious to see the worst of emigrant
life’. W hat does this tell us about him?
24 Look at the passage (Early Impressions) where Stevenson discovers
that he is classed as a ‘gentleman’? How would you describe the
tone of this passage?
25 W hat examples of humour are there in the extract?
26 W hen does Stevenson show compassion in the extract?
27 W hat is your impression of Stevenson? How would you describe
him?

Long Way Round
by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
About the authors

Long Way Round was written by two people, Ewan McGregor and
Charley Boorman, both known for their acting careers. The pair met
and became friends when working on a film in Ireland, finding that
they shared a love of bikes and travel. In the book, they take turns to
tell the story of their trip around the world by motorcycle, sometimes
commenting on the same events from their own point of view. In the
excerpt Snow in my ger, McGregor is the narrator.
Ewan McGregor was bom in Crieff in Scotland in 1971, one of
two children, bom into an interesting family with many interests and
skills. His parents were both teachers. His uncle, Denis Lawson, was
an actor, who was well-known in Scotland, and had a role as a pilot
in the first three Star Wars films in the 1970s and ’80s. His brother is
a pilot in the Royal A ir Force. McGregor was very musical as a child,
singing and playing the French horn, before going to study drama for a
year at Kirkcaldy in Fife, aged 16. After this, he went on to London’s
Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He became famous after his
role in the film Trainspotting in 1996, although he had worked widely in
television and in the theatre before that. He is internationally famous
for roles such as Obi-W an Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel1trilogy2 and
his singing role in Moulin Rouge (2001) alongside Nicole Kidman. He
is married with three children.
McGregor has been a keen motorcyclist since his youth. He made
the trip in Long Way Round with Charley Boorman, and cameraman
Claudio von Planta. The trip was made into a television series and
became a popular book. In 2007, the friends got together again to
ride from the north of Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa. This
trip was also filmed for television and turned into a book, Long Way
Down, again w ritten by McGregor and Boorman. Boorman has since
written about his own experiences in the Paris-Dakar rally in Race to
1 a film about events th at happened before the events in another film th at was made
earlier
2 a series of three films
170 | Long Way Round

Dakar. His latest book, By Any Means, covers his trip from Ireland to
Australia using different modes of transport.
McGregor continues to act in films and in the theatre. He and
Boorman are also involved in charity work, particularly for the
children’s charity U nicef3.
About the extract

Long Way Round was published in 2005. The official authors are Ewan
McGregor and Charley Boorman though their co-writer Robert Uhlig
played an important part in shaping the book and conveying the
different personalities of the two men.
The colloquial tone of their writing reflects the fact that they made
video diaries of their adventure and the tone of these is transferred
to the book. The book is a day-to-day reflection on what happens to
them. It also reflects the changes in their relationship during their
journey together.
Between mid April and the end of July 2004, good friends McGregor
and Boorman and cameraman Claudio von Planta travelled by
motorbike from London to New York. They went via Western and
Central Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia and
Canada. They covered a distance of over 30,000 kilometres. For much
of the time, they had a large support team who travelled with them.
However, in Mongolia, the men were mostly on their own or with a
smaller support team.
Before Mongolia, the team had been in Russia and Kazakhstan,
which they found exhausting because of all the media attention and
the number of organized events which they had to attend. W hen
McGregor arrives in Mongolia, after two weeks of tough, dangerous
riding, he is exhausted and just wants to sleep. In Mongolia, there
are few hotels and the men have to sleep in gers, the tent used by
Mongolian nomads. For several weeks, McGregor and Boorman have
shared a ger and this has put a strain on their friendship. In Mongolia,
for their own sanity, they finally decide to buy smaller, one-man gers.
3 the U nited N ations’ organization w hich focuses on the welfare of children worldwide
Long Way Round | 171

Summary
Ewan arrives at W hite Lake in Mongolia. He is exhausted after two
weeks of hard riding and he just wants to be alone. He lies in his ger
without unpacking first.
The next day, Ewan decides to go fishing and walks for an hour
on his own. He doesn’t want any company for the moment. He puts
stones on the shrine on his way to the lake and on his way back. In
the afternoon, he goes out in a boat with some local fishermen and
they catch some fish. Ewan does not enjoy watching the fish die.
Ewan is grateful for their two-day rest but doesn’t feel very well. He
is in a bad mood and Charley suffers as a result. He reflects on their
trip and realizes that being so far from civilization is an advantage.
It makes them aware of the things people share all over the world.
He wishes that politicians would take some time to reflect on what
people really want.
Ewan misses his family back in Britain. T he night before, his wife
had to take the phone from her daughter and that made the other
daughter cry. He goes to talk to Charley and Claudio and begins to
feel better.
The next day, it is snowing slightly and it is cold. T he men ride up
into the hills and over m ountain passes. The landscape is wonderful
and they travel over 100 miles. A t Tsetserleg they stop to eat at a
little English cafe.
As they are leaving town, Claudio crashes into a large rock on the '
road. He blames Charley for riding too close to it and setting a bad
example. They argue about two other occasions on which Claudio
has damaged or crashed his bike. Ewan admits th at the Red Devil is
a terrible bike to ride and that Claudio has done well to keep trying.
Ewan himself falls off his bike that afternoon while racing Charley
and soon after Claudio falls off the Red Devil and hurts himself.
Charley and Claudio exchange bikes for the last few miles to the ger
camp. T he road changes to tarmac and Charley is so grateful for a
good surface at last th at he throws himself onto the ground and kisses
it. Ewan leaves him there and heads for the camp. He looks forward
to buying one-man tents in Ulaanbaatar so th at he and Charley can

stop annoying each other and enjoy some privacy. A t the camp, the
men have a shower. They have ridden over 200 miles.
The next day, the men ride 250 miles to Ulaanbaatar. Claudio is
in a lot of pain.
A t the hotel, Ted Simon is there to meet them. Ewan explains that
Ted inspired him to do the trip because he did something similar in *
the 1970s and wrote a book about it. He is now 73 and is not critical
of the younger m en’s high-tech equipment and different philosophy.
He spends the next three days with them, riding around on the Red
Devil and enjoying himself.
The organization U nicef has organized a visit to the street children
of Ulaanbaatar. Ewan describes how Mongolia has suffered from the
effects of free market economics and how one of the results is an
increase in abandoned children. He meets some young boys who live
below street level and is saddened by their situation. Later, he visits
a government centre that provides food and shelter for children. He
spends a long time playing with one little girl who is obviously ill and
needs treatment. A fter he returns to the hotel, he can’t stop thinking
about the girl. He and the others leave money for her but he knows
that this will not solve other long-term problems. He determines to
work w ith U nicef on a more regular basis in the future.
The next day, Ewan and the others arrive at the Russian border
and meet up with the support crew. Ewan reflects on his journey
through Mongolia and all th at has happened. He feels proud that he
and his friends have completed the toughest part of their journey on
their own and writes about the beauty of Mongolia and its hospitable
people.

Summary
Ewan arrives at W hite Lake in Mongolia. He is exhausted after two

weeks of hard riding and he just wants to be alone. He lies in his ger
without unpacking first.
The next day, Ewan decides to go fishing and walks for an hour
on his own. He doesn’t want any company for the moment. He puts
stones on the shrine on his way to the lake and on his way back. In
the afternoon, he goes out in a boat with some local fishermen and
they catch some fish. Ewan does not enjoy watching the fish die.
Ewan is grateful for their two-day rest but doesn’t feel very well. He
is in a bad mood and Charley suffers as a result. He reflects on their
trip and realizes that being so far from civilization is an advantage.
It makes them aware of the things people share all over the world.
He wishes that politicians would take some time to reflect on what
people really want.
Ewan misses his family back in Britain. The night before, his wife
had to take the phone from her daughter and that made the other
daughter cry. He goes to talk to Charley and Claudio and begins to
feel better.
The next day, it is snowing slightly and it is cold. The men ride up
into the hills and over mountain passes. The landscape is wonderful
and they travel over 100 miles. A t Tsetserleg they stop to eat at a
little English cafe.
As they are leaving town, Claudio crashes into a large rock on the
road. He blames Charley for riding too close to it and setting a bad
example. They argue about two other occasions on which Claudio
has damaged or crashed his bike. Ewan admits that the Red Devil is
a terrible bike to ride and that Claudio has done well to keep trying.
Ewan himself falls off his bike that afternoon while racing Charley
and soon after Claudio falls off the Red Devil and hurts himself.
Charley and Claudio exchange bikes for the last few miles to the ger
camp. The road changes to tarmac and Charley is so grateful for a
good surface at last that he throws himself onto the ground and kisses
it. Ewan leaves him there and heads for the camp. He looks forward
to buying one-man tents in Ulaanbaatar so that he and Charley can
172 | Long W ay Round

stop annoying each other and enjoy some privacy. A t the camp, the
men have a shower. They have ridden over 200 miles.
The next day, the men ride 250 miles to Ulaanbaatar. Claudio is
in a lot of pain.
A t the hotel, Ted Simon is there to meet them. Ewan explains that
Ted inspired him to do the trip because he did something similar in
the 1970s and wrote a book about it. He is now 73 and is not critical
of the younger men’s high-tech equipment and different philosophy.
He spends the next three days with them, riding around on the Red
Devil and enjoying himself.
The organization Unicef has organized a visit to the street children
of Ulaanbaatar. Ewan describes how Mongolia has suffered from the
effects of free market economics and how one of the results is an
increase in abandoned children. He meets some young boys who live
below street level and is saddened by their situation. Later, he visits
a government centre that provides food and shelter for children. He
spends a long time playing with one little girl who is obviously ill and
needs treatment. After he returns to the hotel, he can’t stop thinking
about the girl. He and the others leave money for her but he knows
that this will not solve other long-term problems. He determines to
work with Unicef on a more regular basis in the future.
The next day, Ewan and the others arrive at the Russian border
and meet up with the support crew. Ewan reflects on his journey
through Mongolia and all that has happened. He feels proud that he
and his friends have completed the toughest part of their journey on
their own and writes about the beauty of Mongolia and its hospitable
people.

Key vocabulary
Informal language
Ewan often writes as he might speak, using informal vocabulary and
phrases.
I couldn’t face making a decision.
It was great to do very little for two days.
It was almost like having food poisoning, I felt so out of sorts.
I lay in my ger thinking that if the likes of President Bush.. .had spent
some time finding out what was happening outside their own countries...
maybe the world wouldn't be in such a mess.
It was bizarre, to say the least, to find what looked just like an English
cafe in the middle of the Mongolian desert.
Although I could see that I couldn't make it out the other side, I stupidly
thought I'd give it ago.
For Charley it was all too much.
I couldn't get my head around the fact that children as young. ..as my
daughter.. .had been abandoned.
I Look at the extracts above. Which phrases or words mean the

following?
1 slightly ill, upset or unhappy
2 very good or enjoyable
3 to try to do something
4 didn’t want to do something because it was too difficult or unpleasant
5 could have expressed it in a much stronger way.
6 understand or accept something
7 in a difficult situation with a lot of problems, particularly due to
people’s mistakes
8 he couldn’t deal with the situation calmly

2 Use a suitable form of one of the phrases in exercise 1 to complete
the following sentences.
1 T hat film is ..................................; I must see it again soon.
2 I’ve never been skiing before, but I’d like to ................................
sometime.
3 I ................................ telling her more bad news. Could you do it?
4 She couldn’t ..................................the news that the man she loved
was already married.
5 I think John is ra th e r..................................this morning. H e’s hardly
spoken to anyone.
6 It w as................................ for the little girl and she burst into tears.
7 W h a t................................ the last manager left the business in! It
took years to put right.
8 My cake was popular,.................................. . It was all eaten in five
minutes!
Words for describing'feelings and character

McGregor uses a variety of adjectives to describe himself and his
reactions and to describe the people he meets.
3 Use the passage below to match the words with the definitions.
T hat day in the camp, Ewan missed his wife and children and felt
homesick for his family. The more he thought about them, the more
upset and miserable he became. In the end, he went to speak to his
friends and their jovial conversation cheered him up.
The next day, Ewan was riding his bike in a careless,
overconfident way and he fell off. After that he rode more slowly.
W hen he visited the street children in Ulaanbaatar, Ewan was
impressed by how sensitive they were to other people’s feelings. They
were open-hearted and tactile, touching Ewan and hugging each
other. Later, at the government centre, Ewan was horrified when
he saw a little girl lying alone and vulnerable on the floor. He was
curious to find out why she wasn’t in hospital and when he asked, he
discovered that the centre could not afford the medical bills.
1 homesick a) feeling sad and alone because you are far
from home
2 upset b) showing too much belief in your own
abilities
3 miserable c) extremely unhappy or uncomfortable

4 jovial d) warm and kind
5 overconfident e) weak or easy to hurt physically or
mentally
6 sensitive f) liking to touch other people a lot, eg
when speaking
7 open-hearted g) cheerful and friendly
8 tactile h) showing that you care about someone or
something and do not want to cause
offence
9 vulnerable i) very sad, worried or angry about
something
10 curious j ) wanting to find out about new things or
people
Words connected with motorbikes and accidents

Look at the words below and their definitions. They are used in the
extract in connection with motorbikes and the things that happen to
the riders on the rough roads of Mongolia.
crash (v) w hen a vehicle crashes, it hits som ething, causing damage
tumble (v) to fall to the ground
botch (n) a bad or careless job
crunch (n) a noise like som ething being crushed
collide (v) to crash into som ething
sm ashed (adj) broken into many pieces
bump (n) a raised part o n a surface
dip (n) a place in a surface th a t is lower th an the surrounding area
cracked (adj) som ething cracked is damaged, w ith a line or long narrow hole on
its surface
land (v) to come down to the ground after falling or m oving through th e air
4 Choose the correct word in the sentences below.

1 There was a large bump/dip in the road and it was full of water.
2 The mirror was cracked/smashed but it was still possible to see
things in it.
3 Claudio tumbled/collided with a rock and fell off his bike.
4 We heard a loud crunch/botch as the metal went into the wall.
5 The bus was going very fast when it landed/crashed.
6 W hat is that bump/botch on your nose - a mosquito bite?
7 Although the boy had collided/tumbled off his bike, he was unhurt.

8 I made a botch/crunch of repairing the car and it soon broke down
again.
9 She dropped the vase and it cracked/smashed into hundreds of
pieces.
10 W hen Claudio fell off the bike, he landed/collided on his back.
4
Main themes
Travelling by motorbike
McGregor, Boorman and Claudio von Planta completed most of their
round-the-world trip on motorbikes. Ewan and Charley love bikes
and anything connected with them and this enthusiasm is shown in
Ewan’s frequent comments about his own and the others’ bikes. In
this episode, all the men fall off their bikes on several occasions, and
Claudio in particular has a difficult time keeping up with the others.
The competition between Ewan and Charley is constant and they
often race against each other, which sometimes results in accidents.
Ewan talks about the bikes with enthusiasm and affection: his own
bike is ‘brilliant’, and he admires it for being so resilient. The bikes are
equipped with cameras and a navigational system which is essential in
areas such as Mongolia where there are few roads and signposts.
The bike which Ewan calls the Red Devil was bought on the trip
to replace Claudio’s bike which broke down completely after a bad
fall. The Red Devil is difficult to ride and Ewan admires the fact that
Claudio keeps trying. In Ulaanbaatar, Ted Simon also rides the bike
and calls it a ‘death trap’.

a) How do Ewan, Charley and Claudio react to the different accidents
they have? Why?
b) How important is Ewan and Charley’s love of motorbikes? Does it
affect their relationship with each other?

Street children
The organization Unicef arranged for Ewan and Charley to see the
results of some of their work with children in Ulaanbaatar. Before this,
the team had already visited an orphanage in Ukraine and a youth
centre in Kazakhstan. In the Mongolian capital, the street children
show Ewan where they live next to the underground pipes below street
level. Ewan is very upset to see how the children have to live, but he
finds they are eager to communicate. Later, he visits a government
centre where there are forty children who need care and attention. He
is especially concerned about a little girl with damaged legs who can
only lie on the floor and look at him. The staff are doing a good job but
do not have enough resources. They explain to Ewan that they need
to try and keep children with their families and that this means more
education and continuing supervision.
In fact, both Ewan and Charley continued to work with Unicef
after their journey was over. In their later book, Long Way Down, they
highlight the conditions of children in Africa. In 2006, Ewan and his
wife adopted a four-year-old girl from Mongolia.

a) W hy is Ewan so affected by the street children?
b) How does his fame help him (or not) in relating to the children?

Long W ay Round
by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
Snow in my ger
EWAN: It was an immense relief to reach W hite Lake. I’d never
done anything harder in my life than that ride there from the
Russian border. N ot in my wildest dreams could I have imagined
how tough it would be. Once we got to W hite Lake I spent a
whole day lying in a ger, too tired even to unpack, unable to
think about the rest of the trip or even what was happening the
next day. I couldn’t face making a decision about anything.
I woke up very early to find a wee4 man lighting my stove.
I watched him blow the fire into life, then he left and I made
myself some coffee. I took my fishing rod down to the lake and
walked for about an hour to find the right spot. I got my hook
caught in some rocks, but it was a treat to be on my own. After
two weeks on the go, I needed to be away from Charley, Claudio
and everyone else. O n the way to the fishing, I’d come across
a little shrine. The Mongolians build little piles of stones, like
cairns5, and passers-by tie blue ribbons on them. I didn’t know if
it was appropriate to make a wish, but I did and I’d added a stone
to thank the Big Man6 for the day and the beautiful landscape.
O n the way back to my ger, I added another stone, to thank
him for not giving me a fish to catch. I didn’t really want to
catch a fish; I just wanted an excuse to stand in the landscape.
T hat afternoon, I went out in a rowing boat with a couple of the
locals from the little ger camp. They pulled their nets in and
there were eight or nine large fish. As they landed them in the
boat, I realised I didn’t like it. Although I eat fish and meat, and
I’ve worked on a trout farm7 clubbing8 hundreds of fish a day
4 Scottish small
5 a pile of stones th at marks the top of a m ountain or some other special place
6 colloquial, specific to McGregor: God
7 an enclosed area of water where fish, in this case trout, are bred for food
8 hitting with a heavy object

over the head to kill them, I don’t really like to see animals die.
Maybe I should be a vegetarian.
It was great to do very little for two days. The ride from the
border had been exhausting and I found my mood really suffered
when I was tired. And so, therefore, did poor old Charley. I
knew I got a bit grumpy. Lying on the bed, I felt physically sick
with the accumulated exhaustion of two weeks’ riding in very
difficult conditions. It was almost like having food poisoning,
I felt so out of sorts. I wondered how we had managed to make
it that far. A t times, it seemed the only thing that had kept us
going was the Kendal M int Cake9. If it was good enough for
Shackleton and Edmund Hillary10, then I suppose it was good
enough for us.
Before we left London, I thought I was going to miss knowing
what was going on in the world, but I realised that day, as I
listened to the wind whistling around my ger, that being
completely out of touch was one of the glories11 of the trip.
W e’d travelled a third of the way around the world on the back
of three bikes; people’s faces had changed, their homes had
changed, the way they led their lives and what they believed
in were different. But with everything that was going on in the
world at that time, if we hadn’t been so isolated we might very
easily have travelled through these countries without becoming
aware that ultimately we are all the same: we all love our kids,
we all need somewhere to sleep and some food. We all want
the same things; the world isn’t that big a place. I lay in my ger
thinking that if the likes of President Bush12, who might even
struggle to find Mongolia on a map, had spent some time finding
out what was happening outside their own countries, they would
recognise what all people of all nationalities and religions have
in common, instead of focusing on the differences, and maybe
the world wouldn’t be in such a mess.
9 a sweet cake with a high energy content popular w ith mountaineers and explorers
10 two well-known explorers - Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing were the first men to climb
M ount Everest; Shackleton explored the Antarctic
I I attractive aspects
12 President of the USA, 2001-2009

Although it was blissful to have a day off, I felt extraordinarily
homesick, or more pertinently, family-sick, Pd spoken to my wife
and children, and my wife had told me that for the first time in
weeks my youngest daughter had got really upset that I wasn’t at
home. I’d spoken to wee Esther on the phone the night before,
but she became quite angry with me and wouldn’t let me go.
Eve had to prise13 her off the phone and that set Clara crying.
It was too much for me, sitting in that ger, thousands of miles
away from them. I was miserable and went in search of Claudio
and Charley. Just talking to them about it, instead of sitting on
my own, helped a lot.
The next morning I woke up to find a little Mongolian lady
feeding the stove. Looking up to a little hole which formed the
chimney at the top of the ger, I could see snowflakes falling. O h
no, not snow now, I thought. I jumped out of bed, and peered
outside. All the mountains wore a dusting of snow and we were
planning to cross several mountain passes. Christ, what will
they throw at us next, I thought. W e’ve had rain and bogs. Now
it’s snow.
It was very cold, so we put on all our thermal gear14 and set
off. It was a beautiful ride up the hill behind the camp, past
an extinct volcano and the roads were fantastic. It was bitterly
cold, but we ended up riding more than one hundred miles in
the morning, partly because we were desperate to pass over the
highlands into the warmer lowlands. Because the roads were
slightly better, we had more time to look around and everyone’s
spirits were soaring15 as we crossed some stupendous mountain
passes and swept through some stunning gorges. We stopped for
lunch at a little cafe in Tsetserleg run by two English people.
It was bizarre, to say the least, to find what looked just like an
English cafe, with English music, burgers, all-day breakfasts and
even Sunday roasts16, in the middle of the Mongolian desert.
As we were leaving town, we passed a huge rock on the first bit
13 take away with great difficulty
14 therm al clothing; this is made of special material th at keeps you warm
15 everyone suddenly felt very happy and hopeful
16 it is traditional in G reat Britain to eat a large lunch on Sunday which includes roast
meat

of tarmac we’d seen in Mongolia. I saw Charley avoid it. Then
there was a crunch. Claudio had collided with it.
‘It’s his fault, you know,’ Claudio pointed at Charley.
‘How can it be Charley’s fault that you hit the stone?’ I said.
‘Because he should have made a big turn around the rock,
which he didn’t. He just skimmed by it, so that I couldn’t see.’
‘Claudio, it was like a small planet,’ Charley said.
‘Yeah, but you rode so close to it that I couldn’t see it. And
I know you did it on purpose, so what do you expect?’ Claudio
said. ‘It was the first bit of proper tarmac in Mongolia and I was
thinking everything is wonderful. I was looking left and right,
enjoying the view and the countryside.’
‘So whose fault was it then?’ I asked.
‘Charley’s,’ Claudio said without a hint of irony. ‘Because he
was driving in front of me, so I couldn’t see the rock.’
Charley cracked up. ‘As soon as I passed it I was looking in
the mirror because I knew Claudio was going to hit it.’
‘See! It’s your fault!’ Claudio insisted. ‘U ntil now, I was
always trusting you. Wherever you drive, I drive. And so I was
following you nicely but you went close to this rock to make sure
that I hit it.’
‘Is that how you hit your pannier17 on the rock on the
mountain top?’ I said. ‘By going right behind Charley too?’
‘No, he went off and left me behind, so I couldn’t keep up.’
Charley and I burst out laughing. ‘Did you see Claudio just
before lunch?’ I said to Charley. ‘W hen he was riding too close
to you again and you stopped? He had to throw his bike on the
floor to stop the ... thing. And he got up and looked at you as if
to say “T hat was your fault”.’
‘But ... but I pulled in there so slowly,’ Claudio said
indignantly. ‘I was pointing at a fence. W here else was I going
to go?’
It was a fair point. The Red Devil18 was a bitch19 to ride and
17 one of a pair of bags or boxes fitted to a bicycle or motorcycle and used for carrying
things
18 the name given to a bike bought in Mongolia to replace Claudio’s bike, which had
been damaged in a fall
19 very informal: something difficult or unpleasant

Claudio had been a real trouper20 in persevering with it. I really
didn’t know how he had put up with it. But now the back brake
was broken - the only brake that worked on that bike - and
the exhaust pipe21 was bent. Fortunately it was made from such
weak metal that we could straighten it with little difficulty.
We rode on, Claudio’s bike breaking down with monotonous
regularity, until I had a spill22. I was getting overconfident and
cocky, jumping over ruts23 and flying over bumps, not really
taking care. Two tracks were converging24; Charley was on one
and I was on the other, trying to beat him to the intersection. I
dropped into a dip and although I could see that I couldn’t make
it out the other side, I stupidly thought I’d give it a go. I crashed
and came tumbling off. Early on in the trip my pride would have
been bruised, but as falling off had become a daily occurrence,
this only made me laugh. I was okay. A nd the bike was hardly
damaged. It had taken so many knocks from me and been fed
low-grade 76 octane petrol for two weeks, yet it just ploughed
on, a quite brilliant machine. The indicator was smashed and
the pannier bracket was cracked after my fall, so I strapped it
together using tyre levers and cable ties like Charley’s botch on
Claudio’s bike.
About ten minutes later, Claudio came off, going very fast.
He was riding through some ruts and tried to avoid a dip filled
with water, but he got his tyre caught and the bike spat him off.
He landed heavily on his ribs and was in quite a lot of pain,
unable to kick-start the little Red Devil afterwards.
‘How are your ribs, Claudio?’ Charley asked. ‘N ot that I really
care ...’
‘They’re okay,’ Claudio said, but we could tell from the way
he was standing that he was in a lot of pain. Charley let Claudio
drive his bike and rode the Red Devil the last few miles to the
ger camp. A few hundred yards from the camp, the dirt track
ran out and the tarmac began. That was it. No more ruts, mud
20 humorous: someone who you can always depend on or who never complains
2 1 a pipe th at carries the gasses or steam out of an engine
22 a fall from a bicycle, horse, etc
23 deep narrow marks in the ground made by wheels
24 coming from different directions to reach the same point

and dust. Asphalt25 all the way to Ulaanbaatar and past the
capital to the Russian border. For Charley, it was all too much.
He hopped off the Red Devil and threw himself on the ground.
‘A aah,’ he sighed. ‘Such beautiful tarmac. Look how smooth
it is. And it’s warm and hard.’
‘And it’s Mongolia ...,’ I said.
‘Mwah!’ Charley was kissing the road. ‘Oh, it’s so nice.’
‘Charley,’ I said. ‘C ’mon. We’re just about there, c’mon!’
‘W here are we?’
‘We’re here. The camp’s over there. Oh, ... hurry up!’
‘I might just chill out here for half an hour,’ Charley said. ‘Just
enjoy the tarmac.’
‘I’ll see you over there,’ I said, pointing at the ger camp.
‘Oh, th at’s great,’ Charley said sarcastically. ‘We go together
through the whole of Mongolia and he ... off now. You know?
T hat’s it. Our relationship is over. It’s overV
But there was some truth behind Charley’s joke. Charley was
‘moving out’, we liked to joke. After more than seven weeks
constantly in each other’s company, we’d had enough. We were
going to ditch26 the tent we’d shared since Kazakhstan and
get two one-man tents in Ulaanbaatar. We’d come to realise
we couldn’t be in each other’s hair twenty-four hours a day.
It was too much. We needed some privacy if we were going to
m aintain our sanity. We rode up to the ger camp, where we had
our first showers for ten days, our limbs still shaking after riding
nearly two hundred miles to Kharkhorin, the old capital from
which Genghis Khan had ruled an empire that stretched from
Vienna to Beijing.
Claudio looked dreadful the next morning. He hadn’t slept
all night because of pains in his chest. ‘I couldn’t lie down,’ he
said. ‘I was hoping it was just bruised muscles, but the moment
I tried to lie down there was a huge pain in my chest. I think I
might have broken a rib. I hope not, because if I have, then th at’s
the end of the trip for me.’ Nevertheless, Claudio hauled himself
on to the Red Devil to ride the final 250 miles to Ulaanbaatar.
25 a black sticky substance th at is used for making roads
26 informal: to get rid of something because you no longer like or need it

It was freezing cold, the wind banged our heads and I was very
tired when we first started off. Just after lunch, we finally got a
long stretch of straight tarmac and the sun was glaring. Starting
to nod off, I had to scream and shout at myself to keep awake,
but eventually we made it to Ulaanbaatar, riding up to our hotel
to find Ted Simon waiting in the foyer. We couldn’t have hoped
for a better greeting.
Ted, who had taken four and a half years to ride round the
world on a motorbike before writing up his experience in
Jupiter’s Travels, was one of the reasons I now found myself in
Mongolia. He was a bit of a hero of mine, and his book had
inspired me. ‘If I need anyone to blame for going round the
world,’ I said, ‘Ted, you’re the man.’ It was great to hang out
with him and just compare experiences on the road. Ted had
done it in a completely different way. He’d set off on his own and
spent much of the trip alone, and he’d not put a time-limit on
it. It was a completely different philosophy. Ted said it was the
delays that made the journey, and he was right, but we couldn’t
entertain27 too many hold-ups, so Charley and I were both
concerned that Ted might have a dim view of our venture28. But
he couldn’t have been nicer. Now seventy-three, he’d recently
returned from undertaking the same journey a second time.
H e’d followed the same route, but found much of the world
had changed for the worse since his first circumnavigation29. As
Ted had set off in 1973 wearing a leather jacket with sheepskin
trim30 and riding a standard Triumph Tiger, we thought he might
regard all our equipment - the GPS navigators, the satellite
phones and the high-tech bikes - with disdain. But not at all.
‘You use whatever’s the best at the time,’ he said, ‘and whatever
you can get your hands on.’
W hile recuperating in Ulaanbaatar, we spent three days with
Ted, who was never short of a jovial anecdote about his days
on the road. Claudio’s BMW was repaired, so Ted was given
27 formal: consider, accept
28 a new business or activity
29 to circumnavigate is to sail or fly completely around something, especially the world
or an island
30 decoration, especially on the edges of something

the little Red Devil, declaring it a ‘death trap’ but cheerfully
claiming to love every minute he spent on it with us riding
around the city and into the nearby countryside. He also came
along to the centrepiece of our stopover in Ulaanbaatar, a
Unicef-organised visit to find out about street children.
The city was a strange place, an ugly blot on Mongolia’s
stunning landscape with a filthy power station near its centre
expelling dirty smoke into the atmosphere and pumping hot
water along city streets through massive asbestos-clad31 pipes.
Since Mongolia shook off its Soviet satellite status32 in the 1990s
and embraced independence, the number of street children had
mushroomed33. Unemployment had soared, welfare services
declined and the gap between rich and poor widened as the
country embraced free market economics. W hile the relatively
well-off wore cashmere34 and toted35 cellphones on their hips in
the city centre’s bars and stores, beneath the bustling streets a
community of children lived in a rabbit’s warren36 of chambers
built around the hot-water pipes, seeking warm shelter from
temperatures that can drop to minus thirty in winter. Some were
as young as two.
One evening we were taken by Unicef to visit some street
children. We met a group of about ten boys in a busy street in
a commercial district and then climbed with them through a
manhole into the dusty, stifling maintenance pit they called
home. They loved the attention and proudly showed us around
the dark, stinking cavern37. It was distressing to see children
as young as six living in such conditions. They were tough and
cocky, but, despite all they had seen and experienced, they
were still very much young children. The boys were very tactile
with each other and with us. One of them had a tattoo, so I
showed them mine and they all wanted to touch it, the youngest
31 suffix: used with some nouns to make adjectives describing what something is
covered in
32 a country th at depends on another, more powerful, country
33 increased very quickly
34 a very soft wool th at comes from a type of goat
35 mainly American, informal: to carry something
36 the holes and tunnels where rabbits live
37 a large cave

stroking my arm in a really sensitive way. He kept touching the
skin and I could see he was desperate for human contact. He was
still a young kid and all I really wanted to do was to throw my
arms around all of them.
The next day we went to a government centre that provided
shelter and food for the street children. In a city of nearly a
million people, it was the only government-funded support
afforded them. There were about forty children at the centre,
most of them very young, including a two-year-old girl who
had been living on the streets with her four-year-old brother.
The hard-working staff were clearly overstretched and many of
the children were left to their own devices. The conditions in
which these children lived, even in a proper centre, hit me like
a sledgehammer. A four-year-old girl was lying on the floor with
her head against the wall. Her legs were withered and weak and
she was trembling. It broke my heart to see her in such distress,
so in need of love and attention, but so alone. I spent quite a lot
of time with her, stroking her hair, touching her face and playing
peek-a-boo38 with her. And then we had to leave. I hugged as
many of them as I could, said goodbye and got into a car.
Back at the hotel, I was haunted by what I’d seen. It was
lunchtime, but I wanted to be alone. I couldn’t really face
talking to anyone about it. We were planning to move on to
Ulan Ude the next day, but that wee girl would still be there,
lying on the floor of a bedroom, so obviously ill yet not getting
the care she so clearly needed. I couldn’t understand why she
wasn’t in a hospital bed. Then I found out that the government
centre couldn’t afford the medical bills. It had disturbed me so
much because there are few things worse than a child having
no real start to their life. I couldn’t forget what I’d seen and I
couldn’t get my head around the fact that children as young and
as vulnerable as my wee daughter Esther had been abandoned
and were forced to cope on their own. That unfortunate little
girl deserved much better. She had made a deeper impression on
38 a game th at you play to entertain a baby or small child, in which you cover your
face with your hands or hide behind something, then suddenly show your face,
saying ‘peek-a-boo’

me than anything or anyone I’d seen so far on the trip. Maybe
she was the mysterious woman the fortune-teller in Prague had
predicted would have a profound influence upon me. Worried
that unless we took action that little girl would be left to die,
we found out how much it would cost to get proper medical
treatm ent for her and left the money with the centre. But it
was still only a drop in the ocean. Even if this little girl received
better care, there would be another child and then another to
take her place. Unicef, I learned, was not about handouts but
about working to prevent children ending up on the streets
in the first place; helping them to stay with families and
communities; encouraging them to stay in school and ensuring
they received proper healthcare. So I vowed39 then and there
to devote as much time and effort as I could to Unicef once I
returned home. The journey would be over in another six weeks
but I was determined to make working with Unicef something
I’d do for the rest of my life.
We set off the next day for Ulan Ude, across the border
in Russia, meeting the support crew at the frontier. Having
abandoned Russ’s damaged pick-up, they were all travelling
in one vehicle, their equipment and luggage piled perilously
high on a roof rack and towed behind them in a trailer. I had
very mixed emotions as we slipped effortlessly through the
border controls. Mongolia had put me through a physical and
emotional wringer. My thoughts were still very much with
those street children in the government support centre. Riding
across Mongolia had been incredibly demanding, but it had
offered everything I’d been looking for on the trip, a pastoral
paradise full of curious, open-hearted people who welcomed me
into their homes because I was a passing traveller, not because I
was Obi-Wan Kenobi40 on a bike. Those dreadful first few days -
the hardest days I’d ever had on a bike - had taught us a valuable
lesson: if we had bailed out41 then and headed for Russia, we
would have missed the most beautiful part of Mongolia. It had
39 formal: to promise th at you will do something
40 a fictional hero played by McGregor in Star Wars, a popular film trilogy
41 escaped (from a situation)

been like riding through the pages of National Geographic42.
Every time we blinked there would be a jaw-dropping sight to
look at or think about. A land in which most of the people still
rode horses and wore traditional clothes, it was timeless without
being stuck in the past. Much of the rural population still lived
in gers, but they’d have solar panels and satellite dishes. All the
guys we met just wanted to be herdsmen, happy to spend their
lives on horses, rounding up sheep and goats, while the girls
all had ambitions to head to Ulaanbaatar to go to university.
And it had been wonderfully liberating to walk around markets
unrecognized. Anonymous. It was what I had dared dream
Kazakhstan would be like, but we were prevented by the police
and media attention from experiencing Kazakhstan in the way
I had hoped. Mongolia couldn’t have been more removed from
that experience or from western culture. It was completely
unspoiled and untouched and I felt really privileged to have
travelled through so much of it as well as proud that Charley,
Claudio and I had got through the toughest parts on our own.
42 a magazine about world geography, known for its beautiful photographs

extract.
1 How does Ewan feel when he reaches W hite Lake? Why? How
does he spend the day?
2 W hat does Ewan do the next day? Why is he glad to be on
his own?
3 Why does Ewan put stones on the shrine?
4 W hat does Ewan do in the afternoon? W hat does he realize
about himself?
5 W hat made Ewan ‘grumpy’? W hat effect does this have
on Charley?
6 W hat is one of the good things about the trip? Why?
7 W hat does Ewan think President Bush should do?
8 Who does Ewan miss? W hat does he do to make himself
feel better?
9 W hat is the weather like next day? W hat is Ewan’s reaction
to this?
10 How far do they ride that morning? W hat are they looking
forward to?
11 W hat is ‘bizarre’ about the little cafe?
12 W hat happens to Claudio after they leave the town? Who does he
blame, and why?
13 W hat reason does Claudio give for hitting his pannier on a rock on
the mountain top?
14 W hat happened to Claudio just before lunch? Who does he seem
to blame?
15 W hich motorbike is Claudio riding? W hat condition is it in? W hat
keeps happening to it?
16 W hat happens to Ewan? How is the bike affected? W hat is
Ewan’s reaction?
17 Why does Claudio fall off his bike? Is he hurt?
18 W hat does Charley offer to do? Why does he throw himself on
the ground?
19 Why do Ewan and Charley decide to get two one-man tents?
20 W hat do the men do when they arrive at the ger camp?
21 How does Claudio feel the next day? How far do he and the others
travel to get to Ulaanbaatar?

22 W ho is Ted Simon? Why is he Ewan’s hero? How was his first trip
different to Ewan’s?
23 W hat do Ted and the others do during the next three days? W hat
does Ted think of the Red Devil?
24 W hat happened to Mongolia in the 1990s? W hat was the result?
25 How does Ewan describe Mongolia’s landscape? How does he
describe Ulaanbaatar? *
26 W ho organized the visit to the street children? Where do the
children live? How does Ewan describe them?
27 How many children are there at the government centre? W hat are
the conditions like there? How does Ewan feel about the four-year-
old girl?
28 Why does Ewan want to be alone when he returns to the hotel?
Why isn’t the little girl in hospital? W hat does Ewan do and why
isn’t it enough? W hat does he decide to do in the future?
29 Where do Ewan and the others go the next day? Who do they meet?
30 How does Ewan feel about his visit to Mongolia? Why was it better
than Kazakhstan?
Language study
The use of g e t
Get is one of the most common verbs in spoken English. It is used less
in written English but McGregor often writes in an informal style and
there are several examples of the verb in his account. The verb is used
with different meanings.
Once we got to White Lake I spent a whole day lying in a ger. (arrived)
My youngest daughter had got really upset that 1 wasn't at home, (become)
We were going to.. .get two one-man tents in Ulaanbaatar. (buy)
I .. .said goodbye and got into a car. (entered)
We finally got a long stretch of straight tarmac, (obtained)
You use.. .whatever you can get your hands on. (put)
1 Rewrite the sentences above using the words in brackets and
making any other necessary changes.

2 Rewrite the following sentences using an appropriate form of get♦
1 W hen they arrived at the town, they went straight to the hotel.
2 Will you buy me a ticket for the match?
3 You’d better enter the train before it leaves.
4 If I put my hands on a new bike, I’ll tell you.
5 They became very angry when they weren’t paid.
6 Did you manage to obtain a new job?
Phrasal verbs
McGregor often uses phrasal verbs, which tend to make a text sound
more informal. Look at these examples from the extract.
a) On the way to the fishing, Fd come across a little shrine.
b) Before we left London, I thought I was going to miss what was going
on in the world.
c) Because the roads were slightly better, we had more time to look
around.
d) He went off and left me, so I couldn’t keep up.
e) 1 pulled in there so slowly.
f) I really didn’t know how he had put up with it.
g) A few hundred yards from the camp, the dirt track ran out.
h) I was starting to nod off.
i) He’d set off on his own.
j ) Mongolia shook off its Soviet satellite status.
3 Match the phrasal verbs from the sentences (a-j) with the
meanings (1-10):
1 ended 6 stopped (a vehicle)
2 got rid of 7 go to sleep
3 find by chance 8 start a journey
4 go at the same speed 9 happening
5 accept 10 explore

4 Complete the sentences below with a suitable form of the phrasal
verbs in exercise 3.
1 The old man was very sleepy and soon started t o ...............................
2 The car in front stopped and I ...............................behind him.
3 The walkers............................. early in the morning.
4 I won’t ...............................your bad behaviour for one more minute.
5 W hen I was looking in the box for a letter I ..........................
some old photographs.
6 The road............................... and there was nothing but desert
ahead of us.
7 The noise next door is terrible. W hat’s ............................... ?
8 I can’t ............................... the awful thought that something bad has
happened.
9 He couldn’t .............................. with the other runners and arrived
last.
10 While I was waiting for someone to serve me, I had time to
...............................the store.
Common expressions
5 Look at these common expressions (1-13) and match them with
the definitions (a-m).
1 not/never in your (wildest) dreams
Ewan talking about the journey:
Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined how tough it would be.
2 desperate to/for something
Comments on the journey and on the young street boy:
We were desperate to pass over the highlands into the warmer lowlands.
I could see he was desperate for human contact.
3 to burst out + 4ng
Ewan and Charley’s reaction to Claudio’s complaints:
Charley and I burst out laughing.
4 to have or take a dim/poor view of
Ewan and Charley worry about Ted’s opinion of their way of
travelling:
Charley and I were both concerned that Ted might have a dim view of our
venture.
5 to be short of
Ted entertains Ewan and Charley as they ride around Ulaanbaatar:
We spent three days with Ted, who was never short of a jovial anecdote
about his days on the road.

6 to crack up
Charley talks about Claudio’s crash:
Charley cracked up. ‘As soon as I passed it I was looking in the mirror
because I knew Claudio was going to hit it. '
7 a blot on the landscape
Ewan’s description of Ulaanbaatar:
The city was a strange place, an ugly blot on Mongolia's stunning
landscape.
8 to leave someone to their own devices
Ewan visits the government centre:
Many of the children were left to their own devices.
9 to hang out (with)
Ewan talks about spending time with Ted:
It was great to hang out with him and just compare experiences on
the road.
10 to teach someone a lesson
Ewan explains what he and his friends had learnt from the bad
days of their trip:
Those dreadful first few days had taught us a valuable lesson.
11 to be out of touch
Ewan reflects on the advantages of being away from ‘civilization’:
Being completely out of touch was one of the glories of the trip.
12 to make an impression on someone
Ewan talks about the little girl in the government centre:
She had made a deeper impression on me than anything or anyone I'd
seen so far on the trip.
13 to chill out
Charley tells Ewan what he wants to do that evening:
J might just chill out here for half an hour,' Charley said. Just enjoy the
tarmac.'
a) something that makes a place look less attractive
b) to no longer have recent knowledge or information about something
c) to have a strong effect on someone
d) usually used for saying that something is much better than you
expected. Here, Ewan is saying that things were much worse than he
expected
e) to punish someone for doing something bad so that they do not do it
again; to make someone see something more clearly and learn to do
it better in future

f) to be without something
g) to relax
h) not to approve of something
i) needing or wanting something very much
j) to suddenly start laughing or crying
k) to leave someone alone to do whatever they want
1) to spend time with
m) to suddenly laugh a lot at something
6 U se the expressions (1-13) in exercise 5 to complete these
sentences.
1 After two days without food he was............................... something
to eat.
2 I ta k e ...............................of people who never thank others.
3 That comedian is so funny - he only has to walk on stage and I
4 I got horribly sunburned yesterday. The experience

......................;....... - from now on, I’ll wear suncream!
5 The smiles of the children among so much poverty made
on him.
6 I’ve b een ..............................for so long that I have nothing to talk
about.
7 I’m not coming out tonight. I might just go a n d ..............................
with my dog.
8 That factory is so ugly; it’s a real................................
9 I never..............................thought that I would win the
competition. W hat a surprise!
10 W hen the little girl realized that she wasn’t going to the party, she
..............................crying.
11 I can’t believe you’re getting so worried - ju st............................... !
It will be fine!
12 I’ve bought some new DVDs, so we won’t b e ..............................
entertainment this weekend.
13 Such young children should not be alone a n d ................................

Literary analysis
Events
1 Look at these events from the extract and number them in the order
they happen.
a) The men give some money to Unicef.
b) Claudio crashes into a rock and blames Charley.
c) The men eat at the little English cafe.
d) Ewan visits the street children.
e) The men arrive at W hite Lake.
f) The men meet Ted Simon in Ulaanbaatar.
g) The men meet up with the support crew at the Russian border.
h) The men have their first shower in ten days.
i) Ewan goes fishing on his own.
j) Claudio falls off his bike and hurts his ribs.
2 W hich of the above events makes the deepest impression on Ewan?
Why?
3 W hich events does Ewan enjoy? Why?
4 Look again at the last paragraph of the extract. How does Ewan feel
about his time in Mongolia?
People
5 W hat is your impression of Charley? Is he very different to Ewan?
6 W hat is your impression of Claudio and his relationship with Ewan
and Charley?
7 W hat kind of person is Ted Simon? Why is he a ‘bit of a hero’ for
Ewan?
8 How does Ewan describe the street children? W hat effect do they
have on him?
9 W hat does Ewan say about the staff that work at the government
centre? How do you think he feels about them?
10 How does Ewan describe the little girl? How does he spend his
time with her? W hat does this tell us about him?
11 W hat does Ewan say about the people of Mongolia?

Sense of place
12 W hat details does Ewan give us about W hite Lake? W hat aspect of
it does he enjoy?
13 W hich phrases and words show us that Ewan and his friends enjoy
the ride from W hite Lake over the mountains?
14 W hich words and phrases does Ewan use to convey the difficulties
of riding a bike on Mongolian roads?
15 How does Ulaanbaatar contrast with the rest of Mongolia?
16 W hich words convey the dirt, smell and enclosed nature of the
street children’s home?
17 How does Ewan describe Mongolia in the final paragraph?

18 Ewan’s narrative style goes from informal and colloquial to quite
formal. W hat examples can you find?
19 W hen does Ewan want to be alone and not talk to other people?
W hat does this tell us about him?
20 Ewan says the ride has often been ‘tough’. Why do you think this is?
21 In what ways does Mongolia put Ewan through ‘a physical and
emotional wringer’?
22 W hich incidents or reflections show Ewan’s more spiritual side?
23 W hich incidents show Ewan’s joy and pleasure in riding his bike?
24 Look at these pairs of words describing Ewan. Choose the more
suitable word in each case and justify your choice,
cold/warm
moody/well-balanced
sensitive/insensitive
curious/uninterested
Think of three more adjectives to describe Ewan.

Essay questions
Language analysis
Discuss how one of the language areas you have studied contributes
to the telling of two of the extracts in the collection.
Analyzing the question

What is the question talking about?
It is asking you to:

- choose one language area from the index on page 212
- explain how this language area functions in the context of
storytelling
- use examples from two or more of the extracts in the collection.
Preparing your answer

1 Look back through the Language study sections of the extracts you
have read and choose a language area that you feel confident about.
2/ Make notes about the language area. Include notes on form,
function and use.
3 Choose examples from two extracts. Choose extracts from different
periods, if possible.
4 Look back at the question and your notes and plan your essay. Use
the structure of the question to structure your essay. Here is an
example:
Introduction Introduce the areas you are going to describe.

Main body 1 Explain the general function of the area you have
chosen, using examples from both extracts.
Main body 2 Analyze how the area contributes to the style and
atmosphere of both extracts, referring to specific
passages in the extracts.
Conclusion Summarize the literary use and function of the
language area you focused on.
198 | Macmillan Literature Collections: Essay questions

Literary analysis
Compare and contrast the attitude to travel of two of the authors
in this collection.
*

What is the question talking about?

- look at two extracts in the collection
- describe the attitude to travel of the author in each extract
- describe any similarities and differences.

1 Choose two extracts with two authors that are different enough to
allow you to contrast them.
2 Make notes about the authors: what they are like and how they feel
about their journeys.
3 Find key scenes in the extracts where the authors’ attitudes and
feelings are described or expressed. Make a note of any useful
quotations.
4 Make a list of similarities and differences between the authors; think
of the reason for the journey, the places visited and the transport
used.
5 Read the question again and write a plan for your essay. Here is an
example:
Introduction Briefly introduce the two extracts.

Extract 1 Describe the first extract and its author.
Extract 2 Describe the second extract and its author.
Similarities Discuss the similarities.
Differences ! Discuss the differences.
Conclusion Make a general comment about attitudes to travel as
described in travel literature.
For tips on writing academic essays, and essays about literary analysis, visit
the Macmillan Readers website at: www.macmillanenglish.com/readers.
Macmillan Literature Collections: Essay questions | 199

Essay questions
Language analysis
Discuss how one of the language areas you have studied contributes
to the telling of two of the extracts in the collection.

W hat is the question talking about?

- choose one language area from the index on page 212
- explain how this language area functions in the context of
storytelling
- use examples from two or more of the extracts in the collection.

1 Look back through the Language study sections of the extracts you
have read and choose a language area that you feel confident about.
2 Make notes about the language area. Include notes on form,
function and use.
3 Choose examples from two extracts. Choose extracts from different
periods, if possible.
4 Look back at the question and your notes and plan your essay. Use
the structure of the question to structure your essay. Here is an
example:
Introduction Introduce the areas you are going to describe.

Main body 1 Explain the general function of the area you have
chosen, using examples from both extracts.
Main body 2 Analyze how the area contributes to the style and
atmosphere of both extracts, referring to specific
passages in the extracts.
Conclusion Summarize the literary use and function of the
language area you focused on.
198 | Macmillan Literature Collections: Essay questions

Literary analysis
Compare and contrast the attitude to travel of two of the authors
in this collection.

W hat is the question talking about?

- look at two extracts in the collection
- describe the attitude to travel of the author in each extract
- describe any similarities and differences.

1 Choose two extracts with two authors that are different enough to
allow you to contrast them.
2 Make notes about the authors: what they are like and how they feel
about their journeys.
3 Find key scenes in the extracts where the authors’ attitudes and
feelings are described or expressed. Make a note of any useful
quotations.
4 Make a list of similarities and differences between the authors; think
of the reason for the journey, the places visited and the transport
used.
5 Read the question again and write a plan for your essay. Here is an
example:
Introduction Briefly introduce the two extracts.

Extract 1 Describe the first extract and its author.
Extract 2 Describe the second extract and its author.
Similarities Discuss the similarities.
Differences Discuss the differences.
Conclusion Make a general comment about attitudes to travel as
described in travel literature.
For tips on writing academic essays, and essays about literary analysis, visit
the Macmillan Readers website at: www.macmillanenglish.com!readers.
Macmillan Literature Collections: Essay questions | 199

Glossary
The definitions in the glossary refer to the meanings of the words
and phrases as they are used in the extracts in this collection. Some
words and phrases may also have other meanings which are not
given here. The definitions are arranged in the extract in which
they appear, and in alphabetical order.
The Lawless Roads

abandon (v) to leave som ething in a bundle (n) a group of things th a t have
place, especially because you are in a been tied together, especially so th a t
hurry or are trying to escape you can carry th em easily
absurd (adj) completely stupid, cling (v) to hold on to som ething or
unreasonable or impossible to believe som eone tightly w ith your arms or
adaptable (adj) able to change your hands, eg because you are afraid
behaviour or ideas easily in order to com placent (adj) too confident and
deal w ith new situations relaxed because you th in k you can deal
alert (adj) able to th in k in a clear and w ith som ething easily, though this may
intelligent way n o t be true
alligator (n) a large reptile w ith a long compulsion (n) a very strong feeling of
tail, four short legs, a long pointed wanting to do som ething, especially a
m outh and sharp teeth. It is related to feeling th a t you can no t control
the crocodile creak (v) if som ething creaks, especially
ant (n) a small insect th a t lives under som ething wooden, it makes a high
the ground in large organized groups noise w hen it moves or w hen you put
called colonies weight o n it
appalling (adj) very unpleasant and desolation (n) the state of a place th at
shocking is com pletely empty, or a place where
automaton (n) som eone who behaves everything has been destroyed
like a m achine and shows no feelings dim (adj) faint, n o t very well
barn (n) a large building on a farm remem bered
where animals, crops or m achines are dislodge (v) to force som ething out
kept of its position or out of th e position
beam (n) a long thick piece of wood, where it is fixed
m etal or concrete th a t supports a roof drift (v) to be pushed along very slowly
beat (v) to h it som ething again and by the m ovem ent of air or w ater
again earthquake (n) a sudden shaking
bizarre (adj) strange and difficult to m ovem ent of th e ground
explain em erge (v) to come out of som ething
b less (v) say a prayer to protect or from behind som ething
someone or som ething envy (n) th e unhappy feeling th a t you
bolt (n) a m etal bar th a t you slide across have w hen you w ant very m uch to do
a door or window in order to lock it som ething th a t someone else does or
bump (n) a h it or knock against have som ething th a t they have
som ething solid
200 | Macmillan Literature Collections: Glossary

exposed (adj) n o t covered or hidden nerves (n) the groups of fibres in your
and therefore able to be seen; n o t body th a t carry messages to your brain
protected from the w eather novice (n) som eone who is just
fade (v) to gradually disappear beginning to learn a skill or a subject
fate (n) the things th a t happen to obscurity (n) a state in w hich a person
someone, especially unpleasant things or thing is n o t well know n or is n o t
ferry (n) a boat th a t makes short regular rem em bered
journeys betw een two or more places overtake (v) to go past an o th er vehicle
fist (n) your h and w hen your fingers are th a t is travelling in the same direction
closed tightly partition (n) a wall, screen or piece of
flesh (n) th e soft part of people’s or glass used to separate one area from
anim als’ bodies th a t consists mostly of an o th er in a room or vehicle
muscle and fat patronizing (adj) behaving or speaking
flutter (v) to move through the air with in a way th a t shows th at you th in k you
short, quick, light m ovem ents are more intelligent or im portant th a n
ga ssy (adj) containing or creating a someone
lot of gas pebble (n) a small stone, especially one
gaze (v) to look at someone or th a t has been made sm ooth by water
som ething for a long tim e, eg because peer (v) to look very carefully,
they are attractive or interesting, or especially because som ething is
because you are thinking of som ething difficult to see
else plump (adj) slightly fat or overweight
gnarled (adj) old and twisted and pore (n) one of the very small holes in
covered in lines your skin th a t sweat can pass through
hammock (n) a bed consisting of a long practically (adv) almost, nearly
piece of clo th or n et tied at each end precaution (n) som ething done to
to posts or trees protect people or things against
helm et (n) a h at th a t you wear to possible harm or trouble
protect your head prestige (n) the high reputation and
im m ense (adj) extrem ely large respect th a t som eone or som ething
inquisitive (adj) asking a lot of has earned, based on their impressive
questions about things, especially achievem ents, quality etc
things th a t people do n o t w ant to talk relic (n) an object from th e past th at
about has been kept
leopard (n) a large wild anim al from rhythm (n) a regular p attern of sounds
Africa and Southern A sia th at has or m ovem ents
golden fur w ith black spots ridge (n) the long narrow top of a
limb (n) an arm or a leg m ountain or group of m ountains
lodging (n) a place th a t you pay to rot (v) to decay by a gradual natural
live in temporarily, eg w hen you are process
visiting an area rucksack (n) a bag th at you carry on
m iracle (n) an event th a t cann o t be your back, used w hen you are walking
explained according to the laws of long distances or travelling to several
nature and is considered to be an act different places
of G od scrub (n) small bushes and trees
mongrel (n) a dog th at is a m ixture of especially those th a t grow in areas
different breeds w ithout m uch rain
Macmillan Literature Collections: Glossary | 201

shelter (n) a place to live, considered tiger (n) a large A sian wild anim al th at
as a basic hum an need has yellowish fur w ith black lines and
site (n) an area of land where som ething is a mem ber of th e cat family
is being built or could be built tonic (adj) m aking you feel happier or
skeleton (n) the set of bones th a t healthier
supports a hu m an or anim al body trap (n) a trick th a t is designed to catch
snatch (v) to pull or take som ething someone or to make them do or say
quickly som ething th at they did n o t w ant to
sparkle (v) to shine w ith small points do or say
of reflected light troubled (adj) worried about the
spine (n) th e row of bones down or problems th at you have
along th e middle of a h u m an ’s or tumble (v) to do gymnastic m ovem ents
anim al’s back in w hich you roll your body over the
spot (n) a particular place floor
spring (n) water th a t flows up from turkey (n) a large bird similar to a
under the ground and forms a small chicken th a t has no feathers on its
stream or pool head
stalactite (n) a long pointed piece of twig (n) a very small th in branch from a
rock th a t hangs down from th e roof of tree or bush
a cave formed by chem icals in water uneven (adj) n o t regular
drops th a t have fallen over m any years ventilation (n) the m ovem ent of fresh
stubborn (adj) n o t willing to change air around a room or building
ideas or consider anyone else’s reasons vulture (n) a large bird th at eats the
or argum ents bodies of dead animals
stuff (n) used for talking about a wail (v) to shout or cry w ith a long high
substance or m aterial w hen you do n o t sound to show th a t you are in pain or
know the correct nam e are very sad
suck (v) to pull liquid into your m outh
by using th e muscles in your cheeks
and tongue
Himalaya
at som eon e’s exp en se phrase bounce (v) if a person or vehicle
if someone has a joke or enjoys bounces or is bounced, they move up
them selves at your expense, they enjoy and down as if they are on springs
laughing at you chanting (n) th e singing of a piece of
barracks (n) a group of buildings where religious music using a very lim ited
members of the armed forces live and range of notes
work checkpoint (n) a place where traffic
beam (n) a long thick piece of wood, can be stopped by soldiers or police
m etal or concrete th at supports a roof churn (n) a container in w hich milk is
beckon (v) if som ething beckons to m ixed to make butter
you, it is very attractive and you feel cliff (n) the steep side of an area of high
you have to do som ething about it land
boulder (n) a very large rock or piece
of stone

cod e (n) a system of words, numbers, or minder (n) som eone whose job is to
signs used for sending secret messages. protect someone else
To p u t a message into code is to encode nocturnal (adj) formal: happening at
it, and to translate it back from code is night; nocturnal anim als are active at
to decode it nig h t rather th a n during th e day
collision (n) an accident in w hich panorama (n) a view of a large area of
a person or vehicle th a t is moving land or sea
crashes into som ething pitch dark / pitch black U M I
dampen (v) to make som ething such as completely dark or black
a feeling or hope less strong pyramid (n) a m onum ental stone
daunt (v) if som ething daunts you, structure w ith a square or rectangular
it makes you worried because you base and sloping sides th a t m eet in a
th in k th a t it will be very difficult or p o in t at th e top
dangerous to do quintessential (adj) perfect as an
eradicate (v) to get rid of som ething example of a particular type or thing
completely, especially som ething bad redeeming (adj) som ething w hich
exhilaration (n) a feeling of extrem e improves som ething th a t is n o t very
happiness, excitem ent and energy good
ferocity (n) violence or extrem e force resum e (v) to start som ething again
flutter (v) to move up and down or from after stopping temporarily
side to side w ith short, quick, light sa sh (n) a long wide piece of cloth th at
m ovem ents, or to make som ething you wrap around your waist like a belt
move in this way setb ack (n) a problem th a t delays or
force 8 gale (n) a gale is a very strong th a t stops progress or makes a situation
wind; force X (1 -1 0 ) is a way of worse
describing th e strength of th e gale shed (n) a a small building, usually made
forecast (v) to make a statem ent about of wood, in which you store things
what is likely to happen, usually relating soar (v) to rise quickly
to the weather, business or the economy sodden (adj) completely wet
four-wheel drive (n) a vehicle w hich spin (something) out M M ! to make
uses a system th a t provides power to all som ething last for a long tim e, usually
four wheels longer th a n is good or necessary
frontier (n) a border betw een two strewn with M P M to be covered
countries, especially one with official w ith things th a t are spread around in a
points where people or vehicles cross careless or untidy way
ginger beer (n) a sweet drink made to s s (v) to throw som ething somewhere
w ith ferm ented ginger, a spice from gently, or in a slightly careless way
South East Asia trek (n) a long journey on foot
ignore (v) to n o t consider som ething or undulate (v) to move gently up and
to n o t let it influence you dow n like th e shape of waves o n the
joy (n) a feeling of great happiness sea
mask (n) som ething th a t you wear to up to date (adj) m odem , and using the
cover part or all of your face in order to latest ideas or technology; including
protect it from som ething harmful such the most recent news or inform ation
as poisonous gas, bacteria or smoke warlord (n) a m ilitary leader
m ilestone (n) an event or achievem ent
th a t marks an im portant stage in a
process

s h e l t e r (n) a place to live, considered t i g e r (n) a large A sian wild anim al th at
as a basic hum an need has yellowish fur w ith black lines and
s i t e (n) an area of land where som ething is a m em ber of the cat family
is being built or could be built t o n i c (adj) m aking you feel happier or
s k e l e t o n (n) the set of bones th at healthier
supports a hum an or anim al body tr a p (n) a trick th a t is designed to catch
s n a t c h (v) to pull or take som ething someone or to make them do or say
quickly som ething th a t they did n o t w ant to
s p a r k l e (v) to shine w ith small points do or say
of reflected light t r o u b l e d (adj) worried about the
s p i n e (n) th e row of bones down or problems th at you have
along the middle of a h u m an ’s or t u m b l e (v) to do gymnastic m ovem ents
anim al’s back in w hich you roll your body over the
s p o t (n) a particular place floor
s p r in g (n) water th at flows up from t u r k e y (n) a large bird similar to a
under the ground and forms a small chicken th at has no feathers o n its
stream or pool head
s t a l a c t i t e (n) a long pointed piece of t w i g (n) a very small th in branch from a
rock th a t hangs down from the roof of tree or bush
a cave formed by chem icals in water u n e v e n (adj) n o t regular
drops th a t have fallen over m any years v e n t i l a t i o n (n) the m ovem ent of fresh
s t u b b o r n (adj) n o t willing to change air around a room or building
ideas or consider anyone else’s reasons v u lt u r e (n) a large bird th at eats the
or argum ents bodies of dead animals
s t u f f (n) used for talking about a w a i l (v) to shout or cry with a long high
substance or material w hen you do n o t sound to show th at you are in pain or
know th e correct nam e are very sad
s u c k (v) to pull liquid into your m outh
by using th e muscles in your cheeks
and tongue
Himalaya
a t s o m e o n e ’s e x p e n s e p h r a s e b o u n c e (v) if a person or vehicle
if someone has a joke or enjoys bounces or is bounced, they move up
them selves at your expense, they enjoy and down as if they are on springs
laughing at you c h a n t i n g (n) the singing of a piece of
b a r r a c k s (n) a group of buildings where religious music using a very limited
members of the armed forces live and range of notes
work c h e c k p o i n t (n) a place where traffic
b e a m (n) a long thick piece of wood, can be stopped by soldiers or police
m etal or concrete th at supports a roof c h u r n (n) a container in w hich milk is
b e c k o n (v) if som ething beckons to mixed to make butter
you, it is very attractive and you feel c lif f (n) the steep side of an area of high
you have to do som ething about it land
b o u l d e r (n) a very large rock or piece
of stone

c o d e (n) a system of words, numbers, or m in d e r (n) someone whose job is to
signs used for sending secret messages. protect someone else
To put a message into code is to encode n o c t u r n a l (adj) formal: happening at
it, and to translate it back from code is night; nocturnal animals are active at
to decode it night rather than during the day
c o l l i s i o n (n) an accident in w hich p a n o r a m a (n) a view of a large area of
a person or vehicle th a t is moving land or sea
crashes into som ething p i t c h d a r k / p i t c h b l a c k phrase
d a m p e n (v) to make som ething such as completely dark or black
a feeling or hope less strong p y r a m id (n) a monumental stone
d a u n t (v) if som ething daunts you, structure with a square or rectangular
it makes you worried because you base and sloping sides that meet in a
th in k th a t it will be very difficult or point at the top
dangerous to do q u i n t e s s e n t i a l (adj) perfect as an
e r a d i c a t e (v) to get rid of som ething example of a particular type or thing
completely, especially som ething bad r e d e e m i n g (adj) something which
e x h i l a r a t i o n (n) a feeling of extrem e improves something that is not very
happiness, excitem ent and energy good
f e r o c i t y (n) violence or extrem e force r e s u m e (v) to start something again
f lu t t e r (v) to move up and down or from after stopping temporarily
side to side with short, quick, light s a s h (n) a long wide piece of cloth that
m ovem ents, or to make som ething you wrap around your waist like a belt
move in this way s e t b a c k (n) a problem that delays or
f o r c e 8 g a l e (n) a gale is a very strong that stops progress or makes a situation
wind; force X (1-1 0 ) is a way of worse
describing the strength of the gale s h e d (n) a a small building, usually made
f o r e c a s t (v) to make a statem ent about of wood, in which you store things
what is likely to happen, usually relating s o a r (v) to rise quickly
to the weather, business or the economy s o d d e n (adj) completely wet
f o u r - w h e e l d r iv e (n) a vehicle w hich s p i n ( s o m e t h i n g ) o u t phrase to make
uses a system th at provides power to all something last for a long time, usually
four wheels longer than is good or necessary
f r o n t ie r (n) a border betw een two s t r e w n w i t h phrase to be covered
countries, especially one with official w ith things that are spread around in a
points where people or vehicles cross careless or untidy way
g i n g e r b e e r (n) a sweet drink made t o s s (v) to throw something somewhere
w ith ferm ented ginger, a spice from gently, or in a slightly careless way
South East Asia t r e k (n) a long journey on foot
i g n o r e (v) to n o t consider som ething or u n d u l a t e (v) to move gently up and
to n o t let it influence you down like the shape of waves on the
j o y (n) a feeling of great happiness sea
m a s k (n) som ething th at you wear to u p t o d a t e (adj) modem, and using the
cover part or all of your face in order to latest ideas or technology; including
p rotect it from som ething harm ful such the most recent news or information
as poisonous gas, bacteria or smoke w a r lo r d (n) a m ilitary leader
m i l e s t o n e (n) an event or achievem ent
th a t marks an im portant stage in a
process

astrologer (n) som eone who practises excruciating (adj) used for
astrology, the study of the m ovem ent emphasizing how bad som ething is
of the stars and planets and how they float (v) to rest or move slowly o n the
influence people’s characters and lives surface of a liquid (or air) and n o t sink
awe-inspiring (adj) m aking you feel or drop
great respect and adm iration, and fodder (n) food for animals
sometimes fear g o o se (n) a large w hite or grey bird
bash (v) to h it someone or som ething w ith a long neck and beak
hard and violently groan (v) to make a long low sound, eg
cam el (n) a large anim al w ith a long because you are in pain or unhappy
neck and one or two hum ps (= large grunt (v) to make a short low sound in
round raised parts) o n its back. It your nose and th ro at at th e same tim e
is often used in deserts for carrying hideous (adj) very unpleasant
people or things insupportable (adj) impossible to
canvas (n) strong, heavy co tton used accept or deal w ith
for making tents, shoes and sails monotonous (adj) a m onotonous
clout (n) th e authority to make sound or voice is boring and
decisions or the power to influence unpleasant because it does n o t change
events in loudness or becom e higher or lower
crocodile (n) a large reptile th a t lives m onsoon (n) a period of heavy rain in
in w ater in h o t countries. It has a long India and South East Asia
body and a long m outh w ith many on the w ane phrase getting smaller,
sharp teeth weaker or less im portant
curse (n) a bad situation or event partridge (n) a fat brown bird th a t is
caused by som eone’s deliberate use of h u n ted for sport and food
their magic powers pavilion (n) a building in a park or large
dazzling (adj) extrem ely impressive; a garden for people to sit in
dazzling light is so bright th a t it makes p eacock (n) a large, brightly coloured
you unable to see for a short period of male bird w ith long, blue-green tail
time feathers
dormitory (n) a large room where a lot pierce (v) to make a hole in som ething
of people sleep, eg in a school or army by pushing a sharp object into it
camp plough (v) to tu rn over th e soil before
draw (n) a game th a t ends w ith both putting seeds into it
teams or players having th e same prune (v) to remove parts of a tree or
num ber of points plant, eg to make it grow b etter
dump (n) a place where large am ounts ramp (n) British: a place where the level
of waste are taken, usually outside a changes in a road surface
town ripple (n) som ething th a t looks like a
dustbin (n) a container th a t you keep wave
outside and use for putting rubbish in saline (adj) containing salt
encam p (n) a large group of tents or sa n e (adj) som eone who is sane is able
tem porary shelters to th in k and speak in a reasonable way
e x ceed (v) formal: to be greater th an and behave normally
a num ber or am ount; to go above an spike (n) som ething sharp and pointed,
official lim it especially a piece of m etal or wood

spooky (adj) frightening in a way th at tam e (adj) a tam e anim al has been
makes you nervous because it involves trained to stay calm w hen people are
things th a t do n o t seem natural and near it, because it is used to being w ith
can n o t be explained by science them
squash (v) to damage som ething by tent (n) a shelter made of cloth and
pressing or crushing it and m aking it supported w ith poles and ropes
lose its norm al shape tractor (n) a vehicle used on farms, eg
stand-in (n) som eone or som ething to pull m achines ^
th at takes the place of an oth er person valuables (n) plural, small possessions
or thing for a short tim e, especially in th a t are w orth a lot of money, eg
order to do their job while they are n o t jewellery
available wrap up warm/well phrase wear
succulent (adj) succulent plants have warm clothes
thick stems or leaves th a t store a lot
of water
Hammerfest
artificial (adj) made by people and used frostbite (n) a m edical condition in
instead of som ething natural w hich cold w eather seriously damages
at intervals w ith spaces of a your fingers, toes or nose
regular length funeral parlour (n) a place where the
beg (v) to ask for help, an opportunity body of a dead person is prepared and
etc, in a way th a t shows you w ant it kept before th e funeral, and where the
very m uch relatives may go and see it
boom (n) a deep loud sound th at gasp (v) to breathe in suddenly, eg
continues for some time, eg the noise because you are surprised, shocked or
of th under or an explosion in pain
charred (adj) black and burnt go up in flam es M W to catch fire,
deprive (v) if you deprive someone of to be destroyed by fire
som ething, you take it away from them groan (v) to make a long low sound, eg
or prevent th em from h aving it because you are in p ain or unhappy
drift (n) a large pile of snow or sand hang around p h ras al verb informal:
formed by th e wind spend tim e waiting or doing n othing
eccentric (n) som eone who often hint (v) to say w hat you are thinking or
behaves in slightly strange or unusual feeling in an indirect way
ways host (n) th e person who introduces and
engrossing (adj) extrem ely interesting talks to th e people taking part in a T V
evacu ate (v) to make people leave or radio programme
their hom es because of a dangerous incom petence (n) lack of skill or
situation such as war ability to do som ething correctly or
firework (n) an object th a t explodes well
w hen you light it and produces
coloured lights and loud noises

a s t r o l o g e r (n) someone who practises e x c r u c i a t i n g (adj) used for
astrology, the study of the m ovem ent emphasizing how bad som ething is
of the stars and planets and how they f l o a t (v) to rest or move slowly on the
influence people’s characters and lives surface of a liquid (or air) and n o t sink
a w e - i n s p i r i n g (adj) m aking you feel or drop
great respect and adm iration, and f o d d e r (n) food for animals
sometimes fear g o o s e (n) a large w hite or grey bird
b a s h (v) to h it someone or som ething w ith a long neck and beak
hard and violently g r o a n (v) to make a long low sound, eg
c a m e l (n) a large anim al w ith a long because you are in pain or unhappy
neck and one or two hum ps (= large g r u n t (v) to make a short low sound in
round raised parts) on its back. It your nose and th ro at at the same tim e
is often used in deserts for carrying h i d e o u s (adj) very unpleasant
people or things i n s u p p o r t a b l e (adj) impossible to
c a n v a s (n) strong, heavy co tto n used accept or deal w ith
for m aking tents, shoes and sails m o n o t o n o u s (adj) a m onotonous
c l o u t (n) the authority to make sound or voice is boring and
decisions or th e power to influence unpleasant because it does n o t change
events in loudness or become higher or lower
c r o c o d i l e (n) a large reptile th a t lives m o n s o o n (n) a period of heavy rain in
in water in h o t countries. It has a long India and South East Asia
body and a long m outh w ith many o n t h e w a n e phrase getting smaller,
sharp teeth weaker or less im portant
c u r s e (n) a bad situation or event p a r t r i d g e (n) a fat brown bird th at is
caused by som eone’s deliberate use of h u n ted for sport and food
their magic powers p a v i l i o n (n) a building in a park or large
d a z z l i n g (adj) extrem ely impressive; a garden for people to sit in
dazzling light is so bright th at it makes p e a c o c k (n) a large, brightly coloured
you unable to see for a short period of male bird with long, blue-green tail
time feathers
d o r m it o r y (n) a large room where a lot p i e r c e (v) to make a hole in som ething
of people sleep, eg in a school or army by pushing a sharp object into it
camp p l o u g h (v) to turn over the soil before
d r a w (n) a game th at ends with both p utting seeds into it
teams or players having the same p r u n e (v) to remove parts of a tree or
num ber of points plant, eg to make it grow better
d u m p (n) a place where large am ounts r a m p (n) British: a place where the level
of waste are taken, usually outside a changes in a road surface
town r ip p le (n) som ething th at looks like a
d u s t b i n (n) a con tain er th a t you keep wave
outside and use for putting rubbish in s a l i n e (adj) containing salt
e n c a m p (n) a large group of tents or s a n e (adj) som eone who is sane is able
tem porary shelters to th in k and speak in a reasonable way
e x c e e d (v) formal: to be greater th an and behave normally
a num ber or am ount; to go above an s p i k e (n) som ething sharp and pointed,
official limit especially a piece of m etal or wood

s p o o k y (adj) frightening in a way that t a m e (adj) a tame animal has been
makes you nervous because it involves trained to stay calm when people are
things that do not seem natural and near it, because it is used to being with
cannot be explained by science them
s q u a s h (v) to damage something by t e n t (n) a shelter made of cloth and
pressing or crushing it and making it supported with poles and ropes
lose its normal shape t r a c t o r (n) a vehicle used on farms, eg
s t a n d - i n (n) someone or something to pull machines
that takes the place of another person v a l u a b l e s (n) plural, small possessions
or thing for a short time, especially in that are worth a lot of money, eg
order to do their job while they are not jewellery
available w r a p u p w a r m / w e l l phrase wear
s u c c u l e n t (adj) succulent plants have warm clothes
thick stems or leaves that store a lot
of water
Hammerfest
a r t if i c ia l (adj) made by people and used f r o s t b i t e (n) a medical condition in
instead of something natural which cold weather seriously damages
a t i n t e r v a l s phrase with spaces of a your fingers, toes or nose
regular length f u n e r a l p a r lo u r (n) a place where the
b e g (v) to ask for help, an opportunity body of a dead person is prepared and
etc, in a way that shows you want it kept before the funeral, and where the
very much relatives may go and see it
b o o m (n) a deep loud sound that g a s p (v) to breathe in suddenly, eg
continues for some time, eg the noise because you are surprised, shocked or
of thunder or an explosion in pain
c h a r r e d (adj) black and burnt g o u p in f l a m e s phrase to catch fire,
d e p r i v e (v) if you deprive someone of to be destroyed by fire
something, you take it away from them g r o a n (v) to make a long low sound, eg
or prevent them from having it because you are in pain or unhappy
d r ift (n) a large pile of snow or sand h a n g a r o u n d phrasal verb informal:
formed by the wind spend time waiting or doing nothing
e c c e n t r i c (n) someone who often h in t (v) to say what you are thinking or
behaves in slightly strange or unusual feeling in an indirect way
ways h o s t (n) the person who introduces and
e n g r o s s i n g (adj) extremely interesting talks to the people taking part in a T V
e v a c u a t e (v) to make people leave or radio programme
their homes because of a dangerous i n c o m p e t e n c e (n) lack of skill or
situation such as war ability to do something correctly or
f ir e w o r k (n) an object that explodes well
when you light it and produces
coloured lights and loud noises

inscription (n) a piece of writing search (v) to try to find som eone or
w ritten or cut o n or in som ething, som ething by looking carefully
especially as a record of an startled (adj) suddenly frightened or
achievem ent or in order to honour surprised by som ething
someone strut (v) to walk in an especially
investigate (v) to try to find out the confident and proud way
facts about som ething in order to learn sw ay (v) to move or swing gently from
the tru th about it; to explore side to side
monitor (v) to regularly check te a s e (v) to annoy som eone in order to
som ething or w atch som eone in order have fun
to find out w hat is happening trailer (n) advertisem ents for film or
numb (adj) w ithout feeling television programmes w hich show a
overboard (adv) off a boat or ship and short part of those programmes or films
into the water trudge (v) to walk somewhere w ith slow
pleasantries (n, usually plural) a heavy steps
pleasant rem ark th a t you make to be undertaker (n) someone whose job is *■
polite, usually used in the co ntex t of to make arrangem ents for funerals
m eeting som eone and ‘exchanging unrelenting (adj) used about bad
pleasantries’ or extrem e things th a t continue to
pointless (adj) lacking any purpose happen or exist w ithout ever becom ing
or use easier to deal w ith
potter about (v) to do things in a slow urge (n) a strong feeling of w anting or
and enjoyable way needing to do som ething
projector (n) a piece of equipm ent used vapour trail (n) the long w hite line
for showing films or slides on a screen seen in the sky behind a plane
sc a le new heights S M W to achieve w aft (v) to float through th e air in a
a high level of success at a particular gentle way
activity w eep (v) to cry because you feel
scratch (n) a th in mark on a surface unhappy, or have some o th er strong
em otion

accordion (n) a musical instrum ent a s thick a s th ieves f f M describes
played by m oving the ends of a box people who are very friendly w ith each
in and out while pressing keys and o ther and spend a lot of tim e together
buttons talking about private things
acquaintance (n) formal: knowledge attribute (v) to believe th a t som ething
or experience of a person or subject is the result of a particular situation,
after a fashion (adv) phra % n o t very event or person’s actions
well or effectively ballad (n) a popular love song
angler (n) people who catch fish for (to be) b esid e yourself W M m
sport unable to th in k clearly because you are
artisan (n) a worker who has special very angry, upset or excited
skill and training, especially one who blacksmith (n) someone whose job it is
makes things to make things out of m etal

boil (v) if water boils, it becomes so h o t em bellishm ent (n) a detail added to
th a t there are bubbles in it and it starts a story to make it more interesting,
to becom e a gas especially one th a t is n o t completely
calamity (n) an event th at causes true
serious damage, or causes a lot of encumber (v) to make it more difficult
people to suffer, for example a flood for som eone to to do som ething or for
or a fire som ething to develop
cellar (n) a room usually under a endurance (n) th e ability to continue
building, used for storing things doing som ething physically difficult or
chilly (adj) cold enough to be continue dealing w ith an unpleasant
unpleasant situation for a long time
cluster (n) a small group of people or expletive (n) formal: a rude word th a t
things th a t are very close to each other you use w hen you are angry, annoyed
com ical (adj) som ething com ical or upset th a t m ight offend some people
makes you laugh because it is so strange flake (n) a small flat piece of som ething
and silly flee (v) to escape from a difficult or
condemnation (n) a public statem ent embarrassing situation very quickly
in w hich som eone criticizes someone forge (n) a place where m etal is heated
or som ething severely u ntil it is soft, th en h it w ith a ham m er
conduct (n) formal: th e way someone or poured into a m ould to form
behaves, especially in relation to different shapes
particular rules or accepted ways of forlorn (adj) appearing lonely and sad
behaving frisky (adj) feeling lively and full of fun
contented (adj) happy and satisfied gloom (n) th e feeling of having no hope
w ith your life good-will / goodwill (n) a feeling of
crockery (n) plates, cups, etc used for w anting to be friendly and helpful to
serving food someone
crushing (adj) com plete or very severe grace (n) a sm ooth and beautiful way
devoid of UMar lacking som ething, o f m oving
especially a good quality grasp (v) to understand som ething
dialect (n) a way of speaking a language gravy (n) a sauce made from th e juices
th a t is used only in a particular area or of cooked m eat w ith flour
by a particular group habitual (adj) usually or often done by
disgrace (v) to do or be som ething someone
th a t is bad and w hich you should be hover (v) to stay somewhere because
asham ed about you are waiting to do som ething or
d issect (v) to th in k about or discuss because you can n o t decide w hat to do
the details of som ething in order to hurly-burly (n) a lot of noisy activity,
understand it com pletely usually involving lots of people
d istress (n) a feeling th at you have im petuous (adj) if someone is this,
w hen you are very unhappy, worried, they do things quickly, w ithout
or upset thinking w hat will happen as a result
duration (n) the period of tim e during incognito (adv) using a false nam e or
w hich som ething continues to happen changing your appearance so th a t you
or exist will n o t be recognized
econom ist (n) an expert in economics, inscrutable (adj) if someone is this,
the study of the way goods and services it is impossible to understand w hat
are produced and the way m oney is they are thinking or feeling from their
managed expression or from what they say

in s c r i p t i o n (n) a piece of writing s e a r c h (v) to try to find someone or
written or cut on or in something, something by looking carefully
especially as a record of an s t a r t l e d (adj) suddenly frightened or
achievement or in order to honour surprised by something
someone s t r u t (v) to walk in an especially
i n v e s t i g a t e (v) to try to find out the confident and proud way
facts about something in order to learn s w a y (v) to move or swing gently from
the truth about it; to explore side to side
m o n i t o r (v) to regularly check t e a s e (v) to annoy someone in order to
something or watch someone in order have fun
to find out what is happening t r a ile r (n) advertisements for film or
n u m b (adj) without feeling television programmes which show a
o v e r b o a r d (adv) off a boat or ship and short part of those programmes or films
into the water t r u d g e (v) to walk somewhere with slow
p l e a s a n t r i e s (n, usually plural) a heavy steps
pleasant remark that you make to be u n d e r t a k e r (n) someone whose job is
polite, usually used in the context of to make arrangements for funerals
meeting someone and ‘exchanging u n r e l e n t i n g (adj) used about bad
pleasantries’ or extreme things that continue to
p o i n t l e s s (adj) lacking any purpose happen or exist without ever becoming
or use easier to deal with
p o t t e r a b o u t (v) to do things in a slow u r g e (n) a strong feeling of wanting or
and enjoyable way needing to do something
p r o j e c t o r (n) a piece of equipment used v a p o u r tr a il (n) the long white line
for showing films or slides on a screen seen in the sky behind a plane
s c a l e n e w h e i g h t s phrase to achieve w a f t (v) to float through the air in a
a high level of success at a particular gentle way
activity w e e p (v) to cry because you feel
s c r a t c h (n) a thin mark on a surface unhappy, or have some other strong
emotion

a c c o r d i o n (n) a musical instrument a s t h i c k a s t h i e v e s phrase describes
played by moving the ends of a box people who are very friendly with each
in and out while pressing keys and other and spend a lot of time together
buttons talking about private things
a c q u a i n t a n c e (n)formal: knowledge a t t r i b u t e (v) to believe that something
or experience of a person or subject is the result of a particular situation,
a f t e r a f a s h i o n (adv) phrase not very event or person’s actions
well or effectively b a l l a d (n) a popular love song
a n g l e r (n) people who catch fish for ( t o b e ) b e s i d e y o u r s e l f phrase
sport unable to think clearly because you are
a r t i s a n (n) a worker who has special very angry, upset or excited
skill and training, especially one who b l a c k s m i t h (n) someone whose job it is
makes things to make things out of metal

b o il (v) if water boils, it becomes so hot e m b e l l i s h m e n t (n) a detail added to
that there are bubbles in it and it starts a story to make it more interesting,
to become a gas especially one that is not completely
c a l a m i t y (n) an event that causes true
serious damage, or causes a lot of e n c u m b e r (v) to make it more difficult
people to suffer, for example a flood for someone to to do something or for
or a fire something to develop
c e l l a r (n) a room usually under a e n d u r a n c e (n) the ability to continue
building, used for storing things doing something physically difficult or
c h i l l y (adj) cold enough to be continue dealing w ith an unpleasant
unpleasant situation for a long time
c l u s t e r (n) a small group of people or e x p l e t i v e (n) formal: a rude word that
things that are very close to each other you use when you are angry, annoyed
c o m i c a l (adj) something comical or upset that might offend some people
makes you laugh because it is so strange f l a k e (n) a small flat piece of something
and silly f l e e (v) to escape from a difficult or
c o n d e m n a t i o n (n) a public statement embarrassing situation very quickly
in which someone criticizes someone f o r g e (n) a place where metal is heated
or something severely until it is soft, then h it w ith a hammer
c o n d u c t (n) formal: the way someone or poured into a mould to form
behaves, especially in relation to different shapes
particular rules or accepted ways of fo r lo r n (adj) appearing lonely and sad
behaving f r is k y (adj) feeling lively and full of fun
c o n t e n t e d (adj) happy and satisfied g l o o m (n) the feeling of having no hope
with your life g o o d - w i l l / g o o d w i l l (n) a feeling of
c r o c k e r y (n) plates, cups, etc used for wanting to be friendly and helpful to
serving food someone
c r u s h i n g (adj) complete or very severe g r a c e (n) a smooth and beautiful way
d e v o i d o f phrase lacking something, of moving
especially a good quality g r a s p (v) to understand something
d i a l e c t (n) a way of speaking a language g r a v y (n) a sauce made from the juices
that is used only in a particular area or of cooked meat w ith flour
by a particular group h a b i t u a l (adj) usually or often done by
d i s g r a c e (v) to do or be something someone
that is bad and which you should be h o v e r (v) to stay somewhere because
ashamed about you are waiting to do something or
d i s s e c t (v) to think about or discuss because you cannot decide what to do
the details of something in order to h u rly -b u r ly (n) a lot of noisy activity,
understand it completely usually involving lots of people
d i s t r e s s (n) a feeling that you have i m p e t u o u s (adj) if someone is this,
when you are very unhappy, worried, they do things quickly, without
or upset thinking what w ill happen as a result
d u r a t io n (n) the period of time during i n c o g n i t o (adv) using a false name or
which something continues to happen changing your appearance so that you
or exist w ill not be recognized
e c o n o m i s t (n) an expert in economics, i n s c r u t a b l e (adj) if someone is this,
the study of the way goods and services it is impossible to understand what
are produced and the way money is they are thinking or feeling from their
managed expression or from what they say

insult (n) showing a lack of respect for rattle (n) a short sharp knocking sound
something or someone made when something moves or shakes
interfere (v) to deliberately become reject (v) to behave in an unkind way
involved in a situation and try to to someone who wants kindness or
influence the way that it develops, love from you
although you have no right to do this retreat (n) movement away from a
intimate (adj) friendly or acquainted dangerous or unpleasant situation
with; an intim ate friend is someone riddle (n) someone or something that is
who you know very well and like very mysterious or confusing
much right-hand man (n) the person who
label (v) to fasten a piece of paper you regularly depend on to help you
or material to an object that gives rigorous (adj) strict, or severe;
information about it rigorously (adv)
last but not least phrase used when romp (n) an occasion on which children
you m ention the final thing or person or animals play or move around in a
in a list, in order to say that they are lively and often noisy way
equally important run errands to do a small job
likew ise (adv) in the same way, or in a that involves going to collect or deliver
something
similar way
loiter (v) to stand or wait in a public scoop (v) to dig something out or pick
it up using something such as a spoon
place for no particular reason
or your curved hand
manoeuvre (n) to move someone or
scrutinize (v) to examine something
something in a situation that needs
very carefully
care or skill
significance (n) the meaning of
melancholy (adj) feeling or looking sad
something
and without hope, or making you feel
sip (v) a small amount of liquid taken
sad and without hope
into your mouth
nondescript (adj) very ordinary and
sm ack (n) a hit with your flat hand or
not interesting or attractive
with a flat object
oa sis (n) a place or situation that is
sm ear (v) to spread a soft or liquid
much more pleasant or peaceful than
substance on a surface in an untidy way
the places or situations around it
snug (adj) warm, comfortable and safe
outskirts (n) the place furthest away steward (n) a man whose job it is to
from the centre
look after the passengers on a train,
palate (n) the ability to taste and judge plane or ship, especially serving them
the flavours in food and drinks with food or drink
plead (v) to ask for something in an sullen (adj) showing that you are in an
urgent or emotional way unhappy mood and don’t want to talk
porridge (n) a hot food made from summon (v) to ask or order someone to
oatmeal and m ilk or water, usually come to you
served at breakfast survey (n) an examination of
privilege (n) something nice that you something
feel lucky to have sw agger (v) a proud and confident way
prolonged (adj) continuing for a long of walking
time swarm (v) to go somewhere as part of a
radical (n) someone who believes that large crowd
important political or social changes to your heart’s content phrase as
are necessary much or as often as you like

tongue-tied (adj) unable to speak tragedy (n) a very sad event th a t causes
because you are nervous or embarrassed people to suffer or die; literature a play
trade (n) a job or type of work th at in w hich people suffer or die, especially
someone is trained to do one in w hich the m ain character dies
trait (n) a particular quality in
som eone’s character
Long Way Round

an ecdote (n) a story th a t you tell crew (n) a group of people with a
people about som ething interesting or particular skill who work together
funny rhat has happened to you devote (v) to spend a lot of tim e or
anonymous (adj) if som eone is effort doing som ething
anonymous, no one knows their nam e disdain (n) th e feeling th a t som eone or
a sb esto s (n) a substance th a t does n o t som ething is n o t im portant and does
burn easily th a t was used in building n o t deserve any respect
materials in the past distressing (adj) m aking you feel
avoid (v) to try n o t to go near extrem ely unhappy, worried or upset
som ething dreadful (adj) very unpleasant
aware (adj) knowing about a situation em brace (v) to completely accept
or a fact som ething such as new belief, idea or
blink (v) to close your eyes for a very way of life
short tim e and quickly open them filthy (adj) very dirty
again
fortune-teller (n) som eone who looks
at your hand, a special set of cards, etc
blissful (adj) giving you great pleasure
in order to tell you w hat is going to
bog (n) an area of ground th a t is always
happen to you in the future
very wet and soft
foyer (n) a large open space close to
brake (n) the equipm ent in a car,
the entrance inside a building, hotel
bike or o th er vehicle th a t you use for
or theatre
slowing down or stopping
gap (n) a large difference betw een
bruise (v) to damage or hu rt
things or groups
bustling (adj) full of noise and activity glaring (adj) (the sun) shining very
cable (n) thick wire covered with strongly
plastic grumpy (adj) unhappy and dissatisfied,
cen trep iece (n) the most im portant often for no obvious reason
feature handout (n) showing disapproval: an
chamber (n) an enclosed space am ount of money or goods given to
chim ney (n) a tube or passage th at people who need them
takes smoke from a fire up through a haunt (v) to make someone feel worried
building and out through the roof or upset for a long time
cocky (adj) informal: very confident in head for (v) to go in a particular
an annoying way direction
cop e (v) to deal successfully w ith a hint (n) a small am ount of som ething
difficult situation or job hold-up (n) a short delay

i n s u l t (n) showing a lack of respect for r a t t l e (n) a short sharp knocking sound
something or someone made when something moves or shakes
i n t e r f e r e (v) to deliberately become r e j e c t (v) to behave in an unkind way
involved in a situation and try to to someone who wants kindness or
influence the way that it develops, love from you
although you have no right to do this r e t r e a t (n) movement away from a
i n t i m a t e (adj) friendly or acquainted dangerous or unpleasant situation
with; an intimate friend is someone r id d le (n) someone or something that is
who you know very well and like very mysterious or confusing
much r ig h t - h a n d m a n (n) the person who
l a b e l (v) to fasten a piece of paper you regularly depend on to help you
or material to an object that gives r i g o r o u s (adj) strict, or severe;
information about it r i g o r o u s l y (adv)
l a s t b u t n o t l e a s t phrase used when r o m p (n) an occasion on which children
you mention the final thing or person or animals play or move around in a
in a list, in order to say that they are lively and often noisy way
equally important run e r r a n d s phrase to do a small job

that involves going to collect or deliver
l i k e w i s e (adv) in the same way, or in a
something
similar way
s c o o p (v) to dig something out or pick
lo i t e r (v) to stand or wait in a public
it up using something such as a spoon
place for no particular reason
or your curved hand
m a n o e u v r e (n) to move someone or
s c r u t i n i z e (v) to examine something
something in a situation that needs
very carefully
care or skill
s i g n i f i c a n c e (n) the meaning of
m e l a n c h o l y (adj) feeling or looking sad
something
and without hope, or making you feel
s i p (v) a small amount of liquid taken
sad and without hope
into your mouth
n o n d e s c r i p t (adj) very ordinary and
s m a c k (n) a hit w ith your flat hand or
not interesting or attractive
with a flat object
o a s i s (n) a place or situation that is
s m e a r (v) to spread a soft or liquid
much more pleasant or peaceful than
substance on a surface in an untidy way
the places or situations around it
s n u g (adj) warm, comfortable and safe
o u t s k i r t s (n) the place furthest away
s t e w a r d (n) a man whose job it is to
from the centre
look after the passengers on a train,
p a l a t e (n) the ability to taste and judge plane or ship, especially serving them
the flavours in food and drinks with food or drink
p l e a d (v) to ask for something in an s u l l e n (adj) showing that you are in an
urgent or emotional way unhappy mood and don’t want to talk
p o r r id g e (n) a hot food made from s u m m o n (v) to ask or order someone to
oatmeal and m ilk or water, usually come to you
served at breakfast s u r v e y (n) an examination of
p r i v i l e g e (n) something nice that you something
feel lucky to have s w a g g e r (v) a proud and confident way
p r o l o n g e d (adj) continuing for a long of walking
time s w a r m (v) to go somewhere as part of a
r a d i c a l (n) someone who believes that large crowd
important political or social changes t o y o u r h e a r t ’s c o n t e n t phrase as
are necessary much or as often as you like

t o n g u e - t i e d (adj) unable to speak t r a g e d y (n) a very sad event th at causes
because you are nervous or embarrassed people to suffer or die; literature a play
t r a d e (n) a job or type o f work th at in which people suffer or die, especially
someone is trained to do one in which the m ain character dies
t r a it (n) a particular quality in
som eone’s character
Long Way Round

a n e c d o t e (n) a story th at you tell c r e w (n) a group of people w ith a
people about som ething interesting or particular skill who work together
funny rh at has happened to you d e v o t e (v) to spend a lot of tim e or
a n o n y m o u s (adj) if som eone is effort doing som ething
anonymous, no one knows their nam e d i s d a i n (n) the feeling th a t someone or
a s b e s t o s (n) a substance th at does n o t som ething is n o t im portant and does
burn easily th a t was used in building n o t deserve any respect
m aterials in the past d i s t r e s s i n g (adj) m aking you feel
a v o i d (v) to try n o t to go near extrem ely unhappy, worried or upset
som ething d r e a d f u l (adj) very unpleasant
a w a r e (adj) knowing about a situation e m b r a c e (v) to com pletely accept
or a fact som ething such as new belief, idea or
b lin k (v) to close your eyes for a very way of life
filth y (adj) very dirty
short tim e and quickly open them
f o r t u n e - t e l l e r (n) som eone who looks
again
at your hand, a special set of cards, etc
b l i s s f u l (adj) giving you great pleasure
in order to tell you w hat is going to
b o g (n) an area of ground th a t is always
happen to you in the future
very wet and soft
f o y e r (n) a large open space close to
b r a k e (n) the equipm ent in a car,
the entrance inside a building, hotel
bike or oth er vehicle th a t you use for
or theatre
slowing down or stopping
g a p (n) a large difference betw een
b r u i s e (v) to damage or hurt
things or groups
b u s t l i n g (adj) full of noise and activity
g la r in g (adj) (the sun) shining very
c a b l e (n) thick wire covered with
strongly
plastic g r u m p y (adj) unhappy and dissatisfied,
c e n t r e p i e c e (n) the most im portant
often for no obvious reason
feature h a n d o u t (n) showing disapproval: an
c h a m b e r (n) an enclosed space am ount of m oney or goods given to
c h i m n e y (n) a tube or passage th at people who need them
takes smoke from a fire up through a h a u n t (v) to make someone feel worried
building and out through the roof or upset for a long time
c o c k y (adj) informal: very confident in h e a d fo r (v) to go in a particular
an annoying way direction
c o p e (v) to deal successfully w ith a h in t (n) a small am ount of som ething
difficult situation or job h o ld -u p (n) a short delay

hook (n) a curved piece of m etal used power station (n) a large building
for catching fish at th e end of a line th a t contains m achines w hich produce
in each other’s hair mm I living in power, especially electricity
very close co ntact privileged (adj) able or allowed to
indicator (n) one of the lights on a do things th a t oth er people have no
vehicle th at show in w hich direction opportunity to do
it is turning pump (v) to make liquid or gas move
indignant (adj) angry because of an into or out of som ething
unfair situation or som eone’s unfair put som eone through the wringer
behaviour 4 M « * to have a very intense
intersection (n) a place where roads, experience
lines, etc join or cross each other recuperate (n) to get b etter after being
irony (n) a form of hum our in which ill or injured
you use words to express the opposite rib (n) one of the long curved bones th a t
of w hat you really m ean are in your chest
jaw-dropping (adj) informal: amazing, ribbon (n) a long narrow piece of
wonderful coloured clo th or paper, usually used as ~
kick-start (v) to start a m otorbike by a decoration or to tie som ething
pressing your foot down on a pedal sa tellite dish (n) a piece of equipm ent
kid (n) informal: a child in th e shape of a dish th a t receives
lever (n) a solid bar, often made of special signals from a satellite th at
m etal, th a t you put under a heavy allow you to w atch satellite television
object to move it se e k (v) formal: to ask for som ething or
liberating (adj) m aking you feel th at try to get som ething
you have more freedom to do w hat sledgeham m er (n) a long heavy
you w ant ham m er th at you swing w ith both hands
manhole (n) a hole in the surface of solar panel (n) a piece of equipm ent
a road or street, covered w ith a m etal th at uses energy from the sun to create
lid used for entering an underground power for a building
passage, such as a sewer stifling (adj) so h o t th at it is difficult for
occurrence (n) som ething th at you to breathe
happens stinking (adj) w ith a very unpleasant
overstretched (adj) w ithout enough smell
people, money, etc to operate stopover (n) a stop made on a journey,
effectively usually overnight
pastoral (adj) literary: relating to life in sto v e (n) a m achine or a piece of
th e countryside equipm ent th a t provides h eat for
persevere (v) to continue trying to cooking or heating a room
achieve som ething difficult strap (v) to hold or keep som ething in
pick-up (n) a small van or truck w ith position by tying som ething around it
low sides stroke (v) to gently move your hand
pit (n) a hole in the ground over skin, hair or fur
plough on (v) to continue on your way stunning (adj) very impressive or
despite all the problems and difficulties beautiful

tarmac (n) a thick black m ixture of tar treat (n) som ething special th a t you do
(a substance made of coal) and very for yourself or som eone else
small stones, used especially for making tremble (v) to shake from fear,
th e surfaces of roads excitem ent or illness
tattoo (n) a perm anent picture th at tyre (n) a thick rubber cover th a t fits
is drawn o n a part of your body by around the wheel of a bicycle, car or
putting ink into your skin w ith a o ther vehicle
needle unspoiled (adj) an unspoiled place*has
the likes of M i H i people such as n o t been changed in ways th a t m ake it
tough (adj) (situation) difficult; less beautiful or enjoyable
(person) strong and able to deal w ith vegetarian (n) someone who chooses
difficulties n o t to eat fish or m eat
trailer (n) a long container th a t can be withered (adj) (leg) th in and weak
fixed to a vehicle and used for moving because of illness or disease
heavy objects or large animals
Dictionary extracts adapted from the Macmillan English Dictionary © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2002

h o o k (n) a curved piece of metal used p o w e r s t a t i o n (n) a large building
for catching fish at the end of a line that contains machines which produce
in e a c h o t h e r ’s h a ir phrase living in power, especially electricity
very close contact p r i v i l e g e d (adj) able or allowed to
i n d i c a t o r (n) one of the lights on a do things that other people have no
vehicle that show in which direction opportunity to do
it is turning p u m p (v) to make liquid or gas move
i n d i g n a n t (adj) angry because of an into or out of something
unfair situation or someone’s unfair p u t s o m e o n e th ro u g h t h e w r in g e r
behaviour phrase to have a very intense
i n t e r s e c t i o n (n) a place where roads, experience
lines, etc join or cross each other r e c u p e r a t e (n) to get better after being
ir o n y (n) a form of humour in which ill or injured
you use words to express the opposite rib (n) one of the long curved bones that
of what you really mean are in your chest
j a w - d r o p p in g (adj) informal: amazing, r ib b o n (n) a long narrow piece of
wonderful coloured cloth or paper, usually used as
k i c k - s t a r t (v) to start a motorbike by a decoration or to tie something
pressing your foot down on a pedal s a t e l l i t e d i s h (n) a piece of equipment
k id (n) informal: a child in the shape of a dish that receives
l e v e r (n) a solid bar, often made of special signals from a satellite that
metal, that you put under a heavy allow you to watch satellite television
object to move it s e e k (v) formal: to ask for something or
l i b e r a t i n g (adj) making you feel that try to get something
you have more freedom to do what s l e d g e h a m m e r (n) a long heavy
you want hammer that you swing with both hands
m a n h o l e (n) a hole in the surface of s o l a r p a n e l (n) a piece of equipment
a road or street, covered with a metal that uses energy from the sun to create
lid used for entering an underground power for a building
passage, such as a sewer s t if li n g (adj) so hot that it is difficult for
o c c u r r e n c e (n) something that you to breathe
happens s t i n k i n g (adj) with a very unpleasant
o v e r s t r e t c h e d (adj) without enough smell
people, money, etc to operate s t o p o v e r (n) a stop made on a journey,
effectively usually overnight
p a s t o r a l (adj) literary: relating to life in s t o v e (n) a machine or a piece of
the countryside equipment that provides heat for
p e r s e v e r e (v) to continue trying to cooking or heating a room
achieve something difficult s t r a p (v) to hold or keep something in
p ic k - u p (n) a small van or truck with position by tying something around it
low sides s t r o k e (v) to gently move your hand
p it (n) a hole in the ground over skin, hair or fur
p l o u g h o n (v) to continue on your way s t u n n i n g (adj) very impressive or
despite all the problems and difficulties beautiful

t a r m a c (n) a thick black mixture of tar t r e a t (n) something special that you do
(a substance made of coal) and very for yourself or someone else
small stones, used especially for making t r e m b l e (v) to shake from fear,
the surfaces of roads excitement or illness
t a t t o o (n) a permanent picture that t y r e (n) a thick rubber cover that fits
is drawn on a part of your body by around the wheel of a bicycle, car or
putting ink into your skin with a other vehicle
needle u n s p o i l e d (adj) an unspoiled placchas
t h e l i k e s o f phrase people such as not been changed in ways that make it
t o u g h (adj) (situation) difficult; less beautiful or enjoyable
(person) strong and able to deal with v e g e t a r i a n (n) someone who chooses
difficulties not to eat fish or meat
t r a ile r (n) a long container that can be w i t h e r e d (adj) (leg) thin and weak
fixed to a vehicle and used for moving because of illness or disease
heavy objects or large animals
Dictionary extracts adapted from the Macmillan English Dictionary © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2002
www.macmillandictipnaries.CQin

Language study index
The Lawless Roads

The use of similes 35
Forming adjectives with noun + like 35
Adverbs of manner 36
Himalaya
Compound adjectives 65
Ellipsis 66
The use of the passive 67

Formal language 91
Multiple-clause sentences 92
The use of preposition + which 93
Hammerfest
Forming comparisons with as if and like 119
Talking about the past: used to and would 120

Words and expressions with heart 163
Words and expressions with spirit and spirits 164
Conditional tenses 165
Participle clauses with 4ng and having + past participle 166
Long Way Round

The use of get 191
Phrasal verbs 192
Common expressions 193
212 | Macmillan Literature Collections: Language study index

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Travel Stories PDF

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Graham Greene

Robert Louis Stevenson

Ewan McGregor and

T h e Land of the Camels 71

T he A m ateur Emigrant 124

Long Way R ound 170

Essay questions 198

4 | Macmillan Literature Collections

In addition, at the end of each book there are:

Macmillan Literature Collections | 5

How to use these books

6 | Macmillan Literature Collections: Introduction

Macmillan Literature Collections: Introduction | 7

Tips for dealing with difficult passages

8 | Macmillan Literature Collections: Introduction

Macmillan Literature Collections: Introduction | 9

10 | Macmillan Literature Collections: Using a dictionary

Macmillan Readei^ website

Macmillan Literature Collections: Using a dictionary | 11

10 | Macmillan Literature Collections: Using a dictionary

Why do we like travel writing?

12 | Macmillan Literature Collections: The genre of Travel

Travel writing in English

Macmillan Literature Collections: The genre of Travel | 13

14 | Macmillan Literature Collections: The genre of Travel

About the author

Graham Greene was bom in 1904 in Hertfordshire in England, the

The Lawless Roads | 15

1 a government organization th at collects information about the secret plans and

16 | The Lawless Roads

18 | The Lawless Roads

Riding the mule

clip clop th e sound th at a horse’s hooves make w hen it is walking

2 Complete these sentences with an appropriate form of the words

1 Suddenly, h e the phone out of her hands.

The Lawless Roads | 19

18 | The Lawless Roads

Describing the effects of the heat

3 Match the words in the list (1 -1 5 ) with the correct definitions

1 collapse a) a strange effect in a desert or at sea in

20 The Lawless Roads

4 Put the words in the list in exercise 3 into three categories —

Nouns Verbs Adjectives

The ruins at Palenque

a) a great circular plateau halfway up the mountainside

The Lawless Roads | 21

1 rounded hill shapes - mounds

T h e discom forts o f travel

As you read the extract, ask yourself:

a) W hat gives Greene the strength to continue his journey?

22 I The Lawless Roads

As you read the extract, ask yourself:

a) Does Greene paint a realistic picture or does he exaggerate?

The Lawless Roads | 23

The Long Ride

24 | The Lawless Roads

The Lawless Roads | 25

14 usually singular, ‘mail’, meaning post or letters

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The Lawless Roads | 27

28 | The Lawless Roads

The Lawless Roads | 29

30 | The Lawless Roads