Text C: Lost mining city

For centuries stories had been passed down about an ancient city in a very remote part of Brazil, the inhabitants of which mined vast quantities of gold, silver and precious stones from the surrounding mountains. An adventurer called Raposo took a team on a long expedition across rough terrain to find the ancient city. This is an account of the final stage of their journey.


The party was travelling again, tired of this seemingly endless wandering, and disheartened by their failure so far to locate the lost mines or evidence of ancient civilisation. Raposo worked hard to keep their spirits high, but many of his companions had long decided that no such places existed. They had come through swamps and bush country, stumbling and complaining, and now a range of jagged mountains showed up ahead, beyond a grassy plain broken by thin belts of green forest.


These were no ordinary mountains. As the party came nearer, the sides lit up in flame, for it had been raining and the setting sun was reflected from wet rocks rich in colour and light. To the onlooking explorers they seemed to be studded with gems. Streams leaped from rock to rock and, over the crest of the ridge, a rainbow beckoned.

‘An omen!’ cried Raposo. ‘See! Our destination is just on the other side. We will be rich!’ However, night had fallen, forcing them to camp before they could reach the foot of the immense mountain range.


Next morning, when the sun came up from behind them, the crags appeared black and menacing. To the eyes of many their height was vast, and when the party reached them it was to find sheer, unscalable precipices. All day they struggled over boulders and crevices, seeking a way up those glossy sides.

Eventually, judging that weariness was overwhelming his party, Raposo called a halt. ‘We’d better return to our old trail and try to go northwards and around these mountains.’

‘Camp!’ was the wail. ‘Let’s camp. We’ve had enough for one day. Tomorrow we can return to the trail.’

‘Very well,’ answered the leader, and then to two adventurers, ‘You, Jose and Manoel, off you go to find wood for the fire!’ Jose glanced at Manoel in disbelief at their misfortune before nodding briefly, and reluctantly followed Manoel into the darkness.

Camp was pitched and the party was resting, when confused shouting and crashing in the bush brought them to their feet. Manoel burst into view. ‘We’ve found it!’ Manoel cried. ‘We’ve found the way up!’ Jose appeared behind him, his face like stone. Searching for firewood in the scrub, they had seen a dead tree at the edge of a small wooded creek. This was the best fuel to be had, and they were making their way towards it, when a deer sprang up on the other side of the creek and disappeared beyond a corner of the cliff. Surprised at its agility and how quickly it had vanished, Manoel followed, and came to a deep cleft in the face of the precipice. He saw that it was possible to climb through it to the summit. Firewood was forgotten in his excitement.


Raposo cajoled the weary adventurers, and soon, packs shouldered, they set off with Raposo and Manoel leading. Jose dropped behind, muttering to others who wore similar mutinous expressions. The group entered the crevice in single file to find that it widened inside. Raposo exclaimed in wonder at traces of old man-made paving. In places, the sheer walls of the cleft seemed to bear the almost obliterated marks of tools. Clusters of rock crystals and frothy masses of quartz gave the wide-eyed leader the feeling of having entered a fairyland, and, in the dim light filtering down through the tangled mass of creepers overhead, his anticipation of a wondrous citadel on the other side was palpable.

The climb was so difficult that three hours passed before the group emerged breathless on a ledge above the surrounding plain. There, Raposo picked up an abandoned axe head and gazed outwards, as if he was lost in a dream. Ahead of them lay the broken remains of a human settlement.

Raposo spun round on his feet and stared in disbelief at the other men.


You are Jose. A day later you write an entry in your journal, in which you:

• describe where you have been and what you have seen in the final stages of your adventure

• explain how you have felt during the recent days about the expedition and your leader, Raposo

• describe what has happened since you saw the broken remains of the human settlement.