The Rover of the Andes: A Tale of Adventure on South America

The Rover of the Andes: A Tale of Adventure on South America

R. M. Ballantyne

Fiction / Children's / Travel

At the Foot of the Mountain Range. Towards the close of a bright and warm day, between fifty and sixty years ago, a solitary man might have been seen, mounted on a mule, wending his way slowly up the western slopes of the Andes. Although decidedly inelegant and unhandsome, this specimen of the human family was by no means uninteresting. He was so large, and his legs were so long, that the contrast between him and the little mule which he bestrode was ridiculous. He was what is sometimes styled “loosely put together;” nevertheless, the various parts of him were so massive and muscular that, however loosely he might have been built up, most men would have found it rather difficult to take him down. Although wanting in grace, he was by no means repulsive, for his face, which was ornamented with a soft flaxen beard and moustache of juvenile texture, expressed wonderful depths of the milk of human kindness. He wore boots with the trousers tucked into them, a grey tunic, or hunting coat, belted at the waist, and a broad-brimmed straw hat, or sombrero. Evidently the times in which he travelled were troublous, for, besides having a brace of large pistols in his belt, he wore a cavalry sabre at his side. As if to increase the eccentricity of his appearance, he carried a heavy cudgel, by way of riding-whip; but it might have been observed that, however much he flourished this whip about, he never actually applied it to his steed. On reaching a turn of the road at the brow of an eminence the mule stopped, and, letting its head droop till almost as pendent as its tail, silently expressed a desire for repose. The cavalier stepped off. It would convey a false impression to say that he dismounted. The mule heaved a sigh. “Poor little thing!” murmured the traveller in a soft, low voice, and in a language which even a mule might have recognised as English; “you may well sigh. I really feel ashamed of myself for asking you to carry such a mass of flesh and bone. But it’s your own fault—you know it is—for you won’t be led. I’m quite willing to walk if you will only follow. Come—let us try!” Gently, insinuatingly, persuasively, the traveller touched the reins, and sought to lead the way. He might as well have tried to lead one of the snow-clad peaks of the mighty Cordillera which towered into the sky before him. With ears inclining to the neck, a resolute expression in the eyes, his fore-legs thrown forward and a lean slightly backward, the mule refused to move. “Come now, do be amiable; there’s a good little thing! Come on,” said the strong youth, applying more force. Peruvian mules are not open to flattery. The advance of the fore-legs became more decided, the lean backward more pronounced, the ears went flat down, and incipient passion gleamed in the eyes. “Well, well, have it your own way,” exclaimed the youth, with a laugh, “but don’t blame me for riding you so much.” He once more re-m–; no, we forgot—he once more lifted his right leg over the saddle and sat down....
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Fighting the Whales

Fighting the Whales

R. M. Ballantyne

Fiction / Children's / Travel

Illustrated with 10 unique illustrations.Away in the WildernessThe Battery and the BoilerThe Battle and the BreezeBattles with the SeaThe Big OtterBlack IvoryBlown to BitsBlue LightsThe Buffalo RunnersThe Cannibal IslandsCharlie to the RescueChasing the SunThe Coral IslandThe Coxswain\'s BrideThe Crew of the Water WagtailDeep Down, a Tale of the Cornish MinesDigging for GoldThe Dog Crusoe and his MasterDusty Diamonds Cut and PolishedThe Eagle CliffErling the BoldFast in the IceFighting the FlamesFighting the WhalesThe Floating Light of the Goodwin SandsFort DesolationFreaks on the FellsThe FugitivesThe Garret and the GardenGascoyne, the Sandal-Wood TraderThe Giant of the NorthThe Golden DreamThe Gorilla HuntersHandbook to the new Gold-fieldsThe Hot SwampHudson BayHunted and HarriedHunting the LionsThe Island QueenThe LifeboatLife in the Red BrigadeThe LighthouseThe Lonely IslandThe Madman and the PirateMartin RattlerThe Norsemen in the WestOver the Rocky MountainsPhilosopher JackThe PioneersThe Pirate CityThe Red Man\'s RevengeRivers of IceSunk at SeaThe Young Fur Traders
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Hunting the Lions

Hunting the Lions

R. M. Ballantyne

Fiction / Children's / Travel

The Scottish juvenile fiction writer R. M. Ballantyne was born into a famous family of publishers. Leaving home at age 16 he went to work for the Hudson\'s Bay Company; after returning home to Scotland R. M. Ballantyne published his first book "Hudson\'s Bay" detailing his experiences in Canada. Later Ballantyne would write about more of his experiences with Native Americans and the Fur trappers he met in the most remote regions of Canada. With his success as a writer he withdrew from the business world to become a full time writer for the rest of his life. With over a hundred different books he has become one of the most cherished juvenile fiction writers today. Along with his other exploits throughout his life he also was tremendously successful with his artwork as his water color paintings were displayed at the Royal Scottish Academy.
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Rachel Ray

Rachel Ray

Anthony Trollope

Fiction / Travel / History

Rachel Ray offers a masterly and entertaining evocation of a small community living its life in mid-nineteenth-century England. The novel first appeared in 1863, a year in which public reaction against the excesses of the popular sensationalist novel prompted Trollope to state that he was writing about "the commonest details of commonplace life among the most ordinary people."About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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Black Ivory

Black Ivory

R. M. Ballantyne

Fiction / Children's / Travel

R.M. Ballantyne, in full Robert Michael Ballantyne (born April 24, 1825, Edinburgh, Scot.—died Feb. 8, 1894, Rome, Italy), Scottish author chiefly famous for his adventure story The Coral Island (1858). This and all of Ballantyne’s stories were written from personal experience. The heroes of his books are models of self-reliance and moral uprightness. Snowflakes and Sunbeams; or, The Young Fur Traders (1856) is a boys’ adventure story based on Ballantyne’s experiences with the Hudson’s Bay Company. Annoyed by a geography-related mistake he had made in The Coral Island, he afterward traveled widely to research the backgrounds of his stories.
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Witches Snared

Witches Snared

Phil Armstrong

Fiction / Fantasy / Travel

Danger awaits as evil witches grow in power. A collection of Elfen creatures and a brave crusader knight, together with gifted monks are asked to save their world. A most enjoyable read that teases the reader with the concepts of trust, loyalty, suspicion, betrayal, and of course love. Witches Snared will trap you deep within the story, leaving you eager for more Dream Cane adventures.Raj and Dan are again summoned by the Dream Cane to a strange new realm. Danger awaits as evil witches grow in power casting spells that will plunge this world into a shroud of evil and eternal darkness. A collection of Elfen creatures, a brave crusader knight, and gifted monks are asked to combine forces with the forest animals in an unlikely alliance to save their world. A fascinating read that spans time and worldly realms culminating in an epic battle that unites the forest’s inhabitants against the most powerful and evil force they have ever encountered. An intelligent read that teases the reader with the concepts of trust, loyalty, betrayal, and of course love. Witches Snared will trap you deep within the adventure, leaving you eager to see where it ends and where the Dream Cane will lead you next.
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The Black Douglas

The Black Douglas

S. R. Crockett

Literature & Fiction / Travel

This story of life in Scotland during the 1400s focuses on the simple things: unrequited love, true love blocked by circumstance, arrogant ambition, and unbounded jealousy, all accompanied by vengeful feuding between individuals and clans who'd made themselves masters of the struggle for revenge. . . .In 2014 The Galloway Raiders was set up as a literary society and online presence to explore Crockett's life and work and restore his credibility as one of Scotland's great writers. The Galloway Raiders also holds two archives of Crockett material.
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The Rewindable Clock

The Rewindable Clock

Aaron Starmer

Children's Books / Literature & Fiction / Travel

"A laugh-out-loud tour de force." —Kirkus, starred reviewHidden away at Hopewell Elementary School is a magical locker that always delivers a solution to your problems—just not quite in the way you might expect.The unthinkable happens. Keisha forgets to do her science homework! The morning it's due, she rushes to Locker 37 and the locker gives her a clock. Not just any clock, mind you. It's a time-travel device that sends Keisha back to whatever time of day she wants during that particular school day, which means she can scrape together enough time in between her classes to finish her homework. Still, there's no time to help Carson with his stained shirt or to answer Bryce's gummy bear questions (don't ask). Keisha only has time to make things right—but should she use it for herself or for her friends?
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La Vendée

La Vendée

Anthony Trollope

Fiction / Travel / History

What, Santerre said Marie, shuddering. "Oh he is a most horrid monster It was he that led out our dear sainted King to be murdered; it was he that urged on the furious mob to spill so much blood. They say that in all Paris there is not a greater wretch than this Santerre."
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All the Trouble in the World

All the Trouble in the World

P. J. O'Rourke

Fiction / Humor / Travel

With All the Trouble in the World, P. J. O'Rourke once again landed on best-seller lists around the country, confirming his reputation as the pre-eminent political humorist of our time. Attacking fashionable worries - all those terrible problems that are constantly on our minds and in the news, but about which most of us have no real clue - P. J. crisscrosses the globe in search of solutions to today's most vexing issues, including overpopulation, famine, plague, and multiculturalism, and in the process produces a hilarious and informative book which ensures that the concept of political correctness will never be the same again. "One of the funniest, most insightful, dead-on-the-money books of the year." - Los Angeles Times; "All the Trouble in the World is O'Rourke's best work since Parliament of Whores." - The Houston Post; "The dispatches are unfailingly funny....Mr. O'Rourke gets to the heart of the matter with a steady stream of wisecracks....Economists, political scientists...
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How Miru Earned His Secret Name

How Miru Earned His Secret Name

Edward Stanton

Fiction / Young Adult / Travel

This free bonus chapter shares a story not in the main novel, Wide as the Wind. It addresses how Miru, the main character, earned his secret name. Whether you have already read the novel and would like some extra background, or if you want to "test the waters" before you read Wide as the Wind, this standalone chapter will provide extra insight into our young hero, Miru.Tricked into going to Ireland by a wicked leprechaun, Astro and the gang are forced to find the King’s special pet.Only this pet is not the type of animal any dog should be made to save.It’s wicked and cruel and can make you obey its every command just by purring!That’s right - the dogs are sent all over Ireland to save a cat!On the way, they encounter a whole host of magical creatures, stunning scenery and not to mention, a very polite donkey.
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Largemouth Bass

Largemouth Bass

Bull Garlington

Travel / Humor and Comedy / Memoir

A brilliant Indian scientist with self esteem problems faces off against a redneck jet pilot in a bass fishing contest that defies probability.When super popular redneck fighter pilot Gator challenges theoretical permutational mathematician and supernerd, Inderjit to a fish off, Inderjit thinks he's got it covered because he was raised on the Ramaputrya river in India and can out fish any man on the planet. Unfortunately for Inderjit, he's in Florida and they don't fish with nets. Feeling pressured to prove himself, Inderjit steals a work-in-progress device to maybe give himself an edge. This proves, of course, why mathematicians make bad gamblers because they think about statistics instead of remembering that the house always wins, even when it loses. Also, there is a largemouth bass.
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Begumbagh: A Tale of the Indian Mutiny

Begumbagh: A Tale of the Indian Mutiny

George Manville Fenn

Travel / Outdoors & Nature

I’ve waited all these years, expecting some one or another would give a full and true account of it all; but little thinking it would ever come to be my task. For it’s not in my way; but seeing how much has been said about other parts and other people’s sufferings; while ours never so much as came in for a line of newspaper, I can’t think it’s fair; and as fairness is what I always did like, I set to, very much against my will; while, on account of my empty sleeve, the paper keeps slipping and sliding about, so that I can only hold it quiet by putting the lead inkstand on one corner, and my tobacco-jar on the other. You see, I’m not much at home at this sort of thing; and though, if you put a pipe and a glass of something before me, I could tell you all about it, taking my time, like, it seems that won’t do. I said, “Why don’t you write it down as I tell it, so as other people could read all about it?” But “No,” he says; “I could do it in my fashion, but I want it to be in your simple unadorned style; so set to and do it.”
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