17 h 41 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Low riverbanks, a huge sky, and a slow passage: how does South America look from the deck of a boat?
In Up the Orinoco and Down the Magdalena, John Augustine Zahm follows two great rivers through northern South America. The Orinoco carries him through Venezuela; the Magdalena brings the journey to Colombia. His journal follows the roads, the water, and the people he meets along the way.
Zahm is both a Catholic priest and a scientist, and his interests shape what he notices. Natural history and geography sit beside the practical business of travel and accounts of earlier explorers. On the Orinoco, heat, delays, and uncertainty test his patience, while open plains give the river a vast horizon.
What you’ll discover
- Two rivers, different worlds Follow routes through contrasting country, from Venezuela’s Orinoco to Colombia’s north-flowing Magdalena.
- The pace of river travel Experience a journey where heat and uncertainty matter as much as the destination.
- A scientist on the water See how Zahm brings natural history and geography into his account of travel.
- Wide plains and Andean beginnings Picture the Orinoco’s low banks and trace the Magdalena’s course from the Andes.
- Earlier explorers in view Discover how the record of past exploration accompanies Zahm’s own journey through South America.
Who will love it
For readers who love travel writing, river journeys, natural history and the exploration of South America, with geography and earlier explorers woven into the journey.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two rivers frame the whole journey
- A priest and scientist makes the trip
- The Orinoco tests a traveler's patience
- The Magdalena leads from the Andes to the sea
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Por el Orinoco y el Magdalena in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Por el Orinoco y el Magdalena
by J. A. Zahm · 1910
Travel with a priest and scientist along the Orinoco and Magdalena to see how rivers shape northern South America.
Challenging10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Up the Orinoco and Down the Magdalena is a travel book by J. A.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two rivers frame the whole journey
The book is built around two rivers that run through very different country. The Orinoco is one of the largest rivers of South America. It drains much of Venezuela, and its waters pass through wide grasslands, forest and rapids before they reach the sea.
The Magdalena is the main river of Colombia. It runs north between mountain ranges of the Andes and carries travelers and goods between the interior and the Caribbean coast. For centuries it was the chief road into the Colombian highlands.
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What is Up the Orinoco and Down the Magdalena about?
It is a travel journal about a journey on two South American rivers, the Orinoco in Venezuela and the Magdalena in Colombia. The author describes the route, the land and its natural history, and the earlier explorers of the region.
Who was J. A. Zahm?
John Augustine Zahm was a Catholic priest and scientist of the Congregation of Holy Cross who taught at Notre Dame. He wrote about science and the Americas, and he travelled widely, including with Theodore Roosevelt in Brazil.
Is Up the Orinoco and Down the Magdalena a true story?
Yes. It is a nonfiction travel account of real rivers and a real journey, written in the early 1900s. It belongs to the tradition of exploration and natural history writing about South America.
The author
John Augustine Zahm
1851–1921 · American priest and author
John Augustine Zahm (1851–1921) was an American Holy Cross priest, scientist, author, and explorer. He was born in Ohio and worked at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He travelled in South America and published Up the Orinoco and Down the Magdalena in 1910. He died in Munich, Germany.
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