And So To Brazil
(1974)
And so to Brazil!
Brazil?
Brazil.
Amazonia?
Amazonia.
To uninhabited jungle where they eat monkeys and where the man-eating fish are?
Yes, where all you'll see that's London is an occasional well-known star
At night.
But when it's light
You'll see the forest - virgin - tall - smothering and green,
You'll see rivers and waterways and creeks hitherto unseen
By European.
This is a time I must think.
Must pause and consider,
Weighing it up in my mind.
Is life, the cup I drink,
To be sold to the highest bidder
While I leave my home behind?
Go - take it and go - take it firmly and go.
It's new, a challenge, a job to do. Hurry, take it, be not slow!
It's priceless experience offered to few,
It's rough, it's rugged, it's for you!
You have the skill, the brain, the drive, the verve.
The money's good, now how's your nerve?
Fine! Fine!
Come country, come people, come land,
Come work. Come at me fast, you're
Mine! Mine!
After South Africa I was back in London for a time. I carried out a study of gold, which took me round the world visiting gold mines and operations. One day, while writing up my report at 6, St. James' Square, the head office of RTZ, I was walking along a corridor, when Dr. Arthur Smith rushed out of a room and almost knocked me over. He grabbed me and said "Do you fancy going to Brazil?" "Yes", I said. That night I thought it over.