Audio Books

Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World

James Cook
Having, on his first voyage, discovered Australia, Cook still had to contend with those who maintained that the Terra Australians Incognita (the unknown Southern Continent) was a reality. To finally settle the issue, the British Admiralty sent Cook out again into the vast Southern Ocean with two sailing ships totalling only about 800 tons. Listen as Cook, equipped with one of the first chronometers, pushes his small vessel not merely into the Roaring Forties or the Furious Fifties but becomes the first explorer to penetrate the Antarctic Circle, reaching an incredible Latitude 71 degrees South, just failing to discover Antarctica.

Camping in the Canadian Rockies

Walter Dwight Wilcox
An Account of Camp Life in the Wilder Parts of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, Together with a Description of the Region About Banff, Lake Louise and Glacier, and a Sketch of the Early Explorations.

Guide Book of Art, Architecture, and Historic Interests in Pennsylvania

Margaretta Archambault
This book was curated by the State Federation of Pennsylvania Women for tourists' use on a journey to Pennsylvania. Each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties has its own chapter, discussing beautiful art and buildings that may be found there (or, in lieu of art, pioneer history). These chapters were each written by a knowledgeable person from that county. While details are often sparse, the guide is an excellent starting point for individuals who wish to learn more about local history of Pennsylvania. Note: While the book was compiled in 1917, the first world war prevented its publication until 1924.

Philadelphia's Historic Firsts includes a list of all of the interesting inventions and processes created, performed, or discovered for the first time in Philadelphia. The "Commonwealth" sections are an exhaustive history of Philadelphia County and its beautiful buildings, artworks, and historical figures. Following that section, each county has a chapter, in the order in which the counties were founded.

Diversions in Sicily

Jones, Henry Festing
Samuel Butler's biographer dedicates his urbane account of the culture and entertainments of rural Sicily to the unborn son of his guide to them.

English Girl's First Impressions of Burmah

Beth Ellis
An English Girl's First Impressions of Burmah, by Beth Ellis, is a well-edited, turn-of-the-century journal documenting a young woman’s visit to Burma. The account documents her ocean voyage to Rangoon, and her stay in a small, jungle-embedded, European community in Remyo. The author, who travelled to Asia alone to visit her brother, is quick to laugh at her own exaggerated fears. She gives us a glimpse into the less-than-glamorous lives to Myanmar’s British occupiers. The book was published in 1899, just thirteen years after the conclusion of the third Anglo-Burmese war, when Britain took formal control of Myanmar and made it a province of India.

Peaks of Shala

Rose Wilder Lane
This book was published in 1923. From the author's own Introduction: "I would not have this book considered too seriously. It is not an attempt to untangle one thread in the Balkan snarl; it is not a study of primitive peoples; it is not a contribution to the world’s knowledge, and I hope no one will read it to improve the mind. It should be read as the adventures in it were lived, with a gayly inquiring mind, a taste for strange peoples and unknown trails, and a delight in the unexpected. Here I give you only what I saw, felt, and most casually learned while adventuring among the tribes in the interior northern Albanian mountains..."

Three brave American Zonyas (women) venture into the mountains of Northern Albania at a time not long after the Great War, when the boundaries (and even the right to exist) of the Balkan states were still hotly disputed. The author tells us why: "the people are living as they lived twenty centuries ago, before the Greek or the Roman or the Slav was ever known. There are prehistoric cities up there, old legends, songs, customs that no one knows anything about. No stranger’s ever even seen them."

What better reason to risk life, health, and limb?

Book of American Explorers

Thomas Wentworth Higginson
This book tells the story of exploration in America in the words of the explorers themselves. It consists of extracts from narratives of the early discoverers and explorers of the American continent from the Northmen in 10th century to 17th century Massachusets Bay Colony.

Peaks of Shala

Rose Wilder Lane
This book was published in 1923. From the author's own Introduction: "I would not have this book considered too seriously. It is not an attempt to untangle one thread in the Balkan snarl; it is not a study of primitive peoples; it is not a contribution to the world’s knowledge, and I hope no one will read it to improve the mind. It should be read as the adventures in it were lived, with a gayly inquiring mind, a taste for strange peoples and unknown trails, and a delight in the unexpected. Here I give you only what I saw, felt, and most casually learned while adventuring among the tribes in the interior northern Albanian mountains..."

Three brave American Zonyas (women) venture into the mountains of Northern Albania at a time not long after the Great War, when the boundaries (and even the right to exist) of the Balkan states were still hotly disputed. The author tells us why: "the people are living as they lived twenty centuries ago, before the Greek or the Roman or the Slav was ever known. There are prehistoric cities up there, old legends, songs, customs that no one knows anything about. No stranger’s ever even seen them."

What better reason to risk life, health, and limb?

Romance of Polar Exploration

G. Firth Scott
While stories of the Polar explorers and their efforts to reach the Poles have been told again and again, the constant renewal of expeditions adds, every year, fresh incidents to the record, until it may almost be said that the fascination of the frozen regions is as inexhaustible as the list of Polar heroes is illimitable. Nor is the interest confined solely to the achievement of modern explorers. However great the results of their exertions may be, the fact that, in spite of all the advantages conferred by recent scientific discovery and modern appliances, the explorers of to-day have failed to penetrate the uttermost secrets of the worlds of ice, renders more impressively heroic the struggles of the earlier travellers, whose equipment, viewed in comparison with that of modern man, was apparently so inadequate and often inappropriate.

No series of Polar adventure stories would be complete without a prominent place being given to the earlier explorers, and especially to that British hero, Franklin, whose name is so inseparably associated with the history of Arctic exploration. The account of his daring voyages and of his tragic end, at the moment of victory, has already been given in many a form; but the tale is one which will stand re-telling for generations yet to come. In the present instance it has been of necessity briefly written, but in such a manner as will, it is hoped, without loss of interest, render clear a comparison of the conditions under which he and his brave companions worked and fought to their death, with those that existed for later expeditions and especially the expeditions of Nansen, Peary, and Abruzzi.

The Antarctic, equally with the Arctic, now commands the attention of man. In the South, as in the North, the British race has again produced explorers who have fought their way into the icy fastnesses. From the time that Captain Cook sailed round the unknown southern ocean, more than a century ago, the British flag has waved in the forefront of the advance. The work which Sir James Ross began, over half a century since, has now been carried farther than ever it was anticipated it could be. By the voyage of the Discovery, the Antarctic continent has been revealed to within five hundred miles of the Pole, and in the gallant exploits of the commander, Captain Robert Scott, there are many who see a repetition of all that made the name of Franklin so immortal.

The source of the information on which these stories are based (as is frequently mentioned in the text) is the personal narrative of the explorer concerned, where available; and if the interest aroused in any of them requires more to satisfy it than the exigencies of space renders possible in this volume, the attention which will thereby be drawn to the more comprehensive records will stand as a slight acknowledgment of the indebtedness of the writer of these re-told stories to the authors of the original narratives.

Letters to a Friend, Written to Mrs. Ezra S. Carr, 1866-1879

John Muir
When John Muir was a student in the University of Wisconsin he was a frequent caller at the house of Dr. Ezra S. Carr. The kindness shown him there, and especially the sympathy which Mrs. Carr, as a botanist and a lover of nature, felt in the young man's interests and aims, led to the formation of a lasting friendship. He regarded Mrs. Carr, indeed, as his "spiritual mother," and his letters to her in later years are the outpourings of a sensitive spirit to one who he felt thoroughly understood and sympathized with him. These letters are therefore peculiarly revealing of their writer's personality. Most of them were written from the Yosemite Valley, and they give a good notion of the life Muir led there, sheep-herding, guiding, and tending a sawmill at intervals to earn his daily bread, but devoting his real self to an ardent scientific study of glacial geology and a joyous and reverent communion with Nature.

In The Footprints Of The Padres

Charles Warren Stoddard
The American Charles Warren Stoddard (1843–1909) wrote travel books quite popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This third enlarged edition (1912) of his book more about California in general, in historia, and in memoria rather than her missions contains essays not included in the previous editions. “Charles Warren Stoddard was possessed of unique literary gifts that were all his own. These gifts shine out in the pages of this book. Here we find that mustang humor of his forever kicking its silver heels with the most upsetting suddenness into the honeyed sweetness of his flowing poetry. Here, too, we find that gift of word-painting which makes all his writings a brilliant gallery of rich-hued and soft-lighted wonder…. But no, the old California that Stoddard loved lives on, and will, because he caught and preserved its spirit and its coloring, its light and life and music. As the redwood thicket holds the sunlight, so do Stoddard's words keep bright and living, though viewed through a mist of tears, the California of other days.” ( Book Introduction and David Wales)

Spell of Egypt, The

Hichens, Robert Smythe
The author, a British journalist and novelist, is interested in the feel of the places he visits. He describes at length a visit he has made to Egypt, with emphasis on the emotional response the places generate.

In Quest of El Dorado

Stephen Graham
Lively (and often unsparing) descriptions of the people, places, and customs that the author encounters as he attempts to retrace the steps of the early Spanish conquistadores in the Americas: Columbus, Cortez, Pizarro, Balboa, Coronado.

Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Years 1799-1804, Vol.3

Aimé Bonpland
Volume 3, the final volume of the “Personal Narrative”, records the travels of Alexander von Humboldt and the botanist Aimé Bonpland in South and Central America, and the Caribbean. In this volume, they start at Angostura, the capital at that time of Spanish Guiana, where both required recuperation from serious febrile disease contracted on their journey on the Orinoco. Once well, they recommenced their travels, returning across Spanish Guiana and Venezuela to the coastal settlement of Nueva Barcelona, from whence they departed for Cuba and further travels in the Caribbean. As in the previous volumes, von Humboldt describes their travel with a narrative that is expressively descriptive of people, plants, animals and geology. Volume 3 also discusses slavery in Cuba and provides a geological description of South America north of the Amazon and east of the northern region of the Andes.

Shores of the Polar Sea: A Narrative of the Arctic Expedition of 1875-6

Edward Lawton Moss
"THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION of 1875 left England on 29th May, crossed the Atlantic to Davis Straits in a succession of storms, and entered the Arctic regions on 4th July. It sailed with orders to 'attain the highest northern latitude, and, if possible, reach the Pole.'" This is the story of the crew of the HMS Alert, on its voyage of exploration up the Baffin Sea and toward northern Greenland.

Volunteers wish to thank the volunteers of Distributed Proofreaders for their work over the last 20 years to convert public domain books into e-books. "Shores of the Polar Sea" was DP's 35,000th title.

Congratulations and Happy 20th Anniversary Distributed Proofreaders!

Soldier Of The Legion; <br>An Englishman's Adventures Under The French Flag in Algeria And Tonquin

George Manington
An educated gentleman, Mr Manington has given an insight into the unusual experiences of an Englishman in the French Foreign Legion, such as no ordinary "mercenary" could have done. Most of the narrative deals with Tonquin, and the fighting there against the rebels in their forest fastnesses. Incidentally, in giving an account of his friendship for the native sergeant, Doy-Tho, the author has been able to impart to the pages of the book an Oriental atmosphere that we think will prove attractive to the reader.

Story of Sitka

Clarence Leroy Andrews
The Author recounts life in the great northwest in Sitka, Alaska "Sitka of the Russians" a century ago with insights into Sitka's settlement, natives, churches, social life, trade etc., when it was at the center of trade a century ago.

Thrilling Adventures By Land And Sea

James O. Brayman
There is in the adventures of the daring and heroic, something that interests all. There is a charm about them which, while it partakes of the nature of Romance, does not exercise the same influence upon the mind or heart. When there are noble purposes and noble ends connected with them, they excite in the mind of the reader, noble impulses. The object of the present compilation [1852] is to form a readable and instructive volume--a volume of startling incident and exciting adventure, which shall interest all minds, and by its attractions beget thirst for reading… - Book Preface

Letters from England, 1846-1849

Elizabeth Davis Bancroft
Elizabeth Bancroft went to England with her husband, historian George Bancroft, for three of the most dynamic years in European history. As Ambassador to England from the United States, George moved in the highest circles. In his wife's letters to their sons, her uncle, her brother, and Mrs. Polk (the President's wife), we see glimpses not only of early Victorian English life, but also of Queen Victoria herself! Mrs. Bancroft speaks of dinners with Benjamin Disraeli, visits to Wordsworth, weekends in the country with Louis Napoleon and Sir Robert Peel with such matter of fact aplomb that one cannot help being impressed.

Englishwoman in America

Isabella L. Bird
Isabella Bird travels abroad in Canada and the United States in the 1850s. As an Englishwoman and a lone female, she travels as far as Chicago, Prince Edward Island, and Cincinatti. Her observations on the trials and tribulations of the journeys are astute, if formed by her place and time in history. Adventures with pickpockets, omnibuses, cholera, and rat invested hotels deter her not. (Sibella Denton)

American Scenery, Vol. 1

Nathaniel Parker Willis
Although the focus of this book is the engravings depicting scenic sites of 19th century America, each is accompanied by a short description of the site and location. These vignettes give us rare glimpses of scenic locations as they appeared in 1840. All sites are in the eastern part of the United States, especially New England and New York. This is Volume One of a two-volume set.

Handbook to the Rivers and Broads of Norfolk & Suffolk

George Christopher Davies
The Broads are Britain's largest protected wetland and are home to a wealth of wildlife, especially fish and birdlife. They comprise a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The lakes (or broads) were originally formed by the gradual natural flooding of medieval peat excavations and cover an area of some 303 square kilometres (117 sq mi).

The rivers and broads subsequently evolved to become a system of water-highways linking the City of Norwich and other inland towns such as, Beccles, Belaugh and Barton with the sea-ports of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. This is also where the unique Norfolk Wherry, with its shallow draught and distinctive gaff rig with a single, high-peaked sail carried goods and passengers around the Broads area.The Broads have also been a boating holiday destination since the late 19th century and this book is a record of a two week waterborne holiday taken by the author and a friend at the turn of the last century.

So, join me if you will, on an auditory cruise around these unique waterways through expansive landscapes under wide open skies.

This Giddy Globe

Herford, Oliver
Is there a genre called FUN? Yes, and this is it! Insanely humorous geography that will have you rolling on the floor laughing with your sides hurting.

California

Vizetelly, Henry
Vizetelly, writing under the pseudonym J. Tyrwhitt Brooks, recalls an expedition to California he took between 1847-1848 . Originally, he planned to enlist as a surgeon for the US Army during the Mexican war, but conflicts had ended by the time he applied. In a quick change of plans, he joined a group of prospectors on their way to the newly found gold fields of California. While he might not find service in the military, his training as a physician made him a valuable addition to the ragtag team of explorers.
His training as a physician gives us an exacting perspective of the events and people who struck out from more sedate routines to prospect gold in the Californian wilderness. However, he is unprepared to find a cure for the gold fever that has depopulated the surrounding towns. Only one member of the group, an experienced fur-trapper, is able to resist the lustrous lure of nuggets, flakes and gold richly deposited in the dusty desert.
Like the others who have left jobs to prospect for gold, he learns how to live on the land and struggle through hardship away from the security of city life. His motley group of changing characters ride through sudden fortunes and disasters while meeting Mormons, Indians and not least of all a bountiful harvest of gold. Before he returns to his home in England, another quick change of fortune undoes his plans for a comfortable retirement and shows us the extent of greed that has sprung up in the mining camps.

Audubon's Western Journal: 1849-1850

John Woodhouse Audubon
John Woodhouse Audubon (1812-1862), son of the famous painter John James Audubon and an artist in his own right, joined Col. Henry Webb's California Company expedition in 1849. From New Orleans the expedition sailed to the Rio Grande; it headed west overland through northern Mexico and through Arizona to San Diego, California. Cholera and outlaws decimated the group. Many of them turned back, including the leader. Audubon assumed command of those remaining and they pushed on to California, although he was forced to abandon his paints and canvases in the desert…. Throughout the whole of this long journey Mr. Audubon took notes of scenes and occurrences by the way. In his descriptions he exhibits the keen observation of the naturalist and the trained eye of the artist. The result is a remarkable picture of social conditions in Mexico, of birds and trees, of sky and mountains and the changing face of nature, of the barrenness of the desert and the difficulties of the journey, of the ruined missions of California, of methods of mining, and of the chaos of races and babel of tongues in the gold fields. It was manifestly impossible to keep a daily journal, and the entries were made from time to time as opportunity occurred. Considering the circumstances under which they were taken, the notes are remarkable for their accuracy. Because it was not edited by Audubon, the text (and this recording) ends abruptly.

Bohemian San Francisco

Clarence Edgar Edwords
While describing his dining experiences throughout "Bohemian San Francisco," Clarence Edwords paints an historic panorama of California cuisine with all its cosmopolitan influences. Best of all, he offers tantalizing recipes culled from conversations with the master chefs of 1914 in "The City by the Bay."

Through Glacier Park; Seeing America First With Howard Eaton (version 2)

Mary Roberts Rinehart
This is the first of two travelogues published by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958). Both deal with Glacier National Park. (The other is entitled Tenting To-night, which also deals with the Cascade Mountains.). Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues and articles, though she is most famous for her mystery stories. The region that became Glacier National Park was first inhabited by Native Americans and upon the arrival of European explorers, was dominated by the Blackfeet in the east and the Flathead in the western regions. Summary by wikipedia and david wales.

American Scenery, Vol. 2

Nathaniel Parker Willis
Although the focus of this book is the engravings depicting scenic sites of 19th century America, each is accompanied by a short description of the site and location. These vignettes give us rare glimpses of scenic locations as they appeared in 1840. All sites are in the eastern part of the United States, especially New England and New York. This is Volume Two of a two-volume set.

Little Tour in France

Henry James
A splendid example of travel writing at its best, in this description of six week tour in France -- from Touraine, down to Provence, then back up north -- made by Henry James in 1882, and first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1883-1884.

Two Years in Oregon

Wallis Nash
Wallis Nash was a British lawyer who visited Oregon and later emigrated with his family. His account covers a great breadth of description of the state of Oregon from natural history to business and climate, from the coast through the great Willamette Valley to the reaches of central and eastern Oregon. It is not travelogue but a comprehensive description in the most positive light to encourage others to follow his example to settle in the state of Oregon, so full of promise.

Travel Stories Retold From St. Nicholas

Various
St. Nicholas was a popular magazine aimed at young folks in the late nineteenth – early twentieth century. Its articles were usually well-written and often by authors who became famous later on. This collection of articles published in 1920, aimed at the youth market, can be easily enjoyed by adults as well.

Tales Of English Minsters: Canterbury Cathedral Kent and Saint Paul's London

Elizabeth W. Grierson
These simple stories of two of England’s greatest cathedrals were originally written for youth (1910) but adults will also enjoy them. St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, and Canterbury Cathedral in Kent County are central to the story of England, especially church history though not exclusively so. Here are stories of great spiritual leaders, saints, sinners, politicians, kings, soldiers, murders, pilgrimages, common folks, peoples’ spiritualities, spiritual life, civil life.

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