Fawcett's last expedition (20 apr 1925 anni – 29 magg 1925 anni)

Descrizione:

In 1924, with funding from a London-based group of financiers known as 'the Glove',[21] Fawcett returned to Brazil with his eldest son Jack and Jack's best and longtime friend, Raleigh Rimell, for an exploratory expedition to find "Z". Fawcett left instructions stating that if the expedition did not return, no rescue expedition should be sent lest the rescuers suffer his fate.[citation needed]

Fawcett was a man with years of experience traveling and had taken equipment such as canned foods, powdered milk, guns, flares, a sextant, and a chronometer. His travel companions were both chosen for their health, ability, and loyalty to each other; Fawcett chose only two companions in order to travel lighter and with less notice to native tribes, as some were hostile towards outsiders.[citation needed]

On 20 April 1925, his final expedition departed from Cuiabá. In addition to his two principal companions, Fawcett was accompanied by two Brazilian laborers, two horses, eight mules, and a pair of dogs. The last communication from the expedition was on 29 May 1925 when Fawcett wrote, in a letter to his wife delivered by a native runner, that he was ready to go into unexplored territory with only Jack and Raleigh. They were reported to be crossing the Upper Xingu, a southeastern tributary river of the River Amazon. The final letter, written from Dead Horse Camp, gave their location and was generally optimistic.[citation needed]

In January 1927, the Royal Geographical Society declared and accepted the men as lost, close to two years after the party's last message. Soon after the RGS's declaration, there was an outpouring of volunteers to attempt to locate the lost explorers. Many expeditions attempting to find Fawcett failed. At least one lone searcher died in the attempt.

Many people assumed that local Indians killed them, as several tribes were nearby at the time: the Kalapalos, the last tribe to have seen them, the Arumás, the Suyás, and the Xavantes whose territory they were entering. According to explorer John Hemming, Fawcett's party of three was too few to survive in the jungle and his expectation that his Indian hosts would look after them was likely to have antagonized them by failing to bring any gifts to repay their generosity.[22] Twenty years later a Kalapalo chief called Comatzi told his people how the unwelcome strangers were killed,[23] but others have thought they got lost and died of starvation,[23][24] and the bones provided by Comatzi turned out not to be those of Fawcett.[25] Edmar Morel and Nilo Vellozo reported that Comatzi's predecessor, Kalapalos Chief Izarari, had told them he had killed Fawcett and his son Jack, seemingly by shooting them with arrows after Fawcett allegedly attacked him and other Indians when they refused to give him guides and porters to take him to their Chavante enemies, and Rolf Blomberg said Izarari had told him that Raleigh Rimell had already died of fever in a camp of Kurikuro Indians.[26] A somewhat different version came from Orlando Villas-Bôas, who reported that Izarari had told him that he had killed all three white men with his club the morning after Jack Fawcett had allegedly consorted with one of his wives, when he claimed that Percy Fawcett had slapped him in the face after the chief refused his demand for canoes and porters to continue his journey.[26]

The Kalapalo have an oral story of the arrival of three explorers which states that the three went east, and after five days the Kalapalo noticed that the group no longer made camp fires.[citation needed] The Kalapalo say that a very violent tribe most likely killed them.[citation needed] However, both of the younger men were lame and ill when last seen,[citation needed] and there is no proof that they were murdered. It is plausible that they died of natural causes in the Brazilian jungle.[23][24][25]

In 1927, a name-plate of Fawcett's was found with an Indian tribe. In June 1933, a theodolite compass belonging to Fawcett was found near the Baciary Indians of Mato Grosso by Colonel Aniceto Botelho. However, the name-plate was from Fawcett's expedition five years earlier and had most likely been given as a gift to the chief of that Indian tribe. The compass was proven to have been left behind before he entered the jungle on his final journey.[27][28][29]

Dead Horse Camp
Dead Horse Camp, or Fawcett's Camp, is one of the major camps that Fawcett made on his final journey. This encampment was his last known location.[30] From Dead Horse Camp, Fawcett wrote to his wife about the hardships that he and his companions had faced, his coordinates, his doubts in Raleigh Rimell, and Fawcett's plans for the near future. He concludes his message with, "You need have no fear of any failure...”[30]

One question remaining about Dead Horse Camp concerns a discrepancy in the coordinates Fawcett gave for the camp. In the letter to his wife, he wrote: "Here we are at Dead Horse Camp, latitude 11 degrees 43' South and longitude 54 degrees 35' West, the spot where my horse died in 1920" (11°43′S 54°35′W). However, in a report to the North American Newspaper Alliance he gave the coordinates as 13°43′S 54°35′W.[31]

The discrepancy may have been a typographical error. However, he may have intentionally concealed the location to prevent others from using his notes to find the lost city.[32] It may have also been an attempt to dissuade any rescue attempts; Fawcett had stated that if he disappeared, no rescue party should be sent because the danger was too great.

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