Secrets of the Dead (2000–…): Season 11, Episode 2 - Lost in the Amazon - full transcript
What happened to the British explorer Col. Percy Fawcett, who went missing in the Amazon jungle in 1925 along with his son while searching for what he, due to his theosophical beliefs, believed to be a mythical lost city he called "Z".
Announcer: COMING UP,
IN 1925, FAMED EXPLORER PERCY
FAWCETT SET OFF INTO THE AMAZON
IN SEARCH OF A FABLED LOST CITY.
Man: FAWCETT IMAGINED ATLANTIS,
KIND OF.
Announcer:
HE VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE.
Different man: I DON'T THINK
HE GOT LOST IN THE JUNGLE.
HE DISAPPEARED BECAUSE
SOMEBODY KILLED HIM.
Announcer: AND NEW EVIDENCE
SUGGESTS FAWCETT'S LOST CITY
MAY NOT BE A MYTH.
Man: THEY ARE DIGGING UP
MORE AND MORE EVIDENCE
TO SAY THAT THESE SOCIETIES
HAD EXISTED.
Announcer: LOST IN THE AMAZON
ON "SECRETS OF THE DEAD."
Announcer: "SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY
CONTRIBUTIONS TO YOUR PBS
STATIONS FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
THANK YOU.
Narrator: FOR DECADES,
EXPLORER COLONEL PERCY FAWCETT
CAPTIVATED THE WORLD.
HIS EXPLOITS IN THE AMAZON
FEATURING LOST CITIES
AND FANTASTIC CREATURES INSPIRED
BOOKS AND HOLLYWOOD MOVIES.
Man: HE WAS THE ORIGINAL.
HE WAS THE SWASHBUCKLER.
THIS REALLY WAS
AN INDIANA JONES FIGURE.
HE WAS THE HOTTEST EXPLORER
OF HIS DAY.
HE WAS ABLE TO THRIVE IN THESE
INCREDIBLY TOUGH ENVIRONMENTS
SIMPLY BY DETERMINATION.
Narrator: IN 1925,
AT THE AGE OF 58,
FAWCETT HEADED INTO THE JUNGLE
WITH HIS SON AND A FRIEND
TO FIND A MYSTERIOUS LOST CITY
CALLED "Z."
IT WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST
NEWS STORIES OF THE DAY,
AND MILLIONS FOLLOWED REPORTS
OF THEIR EXPLOITS.
THEN ALL 3 VANISHED
WITHOUT A TRACE.
DESPITE COUNTLESS
RESCUE MISSIONS,
FAWCETT WAS NEVER FOUND.
WAS HE KILLED BY INDIANS,
AS MOST BELIEVE?
AND IS THERE A FACTUAL BASIS
FOR HIS LOST CITY?
NOW MODERN-DAY EXPLORER
NIALL McCANN
TRAVELS TO SOUTH AMERICA
ARMED WITH NEW CLUES:
FAWCETT'S SIGNET RING,
SECRET MAP COORDINATES,
AND AN UNDERSTANDING
OF THE MYSTICAL PURPOSE
BEHIND FAWCETT'S FINAL JOURNEY.
SINCE EUROPEANS FIRST ARRIVED
IN THE NEW WORLD,
THEY HEARD STORIES OF
A LEGENDARY JUNGLE CITY,
EL DORADO, WHOSE KING WAS SAID
TO DUST HIMSELF WITH GOLD.
IN 1542, A SPANISH EXPEDITION
WAS THE FIRST OF MANY
TO GO DEEP INTO THE AMAZON
IN PURSUIT OF THE GOLDEN CITY
AND ITS RICHES.
A MONK NAMED GASPAR DE CARVAJAL
ACCOMPANIED THE EXPLORERS
AND KEPT A JOURNAL.
Man: CARVAJAL WENT DOWN
THE MAIN CANNEL OF THE AMAZON
ARE REPORTED THAT THERE WERE
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE LIVING THERE,
THAT THERE ARE THESE SUCCESSFUL
ADVANCED SOCIETIES
THAT WERE PERFECTLY CAPABLE
OF DEFENDING THEMSELVES
THAT THE SPANIARDS
WERE SCARED OF.
Narrator: BY THE 20th CENTURY,
EL DORADO HAD BEEN DECLARED
A MYTH.
THE AMAZON WAS CLEARLY POPULATED
BY SCATTERED GROUPS
OF TRIBAL PEOPLES.
CARVAJAL'S ACCOUNT
OF LARGE POPULATIONS
WAS DISMISSED BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS
WHO BELIEVED THIS JUNGLE
COULD NOT SUSTAIN LARGE CITIES.
BUT AS ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE BEGUN
TO GO INTO THIS AREA,
THEY'RE DIGGING UP
MORE AND MORE EVIDENCE
TO SAY THAT THESE SOCIETIES
HAD EXISTED
IN THE WAY THAT CARVAJAL
REPORTED.
WHAT HAPPENED WAS
THAT DISEASE CAME THROUGH
AND WIPED THEM OUT.
Narrator: THE THIRST
FOR GLOBAL EXPLORATION
DEFINED THE BRITISH
VICTORIAN AGE.
COMING AT THE VERY END
OF THAT ERA,
PERCY FAWCETT WAS AMONG THE LAST
OF THE GREAT ENGLISH EXPLORERS.
IT INCLUDED BURTON, LIVINGSTONE,
AND SHACKELTON,
EACH PUSHING BACK THE VEIL
OF THE UNKNOWN.
UNLIKE THE SEEKERS OF EL DORADO,
PERCY FAWCETT WAS
NO TREASURE HUNTER.
A WAR HERO, BRILLIANT SURVEYOR,
AND AMATEUR ARCHAEOLOGIST,
HE BECAME FASCINATED WITH
THE SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE IDEA
THAT LARGE CIVILIZATIONS MUST
HAVE ONCE EXISTED IN THE AMAZON.
HE FIRST STEPPED FOOT
IN SOUTH AMERICA IN 1906.
AT THE AGE OF 39,
FAWCETT WAS HANDPICKED
BY ENGLAND'S
ROYAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
TO SOLVE A POLITICAL DISPUTE
BY SURVEYING AND ESTABLISHING
THE NEWLY FORMED BORDERS
OF BOLIVIA AND BRAZIL.
AS A SKILLED SURVEYOR,
HE CROSSED VAST DISTANCES,
FACING EVERY IMAGINABLE DANGER,
FROM HOSTILE TRIBES
TO DEADLY DISEASES.
AND HE WOULD DRIVE THE PEOPLE
THAT WORKED FOR HIM
SO THAT HE WAS ABLE TO COMPLETE
THE SURVEYS
THAT WOULD TAKE 3 OR 4 WEEKS
FOR ANOTHER TEAM,
HE WOULD DO THEM IN 3 OR 4 DAYS.
Narrator:
CRUCIAL TO HIS SURVIVAL
WAS PERCY'S ABILITY TO LEARN
NATIVE LANGUAGES
AND TO KEEP A COOL HEAD
WHEN ENCOUNTERING
EVEN THE FIERCEST INDIANS.
Lowther:
THEY WERE GOING IN CANOES
UP A NARROW RIVER WHEN THEY WERE
SUDDENLY ATTACKED.
ARROWS BEGAN TO FLY
ALL OVER THE PLACE.
THESE ARROWS, BY THE WAY, WOULD
COME AT YOU WITH ENORMOUS FORCE.
ONE OF THEM WOULD PASS
RIGHT THROUGH THE CANOE,
RIGHT THROUGH THE WOODEN SIDES
OF THE CANOE.
Narrator:
INSTEAD OF FIRING A GUN,
FAWCETT BEGAN PLAYING MUSIC
ON A SMALL ACCORDION.
THIS ENDED THE ATTACK, AND THE
NATIVES WERE SOON HIS FRIENDS,
PROVIDING HIM SAFE PASSAGE
THROUGH THEIR JUNGLE.
Lowther: FAWCETT WAS VERY
SUCCESSFUL IN HIS BOUNDARY WORK,
AND CERTAINLY PLEASED
THE BOLIVIANS ENORMOUSLY.
THOSE BORDERS HAVE STUCK,
AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE REDONE THEM
HAVE SAID THAT HIS WORK
WAS QUITE ACCURATE.
Narrator: THEN IN 1911, AN
IMPORTANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVENT
ROCKED THE WORLD AND SPURRED
FAWCETT'S OBSESSION
WITH THE SEARCH FOR A LOST CITY
IN THE JUNGLE.
Mann:
IN 1911, HIRAM BINGHAM,
YOU KNOW, LED BY NATIVE PEOPLE,
FINDS MACHU PICCHU
AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER
INCA SITES
AND TAKES THESE PICTURES
THAT APPEAR SUBSEQUENTLY
IN "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC."
AND THEY JUST ELECTRIFY PEOPLE
ALL OVER THE WORLD.
IT'S THE FIRST TIME THAT THESE
IMAGES OF THESE LOST CITIES
HAVE BEEN SEEN IN THIS WAY,
AND IT INSPIRES PEOPLE TO
BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE OTHERS
AND TO TAKE CREDENCE IN THE IDEA
THAT THERE ARE
THESE OTHER CITIES,
AND ONE OF THEM, OF COURSE,
IS PERCY FAWCETT.
Narrator: FAWCETT WAS CERTAIN
THE INCAS HAD WARNED
NUMEROUS TRIBES TO FLEE
THE SPANISH INVADERS
AND HIDE IN THE JUNGLE.
HIS PROOF? DISCOVERY
OF ANCIENT ARTIFACTS
BURIED FAR INLAND AND VIVID
ACCOUNTS OF WHITE INDIANS
AND A STONE CITY.
AFTER 1913, FAWCETT
FORMULATED THEORIES OF A CITY
HE CALLED SIMPLY "Z," PRONOUNCED
ZED IN THE BRITISH FASHION.
HE REFERS TO IT IN HIS JOURNALS.
Man as Fawcett: THE CENTRAL
PLACE I CALL ZED,
OUR MAIN OBJECTIVE, IS IN
A VALLEY ABOUT 10 MILES WIDE,
AND THE LOST CITY IS ON AN
EMINENCE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT,
APPROACHED BY A BOWED ROADWAY
OF STONE.
Narrator: BUT THERE WOULD BE
SOMETHING SPECIAL
ABOUT THIS CITY HE CALLED ZED,
SOMETHING SPIRITUAL.
AND IT WOULD BE THIS STRANGE
BREW OF EXPLORATION AND BELIEF
THAT BROUGHT PERCY, SON JACK,
AND HIS FRIEND RALEIGH RIMMEL
TO BRAZIL'S CENTRAL REGIONS
IN 1925.
SINCE FAWCETT'S DISAPPEARANCE
ON THAT EXPEDITION,
MUCH OF THE TRUE PURPOSE
BEHIND HIS QUEST FOR "Z"
HAS REMAINED HIDDEN,
WAITING TO BE UNCOVERED.
OVER THE DECADES,
HUNDREDS OF WOULD-BE RESCUERS
HAVE SOUGHT THE TRUTH
IN THIS IMPENETRABLE JUNGLE.
NONE SUCCEEDED.
MANY PAID WITH THEIR LIVES.
I CAN CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND
COLONEL FAWCETT'S MOTIVATIONS
FOR BEING OUT HERE
AND WHAT IT WAS LIKE
TO TRY AND TRAVEL THROUGH THESE
INCREDIBLY TOUGH ENVIRONMENTS.
Narrator:
EXPLORER NIALL McCANN
HAS CROSSED THE ATLANTIC
IN A ROWBOAT,
BEATEN PATHS THROUGH THE AMAZON,
AND CROSSED THE EARTH'S
POLAR REGIONS.
NOW HE HAS THE LEGEND OF
COLONEL FAWCETT IN HIS SIGHTS.
Niall McCann: AND I'VE BEEN ABLE
TO REALLY APPRECIATE
WHAT HE WAS GOING THROUGH.
I'M NOT SAYING HE WORKED
IN THESE ENVIRONMENTS,
BUT I'VE BEEN TO THE EXACT
PLACES THAT HE'S BEEN TO
AND I'VE SEEN THE EXACT ANIMALS
THAT HE WAS DESCRIBING.
Narrator: NIALL HAS COME TO THE
ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
IN LONDON,
WHERE FAWCETT WAS TRAINED,
TO SEEK OUT ANY CLUES
TO HIS DISAPPEARANCE.
McCann: WE'VE BEEN INVITED DOWN
HERE TO THE MAP ROOM
OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL
SOCIETY HERE IN LONDON.
AND I'VE ASKED THE ARCHIVIST
HERE TO LAY OUT
A RANGE OF THE MAPS
AS DRAWN BY COLONEL FAWCETT.
AND THE FIRST THING
THAT STRIKES YOU HERE
IS JUST THE INCREDIBLE LEVEL OF
DETAIL THAT HE'S PUT INTO THESE.
WE'VE GOT THIS REMARKABLE DETAIL
IN THE WAY THE STREAMS
ARE MARKED
AND THE CONTOUR LINES
AND EVERYTHING.
A FAR CRY FROM TODAY WHEN I WALK
AROUND THE FOREST WITH A GPS.
THIS MAN'S DONE IT
ALL ON FOOT
WITH HIS OWN SEXTANT.
Narrator: PERCY'S LOVE OF THE
JUNGLE BEGAN AT AN EARLY AGE.
AT 19, HE WAS SENT BY
HIS PARENTS TO SRI LANKA,
THEN NAMED CEYLON,
TO JOIN THE BRITISH ARMY.
Lowther: HIS MOTHER DECIDED THAT
THAT WOULD BE THE BEST COURSE
FOR HIM,
AND SHE CHOSE
THE ROYAL ARTILLERY
BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT THE UNIFORM
WAS SO SWEET.
HE HAD BEEN INFLUENCED BY
HIS MOTHER'S STRONG ATTRACTION
TO SPIRITUALISM
AND TO OCCULT MOVEMENTS,
WHICH HAD BECOME VERY POPULAR
IN BRITAIN AT THE TIME.
Narrator: HERE, PERCY'S BROTHER
INTRODUCED HIM
TO THE THEOSOPHY MOVEMENT,
CREATED BY MADAM BLAVATSKY,
A FAMOUS 19th-CENTURY PSYCHIC
AND SPIRITUALIST.
HER GLOBAL RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT
INFLUENCED LEADING FIGURES
OF THE DAY,
INCLUDING GANDHI, THOMAS EDISON,
AND ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.
BLAVATSKY TAUGHT THAT
ENLIGHTENED MASTER PRIESTS
DELIVERED PSYCHIC MESSAGES
TO HELP MANKIND.
THEY LIVED IN VARIOUS HIDDEN
CITIES AROUND THE WORLD,
INCLUDING TIBET
AND SOUTH AMERICA.
FAWCETT FELL UNDER
THE MOVEMENT'S SPELL
AND WOULD NEVER FORGET THE
MASTERS AND THE HIDDEN CITIES.
THEN IN CEYLON, HE MET NINA,
THE DAUGHTER OF A MAGISTRATE,
WHO IN 1901
WOULD BECOME HIS WIFE.
Lowther: AND HE FOUND THAT SHE
WAS AS INTERESTED
IN PSYCHIC AND SPIRITUAL THINGS
AS HE WAS,
AND THEY BECAME VERY GOOD
FRIENDS
AND WOULD GO OUT TOGETHER
SEARCHING IN THE JUNGLE
FOR AREAS WHERE THEY THOUGHT
THAT OLD CIVILIZATIONS
MAY HAVE BURIED TREASURES.
Narrator: INSPIRED BY WHAT
HE DISCOVERED IN CEYLON,
FAWCETT WOULD PURSUE A CAREER
AS AN R.G.S EXPLORER.
IN THE AMAZON, HE BEGAN TO
CONNECT ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
WITH MADAM BLAVATSKY'S
SECRET CITIES.
HIS FIRST EXPEDITION
TO LOOK FOR "Z" IN 1921
WAS A DISASTER.
CROSSING THE VAST MATO GROSSO
TOWARDS THE DEEP JUNGLE,
MEN GOT SICK, OXEN DROWNED,
AND A HORSE HAD TO BE SHOT.
HIS FINAL SEARCH FOR "Z,"
IN 1925, STARTED OFF WELL,
THEN DETERIORATED,
CULMINATING IN FAWCETT'S
DISAPPEARANCE.
MOST BELIEVE HE WAS KILLED
DEEP IN THE AMAZON,
FAR UP THE KULUENE RIVER,
BY HOSTILE INDIANS
SUCH AS THE KALAPALO.
BUT THE EVIDENCE FOR THIS THEORY
IS SKETCHY.
BACK AT THE ROYAL
GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY,
NIALL DISCOVERS LETTERS
AND ARTIFACTS FROM NINA
PROVIDING CLUES TO FAWCETT'S
DISAPPEARANCE.
SHE KNEW THE TRUE COORDINATES
OF HIS LAST CAMP
BASED ON A CODE
PERCY HAD GIVEN HER
SO HIS ACTUAL POSITION WAS
SECRET FROM POTENTIAL RIVALS.
ALSO HERE AT THE R.G.S.,
A WAX IMPRESSION OF FAWCETT'S
SIGNET RING,
DONATED BY NINA
AFTER HIS DISAPPEARANCE
AS A WAY TO IDENTIFY HIS BODY
SHOULD IT EVER TURN UP.
60 YEARS AFTER FAWCETT
WENT MISSING,
THE RING WAS FOUND
AND SENT TO HIS GRANDDAUGHTER
ROLETTE,
NOW LIVING IN CARDIFF, WALES.
HOW DO YOU DO?
VERY WELL.
LOVELY TO MEET YOU.
THANK YOU.
DO YOU RECOGNIZE
THIS WRITING AT ALL?
YES, OF COURSE I DO.
IT'S MY GRANDMOTHER'S,
NINA'S.
OK. AND IS THIS
THE FAMILY MOTTO?
IT IS, INDEED, YES.
CAN YOU TRANSLATE THAT?
MY LATIN'S NOT AS GOOD
AS IT USED TO BE.
AS FAR I KNOW,
IT MEANS THEY FEAR
NO OBSTACLES.
THEY FEAR NO OBSTACLES.
FANTASTIC.
NOW, YOU ACTUALLY
HAVE A COPY...
WELL,
THE RING ITSELF HERE?
I DO, INDEED, YES.
AMAZING. CAN WE COMPARE
THE IMPRESSION?
I THINK IT'S
PRETTY MUCH THAT,
ISN'T IT?
THAT SEEMS PRETTY EXACT
TO ME.
YEAH.
THAT'S IT.
EXCELLENT.
FOR YOUR FAMILY,
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE RING ACTUALLY
HAVING BEEN FOUND?
I THINK IT WAS
QUITE SIGNIFICANT.
I WAS IN SWITZERLAND
ONCE,
AND I WENT TO SEE
MY SISTER,
AND SHE HAD
A VERY GOOD FRIEND
WHO WAS
A VERY GOOD MEDIUM.
SO I HANDED IT OVER
TO HER.
AND SHE TOOK IT,
AND SHE JUST DROPPED IT
STRAIGHT AWAY.
SHE SAID, "THERE'S
A LOT OF BLOOD
INVOLVED HERE."
SHE SAYS, "I DON'T
WANT TO TOUCH IT
ANYMORE."
SO WHATEVER
HAS HAPPENED,
IT'S NOT BEEN GOOD.
EITHER HE WAS KILLED,
OR HIS FINGER WAS
SIMPLY CHOPPED OFF
BECAUSE HE DIDN'T
WANT TO GIVE IT.
HMM.
THAT IS
QUITE A POSSIBILITY.
YES.
WE'RE GOING TO
HAVE A LOOK
AT THESE PHOTOGRAPHS.
THAT'D BE GREAT.
Narrator: THE STORY OF THE RING
MAY PROVIDE A CLUE
TO PERCY'S FATE.
SO MIGHT ANOTHER POSSESSION,
PART OF A FAWCETT EXHIBIT
IN TORQUAY, ENGLAND.
ONE OF THE ARTIFACTS
BEING CATALOGUED
IS A KEY PART OF
A MAPPING INSTRUMENT.
RIGHT. SO THIS COMPASS
WAS ACTUALLY THE COMPASS
USED BY COLONEL FAWCETT
IN HIS THEODOLITE
WHEN HE WAS OUT
ON EXPLORATION.
NOW, IT WAS FOUND
8 YEARS AFTER
HE WENT MISSING,
AND THERE'S BEEN
LOTS OF SPECULATION
AS TO WHERE IT ACTUALLY
CAME FROM.
Narrator: SEVERAL OF PERCY'S
EXPEDITION DIARIES
WERE RECENTLY GIVEN TO
THE TORQUAY MUSEUM.
SO THESE ARE
FAWCETT'S DIARIES.
Narrator: IN THE 1950s,
SURVIVING SON BRIAN
WROTE SIDE NOTES
ABOUT PERCY'S 1921 TRIP
TO FIND THE LOST CITY.
WHAT'S MOST INTERESTING FOR ME
IS THESE COORDINATES HERE
FOR DEAD HORSE CAMP.
NOW, DEAD HORSE CAMP WAS WHERE
HE WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE
LAST BEEN SEEN,
IN THE BAKAIRI AREA.
HE'S GIVEN ONE SET
OF COORDINATES HERE,
WHICH HE WRITES... COORDINATES
GIVEN TO THE R.G.S...
AND BENEATH, WRITTEN IN
A DIFFERENT HANDWRITING,
PRESUMED TO BE BRIAN FAWCETT'S
HANDWRITING,
WE'VE GOT ANOTHER SET
OF COORDINATES.
NOW. I'M GONNA BE VERY
INTERESTED TO SEE
WHEN I ACTUALLY GO TO BRAZIL
TO INVESTIGATE
BOTH OF THESE AREAS
AND SEE WHICH WAS
THE LAST PLACE THAT FAWCETT
WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN.
Narrator: THE SEARCH TAKES NIALL
TO RIO DE JANEIRO,
WHERE FAWCETT SPENT TIME
PREPARING HIS TWO EXPEDITIONS
TO FIND "Z."
THERE, BRAZIL'S NATIONAL LIBRARY
HOLDS A 260-YEAR-OLD MANUSCRIPT
WHICH INCLUDES A TREASURE MAP
DESCRIBING A FANTASTIC
SILVER-LADEN LOST CITY.
A FRIEND SENT FAWCETT A COPY
TRANSLATED BY ISABEL BURTON,
WIFE OF FAMED EXPLORER
SIR RICHARD BURTON.
WRITTEN BY 18th-CENTURY
FORTUNE HUNTERS
WHO CLAIMED THEY DISCOVERED
A STONE JUNGLE CITY,
THE DOCUMENT IS AN IMPORTANT
CLUE FOR FAWCETT AND FOR NIALL.
HI, ANA.
HERE'S THE DOCUMENT
YOU WANTED.
FANTASTIC.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
AND AGAIN,
THERE IT IS,
DOCUMENT NUMBER 512.
YEAH.
THIS IS, I PRESUME,
PRESENTED TO THE KING
IN 1754.
MM-HMM.
IT'S SUFFERED SO MUCH
DAMAGE, THOUGH,
OVER THE YEARS,
HASN'T IT?
YEAH. THEY TRIED
TO RESTORE IT, BUT...
Lowther: IT TELLS OF
A STONE CITY WITH
MULTI-STORIED BUILDINGS,
WITH WONDERFUL ARCHITECTURE,
SOARING STONE ARCHES
VERY CLEVERLY DESIGNED,
WIDE STREETS LEADING DOWN
TO A LAKE,
ON WHICH THE ADVENTURERS
SAW TWO WHITE INDIANS
IN A CANOE,
CONFIRMING EVERYTHING THAT
FAWCETT BELIEVED TO BE RIGHT.
ON THE SIDES OF THE BUILDINGS,
THERE WAS CARVED LETTERS
THAT SEEMED TO RESEMBLE GREEK
OR AT LEAST AN EARLY EUROPEAN
ALPHABET.
Narrator: FOR FAWCETT,
IT ALL CAME TOGETHER...
THE STONE CITY,
TALES OF WHITE INDIANS,
ANCIENT RELICS.
"Z" MUST EXIST.
AND THE LEGEND ALSO SEEMED
TO MATCH MADAM BLAVATSKY'S
HIDDEN CITIES
AND PSYCHIC PRIESTS.
PALE-SKINNED INDIANS
MAY HAVE EXISTED,
BUT FAWCETT THOUGHT THESE COULD
BE BLAVATSKY'S MASTER PRIESTS
DELIVERING IMPORTANT SPIRITUAL
TEACHINGS TO THE WORLD.
McCANN: SO THESE ARE THE SIGNS
THAT THEY FOUND
WRITTEN ON THE SIDE OF THE CITY,
ON THE WALLS OF THE CITY,
AND FROM THE CAVES
THAT THEY FOUND
NEAR A WATERFALL 3 DAYS
DOWNSTREAM FROM THE CITY ITSELF.
Ana: YES, I BELIEVE SO.
EXCELLENT.
WELL, FAWCETT IMAGINED
AN ATLANTIS, KIND OF, YOU KNOW,
A GREEK CITY, BASICALLY,
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST.
THAT'S VERY DIFFICULT
IN MOST OF THE AMAZON
BECAUSE THERE REALLY ISN'T
THE STONE TO DO THAT.
YOU CAN HAVE REALLY IMPRESSIVE
CITIES,
BUT THEY'RE NOT GONNA BE
THAT KIND OF CITY.
Narrator: THEN WHAT ABOUT
THE CITY IN THE MANUSCRIPT?
MANY OF EXPERTS NOW THINK
THAT IT WAS WRITTEN
BY ADVENTURERS WHO WERE TRYING
TO RAISE MONEY,
THAT THERE WAS NO CITY,
THAT THEY SAW NO CITY.
Narrator: NIALL HAS COME
TO THE BRAZILIAN STATE
OF MATO GROSSO
TO PURSUE THE CLUES LEADING
TO FAWCETT'S DISAPPEARANCE.
LOADS OF SMOKE
AS WE WERE COMING IN.
YEAH, THERE'S
A LOT OF FIRE...
FERNANDO GARCIA
IS A JUNGLE SURVIVAL EXPERT
WHO WILL HELP THE LEAD WAY.
YEAH, I'M SURE WE WILL.
ALL RIGHT. LET'S ROLL.
LET'S READY IT UP.
YOUR BAG.
NIALL'S DESTINATION
IS A BAKAIRI INDIAN VILLAGE,
THE LAST PEOPLE KNOWN
TO HAVE SEEN FAWCETT ALIVE.
HE FINDS THIS LAND TRANSFORMED
BY DEFORESTATION AND FARMING.
Garcia: OK, MAN, WE'RE ALMOST
HITTING THE BAKAIRI VILLAGE.
AS FAR AS I KNOW,
NO ONE'S ACTUALLY BEEN HERE
TO SPEAK TO THEM.
SO NO ONE KNOWS
WHAT HE WAS LIKE
WHEN HE CAME HERE,
WHETHER THEY KNOW
WHERE HE WENT,
WHERE HE STAYED
WHERE HE WENT
AFTERWARDS.
NO ONE KNOWS THAT.
Narrator: NIALL SEEKS PERMISSION
FROM THE TRIBAL LEADERS
TO SPEAK ABOUT FAWCETT.
IF WE COULD PLEASE ASK
DON ANTONIO
WHAT HE REMEMBERS
ABOUT THE STORIES OF
COLONEL FAWCETT HIMSELF.
DID HIS PARENTS
SPEAK TO HIM?
DID HIS RELATIVES
SPEAK TO HIM
ABOUT FAWCETT?
AND WHAT KIND OF STORIES
WERE THEY TELLING?
Garcia: OK. THE CHIEF
AT THAT TIME WAS HIS UNCLE.
OK.
OK? THEN THEY ARRIVED
AT HIS UNCLE'S HOUSE, OK?
AND THEY GIVE HIM
SOME FOOD.
AT THE TIME THEY WERE STAYING,
YOU KNOW, FOR THE TWO DAYS
THEY WERE STAYING HERE,
THEY FEED HIM, OK?
BUT AT THE TIME TO LEAVE,
HE WAS CARRYING
HIS OWN SUPPLIES.
Narrator: IN 1925,
AT AGE 58,
FAWCETT HAD JUST ONE MORE CHANCE
OF FINDING THE LOST CITY OF "Z."
ONCE AGAIN, HE CAME A THOUSAND
MILES BY TRAIN AND RIVERBOAT
FROM RIO...
THEN CROSSED THE UNFORGIVING
MATO GROSSO STATE,
3 TIMES THE SIZE OF TEXAS.
TO ENSURE SUCCESS,
HE BROUGHT WITH HIM
HIS STRAPPING 22-YEAR-OLD SON
JACK
AND RALEIGH RIMMEL,
JACK'S LIFELONG FRIEND,
WHO IT TURNED OUT WAS ILL
PREPARED TO HANDLE THE PHYSICAL
CHALLENGES OF THE TRIP.
THOSE CHALLENGES WERE
COMPOUNDED
BY THE LACK OF FUNDING.
FAWCETT MANAGED TO SCRAPE
TOGETHER SOME BACKING
FROM THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL
SOCIETY, THE ROCKEFELLERS.
AND A LARGE NEWSPAPER
CONSORTIUM,
BUT IT WAS MUCH LESS
THAN THEY NEEDED
FOR AN EXPEDITION OF THIS SIZE.
PERCY WAS NOW AN OFFICIAL
CORRESPONDENT,
AND THE EXPLOITS
OF THE DARING PARTY
WOULD BE FOLLOWED BY MILLIONS.
YEAH. FINE.
GREAT SHOT.
INDIAN RUNNERS WERE EMPLOYED
TO TAKE DISPATCHES
BACK TO CIVILIZATION
ALONG WITH PHOTOGRAPHS,
WHICH PERCY TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN.
RIGHT. EXCELLENT.
Lowther: FAWCETT WAS VERY GOOD
AT WRITING THE DISPATCHES.
HE MADE THEM QUITE RIVETING,
AND EVEN READING THEM TODAY,
YOU CAN SEE HOW THEY MADE
THE FRONT PAGES.
THIS REALLY WAS AN INDIANA JONES
FIGURE.
Narrator: NIALL'S SEARCH
FOR FAWCETT CLUES CONTINUES.
SEVERAL MILES
FROM THE BAKAIRI VILLAGE,
CHIEF DON ANTONIO HAS LOCATED
A RIVER CROSSING
FAWCETT PASSED THROUGH
ON HIS LAST EXPEDITION.
FURTHER DISCUSSIONS
WITH THE BAKAIRIS
CONFIRM WHAT FAWCETT WROTE
IN HIS LOGS.
HE CROSSED THE CREEK,
THEN STAYED FOR TWO DAYS
WITH A LOCAL CATTLE BARON
AT HIS RANCH
BEFORE ARRIVING
IN THE INDIAN VILLAGE.
REMNANTS OF THE RANCH AND
COLONEL FAWCETT'S VISIT REMAIN.
Garcia: HE SAY THAT WHETHER HE
GET INSIDE OF BAKAIRI VILLAGE,
HE HAVE A VERY WARM WELCOME,
AND HE STAY THERE.
AND HE SAY,
"I DON'T NEED ANYTHING.
"I JUST NEED A PLACE TO STAY.
"I WANT MY ANIMALS
TO HAVE A REST, OK?
MY PEOPLE ONLY NEED
A PLACE TO REST."
NEXT MORNING, THEY ASKED HIM,
"HOW YOU SPEND THE NIGHT?"
HE SAID, "WELL, IT WAS PERFECT.
I SLEPT BETTER HERE
THAN NEXT TO THE RIVER."
Narrator: A REPORT FROM
ONE OF THE RESCUE MISSIONS
SAID THAT FAWCETT HAD GONE UP
THE KULUENE RIVER
AND WAS KILLED AFTER INSULTING
A FIERCE INDIAN CHIEF,
OR KASIK.
BUT THE VISIT HERE HAS GIVEN
NIALL SOME NEW INSIGHT.
DON ANTONIO, WHOSE UNCLE
WAS THE KASIK AT THE TIME
WHEN FAWCETT PASSED
THROUGH HERE,
SPECIFICALLY REMEMBERS THAT
HE WAS A WARM AND WELCOMING MAN
AND VERY SMILEY,
EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE
CONSIDERABLE LANGUAGE BARRIERS.
NOW, THAT DOESN'T TALLY AT ALL
WITH TWO OF THE RUMORS
SURROUNDING FAWCETT'S
DISAPPEARANCE,
ONE OF WHICH STATED THAT
HE HAD TOUCHED THE DAUGHTER
OF A CHIEF INAPPROPRIATELY
AND HAD SUBSEQUENTLY
BEEN KILLED,
AND THE OTHER ONE WHICH STATES
THAT HE HAD ACTUALLY BEATEN THE
SON OF ONE OF THE LOCAL CHIEFS.
NOW, FAWCETT HIMSELF
IN ALL HIS DIARIES
TALKS ABOUT TRYING TO MAINTAIN
POSITIVE RELATIONS
WITH THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
OF THE AREA,
AND THE WAY THE BAKAIRI
REMEMBER HIM
TALLIES EXACTLY WITH WHAT
FAWCETT HAS WRITTEN,
AND THAT MAKES ME WANT TO RULE
OUT THOSE TWO POSSIBILITIES
AS TO WHY HE DISAPPEARED.
Narrator: MAKING FAWCETT
FEEL WELCOME,
THE BAKAIRIS WOULD HAVE SHARED
THEIR SACRED CAPA DANCE.
Narrator: THIS WAS A GLIMPSE
INTO THE MYSTERIES
WHICH LAY AHEAD:
A TANGLED, DARK JUNGLE
FILLED WITH ALL MANNER OF
CREATURES AND FOREST BEINGS.
A CLUE TO THE LOCATION OF
FAWCETT'S LAST CAMP
IS A WATERFALL DESCRIBED
IN THE 1753 MANUSCRIPT
AND IN FAWCETT'S JOURNALS.
Man as Fawcett: ABOUT 3 WEEKS'
JOURNEY FROM HERE,
WE EXPECT TO STRIKE
THE WATERFALL.
HEARD ABOUT IT
FROM THE BAKAIRI INDIAN ROBERTO.
IT CAN BE HEARD 5 LEAGUES AWAY,
AND THERE IS TO BE SEEN
AN UPRIGHT ROCK
WITH PAINTED FIGURES
PROTECTED FROM THE WATERS.
WE'VE JUST LEARNED
THIS MORNING ABOUT
THESE WATERFALLS,
WHICH ARE OF
CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
TO THE BAKAIRI.
AND FAWCETT REFERS
IN HIS BOOK TO WATERFALLS
WHICH HE SAW AS A SIGNPOST
TO THE LOST CITY OF ZED.
WE ARE HERE
IN THE BAKAIRI VILLAGE
OF SANTANA.
HERE ARE THE WATERFALLS.
AND RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE
OF THEM,
ON A STRAIGHT LINE,
ARE THE NEW COORDINATES
TO DEAD HORSE CAMP.
Narrator: THESE ARE THE SAME
CODED COORDINATES
WRITTEN BY SON BRIAN
INTO PERCY'S DIARY
AND THE ONES NINA REFERRED TO.
FAWCETT USED CODED
MAP COORDINATES
TO THROW PEOPLE OFF HIS TRAIL.
ONLY HIS FAMILY KNEW
HIS EXACT ROUTE.
UP UNTIL NOW, EVERYONE WHO'S
BEEN LOOKING FOR FAWCETT'S
LAST LOCATION
HAS BEEN LOOKING 200 MILES
FURTHER TO THE NORTH.
NOW, WE HAVE TO GO THERE.
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT
IT'S GOING TO BE LIKE.
IT MIGHT BE COMPLETELY
AND UTTERLY IMPENETRABLE.
BUT WE'VE GOT TO GO.
WE'VE GOT TO TRY AND FIND IT.
AND WHO KNOWS?
WE MIGHT JUST STUMBLE ACROSS
FAWCETT'S GENUINE LAST LOCATION.
Narrator: OLDER MAP COORDINATES
ARE NOT AS ACCURATE AS TODAY.
SO FINDING THE WATERFALL FIRST
WILL HELP THEM PINPOINT
FAWCETT'S DIRECTION
AND THE LOCATION
OF DEAD HORSE CAMP.
5 HOURS INTO THEIR TRIP,
5 HOURS TO GO,
AND AN UNFINISHED BRIDGE.
THEY HAVE FEW OPTIONS.
AND THEY'VE AGREED
THEY'RE GONNA BUILD
THIS BRIDGE FOR US,
AND WE'RE GONNA GIVE IT
A GO.
WE'RE GONNA TAKE THE TRUCKS,
AND WE'RE GONNA TRY
AND DRIVE OVER
THIS HALF-BUILT
RICKETY BRIDGE,
AND IT'S GONNA SAVE US
HALF A DAY.
Narrator:
A SLIGHT SLIP OF THE WHEEL
COULD SEND THE VEHICLE
TUMBLING OFF THE BRIDGE.
McCann: VERY NICELY DONE,
DRIVING OVER THAT.
HA!
Narrator: SOYBEAN FARMING
HAS STRIPPED THE THICK BUSHLAND
THAT FAWCETT WALKED THROUGH.
BUT IN FAWCETT'S TIME,
HE HAD DIFFERENT CONCERNS.
HEAT, LACK OF WATER, SNAKES,
AND DISEASE-CARRYING INSECTS
WERE A CONSTANT PROBLEM.
RALEIGH NOW SUFFERED
FROM A BADLY INFECTED BITE
ON HIS LEG.
Lowther: HE REFUSED TO GO BACK.
BOTH JACK AND THE COLONEL
TRIED TO PERSUADE HIM TO RETURN,
BUT HE WOULDN'T.
THEY WERE PROCEEDING
WITH A LAME PERSON,
SOMEONE WHO WAS CERTAIN
TO HOLD THEM UP.
WHILE THEY STILL HAD MULES,
WHILE THEY STILL HAD
SOME KIND OF TRANSPORTATION,
THAT WAS SORT OF OK,
BUT ONCE THEY HAD TO GO BY FOOT,
IT COULDN'T HAVE WORKED.
HE JUST COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT.
Narrator:
TRAVELING FURTHER INLAND,
NIALL AND FERNANDO LOCATE
A BAKAIRI MAN
WHO SHOWS THEM THE WAY
TO THE FALLS,
CONSIDERED SACRED TO HIS PEOPLE.
McCann: FERNANDO, SET THESE OUT.
Narrator: THIS WAS A MAJOR FIND
FOR FAWCETT.
THE 1753 MANUSCRIPT
SAID THE FALLS WERE CLOSE
TO THE LOST CITY
AND HOME TO STRANGE INSCRIPTIONS
AND SILVER MINES SEALED
WITH LARGE ROCK SLABS.
THEY ARE AMONG THE FEW OUTSIDERS
TO VISIT THIS REMOTE LOCATION.
IT'S NOT CLEAR
PERCY MADE IT HERE,
BUT IT IS POSSIBLE
FORTUNE HUNTERS WHO WROTE
THE OLD MANUSCRIPT DID.
HIDING BENEATH THE WATER,
THE SPARKLING TREASURED
DESCRIBED BY THE FORTUNE
SEEKERS.
THEY'RE GUARDED BY SOUTH
AMERICAN DRAGONS...
6-FOOT ELECTRIC EELS
THAT COULD KILL A MAN.
WHAT WE'VE GOT HERE ARE ROCKS
WHICH LOOK EXACTLY LIKE
BLOCKS OF SILVER.
NOW, WHAT THEY'LL BE IS MICA,
GLISTENING LIKE SILVER,
AND OVER THERE,
NEXT TO ALL THE CAVES,
ARE LARGE, SLAB-LIKE ROCKS.
NOW, IT'S JUST A DIFFERENT
STRATA.
MAKES IT LOOK LIKE
A MANMADE SLAB.
YOU CAN WELL UNDERSTAND HOW A
TEAM OF PORTUGUESE
CONQUISTADORS
IN THE 1750s,
AFTER YEARS OF HIKING
THROUGH THE BUSH,
STARVED TO THE POINT
OF DELIRIUM,
MIGHT WELL HAVE BELIEVED THAT
THESE WERE GENUINELY
BLOCKS OF SILVER
AND THOSE WERE MANMADE SLABS
COVERING THE MINES,
WHICH CONTAINED IN THEM
ENORMOUS RICHES
THAT THEY WANTED TO BRING BACK
TO THE KING OF PORTUGAL.
Narrator: MORE PIECES
OF THE PUZZLE COME TOGETHER
ABOVE THE FALLS.
THE BAKAIRI MAN BRINGS NIALL
TO AN UNEXPLORED CAVE
COVERED IN ANCIENT WRITING.
THE FORTUNE HUNTERS THOUGHT THE
TEXT THEY SAW MIGHT BE GREEK,
AND FAWCETT HIMSELF
REPRODUCED THEM IN HIS LOGS,
SPECULATING THEY COULD COME FROM
THE FABLED CITY OF ATLANTIS.
NIALL THINKS THESE DESIGNS
LOOK CLOSE TO SOME OF THE TEXT
IN THE LOGS.
THIS LOOKS VERY,
VERY ATLANTEAN.
THIS'LL BE GREAT,
AS YOU SEE,
WHEN WE COMPARE
ON THE MANUSCRIPT
HOW CLOSELY
THEY RESEMBLE
THE WRITINGS
IN THE MANUSCRIPT
OF 1753.
Narrator: WITH THE FALLS
AS A LIKELY FAWCETT DESTINATION,
THEY NOW BACKTRACK,
USING GPS TO LINE UP FAWCETT'S
LAST LOCATION AT DEAD HORSE.
MAPS TELL THEM IT MIST LIE
ON A RIVER
BETWEEN THE BAKAIRI VILLAGE
AND THE FALLS.
THEY SOLICIT THE HELP OF LOCALS
TO FIND THEIR WAY.
IN 1925, THE FAWCETT PARTY
WALKED AND RODE OVERLAND
FOR 4 WEEKS TO GET
TO DEAD HORSE CAMP,
SO NAMED BECAUSE PERCY SHOT
HIS DEAD HORSE THERE IN 1921.
RALEIGH'S HEALTH
HAD GOTTEN WORSE,
AND THE JOURNEY HAD ONLY
JUST BEGUN.
AHEAD OF THEM LAY THICK JUNGLE
AND HOSTILE TRIBES.
WHY, THEN, HAD PERCY RISKED
HIS SON JACK'S LIFE
ON THIS JOURNEY?
THE UNDERLYING PURPOSE,
NOT DIVULGED TO ANYONE
BUT HIS FAMILY,
DATES BACK TO THE TIME
OF JACK'S BIRTH IN CEYLON.
Lowther: HE SAYS HE WAS VISITED
BY A DELEGATION OF HOLY MEN
FROM INDIA,
AND THEY TOLD HIM THAT
HE WAS TO BECOME THE FATHER
OF A SON
AND THAT THIS SON WOULD BE
THE REINCARNATION OF
A BUDDHIST HOLY MAN,
THAT THE SON WOULD HAVE
VERY SPECIAL POWERS
AND BE A VERY SPECIAL PERSON.
AND THEY PREDICTED THAT
HE WOULD HAVE CERTAIN
PHYSICAL TRAITS.
THERE WAS TO BE A MOLE ON
THE INSIDE OF ONE OF HIS FEET,
AND HIS TOES WERE TO BE
OF AN IRREGULAR SHAPE.
WHEN THE BOY WAS BORN,
PERCY SAID ALL OF THESE THINGS
MATCHED,
AND HE CAME TO BELIEVE IT.
THEY FELT THAT HE HAD
VERY HIGH SPIRITUAL
AND PSYCHIC POWERS
AND THAT HE HAD SOME SORT OF
DESTINY THAT WOULD BE OF
MAJOR IMPORTANCE TO MANKIND
AS A WHOLE,
THAT HE WOULD BECOME A LEADER,
BUT NOT JUST A LEADER,
NOT JUST A SPIRITUAL LEADER,
BUT A LEADER WHO WOULD HAVE
THE POWERS OF THE MASTERS
THAT BLAVATSKY HAD TALKED ABOUT.
Narrator: SO JACK CAME TO BRAZIL
TO FULFILL THE PROPHECY OF
THE BUDDHIST HOLY MEN
AND THE BELIEFS OF
MADAM BLAVATSKY.
IT WAS HERE IN THE CITY OF "Z"
THAT JACK'S FUTURE
WOULD BE CLEARLY DEFINED.
Lowther: IT WAS PARTICULARLY
IMPORTANT THAT JACK BE
ON THE LAST EXPEDITION.
FAWCETT BELIEVED THAT WHEN
THEY REACHED THE HIDDEN CITY,
THE WHITE TRIBE THAT LIVED
THERE, THE MASTERS,
THESE EXTREMELY WISE,
SUPERHUMAN PEOPLE,
WOULD RECOGNIZE JACK
AS ONE OF THEIR OWN
AND WOULD WELCOME THEM
INTO THE COMMUNITY
AND SHARE THEIR SECRETS.
Narrator: THEY ARRIVED
AT DEAD HORSE CAMP
3 MONTHS AFTER LEAVING
RIO DE JANEIRO.
DESPITE THE DIFFICULTIES,
FAWCETT CONTINUED WRITING
DISPATCHES FOR THE NEWSPAPERS.
HE KNEW HE'D HAVE TO KEEP
RALEIGH'S SPIRITS UP
EVEN IF HIS CHANCES LOOKED SLIM.
IT WAS IMPERATIVE THAT
HE AND JACK MAKE IT TO "Z."
AND THIS WOULD BE THE LAST
CHANCE TO GET A MESSAGE
TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD
AND TO HIS WIFE, NINA.
INEVITABLY,
THEY RAN OUT OF RUNNERS.
THERE WERE ONLY SO MANY PEOPLE
WHO COULD GO BACK
WITH THE STORIES,
AND AFTER THEY LEFT
BAKAIRI POST
AND HEADED FOR DEAD HORSE CAMP,
THE LAST RUNNER WENT
WITH THE LAST STORY.
IN THE FINAL DISPATCH,
WHEN THE LAST OF THE RUNNERS
RETURNED,
FAWCETT SENT A MESSAGE
TO HIS WIFE, NINA.
HE SAID THAT SHE NEED HAVE
NO FEAR OF FAILURE.
THE MESSAGE REFLECTED
HIS OWN CONFIDENCE AND OPTIMISM
THAT HE WAS GOING TO FIND
THE LOST CITIES AT LAST.
Narrator: SOMEWHERE IN A NARROW
STRIP OF JUNGLE,
STILL SURVIVING AMONG
THESE SOYBEAN FIELDS,
IS THE SITE OF FAWCETT'S
LAST CAMP.
LAST JUNCTION,
8 KILOMETERS,
AND THEN LEFT
AT "T" JUNCTION.
Narrator: THEN A WASHOUT.
THERE'S ONLY A NARROW, CRUMBLING
STRIP OF MUD ROAD LEFT...
NO ROOM FOR THEIR TRUCK.
THEY HAVE WORK TO DO.
THE BRITTLE MUD BARELY HOLDS
THE TRUCK'S WEIGHT.
McCann: AND ABOUT
6 INCHES OF SPACE.
THERE'S ABSOLUTELY
NO, NO ROOM FOR ERROR
WHATSOEVER,
NO MARGIN FOR ERROR.
BUT WE'RE OVER.
WE'RE ON OUR WAY BACK
TOWARDS DEAD HORSE CAMP
AS WELL.
THIS IS IT.
LOOK AT THIS.
LOOK HOW SHALLOW
THIS IS.
YEAH.
THIS IS THE PERFECT
SPOT TO CROSSING.
THERE'S THE CROSSING.
HERE GOES... OLD TRAIL.
Narrator: ALL THE PIECES
SEEM TO ADD UP.
IT'S DEAD HORSE CAMP...
THE RIGHT COORDINATES,
A SHALLOW RIVER CROSSING,
AND BACK IN THE WOODS,
A CAMPSITE USED BY TRAVELERS
TO THIS DAY.
THE RIVER AND JUNGLE QUICKLY
OBLITERATE ANYTHING THAT
DOES NOT BELONG.
NO SIGN OF FAWCETT
OR HIS EXPEDITION REMAINS.
McCann: FROM AS FAR
AS I CAN TELL,
THIS IS WHERE THEY
WOULD HAVE CAMPED.
THIS IS DEAD HORSE CAMP.
WE'VE HAD A GOOD LOOK
ROUND THE FOREST
FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED METERS IN
EITHER DIRECTION DOWN THE RIVER,
AND THIS IS THE BEST PLACE
TO CAMP.
THIS TREE HERE HAS OBVIOUSLY
HAD PEOPLE SITTING ON IT
FOR DECADES AND DECADES
AND DECADES.
THERE'S LOTS OF EXCELLENT TREES
HERE FOR SLINGING HAMMOCKS.
THERE'S ACTUALLY A FIREPLACE
WHICH MUST HAVE BEEN USED,
I DON'T KNOW, WITHIN THE LAST
YEAR OR SO.
THIS IS PRETTY MUCH IT.
Narrator: AFTER THE DISPATCH
FROM DEAD HORSE,
THERE WAS ONLY SILENCE,
AND MOST, INCLUDING NINA
AND THE R.G.S.,
BELIEVED THAT PERCY WAS MERELY
SURVIVING AS HE ALWAYS HAD.
FAWCETT WAS CONSIDERED
INDESTRUCTIBLE,
BUT AFTER A YEAR
SINCE HIS LAST MESSAGE,
EVEN THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL
SOCIETY GREW SKEPTICAL.
DISCUSSIONS OF A RESCUE MISSION
BEGAN,
AND PUBLIC INTEREST
SWELLED ANEW.
Lowther: THE PUBLIC IMAGINATION
HAD BEEN VERY FIRMLY HOOKED
BY THE FAWCETT STORY.
PEOPLE NOT JUST IN BRITAIN,
BUT THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES
AND EUROPE AND AUSTRALIA
ALL FELT THAT FAWCETT
COULD HAVE BEEN CAPTURED
BY INDIAN TRIBES
AND COULD BE QUITE WELL
AND THRIVING AND LIVING
WITH THESE TRIBES,
PERHAPS IN ONE OF
THE LOST CITIES.
Narrator: AS EARLY AS 1927,
REPORTS CAME IN FROM BRAZIL.
AN ENGINEER NAMED COURTEVILLE
SAID HE MET FAWCETT
AND THAT THE 3 MEN WERE THRIVING
IN A GLORIOUS EDEN.
IT WAS NOT TO BE.
TWO YEARS AFTER ANY WORD
HAD COME FROM FAWCETT,
NINA WAS SURE
PERCY WAS STILL ALIVE,
AND SHE BEGAN TO ENCOURAGE
THE R.G.S.
TO SEND OUT AN OFFICIAL
RESCUE MISSION.
Woman: I THINK NINA... SHE'S
ALWAYS PUTTING ON A GREAT FACE
TOWARDS EVERYBODY,
BUT I GET A GREAT SENSE
THAT INSIDE,
SHE'S NOT COPING WITH IT
TOO WELL.
Narrator: AT THE TORQUAY MUSEUM,
WHERE NIALL SAW FAWCETT'S DIARY
AND COMPASS,
A RESEARCHER IS TRANSCRIBING
HIS JOURNALS AND HER LETTERS.
Woman: ESPECIALLY WHEN FAWCETT'S
GONE MISSING,
I FIND SHE'S USING
VERY SPIRITUAL THINGS
TO TRY AND GET HER THROUGH.
SHE'S CONSTANTLY FOCUSING ON
"THERE MUST BE A REASON
FOR THIS,
THERE MUST BE A PREDETERMINED
THING THAT I AM SUPPOSED TO GO
THROUGH AS A PERSON,"
AND SHE'S ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT,
"ONE DAY, WE'LL GET THE CALL,
AND WE'LL GO OVER TO HIM
AND BE WITH HIM
IN THE LOST CITY."
Narrator: FINALLY, IN 1928,
THE SOCIETY MOUNTED
A RESCUE EXPEDITION,
AND THEY BACKED
A COLORFUL ADVENTURER NAMED
COLONEL GEORGE DYOTT,
WHO HAD RECENTLY RETRACED
PRESIDENT TEDDY ROOSEVELT'S
1913 AMAZON EXPEDITION.
Lowther: DYOTT WAS EQUIPPED WITH
SOPHISTICATED TWO-WAY RADIOS.
HIS MESSAGES FROM THE INTERIOR
WERE PICKED UP BY RADIO HAMS
THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES,
WHO WERE PASSING THEM ON
TO RADIO STATIONS,
AND SO ONCE AGAIN,
THE FAWCETT STORY
MADE THE HEADLINES
AND THE FRONT PAGES.
THE STORY HAD ENORMOUS LEGS.
IT JUST KEPT ON GOING.
Narrator: DYOTT RECEIVED
CREDIBLE EVIDENCE
THAT FAWCETT WAS KILLED
BY BANDITS IN THE MATO GROSSO.
IGNORING THIS,
HE PURSUED A NATIVE
CLAIMING TO HAVE GUIDED FAWCETT
MUCH DEEPER INTO THE XINGU
AMAZON REGION.
DYOTT AND HIS MEN
FOLLOWED HIM IN
AND FOUND THEMSELVES
IN HOSTILE TERRITORY,
EACH TRIBE POINTING TO THE OTHER
AS FAWCETT'S KILLERS.
DYOTT WAS HELD CAPTIVE
BY INDIANS,
BARELY ESCAPING WITH HIS LIFE.
HE DID NOT FIND FAWCETT,
BUT TURNED HIS ADVENTURE
INTO A BOOK
AND A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE.
THEN, IN 1937,
A MISSIONARY NAMED
MARTHA MOENNICH
ANNOUNCED SHE'D FOUND
A WHITE BOY
SHE FELT CERTAIN WAS THE SON
OF JACK FAWCETT.
IT TURNED OUT HE WAS
AN ALBINO NATIVE.
THE RESCUE MISSIONS CONTINUED.
Lowther: LITERALLY THOUSANDS
OF PEOPLE APPLIED TO GO
ON THESE EXPEDITIONS,
PEOPLE AS ILL QUALIFIED
AND JACK AND RALEIGH,
FOR THE MOST PART,
AND DOZENS OF EXPEDITIONS...
DOZENS...
SET OUT INTO THE MATO GRASSO
LOOKING FOR HIM,
AND CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR HIM
TO THIS DAY.
Narrator: BUT NEW EVIDENCE
POINTS TO FAWCETT'S SIGNET RING,
FOUND IN A MATO GRASSO SHOP
IN 1979
AND RETURNED TO
HIS GRANDDAUGHTER.
I BECAME INVOLVED IN IT
IN THE 1970s.
Narrator: BRIAN RIDOUT,
A WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST,
UNRAVELED A TANGLED WEB
OF SHADY CHARACTERS
LEADING TO THE RING
IN THE MATO GROSSO IN THE 1970s.
SHOPKEEPER VICENTE GROSSOLIA
AND HIS WIFE
CLAIMED HE GOT THE RING
ON PERCY'S DISASTROUS
EARLIER HUNT FOR "Z,"
EITHER IN EXCHANGE FOR MULES
OR AS A PAYMENT FOR GUIDING
THE ENGLISHMAN TOWARDS
THE LOST CITY.
RIDOUT THINKS GROSSOLIA'S
RING STORY IS SUSPICIOUS.
NINA TOLD THE R.G.S.
PERCY HAD THE RING
ON THE FINAL EXPEDITION
AND WOULD NOT
HAVE GIVEN IT UP EASILY.
I DON'T THINK THAT
HE NEEDED A GUIDE.
HE WAS A FOUNDER, GOLD MEDALIST
IN THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL
SOCIETY.
HE'D GONE THROUGH
THEIR SURVEYING COURSE.
AND NO REASON TO SUPPOSE THAT
HE DIDN'T KNOW WHERE HE WAS.
EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK, I'M SURE
HE KNEW PRECISELY WHERE HE WAS
AT ALL TIMES.
SO I DON'T THINK HE GOT LOST
IN THE JUNGLE.
HE DISAPPEARED BECAUSE
SOMEBODY KILLED HIM.
SO, BOYS...
BASICALLY, THERE ARE ONLY 3
THINGS THAT COULD HAVE
HAPPENED TO THEM.
THEY WERE EITHER
KILLED BY INDIANS,
THEY DIED AS A RESULT OF
SOME ACCIDENT,
WHICH COULD EASILY
HAVE HAPPENED...
PERHAPS DISEASE,
PERHAPS DROWNED IN A RIVER...
OR THIRDLY, THERE HAD BEEN
A REVOLUTION NOT LONG BEFORE,
AND RENEGADE SOLDIERS
WERE HIDING OUT IN THE AREA,
AND THERE HAD BEEN A NUMBER
OF OCCASIONS
WITHIN MONTHS OF THIS EXPEDITION
IN WHICH TRAVELERS HAD BEEN
STALKED AND ROBBED
AND IN SOME CASES MURDERED
BY THESE REBEL SOLDIERS.
THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED
TO THEM, ALSO.
YOU WILL...
Narrator: ALL THE PIECES
NOW COME TOGETHER
TO TELL A NEW VERSION
OF FAWCETT'S FATE.
PERCY'S THEODOLITE COMPASS
WAS FOUND WITHIN DAYS
OF DEAD HORSE CAMP.
IT'S POSSIBLE IT WAS STOLEN,
THEN ABANDONED.
AND IT'S UNLIKELY A REMOTE TRIBE
LIKE THE KALAPALOS
WOULD HAVE TRADED THE RING
FOR MONEY.
AND THAT MEANS FAWCETT LIKELY
DID NOT GET AS FAR
INTO THE AMAZON
AS COLONEL DYOTT CLAIMED HE DID.
Ridout: WHEN THE FAWCETT PARTY
ACTUALLY LEFT CUIABA,
THE WHOLE TOWN CAME OUT
TO SEE THEM OFF,
AND FAWCETT BEING THERE
WAS QUITE AN EVENT.
SO I KNOW FROM PEOPLE I'D MET
WHO HAD BEEN THERE AT THAT TIME
THAT THERE WAS A SORT OF
MASSIVE PARTY WHEN THEY LEFT.
SO EVERYBODY KNEW ABOUT
THE EQUIPMENT THAT
THE FAWCETT PARTY HAD.
IT WAS A TIME WHEN A NEW RIFLES
AND A BIT OF MONEY
WOULD CERTAINLY
HAVE COME IN HANDY
FOR THE SORT OF NE'ER-DO-WELL
POPULATION OF THE AREA,
AND I THINK THAT THE FAWCETT
PARTY PROBABLY DIDN'T GET ANY
FURTHER THEN DEAD HORSE CAMP.
AND I THINK THAT'S
WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM.
I DON'T THINK THERE'S
ANY EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER
THAT THEY EVER WENT ROUND
THE KULUENE RIVER
AND MET THE KALAPALOS INDIANS,
AND THAT EVERYBODY THAT'S GONE
LOOKING FOR FAWCETT
HAS HEADED OFF
IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.
IN THIS VERSION,
THE END COMES QUICKLY,
NOT FAR FROM DEAD HORSE CAMP,
WHEN A RENEGADE CATCHES
THE OLD EXPLORER
AND SOLDIER OFF GUARD.
FAWCETT IS GONE,
BUT WHAT OF HIS LOST CITY?
UNTIL RECENTLY, THE VAST AMAZON
HAS HIDDEN ITS SECRETS.
SOME EVIDENCE OF ADVANCED
COMMUNAL VILLAGES HAS EMERGED
IN THE XINGU,
WHERE PERCY WAS HEADING
IN HIS SEARCH FOR "Z."
BUT NIALL HAS HEARD OF
EVEN MORE DRAMATIC DISCOVERIES
IN THE WESTERN AMAZON,
AND HE TRAVELS MORE THAN
A THOUSAND MILES
TO THE OTHER SIDE OF BRAZIL
TO SEE FOR HIMSELF.
HIDDEN IN THE JUNGLE
FOR 2,000 YEARS
AND ONLY EMERGING AS TREES
ARE FELLED TO CREATE FARMLAND,
A VAST NETWORK OF MYSTERIOUS
RELIGIOUS SITES.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS BELIEVE THEY ARE
PART OF AN ANCIENT CITY-STATE
STRETCHING SOME
160 SQUARE MILES.
THESE PROVE THAT ANCIENT
LOST CITIES DID EXIST
IN THE AMAZON,
THOUGH THEY DON'T MATCH
THE EXPECTATIONS
OF EXPLORERS LIKE FAWCETT.
WHEN I TALK ABOUT CIVILIZATION,
IN GENERAL,
PEOPLE THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW,
BUILDINGS AND...
THINGS MADE OUT OF ROCK
AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND IN THIS PLACE
AND IN OTHER PLACES
IN THE AMAZON,
THERE IS NO ROCKS.
SO PEOPLE BUILD THINGS
MOVING EARTH.
Narrator: THIS VAST NETWORK
OF ANCIENT RELIGIOUS SITES
POINTS TO THE SCALE OF THE CITY
THAT FAWCETT WAS SEEKING.
WHAT'S MORE, FAWCETT WAS HERE
IN 1907
AND ACTUALLY MAY HAVE
CAMPED INSIDE ONE OF
THESE GRASS CIRCLES.
DENISE SCHAAN HELPED
DISCOVER THE SITES.
NOW SHE'S THE ARCHAEOLOGIST
IN CHARGE OF THE EXCAVATION.
IN THE BEGINNING,
IT'S FUNNY,
BECAUSE PEOPLE
WHO CAME HERE FIRST,
YOU COULDN'T UNDERSTAND
WHAT THESE THINGS WERE.
AND WHEN I SAW THE PICTURES
FOR THE FIRST TIME,
THE AREA PHOTOGRAPHS,
I GOT AMAZED WITH THIS.
WE HAD THIS GENERAL IDEA
THAT THINGS LIKE THAT
DON'T EXIST IN THE AMAZON.
ARE THEY ALL BUILT
TO A STANDARD DESIGN
OR...
Narrator: NO ONE FULLY
UNDERSTANDS THE EXACT PURPOSE
OF THESE DEEP TRENCHES,
BUT THEY DO SUPPORT AT LEAST ONE
OF FAWCETT'S MAIN PRECEPTS:
LARGE, SOPHISTICATED POPULATIONS
ONCE LIVED
IN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST.
WHEN THE SPANISH
GOT THERE...
AND THE MORE THEY DIG
AND LOCATE HUNDREDS OF SITES
ON GOOGLE EARTH,
THE MORE TRADITIONAL BELIEFS
ABOUT AMAZONIAN SETTLEMENTS
ARE MADE OBSOLETE.
WOULD THIS BE
OF THE SAME KIND OF AGE,
OR WOULD THAT BE
SOMETHING...
ONE THING THAT
AMAZONIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS
HAVE BELIEVED
FOR 30, 40 YEARS,
THAT NOBODY WAS LIVING
IN THE HINTERLAND.
SO IT'S VERY STRANGE TO
FIND THESE SITES HERE
BECAUSE YOU NEED
LOTS OF PEOPLE
TO BUILD THEM.
SO IT'S WHAT WE CALL
MONUMENTAL CONSTRUCTION.
Mann: WELL, FAWCETT WAS RIGHT.
IF THERE'S GONNA BE A LOST CITY,
THERE HAS TO BE HIGHER
POPULATION LEVELS BACK THEN
THAN THERE ARE NOW.
THE ESTIMATE THAT I'VE SEEN
FROM CLARK ERICKSON AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
IS ABOUT A MILLION PEOPLE.
IT'S A SWATH THAT GOES
FROM EASTERN BOLIVIA
ALL THE WAY INTO WESTERN BRAZIL,
700 MILES LONG,
1,000 MILES LONG.
AND ON THE NORTH AND SOUTH END
OF IT,
WHICH IS THE TWO AREAS THAT
RESEARCH HAVE BEEN DONE,
ARE THESE LARGE EARTHWORKS THAT
ARE CALLED GEOGLYHPS SOMETIMES,
AND THEY WERE CLEARLY BUILT
BY SOCIETIES THAT, YOU KNOW,
WEREN'T A COUPLE GUYS
IN LOINCLOTHS.
Narrator: A NEW PICTURE
OF THE WESTERN AMAZON
IS NOW EMERGING.
HERE, DISCOVERIES OF CERAMICS
AND NEARBY WATER SOURCES
INDICATE HUMAN HABITATION.
GEOGLYPHS MAY HAVE BEEN
RELIGIOUS SITES
SURROUNDED BY RAISED FIELDS
AND COMMUNITIES
OF 60,000 PEOPLE.
SO, HUNDREDS OF MILES WEST OF
FAWCETT'S LAST SEARCH FOR "Z,"
CIVILIZATIONS ARE BEING FOUND
IN A STATE MAPPED BY PERCY
IN 1907.
WHILE HE DID NOT COMPREHEND
WHAT LAY UNDER HIS FEET,
TODAY, FAWCETT'S JOURNALS
ARE BEING USED
TO HELP SCIENTISTS
UNRAVEL THE MYSTERY
OF THESE LOST CITIES.
ACTUALLY, THE FAWCETT REPORT
WAS ONE OF THE THINGS WE READ
BECAUSE HE WAS
IN THIS VERY REGION
IN THE BEGINNING OF
THE 20th CENTURY.
AND HE TALKS ABOUT CLEARINGS,
CIRCULAR VILLAGES WITH INDIANS.
SOME OF THEM WERE
ALREADY ABANDONED.
THE INDIANS HAD LEFT.
McCann: FAWCETT IN ONE OF
HIS ITINERARIES THAT HE WROTE
TO THE R.G.S,
HE SAYS THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY.
NOW, FAWCETT WAS A GEOGRAPHER.
SO HE KNOWS THAT
ANY GEOGRAPHIC POINT
HAS 360 DEGREES OF ANGLES.
SO IN MY OPINION,
FAWCETT WASN'T JUST TALKING
ABOUT THE GEOGRAPHICAL DIRECTION
HE HAD TO GO,
BUT ABOUT A SPIRITUAL DIRECTION
AS WELL.
SO HE HAD TO FOLLOW
THESE EXACT POINTS:
DEAD HORSE CAMP,
THEN ON TO FALLS,
WHERE HE WOULD HAVE SEEN
WHAT LOOKS LIKE THE SILVER BARS,
WHERE HE WOULD HAVE SEEN
WHAT LOOKED LIKE
THE ATLANTEAN SYMBOLS,
AND THEN CARRY ON
INTO THE XINGU AREA,
TOWARDS THE CITY,
BUT FROM THERE ON,
IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT
BEING A GREAT GEOGRAPHER.
IT'S ABOUT BELIEVING THAT
YOU'RE ACTUALLY GOING
TO YOUR FINAL DESTINATION.
AND THAT'S WHAT
FAWCETT BELIEVED.
HE BELIEVED THAT
HE WAS THE ONE MAN
WHO HAD BOTH THE PHYSICAL
CAPABILITIES
AND THE SPIRITUAL CAPABILITIES
TO MAKE IT
TO THE LOST CITY OF ZED.
AND I THINK HE SHOULD BE
REMEMBERED...
DESPITE WHAT ANYONE MIGHT THINK
ABOUT THE PSYCHIC AND THE
SPIRITUAL SIDE OF IT,
HE SHOULD BE REMEMBERED
AS A VERY BRAVE EXPLORER.
Ridout: MARCHING INTO THE SUNSET
AND NEVER COMING BACK
I THINK IS AN IMAGE THAT
REALLY CONTINUES TO CAPTURE
THE IMAGINATION.
THE MAN THAT AGAINST ALL ODDS
STAKES EVERYTHING
ON THIS FINAL THROW,
THAT THE LEGEND REMAINS WITH US
AND REMAINS POPULAR.
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE
BY CONTRIBUTIONS TO PBS STATION
FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
THANK YOU.
Announcer: THE "SECRETS OF
THE DEAD" INVESTIGATION
CONTINUES ONLINE.
FOR MORE IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS
AND STREAMING VIDEO OF THIS
AND OTHER EPISODES,
IN 1925, FAMED EXPLORER PERCY
FAWCETT SET OFF INTO THE AMAZON
IN SEARCH OF A FABLED LOST CITY.
Man: FAWCETT IMAGINED ATLANTIS,
KIND OF.
Announcer:
HE VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE.
Different man: I DON'T THINK
HE GOT LOST IN THE JUNGLE.
HE DISAPPEARED BECAUSE
SOMEBODY KILLED HIM.
Announcer: AND NEW EVIDENCE
SUGGESTS FAWCETT'S LOST CITY
MAY NOT BE A MYTH.
Man: THEY ARE DIGGING UP
MORE AND MORE EVIDENCE
TO SAY THAT THESE SOCIETIES
HAD EXISTED.
Announcer: LOST IN THE AMAZON
ON "SECRETS OF THE DEAD."
Announcer: "SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY
CONTRIBUTIONS TO YOUR PBS
STATIONS FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
THANK YOU.
Narrator: FOR DECADES,
EXPLORER COLONEL PERCY FAWCETT
CAPTIVATED THE WORLD.
HIS EXPLOITS IN THE AMAZON
FEATURING LOST CITIES
AND FANTASTIC CREATURES INSPIRED
BOOKS AND HOLLYWOOD MOVIES.
Man: HE WAS THE ORIGINAL.
HE WAS THE SWASHBUCKLER.
THIS REALLY WAS
AN INDIANA JONES FIGURE.
HE WAS THE HOTTEST EXPLORER
OF HIS DAY.
HE WAS ABLE TO THRIVE IN THESE
INCREDIBLY TOUGH ENVIRONMENTS
SIMPLY BY DETERMINATION.
Narrator: IN 1925,
AT THE AGE OF 58,
FAWCETT HEADED INTO THE JUNGLE
WITH HIS SON AND A FRIEND
TO FIND A MYSTERIOUS LOST CITY
CALLED "Z."
IT WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST
NEWS STORIES OF THE DAY,
AND MILLIONS FOLLOWED REPORTS
OF THEIR EXPLOITS.
THEN ALL 3 VANISHED
WITHOUT A TRACE.
DESPITE COUNTLESS
RESCUE MISSIONS,
FAWCETT WAS NEVER FOUND.
WAS HE KILLED BY INDIANS,
AS MOST BELIEVE?
AND IS THERE A FACTUAL BASIS
FOR HIS LOST CITY?
NOW MODERN-DAY EXPLORER
NIALL McCANN
TRAVELS TO SOUTH AMERICA
ARMED WITH NEW CLUES:
FAWCETT'S SIGNET RING,
SECRET MAP COORDINATES,
AND AN UNDERSTANDING
OF THE MYSTICAL PURPOSE
BEHIND FAWCETT'S FINAL JOURNEY.
SINCE EUROPEANS FIRST ARRIVED
IN THE NEW WORLD,
THEY HEARD STORIES OF
A LEGENDARY JUNGLE CITY,
EL DORADO, WHOSE KING WAS SAID
TO DUST HIMSELF WITH GOLD.
IN 1542, A SPANISH EXPEDITION
WAS THE FIRST OF MANY
TO GO DEEP INTO THE AMAZON
IN PURSUIT OF THE GOLDEN CITY
AND ITS RICHES.
A MONK NAMED GASPAR DE CARVAJAL
ACCOMPANIED THE EXPLORERS
AND KEPT A JOURNAL.
Man: CARVAJAL WENT DOWN
THE MAIN CANNEL OF THE AMAZON
ARE REPORTED THAT THERE WERE
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE LIVING THERE,
THAT THERE ARE THESE SUCCESSFUL
ADVANCED SOCIETIES
THAT WERE PERFECTLY CAPABLE
OF DEFENDING THEMSELVES
THAT THE SPANIARDS
WERE SCARED OF.
Narrator: BY THE 20th CENTURY,
EL DORADO HAD BEEN DECLARED
A MYTH.
THE AMAZON WAS CLEARLY POPULATED
BY SCATTERED GROUPS
OF TRIBAL PEOPLES.
CARVAJAL'S ACCOUNT
OF LARGE POPULATIONS
WAS DISMISSED BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS
WHO BELIEVED THIS JUNGLE
COULD NOT SUSTAIN LARGE CITIES.
BUT AS ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE BEGUN
TO GO INTO THIS AREA,
THEY'RE DIGGING UP
MORE AND MORE EVIDENCE
TO SAY THAT THESE SOCIETIES
HAD EXISTED
IN THE WAY THAT CARVAJAL
REPORTED.
WHAT HAPPENED WAS
THAT DISEASE CAME THROUGH
AND WIPED THEM OUT.
Narrator: THE THIRST
FOR GLOBAL EXPLORATION
DEFINED THE BRITISH
VICTORIAN AGE.
COMING AT THE VERY END
OF THAT ERA,
PERCY FAWCETT WAS AMONG THE LAST
OF THE GREAT ENGLISH EXPLORERS.
IT INCLUDED BURTON, LIVINGSTONE,
AND SHACKELTON,
EACH PUSHING BACK THE VEIL
OF THE UNKNOWN.
UNLIKE THE SEEKERS OF EL DORADO,
PERCY FAWCETT WAS
NO TREASURE HUNTER.
A WAR HERO, BRILLIANT SURVEYOR,
AND AMATEUR ARCHAEOLOGIST,
HE BECAME FASCINATED WITH
THE SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE IDEA
THAT LARGE CIVILIZATIONS MUST
HAVE ONCE EXISTED IN THE AMAZON.
HE FIRST STEPPED FOOT
IN SOUTH AMERICA IN 1906.
AT THE AGE OF 39,
FAWCETT WAS HANDPICKED
BY ENGLAND'S
ROYAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
TO SOLVE A POLITICAL DISPUTE
BY SURVEYING AND ESTABLISHING
THE NEWLY FORMED BORDERS
OF BOLIVIA AND BRAZIL.
AS A SKILLED SURVEYOR,
HE CROSSED VAST DISTANCES,
FACING EVERY IMAGINABLE DANGER,
FROM HOSTILE TRIBES
TO DEADLY DISEASES.
AND HE WOULD DRIVE THE PEOPLE
THAT WORKED FOR HIM
SO THAT HE WAS ABLE TO COMPLETE
THE SURVEYS
THAT WOULD TAKE 3 OR 4 WEEKS
FOR ANOTHER TEAM,
HE WOULD DO THEM IN 3 OR 4 DAYS.
Narrator:
CRUCIAL TO HIS SURVIVAL
WAS PERCY'S ABILITY TO LEARN
NATIVE LANGUAGES
AND TO KEEP A COOL HEAD
WHEN ENCOUNTERING
EVEN THE FIERCEST INDIANS.
Lowther:
THEY WERE GOING IN CANOES
UP A NARROW RIVER WHEN THEY WERE
SUDDENLY ATTACKED.
ARROWS BEGAN TO FLY
ALL OVER THE PLACE.
THESE ARROWS, BY THE WAY, WOULD
COME AT YOU WITH ENORMOUS FORCE.
ONE OF THEM WOULD PASS
RIGHT THROUGH THE CANOE,
RIGHT THROUGH THE WOODEN SIDES
OF THE CANOE.
Narrator:
INSTEAD OF FIRING A GUN,
FAWCETT BEGAN PLAYING MUSIC
ON A SMALL ACCORDION.
THIS ENDED THE ATTACK, AND THE
NATIVES WERE SOON HIS FRIENDS,
PROVIDING HIM SAFE PASSAGE
THROUGH THEIR JUNGLE.
Lowther: FAWCETT WAS VERY
SUCCESSFUL IN HIS BOUNDARY WORK,
AND CERTAINLY PLEASED
THE BOLIVIANS ENORMOUSLY.
THOSE BORDERS HAVE STUCK,
AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE REDONE THEM
HAVE SAID THAT HIS WORK
WAS QUITE ACCURATE.
Narrator: THEN IN 1911, AN
IMPORTANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVENT
ROCKED THE WORLD AND SPURRED
FAWCETT'S OBSESSION
WITH THE SEARCH FOR A LOST CITY
IN THE JUNGLE.
Mann:
IN 1911, HIRAM BINGHAM,
YOU KNOW, LED BY NATIVE PEOPLE,
FINDS MACHU PICCHU
AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER
INCA SITES
AND TAKES THESE PICTURES
THAT APPEAR SUBSEQUENTLY
IN "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC."
AND THEY JUST ELECTRIFY PEOPLE
ALL OVER THE WORLD.
IT'S THE FIRST TIME THAT THESE
IMAGES OF THESE LOST CITIES
HAVE BEEN SEEN IN THIS WAY,
AND IT INSPIRES PEOPLE TO
BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE OTHERS
AND TO TAKE CREDENCE IN THE IDEA
THAT THERE ARE
THESE OTHER CITIES,
AND ONE OF THEM, OF COURSE,
IS PERCY FAWCETT.
Narrator: FAWCETT WAS CERTAIN
THE INCAS HAD WARNED
NUMEROUS TRIBES TO FLEE
THE SPANISH INVADERS
AND HIDE IN THE JUNGLE.
HIS PROOF? DISCOVERY
OF ANCIENT ARTIFACTS
BURIED FAR INLAND AND VIVID
ACCOUNTS OF WHITE INDIANS
AND A STONE CITY.
AFTER 1913, FAWCETT
FORMULATED THEORIES OF A CITY
HE CALLED SIMPLY "Z," PRONOUNCED
ZED IN THE BRITISH FASHION.
HE REFERS TO IT IN HIS JOURNALS.
Man as Fawcett: THE CENTRAL
PLACE I CALL ZED,
OUR MAIN OBJECTIVE, IS IN
A VALLEY ABOUT 10 MILES WIDE,
AND THE LOST CITY IS ON AN
EMINENCE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT,
APPROACHED BY A BOWED ROADWAY
OF STONE.
Narrator: BUT THERE WOULD BE
SOMETHING SPECIAL
ABOUT THIS CITY HE CALLED ZED,
SOMETHING SPIRITUAL.
AND IT WOULD BE THIS STRANGE
BREW OF EXPLORATION AND BELIEF
THAT BROUGHT PERCY, SON JACK,
AND HIS FRIEND RALEIGH RIMMEL
TO BRAZIL'S CENTRAL REGIONS
IN 1925.
SINCE FAWCETT'S DISAPPEARANCE
ON THAT EXPEDITION,
MUCH OF THE TRUE PURPOSE
BEHIND HIS QUEST FOR "Z"
HAS REMAINED HIDDEN,
WAITING TO BE UNCOVERED.
OVER THE DECADES,
HUNDREDS OF WOULD-BE RESCUERS
HAVE SOUGHT THE TRUTH
IN THIS IMPENETRABLE JUNGLE.
NONE SUCCEEDED.
MANY PAID WITH THEIR LIVES.
I CAN CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND
COLONEL FAWCETT'S MOTIVATIONS
FOR BEING OUT HERE
AND WHAT IT WAS LIKE
TO TRY AND TRAVEL THROUGH THESE
INCREDIBLY TOUGH ENVIRONMENTS.
Narrator:
EXPLORER NIALL McCANN
HAS CROSSED THE ATLANTIC
IN A ROWBOAT,
BEATEN PATHS THROUGH THE AMAZON,
AND CROSSED THE EARTH'S
POLAR REGIONS.
NOW HE HAS THE LEGEND OF
COLONEL FAWCETT IN HIS SIGHTS.
Niall McCann: AND I'VE BEEN ABLE
TO REALLY APPRECIATE
WHAT HE WAS GOING THROUGH.
I'M NOT SAYING HE WORKED
IN THESE ENVIRONMENTS,
BUT I'VE BEEN TO THE EXACT
PLACES THAT HE'S BEEN TO
AND I'VE SEEN THE EXACT ANIMALS
THAT HE WAS DESCRIBING.
Narrator: NIALL HAS COME TO THE
ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
IN LONDON,
WHERE FAWCETT WAS TRAINED,
TO SEEK OUT ANY CLUES
TO HIS DISAPPEARANCE.
McCann: WE'VE BEEN INVITED DOWN
HERE TO THE MAP ROOM
OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL
SOCIETY HERE IN LONDON.
AND I'VE ASKED THE ARCHIVIST
HERE TO LAY OUT
A RANGE OF THE MAPS
AS DRAWN BY COLONEL FAWCETT.
AND THE FIRST THING
THAT STRIKES YOU HERE
IS JUST THE INCREDIBLE LEVEL OF
DETAIL THAT HE'S PUT INTO THESE.
WE'VE GOT THIS REMARKABLE DETAIL
IN THE WAY THE STREAMS
ARE MARKED
AND THE CONTOUR LINES
AND EVERYTHING.
A FAR CRY FROM TODAY WHEN I WALK
AROUND THE FOREST WITH A GPS.
THIS MAN'S DONE IT
ALL ON FOOT
WITH HIS OWN SEXTANT.
Narrator: PERCY'S LOVE OF THE
JUNGLE BEGAN AT AN EARLY AGE.
AT 19, HE WAS SENT BY
HIS PARENTS TO SRI LANKA,
THEN NAMED CEYLON,
TO JOIN THE BRITISH ARMY.
Lowther: HIS MOTHER DECIDED THAT
THAT WOULD BE THE BEST COURSE
FOR HIM,
AND SHE CHOSE
THE ROYAL ARTILLERY
BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT THE UNIFORM
WAS SO SWEET.
HE HAD BEEN INFLUENCED BY
HIS MOTHER'S STRONG ATTRACTION
TO SPIRITUALISM
AND TO OCCULT MOVEMENTS,
WHICH HAD BECOME VERY POPULAR
IN BRITAIN AT THE TIME.
Narrator: HERE, PERCY'S BROTHER
INTRODUCED HIM
TO THE THEOSOPHY MOVEMENT,
CREATED BY MADAM BLAVATSKY,
A FAMOUS 19th-CENTURY PSYCHIC
AND SPIRITUALIST.
HER GLOBAL RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT
INFLUENCED LEADING FIGURES
OF THE DAY,
INCLUDING GANDHI, THOMAS EDISON,
AND ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.
BLAVATSKY TAUGHT THAT
ENLIGHTENED MASTER PRIESTS
DELIVERED PSYCHIC MESSAGES
TO HELP MANKIND.
THEY LIVED IN VARIOUS HIDDEN
CITIES AROUND THE WORLD,
INCLUDING TIBET
AND SOUTH AMERICA.
FAWCETT FELL UNDER
THE MOVEMENT'S SPELL
AND WOULD NEVER FORGET THE
MASTERS AND THE HIDDEN CITIES.
THEN IN CEYLON, HE MET NINA,
THE DAUGHTER OF A MAGISTRATE,
WHO IN 1901
WOULD BECOME HIS WIFE.
Lowther: AND HE FOUND THAT SHE
WAS AS INTERESTED
IN PSYCHIC AND SPIRITUAL THINGS
AS HE WAS,
AND THEY BECAME VERY GOOD
FRIENDS
AND WOULD GO OUT TOGETHER
SEARCHING IN THE JUNGLE
FOR AREAS WHERE THEY THOUGHT
THAT OLD CIVILIZATIONS
MAY HAVE BURIED TREASURES.
Narrator: INSPIRED BY WHAT
HE DISCOVERED IN CEYLON,
FAWCETT WOULD PURSUE A CAREER
AS AN R.G.S EXPLORER.
IN THE AMAZON, HE BEGAN TO
CONNECT ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
WITH MADAM BLAVATSKY'S
SECRET CITIES.
HIS FIRST EXPEDITION
TO LOOK FOR "Z" IN 1921
WAS A DISASTER.
CROSSING THE VAST MATO GROSSO
TOWARDS THE DEEP JUNGLE,
MEN GOT SICK, OXEN DROWNED,
AND A HORSE HAD TO BE SHOT.
HIS FINAL SEARCH FOR "Z,"
IN 1925, STARTED OFF WELL,
THEN DETERIORATED,
CULMINATING IN FAWCETT'S
DISAPPEARANCE.
MOST BELIEVE HE WAS KILLED
DEEP IN THE AMAZON,
FAR UP THE KULUENE RIVER,
BY HOSTILE INDIANS
SUCH AS THE KALAPALO.
BUT THE EVIDENCE FOR THIS THEORY
IS SKETCHY.
BACK AT THE ROYAL
GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY,
NIALL DISCOVERS LETTERS
AND ARTIFACTS FROM NINA
PROVIDING CLUES TO FAWCETT'S
DISAPPEARANCE.
SHE KNEW THE TRUE COORDINATES
OF HIS LAST CAMP
BASED ON A CODE
PERCY HAD GIVEN HER
SO HIS ACTUAL POSITION WAS
SECRET FROM POTENTIAL RIVALS.
ALSO HERE AT THE R.G.S.,
A WAX IMPRESSION OF FAWCETT'S
SIGNET RING,
DONATED BY NINA
AFTER HIS DISAPPEARANCE
AS A WAY TO IDENTIFY HIS BODY
SHOULD IT EVER TURN UP.
60 YEARS AFTER FAWCETT
WENT MISSING,
THE RING WAS FOUND
AND SENT TO HIS GRANDDAUGHTER
ROLETTE,
NOW LIVING IN CARDIFF, WALES.
HOW DO YOU DO?
VERY WELL.
LOVELY TO MEET YOU.
THANK YOU.
DO YOU RECOGNIZE
THIS WRITING AT ALL?
YES, OF COURSE I DO.
IT'S MY GRANDMOTHER'S,
NINA'S.
OK. AND IS THIS
THE FAMILY MOTTO?
IT IS, INDEED, YES.
CAN YOU TRANSLATE THAT?
MY LATIN'S NOT AS GOOD
AS IT USED TO BE.
AS FAR I KNOW,
IT MEANS THEY FEAR
NO OBSTACLES.
THEY FEAR NO OBSTACLES.
FANTASTIC.
NOW, YOU ACTUALLY
HAVE A COPY...
WELL,
THE RING ITSELF HERE?
I DO, INDEED, YES.
AMAZING. CAN WE COMPARE
THE IMPRESSION?
I THINK IT'S
PRETTY MUCH THAT,
ISN'T IT?
THAT SEEMS PRETTY EXACT
TO ME.
YEAH.
THAT'S IT.
EXCELLENT.
FOR YOUR FAMILY,
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE RING ACTUALLY
HAVING BEEN FOUND?
I THINK IT WAS
QUITE SIGNIFICANT.
I WAS IN SWITZERLAND
ONCE,
AND I WENT TO SEE
MY SISTER,
AND SHE HAD
A VERY GOOD FRIEND
WHO WAS
A VERY GOOD MEDIUM.
SO I HANDED IT OVER
TO HER.
AND SHE TOOK IT,
AND SHE JUST DROPPED IT
STRAIGHT AWAY.
SHE SAID, "THERE'S
A LOT OF BLOOD
INVOLVED HERE."
SHE SAYS, "I DON'T
WANT TO TOUCH IT
ANYMORE."
SO WHATEVER
HAS HAPPENED,
IT'S NOT BEEN GOOD.
EITHER HE WAS KILLED,
OR HIS FINGER WAS
SIMPLY CHOPPED OFF
BECAUSE HE DIDN'T
WANT TO GIVE IT.
HMM.
THAT IS
QUITE A POSSIBILITY.
YES.
WE'RE GOING TO
HAVE A LOOK
AT THESE PHOTOGRAPHS.
THAT'D BE GREAT.
Narrator: THE STORY OF THE RING
MAY PROVIDE A CLUE
TO PERCY'S FATE.
SO MIGHT ANOTHER POSSESSION,
PART OF A FAWCETT EXHIBIT
IN TORQUAY, ENGLAND.
ONE OF THE ARTIFACTS
BEING CATALOGUED
IS A KEY PART OF
A MAPPING INSTRUMENT.
RIGHT. SO THIS COMPASS
WAS ACTUALLY THE COMPASS
USED BY COLONEL FAWCETT
IN HIS THEODOLITE
WHEN HE WAS OUT
ON EXPLORATION.
NOW, IT WAS FOUND
8 YEARS AFTER
HE WENT MISSING,
AND THERE'S BEEN
LOTS OF SPECULATION
AS TO WHERE IT ACTUALLY
CAME FROM.
Narrator: SEVERAL OF PERCY'S
EXPEDITION DIARIES
WERE RECENTLY GIVEN TO
THE TORQUAY MUSEUM.
SO THESE ARE
FAWCETT'S DIARIES.
Narrator: IN THE 1950s,
SURVIVING SON BRIAN
WROTE SIDE NOTES
ABOUT PERCY'S 1921 TRIP
TO FIND THE LOST CITY.
WHAT'S MOST INTERESTING FOR ME
IS THESE COORDINATES HERE
FOR DEAD HORSE CAMP.
NOW, DEAD HORSE CAMP WAS WHERE
HE WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE
LAST BEEN SEEN,
IN THE BAKAIRI AREA.
HE'S GIVEN ONE SET
OF COORDINATES HERE,
WHICH HE WRITES... COORDINATES
GIVEN TO THE R.G.S...
AND BENEATH, WRITTEN IN
A DIFFERENT HANDWRITING,
PRESUMED TO BE BRIAN FAWCETT'S
HANDWRITING,
WE'VE GOT ANOTHER SET
OF COORDINATES.
NOW. I'M GONNA BE VERY
INTERESTED TO SEE
WHEN I ACTUALLY GO TO BRAZIL
TO INVESTIGATE
BOTH OF THESE AREAS
AND SEE WHICH WAS
THE LAST PLACE THAT FAWCETT
WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN.
Narrator: THE SEARCH TAKES NIALL
TO RIO DE JANEIRO,
WHERE FAWCETT SPENT TIME
PREPARING HIS TWO EXPEDITIONS
TO FIND "Z."
THERE, BRAZIL'S NATIONAL LIBRARY
HOLDS A 260-YEAR-OLD MANUSCRIPT
WHICH INCLUDES A TREASURE MAP
DESCRIBING A FANTASTIC
SILVER-LADEN LOST CITY.
A FRIEND SENT FAWCETT A COPY
TRANSLATED BY ISABEL BURTON,
WIFE OF FAMED EXPLORER
SIR RICHARD BURTON.
WRITTEN BY 18th-CENTURY
FORTUNE HUNTERS
WHO CLAIMED THEY DISCOVERED
A STONE JUNGLE CITY,
THE DOCUMENT IS AN IMPORTANT
CLUE FOR FAWCETT AND FOR NIALL.
HI, ANA.
HERE'S THE DOCUMENT
YOU WANTED.
FANTASTIC.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
AND AGAIN,
THERE IT IS,
DOCUMENT NUMBER 512.
YEAH.
THIS IS, I PRESUME,
PRESENTED TO THE KING
IN 1754.
MM-HMM.
IT'S SUFFERED SO MUCH
DAMAGE, THOUGH,
OVER THE YEARS,
HASN'T IT?
YEAH. THEY TRIED
TO RESTORE IT, BUT...
Lowther: IT TELLS OF
A STONE CITY WITH
MULTI-STORIED BUILDINGS,
WITH WONDERFUL ARCHITECTURE,
SOARING STONE ARCHES
VERY CLEVERLY DESIGNED,
WIDE STREETS LEADING DOWN
TO A LAKE,
ON WHICH THE ADVENTURERS
SAW TWO WHITE INDIANS
IN A CANOE,
CONFIRMING EVERYTHING THAT
FAWCETT BELIEVED TO BE RIGHT.
ON THE SIDES OF THE BUILDINGS,
THERE WAS CARVED LETTERS
THAT SEEMED TO RESEMBLE GREEK
OR AT LEAST AN EARLY EUROPEAN
ALPHABET.
Narrator: FOR FAWCETT,
IT ALL CAME TOGETHER...
THE STONE CITY,
TALES OF WHITE INDIANS,
ANCIENT RELICS.
"Z" MUST EXIST.
AND THE LEGEND ALSO SEEMED
TO MATCH MADAM BLAVATSKY'S
HIDDEN CITIES
AND PSYCHIC PRIESTS.
PALE-SKINNED INDIANS
MAY HAVE EXISTED,
BUT FAWCETT THOUGHT THESE COULD
BE BLAVATSKY'S MASTER PRIESTS
DELIVERING IMPORTANT SPIRITUAL
TEACHINGS TO THE WORLD.
McCANN: SO THESE ARE THE SIGNS
THAT THEY FOUND
WRITTEN ON THE SIDE OF THE CITY,
ON THE WALLS OF THE CITY,
AND FROM THE CAVES
THAT THEY FOUND
NEAR A WATERFALL 3 DAYS
DOWNSTREAM FROM THE CITY ITSELF.
Ana: YES, I BELIEVE SO.
EXCELLENT.
WELL, FAWCETT IMAGINED
AN ATLANTIS, KIND OF, YOU KNOW,
A GREEK CITY, BASICALLY,
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST.
THAT'S VERY DIFFICULT
IN MOST OF THE AMAZON
BECAUSE THERE REALLY ISN'T
THE STONE TO DO THAT.
YOU CAN HAVE REALLY IMPRESSIVE
CITIES,
BUT THEY'RE NOT GONNA BE
THAT KIND OF CITY.
Narrator: THEN WHAT ABOUT
THE CITY IN THE MANUSCRIPT?
MANY OF EXPERTS NOW THINK
THAT IT WAS WRITTEN
BY ADVENTURERS WHO WERE TRYING
TO RAISE MONEY,
THAT THERE WAS NO CITY,
THAT THEY SAW NO CITY.
Narrator: NIALL HAS COME
TO THE BRAZILIAN STATE
OF MATO GROSSO
TO PURSUE THE CLUES LEADING
TO FAWCETT'S DISAPPEARANCE.
LOADS OF SMOKE
AS WE WERE COMING IN.
YEAH, THERE'S
A LOT OF FIRE...
FERNANDO GARCIA
IS A JUNGLE SURVIVAL EXPERT
WHO WILL HELP THE LEAD WAY.
YEAH, I'M SURE WE WILL.
ALL RIGHT. LET'S ROLL.
LET'S READY IT UP.
YOUR BAG.
NIALL'S DESTINATION
IS A BAKAIRI INDIAN VILLAGE,
THE LAST PEOPLE KNOWN
TO HAVE SEEN FAWCETT ALIVE.
HE FINDS THIS LAND TRANSFORMED
BY DEFORESTATION AND FARMING.
Garcia: OK, MAN, WE'RE ALMOST
HITTING THE BAKAIRI VILLAGE.
AS FAR AS I KNOW,
NO ONE'S ACTUALLY BEEN HERE
TO SPEAK TO THEM.
SO NO ONE KNOWS
WHAT HE WAS LIKE
WHEN HE CAME HERE,
WHETHER THEY KNOW
WHERE HE WENT,
WHERE HE STAYED
WHERE HE WENT
AFTERWARDS.
NO ONE KNOWS THAT.
Narrator: NIALL SEEKS PERMISSION
FROM THE TRIBAL LEADERS
TO SPEAK ABOUT FAWCETT.
IF WE COULD PLEASE ASK
DON ANTONIO
WHAT HE REMEMBERS
ABOUT THE STORIES OF
COLONEL FAWCETT HIMSELF.
DID HIS PARENTS
SPEAK TO HIM?
DID HIS RELATIVES
SPEAK TO HIM
ABOUT FAWCETT?
AND WHAT KIND OF STORIES
WERE THEY TELLING?
Garcia: OK. THE CHIEF
AT THAT TIME WAS HIS UNCLE.
OK.
OK? THEN THEY ARRIVED
AT HIS UNCLE'S HOUSE, OK?
AND THEY GIVE HIM
SOME FOOD.
AT THE TIME THEY WERE STAYING,
YOU KNOW, FOR THE TWO DAYS
THEY WERE STAYING HERE,
THEY FEED HIM, OK?
BUT AT THE TIME TO LEAVE,
HE WAS CARRYING
HIS OWN SUPPLIES.
Narrator: IN 1925,
AT AGE 58,
FAWCETT HAD JUST ONE MORE CHANCE
OF FINDING THE LOST CITY OF "Z."
ONCE AGAIN, HE CAME A THOUSAND
MILES BY TRAIN AND RIVERBOAT
FROM RIO...
THEN CROSSED THE UNFORGIVING
MATO GROSSO STATE,
3 TIMES THE SIZE OF TEXAS.
TO ENSURE SUCCESS,
HE BROUGHT WITH HIM
HIS STRAPPING 22-YEAR-OLD SON
JACK
AND RALEIGH RIMMEL,
JACK'S LIFELONG FRIEND,
WHO IT TURNED OUT WAS ILL
PREPARED TO HANDLE THE PHYSICAL
CHALLENGES OF THE TRIP.
THOSE CHALLENGES WERE
COMPOUNDED
BY THE LACK OF FUNDING.
FAWCETT MANAGED TO SCRAPE
TOGETHER SOME BACKING
FROM THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL
SOCIETY, THE ROCKEFELLERS.
AND A LARGE NEWSPAPER
CONSORTIUM,
BUT IT WAS MUCH LESS
THAN THEY NEEDED
FOR AN EXPEDITION OF THIS SIZE.
PERCY WAS NOW AN OFFICIAL
CORRESPONDENT,
AND THE EXPLOITS
OF THE DARING PARTY
WOULD BE FOLLOWED BY MILLIONS.
YEAH. FINE.
GREAT SHOT.
INDIAN RUNNERS WERE EMPLOYED
TO TAKE DISPATCHES
BACK TO CIVILIZATION
ALONG WITH PHOTOGRAPHS,
WHICH PERCY TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN.
RIGHT. EXCELLENT.
Lowther: FAWCETT WAS VERY GOOD
AT WRITING THE DISPATCHES.
HE MADE THEM QUITE RIVETING,
AND EVEN READING THEM TODAY,
YOU CAN SEE HOW THEY MADE
THE FRONT PAGES.
THIS REALLY WAS AN INDIANA JONES
FIGURE.
Narrator: NIALL'S SEARCH
FOR FAWCETT CLUES CONTINUES.
SEVERAL MILES
FROM THE BAKAIRI VILLAGE,
CHIEF DON ANTONIO HAS LOCATED
A RIVER CROSSING
FAWCETT PASSED THROUGH
ON HIS LAST EXPEDITION.
FURTHER DISCUSSIONS
WITH THE BAKAIRIS
CONFIRM WHAT FAWCETT WROTE
IN HIS LOGS.
HE CROSSED THE CREEK,
THEN STAYED FOR TWO DAYS
WITH A LOCAL CATTLE BARON
AT HIS RANCH
BEFORE ARRIVING
IN THE INDIAN VILLAGE.
REMNANTS OF THE RANCH AND
COLONEL FAWCETT'S VISIT REMAIN.
Garcia: HE SAY THAT WHETHER HE
GET INSIDE OF BAKAIRI VILLAGE,
HE HAVE A VERY WARM WELCOME,
AND HE STAY THERE.
AND HE SAY,
"I DON'T NEED ANYTHING.
"I JUST NEED A PLACE TO STAY.
"I WANT MY ANIMALS
TO HAVE A REST, OK?
MY PEOPLE ONLY NEED
A PLACE TO REST."
NEXT MORNING, THEY ASKED HIM,
"HOW YOU SPEND THE NIGHT?"
HE SAID, "WELL, IT WAS PERFECT.
I SLEPT BETTER HERE
THAN NEXT TO THE RIVER."
Narrator: A REPORT FROM
ONE OF THE RESCUE MISSIONS
SAID THAT FAWCETT HAD GONE UP
THE KULUENE RIVER
AND WAS KILLED AFTER INSULTING
A FIERCE INDIAN CHIEF,
OR KASIK.
BUT THE VISIT HERE HAS GIVEN
NIALL SOME NEW INSIGHT.
DON ANTONIO, WHOSE UNCLE
WAS THE KASIK AT THE TIME
WHEN FAWCETT PASSED
THROUGH HERE,
SPECIFICALLY REMEMBERS THAT
HE WAS A WARM AND WELCOMING MAN
AND VERY SMILEY,
EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE
CONSIDERABLE LANGUAGE BARRIERS.
NOW, THAT DOESN'T TALLY AT ALL
WITH TWO OF THE RUMORS
SURROUNDING FAWCETT'S
DISAPPEARANCE,
ONE OF WHICH STATED THAT
HE HAD TOUCHED THE DAUGHTER
OF A CHIEF INAPPROPRIATELY
AND HAD SUBSEQUENTLY
BEEN KILLED,
AND THE OTHER ONE WHICH STATES
THAT HE HAD ACTUALLY BEATEN THE
SON OF ONE OF THE LOCAL CHIEFS.
NOW, FAWCETT HIMSELF
IN ALL HIS DIARIES
TALKS ABOUT TRYING TO MAINTAIN
POSITIVE RELATIONS
WITH THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
OF THE AREA,
AND THE WAY THE BAKAIRI
REMEMBER HIM
TALLIES EXACTLY WITH WHAT
FAWCETT HAS WRITTEN,
AND THAT MAKES ME WANT TO RULE
OUT THOSE TWO POSSIBILITIES
AS TO WHY HE DISAPPEARED.
Narrator: MAKING FAWCETT
FEEL WELCOME,
THE BAKAIRIS WOULD HAVE SHARED
THEIR SACRED CAPA DANCE.
Narrator: THIS WAS A GLIMPSE
INTO THE MYSTERIES
WHICH LAY AHEAD:
A TANGLED, DARK JUNGLE
FILLED WITH ALL MANNER OF
CREATURES AND FOREST BEINGS.
A CLUE TO THE LOCATION OF
FAWCETT'S LAST CAMP
IS A WATERFALL DESCRIBED
IN THE 1753 MANUSCRIPT
AND IN FAWCETT'S JOURNALS.
Man as Fawcett: ABOUT 3 WEEKS'
JOURNEY FROM HERE,
WE EXPECT TO STRIKE
THE WATERFALL.
HEARD ABOUT IT
FROM THE BAKAIRI INDIAN ROBERTO.
IT CAN BE HEARD 5 LEAGUES AWAY,
AND THERE IS TO BE SEEN
AN UPRIGHT ROCK
WITH PAINTED FIGURES
PROTECTED FROM THE WATERS.
WE'VE JUST LEARNED
THIS MORNING ABOUT
THESE WATERFALLS,
WHICH ARE OF
CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
TO THE BAKAIRI.
AND FAWCETT REFERS
IN HIS BOOK TO WATERFALLS
WHICH HE SAW AS A SIGNPOST
TO THE LOST CITY OF ZED.
WE ARE HERE
IN THE BAKAIRI VILLAGE
OF SANTANA.
HERE ARE THE WATERFALLS.
AND RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE
OF THEM,
ON A STRAIGHT LINE,
ARE THE NEW COORDINATES
TO DEAD HORSE CAMP.
Narrator: THESE ARE THE SAME
CODED COORDINATES
WRITTEN BY SON BRIAN
INTO PERCY'S DIARY
AND THE ONES NINA REFERRED TO.
FAWCETT USED CODED
MAP COORDINATES
TO THROW PEOPLE OFF HIS TRAIL.
ONLY HIS FAMILY KNEW
HIS EXACT ROUTE.
UP UNTIL NOW, EVERYONE WHO'S
BEEN LOOKING FOR FAWCETT'S
LAST LOCATION
HAS BEEN LOOKING 200 MILES
FURTHER TO THE NORTH.
NOW, WE HAVE TO GO THERE.
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT
IT'S GOING TO BE LIKE.
IT MIGHT BE COMPLETELY
AND UTTERLY IMPENETRABLE.
BUT WE'VE GOT TO GO.
WE'VE GOT TO TRY AND FIND IT.
AND WHO KNOWS?
WE MIGHT JUST STUMBLE ACROSS
FAWCETT'S GENUINE LAST LOCATION.
Narrator: OLDER MAP COORDINATES
ARE NOT AS ACCURATE AS TODAY.
SO FINDING THE WATERFALL FIRST
WILL HELP THEM PINPOINT
FAWCETT'S DIRECTION
AND THE LOCATION
OF DEAD HORSE CAMP.
5 HOURS INTO THEIR TRIP,
5 HOURS TO GO,
AND AN UNFINISHED BRIDGE.
THEY HAVE FEW OPTIONS.
AND THEY'VE AGREED
THEY'RE GONNA BUILD
THIS BRIDGE FOR US,
AND WE'RE GONNA GIVE IT
A GO.
WE'RE GONNA TAKE THE TRUCKS,
AND WE'RE GONNA TRY
AND DRIVE OVER
THIS HALF-BUILT
RICKETY BRIDGE,
AND IT'S GONNA SAVE US
HALF A DAY.
Narrator:
A SLIGHT SLIP OF THE WHEEL
COULD SEND THE VEHICLE
TUMBLING OFF THE BRIDGE.
McCann: VERY NICELY DONE,
DRIVING OVER THAT.
HA!
Narrator: SOYBEAN FARMING
HAS STRIPPED THE THICK BUSHLAND
THAT FAWCETT WALKED THROUGH.
BUT IN FAWCETT'S TIME,
HE HAD DIFFERENT CONCERNS.
HEAT, LACK OF WATER, SNAKES,
AND DISEASE-CARRYING INSECTS
WERE A CONSTANT PROBLEM.
RALEIGH NOW SUFFERED
FROM A BADLY INFECTED BITE
ON HIS LEG.
Lowther: HE REFUSED TO GO BACK.
BOTH JACK AND THE COLONEL
TRIED TO PERSUADE HIM TO RETURN,
BUT HE WOULDN'T.
THEY WERE PROCEEDING
WITH A LAME PERSON,
SOMEONE WHO WAS CERTAIN
TO HOLD THEM UP.
WHILE THEY STILL HAD MULES,
WHILE THEY STILL HAD
SOME KIND OF TRANSPORTATION,
THAT WAS SORT OF OK,
BUT ONCE THEY HAD TO GO BY FOOT,
IT COULDN'T HAVE WORKED.
HE JUST COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT.
Narrator:
TRAVELING FURTHER INLAND,
NIALL AND FERNANDO LOCATE
A BAKAIRI MAN
WHO SHOWS THEM THE WAY
TO THE FALLS,
CONSIDERED SACRED TO HIS PEOPLE.
McCann: FERNANDO, SET THESE OUT.
Narrator: THIS WAS A MAJOR FIND
FOR FAWCETT.
THE 1753 MANUSCRIPT
SAID THE FALLS WERE CLOSE
TO THE LOST CITY
AND HOME TO STRANGE INSCRIPTIONS
AND SILVER MINES SEALED
WITH LARGE ROCK SLABS.
THEY ARE AMONG THE FEW OUTSIDERS
TO VISIT THIS REMOTE LOCATION.
IT'S NOT CLEAR
PERCY MADE IT HERE,
BUT IT IS POSSIBLE
FORTUNE HUNTERS WHO WROTE
THE OLD MANUSCRIPT DID.
HIDING BENEATH THE WATER,
THE SPARKLING TREASURED
DESCRIBED BY THE FORTUNE
SEEKERS.
THEY'RE GUARDED BY SOUTH
AMERICAN DRAGONS...
6-FOOT ELECTRIC EELS
THAT COULD KILL A MAN.
WHAT WE'VE GOT HERE ARE ROCKS
WHICH LOOK EXACTLY LIKE
BLOCKS OF SILVER.
NOW, WHAT THEY'LL BE IS MICA,
GLISTENING LIKE SILVER,
AND OVER THERE,
NEXT TO ALL THE CAVES,
ARE LARGE, SLAB-LIKE ROCKS.
NOW, IT'S JUST A DIFFERENT
STRATA.
MAKES IT LOOK LIKE
A MANMADE SLAB.
YOU CAN WELL UNDERSTAND HOW A
TEAM OF PORTUGUESE
CONQUISTADORS
IN THE 1750s,
AFTER YEARS OF HIKING
THROUGH THE BUSH,
STARVED TO THE POINT
OF DELIRIUM,
MIGHT WELL HAVE BELIEVED THAT
THESE WERE GENUINELY
BLOCKS OF SILVER
AND THOSE WERE MANMADE SLABS
COVERING THE MINES,
WHICH CONTAINED IN THEM
ENORMOUS RICHES
THAT THEY WANTED TO BRING BACK
TO THE KING OF PORTUGAL.
Narrator: MORE PIECES
OF THE PUZZLE COME TOGETHER
ABOVE THE FALLS.
THE BAKAIRI MAN BRINGS NIALL
TO AN UNEXPLORED CAVE
COVERED IN ANCIENT WRITING.
THE FORTUNE HUNTERS THOUGHT THE
TEXT THEY SAW MIGHT BE GREEK,
AND FAWCETT HIMSELF
REPRODUCED THEM IN HIS LOGS,
SPECULATING THEY COULD COME FROM
THE FABLED CITY OF ATLANTIS.
NIALL THINKS THESE DESIGNS
LOOK CLOSE TO SOME OF THE TEXT
IN THE LOGS.
THIS LOOKS VERY,
VERY ATLANTEAN.
THIS'LL BE GREAT,
AS YOU SEE,
WHEN WE COMPARE
ON THE MANUSCRIPT
HOW CLOSELY
THEY RESEMBLE
THE WRITINGS
IN THE MANUSCRIPT
OF 1753.
Narrator: WITH THE FALLS
AS A LIKELY FAWCETT DESTINATION,
THEY NOW BACKTRACK,
USING GPS TO LINE UP FAWCETT'S
LAST LOCATION AT DEAD HORSE.
MAPS TELL THEM IT MIST LIE
ON A RIVER
BETWEEN THE BAKAIRI VILLAGE
AND THE FALLS.
THEY SOLICIT THE HELP OF LOCALS
TO FIND THEIR WAY.
IN 1925, THE FAWCETT PARTY
WALKED AND RODE OVERLAND
FOR 4 WEEKS TO GET
TO DEAD HORSE CAMP,
SO NAMED BECAUSE PERCY SHOT
HIS DEAD HORSE THERE IN 1921.
RALEIGH'S HEALTH
HAD GOTTEN WORSE,
AND THE JOURNEY HAD ONLY
JUST BEGUN.
AHEAD OF THEM LAY THICK JUNGLE
AND HOSTILE TRIBES.
WHY, THEN, HAD PERCY RISKED
HIS SON JACK'S LIFE
ON THIS JOURNEY?
THE UNDERLYING PURPOSE,
NOT DIVULGED TO ANYONE
BUT HIS FAMILY,
DATES BACK TO THE TIME
OF JACK'S BIRTH IN CEYLON.
Lowther: HE SAYS HE WAS VISITED
BY A DELEGATION OF HOLY MEN
FROM INDIA,
AND THEY TOLD HIM THAT
HE WAS TO BECOME THE FATHER
OF A SON
AND THAT THIS SON WOULD BE
THE REINCARNATION OF
A BUDDHIST HOLY MAN,
THAT THE SON WOULD HAVE
VERY SPECIAL POWERS
AND BE A VERY SPECIAL PERSON.
AND THEY PREDICTED THAT
HE WOULD HAVE CERTAIN
PHYSICAL TRAITS.
THERE WAS TO BE A MOLE ON
THE INSIDE OF ONE OF HIS FEET,
AND HIS TOES WERE TO BE
OF AN IRREGULAR SHAPE.
WHEN THE BOY WAS BORN,
PERCY SAID ALL OF THESE THINGS
MATCHED,
AND HE CAME TO BELIEVE IT.
THEY FELT THAT HE HAD
VERY HIGH SPIRITUAL
AND PSYCHIC POWERS
AND THAT HE HAD SOME SORT OF
DESTINY THAT WOULD BE OF
MAJOR IMPORTANCE TO MANKIND
AS A WHOLE,
THAT HE WOULD BECOME A LEADER,
BUT NOT JUST A LEADER,
NOT JUST A SPIRITUAL LEADER,
BUT A LEADER WHO WOULD HAVE
THE POWERS OF THE MASTERS
THAT BLAVATSKY HAD TALKED ABOUT.
Narrator: SO JACK CAME TO BRAZIL
TO FULFILL THE PROPHECY OF
THE BUDDHIST HOLY MEN
AND THE BELIEFS OF
MADAM BLAVATSKY.
IT WAS HERE IN THE CITY OF "Z"
THAT JACK'S FUTURE
WOULD BE CLEARLY DEFINED.
Lowther: IT WAS PARTICULARLY
IMPORTANT THAT JACK BE
ON THE LAST EXPEDITION.
FAWCETT BELIEVED THAT WHEN
THEY REACHED THE HIDDEN CITY,
THE WHITE TRIBE THAT LIVED
THERE, THE MASTERS,
THESE EXTREMELY WISE,
SUPERHUMAN PEOPLE,
WOULD RECOGNIZE JACK
AS ONE OF THEIR OWN
AND WOULD WELCOME THEM
INTO THE COMMUNITY
AND SHARE THEIR SECRETS.
Narrator: THEY ARRIVED
AT DEAD HORSE CAMP
3 MONTHS AFTER LEAVING
RIO DE JANEIRO.
DESPITE THE DIFFICULTIES,
FAWCETT CONTINUED WRITING
DISPATCHES FOR THE NEWSPAPERS.
HE KNEW HE'D HAVE TO KEEP
RALEIGH'S SPIRITS UP
EVEN IF HIS CHANCES LOOKED SLIM.
IT WAS IMPERATIVE THAT
HE AND JACK MAKE IT TO "Z."
AND THIS WOULD BE THE LAST
CHANCE TO GET A MESSAGE
TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD
AND TO HIS WIFE, NINA.
INEVITABLY,
THEY RAN OUT OF RUNNERS.
THERE WERE ONLY SO MANY PEOPLE
WHO COULD GO BACK
WITH THE STORIES,
AND AFTER THEY LEFT
BAKAIRI POST
AND HEADED FOR DEAD HORSE CAMP,
THE LAST RUNNER WENT
WITH THE LAST STORY.
IN THE FINAL DISPATCH,
WHEN THE LAST OF THE RUNNERS
RETURNED,
FAWCETT SENT A MESSAGE
TO HIS WIFE, NINA.
HE SAID THAT SHE NEED HAVE
NO FEAR OF FAILURE.
THE MESSAGE REFLECTED
HIS OWN CONFIDENCE AND OPTIMISM
THAT HE WAS GOING TO FIND
THE LOST CITIES AT LAST.
Narrator: SOMEWHERE IN A NARROW
STRIP OF JUNGLE,
STILL SURVIVING AMONG
THESE SOYBEAN FIELDS,
IS THE SITE OF FAWCETT'S
LAST CAMP.
LAST JUNCTION,
8 KILOMETERS,
AND THEN LEFT
AT "T" JUNCTION.
Narrator: THEN A WASHOUT.
THERE'S ONLY A NARROW, CRUMBLING
STRIP OF MUD ROAD LEFT...
NO ROOM FOR THEIR TRUCK.
THEY HAVE WORK TO DO.
THE BRITTLE MUD BARELY HOLDS
THE TRUCK'S WEIGHT.
McCann: AND ABOUT
6 INCHES OF SPACE.
THERE'S ABSOLUTELY
NO, NO ROOM FOR ERROR
WHATSOEVER,
NO MARGIN FOR ERROR.
BUT WE'RE OVER.
WE'RE ON OUR WAY BACK
TOWARDS DEAD HORSE CAMP
AS WELL.
THIS IS IT.
LOOK AT THIS.
LOOK HOW SHALLOW
THIS IS.
YEAH.
THIS IS THE PERFECT
SPOT TO CROSSING.
THERE'S THE CROSSING.
HERE GOES... OLD TRAIL.
Narrator: ALL THE PIECES
SEEM TO ADD UP.
IT'S DEAD HORSE CAMP...
THE RIGHT COORDINATES,
A SHALLOW RIVER CROSSING,
AND BACK IN THE WOODS,
A CAMPSITE USED BY TRAVELERS
TO THIS DAY.
THE RIVER AND JUNGLE QUICKLY
OBLITERATE ANYTHING THAT
DOES NOT BELONG.
NO SIGN OF FAWCETT
OR HIS EXPEDITION REMAINS.
McCann: FROM AS FAR
AS I CAN TELL,
THIS IS WHERE THEY
WOULD HAVE CAMPED.
THIS IS DEAD HORSE CAMP.
WE'VE HAD A GOOD LOOK
ROUND THE FOREST
FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED METERS IN
EITHER DIRECTION DOWN THE RIVER,
AND THIS IS THE BEST PLACE
TO CAMP.
THIS TREE HERE HAS OBVIOUSLY
HAD PEOPLE SITTING ON IT
FOR DECADES AND DECADES
AND DECADES.
THERE'S LOTS OF EXCELLENT TREES
HERE FOR SLINGING HAMMOCKS.
THERE'S ACTUALLY A FIREPLACE
WHICH MUST HAVE BEEN USED,
I DON'T KNOW, WITHIN THE LAST
YEAR OR SO.
THIS IS PRETTY MUCH IT.
Narrator: AFTER THE DISPATCH
FROM DEAD HORSE,
THERE WAS ONLY SILENCE,
AND MOST, INCLUDING NINA
AND THE R.G.S.,
BELIEVED THAT PERCY WAS MERELY
SURVIVING AS HE ALWAYS HAD.
FAWCETT WAS CONSIDERED
INDESTRUCTIBLE,
BUT AFTER A YEAR
SINCE HIS LAST MESSAGE,
EVEN THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL
SOCIETY GREW SKEPTICAL.
DISCUSSIONS OF A RESCUE MISSION
BEGAN,
AND PUBLIC INTEREST
SWELLED ANEW.
Lowther: THE PUBLIC IMAGINATION
HAD BEEN VERY FIRMLY HOOKED
BY THE FAWCETT STORY.
PEOPLE NOT JUST IN BRITAIN,
BUT THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES
AND EUROPE AND AUSTRALIA
ALL FELT THAT FAWCETT
COULD HAVE BEEN CAPTURED
BY INDIAN TRIBES
AND COULD BE QUITE WELL
AND THRIVING AND LIVING
WITH THESE TRIBES,
PERHAPS IN ONE OF
THE LOST CITIES.
Narrator: AS EARLY AS 1927,
REPORTS CAME IN FROM BRAZIL.
AN ENGINEER NAMED COURTEVILLE
SAID HE MET FAWCETT
AND THAT THE 3 MEN WERE THRIVING
IN A GLORIOUS EDEN.
IT WAS NOT TO BE.
TWO YEARS AFTER ANY WORD
HAD COME FROM FAWCETT,
NINA WAS SURE
PERCY WAS STILL ALIVE,
AND SHE BEGAN TO ENCOURAGE
THE R.G.S.
TO SEND OUT AN OFFICIAL
RESCUE MISSION.
Woman: I THINK NINA... SHE'S
ALWAYS PUTTING ON A GREAT FACE
TOWARDS EVERYBODY,
BUT I GET A GREAT SENSE
THAT INSIDE,
SHE'S NOT COPING WITH IT
TOO WELL.
Narrator: AT THE TORQUAY MUSEUM,
WHERE NIALL SAW FAWCETT'S DIARY
AND COMPASS,
A RESEARCHER IS TRANSCRIBING
HIS JOURNALS AND HER LETTERS.
Woman: ESPECIALLY WHEN FAWCETT'S
GONE MISSING,
I FIND SHE'S USING
VERY SPIRITUAL THINGS
TO TRY AND GET HER THROUGH.
SHE'S CONSTANTLY FOCUSING ON
"THERE MUST BE A REASON
FOR THIS,
THERE MUST BE A PREDETERMINED
THING THAT I AM SUPPOSED TO GO
THROUGH AS A PERSON,"
AND SHE'S ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT,
"ONE DAY, WE'LL GET THE CALL,
AND WE'LL GO OVER TO HIM
AND BE WITH HIM
IN THE LOST CITY."
Narrator: FINALLY, IN 1928,
THE SOCIETY MOUNTED
A RESCUE EXPEDITION,
AND THEY BACKED
A COLORFUL ADVENTURER NAMED
COLONEL GEORGE DYOTT,
WHO HAD RECENTLY RETRACED
PRESIDENT TEDDY ROOSEVELT'S
1913 AMAZON EXPEDITION.
Lowther: DYOTT WAS EQUIPPED WITH
SOPHISTICATED TWO-WAY RADIOS.
HIS MESSAGES FROM THE INTERIOR
WERE PICKED UP BY RADIO HAMS
THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES,
WHO WERE PASSING THEM ON
TO RADIO STATIONS,
AND SO ONCE AGAIN,
THE FAWCETT STORY
MADE THE HEADLINES
AND THE FRONT PAGES.
THE STORY HAD ENORMOUS LEGS.
IT JUST KEPT ON GOING.
Narrator: DYOTT RECEIVED
CREDIBLE EVIDENCE
THAT FAWCETT WAS KILLED
BY BANDITS IN THE MATO GROSSO.
IGNORING THIS,
HE PURSUED A NATIVE
CLAIMING TO HAVE GUIDED FAWCETT
MUCH DEEPER INTO THE XINGU
AMAZON REGION.
DYOTT AND HIS MEN
FOLLOWED HIM IN
AND FOUND THEMSELVES
IN HOSTILE TERRITORY,
EACH TRIBE POINTING TO THE OTHER
AS FAWCETT'S KILLERS.
DYOTT WAS HELD CAPTIVE
BY INDIANS,
BARELY ESCAPING WITH HIS LIFE.
HE DID NOT FIND FAWCETT,
BUT TURNED HIS ADVENTURE
INTO A BOOK
AND A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE.
THEN, IN 1937,
A MISSIONARY NAMED
MARTHA MOENNICH
ANNOUNCED SHE'D FOUND
A WHITE BOY
SHE FELT CERTAIN WAS THE SON
OF JACK FAWCETT.
IT TURNED OUT HE WAS
AN ALBINO NATIVE.
THE RESCUE MISSIONS CONTINUED.
Lowther: LITERALLY THOUSANDS
OF PEOPLE APPLIED TO GO
ON THESE EXPEDITIONS,
PEOPLE AS ILL QUALIFIED
AND JACK AND RALEIGH,
FOR THE MOST PART,
AND DOZENS OF EXPEDITIONS...
DOZENS...
SET OUT INTO THE MATO GRASSO
LOOKING FOR HIM,
AND CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR HIM
TO THIS DAY.
Narrator: BUT NEW EVIDENCE
POINTS TO FAWCETT'S SIGNET RING,
FOUND IN A MATO GRASSO SHOP
IN 1979
AND RETURNED TO
HIS GRANDDAUGHTER.
I BECAME INVOLVED IN IT
IN THE 1970s.
Narrator: BRIAN RIDOUT,
A WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST,
UNRAVELED A TANGLED WEB
OF SHADY CHARACTERS
LEADING TO THE RING
IN THE MATO GROSSO IN THE 1970s.
SHOPKEEPER VICENTE GROSSOLIA
AND HIS WIFE
CLAIMED HE GOT THE RING
ON PERCY'S DISASTROUS
EARLIER HUNT FOR "Z,"
EITHER IN EXCHANGE FOR MULES
OR AS A PAYMENT FOR GUIDING
THE ENGLISHMAN TOWARDS
THE LOST CITY.
RIDOUT THINKS GROSSOLIA'S
RING STORY IS SUSPICIOUS.
NINA TOLD THE R.G.S.
PERCY HAD THE RING
ON THE FINAL EXPEDITION
AND WOULD NOT
HAVE GIVEN IT UP EASILY.
I DON'T THINK THAT
HE NEEDED A GUIDE.
HE WAS A FOUNDER, GOLD MEDALIST
IN THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL
SOCIETY.
HE'D GONE THROUGH
THEIR SURVEYING COURSE.
AND NO REASON TO SUPPOSE THAT
HE DIDN'T KNOW WHERE HE WAS.
EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK, I'M SURE
HE KNEW PRECISELY WHERE HE WAS
AT ALL TIMES.
SO I DON'T THINK HE GOT LOST
IN THE JUNGLE.
HE DISAPPEARED BECAUSE
SOMEBODY KILLED HIM.
SO, BOYS...
BASICALLY, THERE ARE ONLY 3
THINGS THAT COULD HAVE
HAPPENED TO THEM.
THEY WERE EITHER
KILLED BY INDIANS,
THEY DIED AS A RESULT OF
SOME ACCIDENT,
WHICH COULD EASILY
HAVE HAPPENED...
PERHAPS DISEASE,
PERHAPS DROWNED IN A RIVER...
OR THIRDLY, THERE HAD BEEN
A REVOLUTION NOT LONG BEFORE,
AND RENEGADE SOLDIERS
WERE HIDING OUT IN THE AREA,
AND THERE HAD BEEN A NUMBER
OF OCCASIONS
WITHIN MONTHS OF THIS EXPEDITION
IN WHICH TRAVELERS HAD BEEN
STALKED AND ROBBED
AND IN SOME CASES MURDERED
BY THESE REBEL SOLDIERS.
THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED
TO THEM, ALSO.
YOU WILL...
Narrator: ALL THE PIECES
NOW COME TOGETHER
TO TELL A NEW VERSION
OF FAWCETT'S FATE.
PERCY'S THEODOLITE COMPASS
WAS FOUND WITHIN DAYS
OF DEAD HORSE CAMP.
IT'S POSSIBLE IT WAS STOLEN,
THEN ABANDONED.
AND IT'S UNLIKELY A REMOTE TRIBE
LIKE THE KALAPALOS
WOULD HAVE TRADED THE RING
FOR MONEY.
AND THAT MEANS FAWCETT LIKELY
DID NOT GET AS FAR
INTO THE AMAZON
AS COLONEL DYOTT CLAIMED HE DID.
Ridout: WHEN THE FAWCETT PARTY
ACTUALLY LEFT CUIABA,
THE WHOLE TOWN CAME OUT
TO SEE THEM OFF,
AND FAWCETT BEING THERE
WAS QUITE AN EVENT.
SO I KNOW FROM PEOPLE I'D MET
WHO HAD BEEN THERE AT THAT TIME
THAT THERE WAS A SORT OF
MASSIVE PARTY WHEN THEY LEFT.
SO EVERYBODY KNEW ABOUT
THE EQUIPMENT THAT
THE FAWCETT PARTY HAD.
IT WAS A TIME WHEN A NEW RIFLES
AND A BIT OF MONEY
WOULD CERTAINLY
HAVE COME IN HANDY
FOR THE SORT OF NE'ER-DO-WELL
POPULATION OF THE AREA,
AND I THINK THAT THE FAWCETT
PARTY PROBABLY DIDN'T GET ANY
FURTHER THEN DEAD HORSE CAMP.
AND I THINK THAT'S
WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM.
I DON'T THINK THERE'S
ANY EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER
THAT THEY EVER WENT ROUND
THE KULUENE RIVER
AND MET THE KALAPALOS INDIANS,
AND THAT EVERYBODY THAT'S GONE
LOOKING FOR FAWCETT
HAS HEADED OFF
IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.
IN THIS VERSION,
THE END COMES QUICKLY,
NOT FAR FROM DEAD HORSE CAMP,
WHEN A RENEGADE CATCHES
THE OLD EXPLORER
AND SOLDIER OFF GUARD.
FAWCETT IS GONE,
BUT WHAT OF HIS LOST CITY?
UNTIL RECENTLY, THE VAST AMAZON
HAS HIDDEN ITS SECRETS.
SOME EVIDENCE OF ADVANCED
COMMUNAL VILLAGES HAS EMERGED
IN THE XINGU,
WHERE PERCY WAS HEADING
IN HIS SEARCH FOR "Z."
BUT NIALL HAS HEARD OF
EVEN MORE DRAMATIC DISCOVERIES
IN THE WESTERN AMAZON,
AND HE TRAVELS MORE THAN
A THOUSAND MILES
TO THE OTHER SIDE OF BRAZIL
TO SEE FOR HIMSELF.
HIDDEN IN THE JUNGLE
FOR 2,000 YEARS
AND ONLY EMERGING AS TREES
ARE FELLED TO CREATE FARMLAND,
A VAST NETWORK OF MYSTERIOUS
RELIGIOUS SITES.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS BELIEVE THEY ARE
PART OF AN ANCIENT CITY-STATE
STRETCHING SOME
160 SQUARE MILES.
THESE PROVE THAT ANCIENT
LOST CITIES DID EXIST
IN THE AMAZON,
THOUGH THEY DON'T MATCH
THE EXPECTATIONS
OF EXPLORERS LIKE FAWCETT.
WHEN I TALK ABOUT CIVILIZATION,
IN GENERAL,
PEOPLE THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW,
BUILDINGS AND...
THINGS MADE OUT OF ROCK
AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND IN THIS PLACE
AND IN OTHER PLACES
IN THE AMAZON,
THERE IS NO ROCKS.
SO PEOPLE BUILD THINGS
MOVING EARTH.
Narrator: THIS VAST NETWORK
OF ANCIENT RELIGIOUS SITES
POINTS TO THE SCALE OF THE CITY
THAT FAWCETT WAS SEEKING.
WHAT'S MORE, FAWCETT WAS HERE
IN 1907
AND ACTUALLY MAY HAVE
CAMPED INSIDE ONE OF
THESE GRASS CIRCLES.
DENISE SCHAAN HELPED
DISCOVER THE SITES.
NOW SHE'S THE ARCHAEOLOGIST
IN CHARGE OF THE EXCAVATION.
IN THE BEGINNING,
IT'S FUNNY,
BECAUSE PEOPLE
WHO CAME HERE FIRST,
YOU COULDN'T UNDERSTAND
WHAT THESE THINGS WERE.
AND WHEN I SAW THE PICTURES
FOR THE FIRST TIME,
THE AREA PHOTOGRAPHS,
I GOT AMAZED WITH THIS.
WE HAD THIS GENERAL IDEA
THAT THINGS LIKE THAT
DON'T EXIST IN THE AMAZON.
ARE THEY ALL BUILT
TO A STANDARD DESIGN
OR...
Narrator: NO ONE FULLY
UNDERSTANDS THE EXACT PURPOSE
OF THESE DEEP TRENCHES,
BUT THEY DO SUPPORT AT LEAST ONE
OF FAWCETT'S MAIN PRECEPTS:
LARGE, SOPHISTICATED POPULATIONS
ONCE LIVED
IN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST.
WHEN THE SPANISH
GOT THERE...
AND THE MORE THEY DIG
AND LOCATE HUNDREDS OF SITES
ON GOOGLE EARTH,
THE MORE TRADITIONAL BELIEFS
ABOUT AMAZONIAN SETTLEMENTS
ARE MADE OBSOLETE.
WOULD THIS BE
OF THE SAME KIND OF AGE,
OR WOULD THAT BE
SOMETHING...
ONE THING THAT
AMAZONIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS
HAVE BELIEVED
FOR 30, 40 YEARS,
THAT NOBODY WAS LIVING
IN THE HINTERLAND.
SO IT'S VERY STRANGE TO
FIND THESE SITES HERE
BECAUSE YOU NEED
LOTS OF PEOPLE
TO BUILD THEM.
SO IT'S WHAT WE CALL
MONUMENTAL CONSTRUCTION.
Mann: WELL, FAWCETT WAS RIGHT.
IF THERE'S GONNA BE A LOST CITY,
THERE HAS TO BE HIGHER
POPULATION LEVELS BACK THEN
THAN THERE ARE NOW.
THE ESTIMATE THAT I'VE SEEN
FROM CLARK ERICKSON AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
IS ABOUT A MILLION PEOPLE.
IT'S A SWATH THAT GOES
FROM EASTERN BOLIVIA
ALL THE WAY INTO WESTERN BRAZIL,
700 MILES LONG,
1,000 MILES LONG.
AND ON THE NORTH AND SOUTH END
OF IT,
WHICH IS THE TWO AREAS THAT
RESEARCH HAVE BEEN DONE,
ARE THESE LARGE EARTHWORKS THAT
ARE CALLED GEOGLYHPS SOMETIMES,
AND THEY WERE CLEARLY BUILT
BY SOCIETIES THAT, YOU KNOW,
WEREN'T A COUPLE GUYS
IN LOINCLOTHS.
Narrator: A NEW PICTURE
OF THE WESTERN AMAZON
IS NOW EMERGING.
HERE, DISCOVERIES OF CERAMICS
AND NEARBY WATER SOURCES
INDICATE HUMAN HABITATION.
GEOGLYPHS MAY HAVE BEEN
RELIGIOUS SITES
SURROUNDED BY RAISED FIELDS
AND COMMUNITIES
OF 60,000 PEOPLE.
SO, HUNDREDS OF MILES WEST OF
FAWCETT'S LAST SEARCH FOR "Z,"
CIVILIZATIONS ARE BEING FOUND
IN A STATE MAPPED BY PERCY
IN 1907.
WHILE HE DID NOT COMPREHEND
WHAT LAY UNDER HIS FEET,
TODAY, FAWCETT'S JOURNALS
ARE BEING USED
TO HELP SCIENTISTS
UNRAVEL THE MYSTERY
OF THESE LOST CITIES.
ACTUALLY, THE FAWCETT REPORT
WAS ONE OF THE THINGS WE READ
BECAUSE HE WAS
IN THIS VERY REGION
IN THE BEGINNING OF
THE 20th CENTURY.
AND HE TALKS ABOUT CLEARINGS,
CIRCULAR VILLAGES WITH INDIANS.
SOME OF THEM WERE
ALREADY ABANDONED.
THE INDIANS HAD LEFT.
McCann: FAWCETT IN ONE OF
HIS ITINERARIES THAT HE WROTE
TO THE R.G.S,
HE SAYS THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY.
NOW, FAWCETT WAS A GEOGRAPHER.
SO HE KNOWS THAT
ANY GEOGRAPHIC POINT
HAS 360 DEGREES OF ANGLES.
SO IN MY OPINION,
FAWCETT WASN'T JUST TALKING
ABOUT THE GEOGRAPHICAL DIRECTION
HE HAD TO GO,
BUT ABOUT A SPIRITUAL DIRECTION
AS WELL.
SO HE HAD TO FOLLOW
THESE EXACT POINTS:
DEAD HORSE CAMP,
THEN ON TO FALLS,
WHERE HE WOULD HAVE SEEN
WHAT LOOKS LIKE THE SILVER BARS,
WHERE HE WOULD HAVE SEEN
WHAT LOOKED LIKE
THE ATLANTEAN SYMBOLS,
AND THEN CARRY ON
INTO THE XINGU AREA,
TOWARDS THE CITY,
BUT FROM THERE ON,
IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT
BEING A GREAT GEOGRAPHER.
IT'S ABOUT BELIEVING THAT
YOU'RE ACTUALLY GOING
TO YOUR FINAL DESTINATION.
AND THAT'S WHAT
FAWCETT BELIEVED.
HE BELIEVED THAT
HE WAS THE ONE MAN
WHO HAD BOTH THE PHYSICAL
CAPABILITIES
AND THE SPIRITUAL CAPABILITIES
TO MAKE IT
TO THE LOST CITY OF ZED.
AND I THINK HE SHOULD BE
REMEMBERED...
DESPITE WHAT ANYONE MIGHT THINK
ABOUT THE PSYCHIC AND THE
SPIRITUAL SIDE OF IT,
HE SHOULD BE REMEMBERED
AS A VERY BRAVE EXPLORER.
Ridout: MARCHING INTO THE SUNSET
AND NEVER COMING BACK
I THINK IS AN IMAGE THAT
REALLY CONTINUES TO CAPTURE
THE IMAGINATION.
THE MAN THAT AGAINST ALL ODDS
STAKES EVERYTHING
ON THIS FINAL THROW,
THAT THE LEGEND REMAINS WITH US
AND REMAINS POPULAR.
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE
BY CONTRIBUTIONS TO PBS STATION
FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
THANK YOU.
Announcer: THE "SECRETS OF
THE DEAD" INVESTIGATION
CONTINUES ONLINE.
FOR MORE IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS
AND STREAMING VIDEO OF THIS
AND OTHER EPISODES,