The Plant Hunters: Adventures Among the Himalaya Mountains

The Plant Hunters #1

by Thomas Mayne Reid

Originally published in 1858 at the height of the passion for exotic specimens, this is the story of a young Bavarian botanist, Karl Linden, engaged in a plant-hunting expedition to the stupendous mountains of the Himalayas in Tibet. It is an early narrative and primary source, with commentaries on the Himalayas, plant hunting, inspecting cliffs, the Ibex & other fauna, ascent of mountains, aerostatics, and of course the botany and value of the plants they are collecting.

Genres: Adventure, Fiction

372 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1858

About the author

"Captain" Reid wrote many adventure novels akin to those written by Frederick Marryat and Robert Louis Stevenson. He was a great admirer of Lord Byron. These novels contain action that takes place primarily in untamed settings: the American West, Mexico, South Africa, the Himalayas, and Jamaica.

Reviews

[Bill Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about the pair of brothers who travel to the Himalayas to search for plants, aided by a knowledgeable local guide. It is one adventurous situation after another with their eventually being trapped in a hanging valley but finding an exist through a cave. All problems are dealt with through the resourcefulness of the three men. Reid obviously has a good knowledge of natural history, including that of the Himalayas, allowing him to insert specific plants and animals into the narrative.

[Adi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I imagine this was a very enjoyable novel for the people back in the 19th century. Let's not forget that their world was completely different to ours, and very few of them had the possibility to leave their homes and travel around the globe. Therefore, a book about all the unusual plants and animals in the Himalayan mountains must have sparkled the interest and engaged the readers.
Actually, I consider it a decent novel as well, although parts of it (like the hunting episodes) were a bit too regular and detailed for my liking.
Nevertheless, Mayne Reid has always been one of my favorite authors. And I do believe it will stay this way...

[Francine Long]

Ch2 P63 Even after that your hearts were hardened and became Stony, and even harder yet, for there are some stones which reverse gush out of and there are others which water comes forth from when they split open, and there are still others which collapse out of awe for God. God is not oblivious of what you are doing!

[Preslava · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that would be interesting to a child but not an adult. Or maybe as someone else in the review mentioned it - not an adult from the 21st century.