Biggles and the Cruise of the Condor

Biggles #2

by W.E. Johns

A visit to Biggles' uncle, Dickpa, lands Biggles, Algy and mechanic Smyth in a dangerous adventure looking for an ancient Inca treasure hoard.

Genres: Adventure, Fiction, Childrens, Aviation, Historical, Historical Fiction, Novels

206 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1933

About the author

Invariably known as Captain W.E. Johns, William Earl Johns was born in Bengeo, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of Richard Eastman Johns, a tailor, and Elizabeth Johns (née Earl), the daughter of a master butcher. He had a younger brother, Russell Ernest Johns, who was born on 24 October 1895.

He went to Hertford Grammar School where he was no great scholar but he did develop into a crack shot with a rifle. This fired his early ambition to be a soldier. He also attended evening classes at the local art school.

In the summer of 1907 he was apprenticed to a county municipal surveyor where he remained for four years and then in 1912 he became a sanitary inspector in Swaffham, Norfolk. Soon after taking up this appointment, his father died of tuberculosis at the age of 47.

On 6 October 1914 he married Maude Penelope Hunt (1882–1961), the daughter of the Reverend John Hunt, the vicar at Little Dunham in Norfolk. The couple had one son, William Earl Carmichael Johns, who was born in March 1916.

With war looming he joined the Territorial Army as a Private in the King's Own Royal Regiment (Norfolk Yeomanry), a cavalry regiment. In August 1914 his regiment was mobilised and was in training and on home defence duties until September 1915 when they received embarkation orders for duty overseas.

He fought at Gallipoli and in the Suez Canal area and, after moving to the Machine gun Corps, he took part in the spring offensive in Salonika in April 1917. He contracted malaria and whilst in hospital he put in for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and on 26 September 1917, he was given a temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant and posted back to England to learn to fly, which he did at No. 1 School of Aeronautics at Reading, where he was taught by a Captain Ashton.

He was posted to No. 25 Flying Training School at Thetford where he had a charmed existence, once writing off three planes in three days. He moved to Yorkshire and was then posted to France and while on a bombing raid to Mannheim his plane was shot down and he was wounded. Captured by the Germans, he later escaped before being reincarcerated where he remained until the war ended.

Reviews

[Ian Laird · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is Biggles in the wild unexplored Amazon, with lots of adventuring along the way, including the discovery of fabulous lost Inca treasure.

Though published in 1933, it took me a little time to work out the period of the story - it’s an early Biggles adventure, with the action close to the style of Biggles exploits immediately following World War One. But I got the picture when their key aircraft was introduced; a two engined amphibian, as opposed to the machine used by the bad guys, a four-engined flying boat. That together with our heroes’ lament about the dullness of peacetime flying compared with wartime suggests the great conflict has only recently ended.

We start with Biggles and Algy visiting the country estate of Biggles’ uncle Richard Bigglesworth, aka Dickpa. But there are American brigands in the bushes laying siege. Biggles and Algy make it to the manor as a bullet thuds into the heavy door. Dickpa tells them a tale of fabulous lost treasure in the remote Amazonian jungle. Naturally they decide to mount an expedition to find the horde. In this way the story begins similarly to Biggles Hits the Trail, published a couple of years later in 1935; in that case Asian brigands in the garden lay siege to the house where Dickpa is holed up and Biggles comes to the rescue. Biggles Hits the Trail is rather more accomplished, more imaginative and certainly scarier than this one, though it does have its moments.

Biggles and party duly arrive in the Amazon in their amphibian and action a plenty ensues. Dickpa is imprisoned, then sprung, the party flees up river, after which the bad guys arrive in their bigger and faster aeroplane. Our party lose their aircraft (the Condor). But fear not, they get it back, have trouble with ants and monkeys (and Biggles personally encounters a panther and a giant white condor, the bird variety. He is not an animal conservationist in the modern way). But before I go on, I like Biggles stories because they are perilous and they have a consistent moral code, albeit an old fashioned one, but a code which values loyalty and pluck in the face of adversity.

They make the astonishing discovery of Inca treasure in a mountain near a deserted town built in a volcano. As they gaze upon it, Dickpa realises the significance of the discovery:

'Dickpa, at the moment his eyes rested upon it, had turned as pale as death, and even Biggles, hardened almost to brutality by the careless hand of war, felt a sudden tightening of the heart-strings, while a queer emotion stole over him that the thing was unreal, a hallucination that would presently be dispelled.’ (my italics)

They find evidence of a catastrophic disaster - the half mummified body of an artisan interrupted in his work:

'the occupant had evidently been a scribe, for a long pointed instrument and some blocks of stone on which he had been carving lay beside his lifeless body, just as they had fallen from his nerveless grasp when the cold hand of death had struck him down.’ (my italics)

Further on they reach a towering temple with a sacrificial stone:

'Its sides were still discoloured with dark significant stains that even the destroying hand of Time had been unable to remove.’ (again my italics)

You usually don’t expect such lyricism in a Biggles book.

Algy and Smyth, the loyal mechanic, amusingly, souvenir as much treasure as they can carry. They then have to get out quickly, requiring Biggles to take off before the Condor tumbles over a raging waterfall. As is often the case Biggles gets to do most of the good action stuff.

My favourite scene is a bizarre one involving a thirty pound (14 kilo) oil drum. Algy hurls this improvised missile out of their biplane onto the bad guy’s flying boat, crippling it (hard to see how) and sending it plunging earthward. Biggles flies out of the Amazon, but there’s a storm, they run out of fuel and crash. Luckily non-one is hurt and a Bolivian rescue party arrives, because fortuitously they had crashed on the Santa Cruz-Cochabamba air route and had been spotted going down.

Overall, it’s preposterous, but good fun, tense, and the bad guys get the fate they deserve.

[Sem · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ought to give this 4 stars since it's as good in its way as Biggles Flies South but I prefer desert to jungle. Otherwise, the usual warnings apply:

1. Never travel without a Very pistol. You'll need it at least once to scare the natives.
2. Don't expect the subsidiary characters to engage in conversation. For long periods of time both you and the author will forget their existence.
3. There will be crocodiles.
4. The party has a compass only when it's absolutely necessary to the plot. The rest of the time they get lost.
5. Be wary of foreigners. They're not like us. They drink petrol and sometimes find human flesh toothsome.
6. If there's any chance at all of a hole in the petrol tank, there will be a hole in the petrol tank.
7. Even without a hole in the tank, Biggles will run out of petrol.
8. There will be crawling things. And a cave.
9. No one has a Kodak.

[Pasan Rajadasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A typical W.E. Johns. If you give a real thought about a story of a Biggles book, it sometimes doesn't even make any sense. The real success of these books is that they do not let the reader figure out that. There will always be a interesting machine, long journey with not enough petrol, the villian with a better machine and a weirdly thrilling kind of an adventure tied up to them.
Who would complain? well... not me. I'm a fan of wartime side tracked stories... and airplanes!
I've read only around 10 books, and determined to find 50 more or so!

[Micah Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Biggles adventure; baddies, fighting, and of course, flying. All in a brilliant story which has you hooked. (And makes you never want to go to the forests of Brazil!)

[Neville Ridley-smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very Indiana Jones. In fact, a couple of times, I was thinking, "Lucas and Spielberg *must* have been heavily influenced by this".

This was Johns second book and his writing sometimes lacks clarity (and a few cases of odd grammar and punctuation). I couldn't quite picture some of what he was describing. Also, the start seemed a bit unrealistic, even taking into account it's a story book where realism is on a sliding scale. And let's not even mention some of the racist bits - it's just of its time.

Anyway, overall, it was a great adventure, well plotted, exciting captures, escapes, danger, excitement, nick of time events, and even hidden treasure. And friendly banter amongst the main characters. What more could you want?

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book takes a totally different feel to it. There is a lot of potential in this story, and I'm not really condemning in for any reason other than the fact that I didn't enjoy it that much.

With the Great War over with, Biggles and Argy are bored...no more fighting the Germans and life looks pretty bleak. But when Biggle's uncle, Dickpa, asks them to come they are thrown into a wild adventure that is even crazier than wartime. Treasure, in Brazil, but there are others trying to get it too!

What I liked:
-Biggles. Nothing changed with my opinion of him. He and Argy's sarcasm made me laugh...and the way he mispronounced some of the Brazil words made me smile.
-The first chapter was probably my most favorite of the whole book!
-The scene where the ants are covering the whole plane. That was neat...and a little frightening (might make some feel a little shivery all over).

What I disliked:
-Well, most of the story I couldn't concentrate. I can't really say why. It just wasn't that interesting. Even the times when they are in the thick of things the words just didn't flow.
-Okay, Smyth (the mechanic) really bothered me some reason. He's there, but not (like in a middle of the scene he says something and you are like, "Oh, hello there. Forgot about you!"). I wished the author hadn't bothered with him. And why in the world would he just be perfectly willing to take this trip to Brazil to find treasure?

So there is nothing really bad about this. There is a couple mentions of seeing dead people, but I was glad it wasn't detailed. It is still appropiate for boys, I believe, and I think personally this one may be enjoyed more by younger readers.

[Edwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Redelijk saai verhaal, waarin Biggles, Algy, Smyth en oom Dickpa op weg gaan naar Brazilië om een grote goudschat te zoeken.

Na de nodige avonturen lijkt het Biggles cs. uiteindelijk de schat te vinden, maar of ze er mee naar huis kunnen komen is een tweede.

Een aantal dingen vond ik wel leuk om te lezen, zoals het begin van het verhaal, en de scene met die mieren die het hele vliegtuig bedekten.

Lange tijd was het mij in het verhaal onduidelijk of ze nu IN de berg waren, want beschreven werd dat ze de sterren konden zien door een spleet in de rotsen, en dan leek het alsof ze weer buiten liepen.

Smyth was wat mij betreft een beetje een vlak personage, die eigenlijk alleen maar mee was als bagage.

[Michael Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite Biggles book after the early WW1 books. We get secondhand aircraft, dodgy foreigners and golden treasure. On top of this Biggles has a rather funky amphibian aircraft to travel about in. Top stuff!

[Hruotland · Rating 2 out of 5]

When yu read it as a product of its time, i ges it works as disposable fiction. But i still think the author is cheating a lot with the, i think, three conveniently timed earthquakes doing conveniently precise amounts of damage and the just as convenient volcanic eruption.

With modern eyes: The best part is that it’s not openly misoginistic. That is achievd thru the simple means of not having a single woman appear in the book. 🤦🏼

There is ridiculous blackface: »(…)his hand was covered with black oil, which he smeared over his face. (…) 'we shan't be quite so conspicuous if our faces are a little less white.'«
I don’t know. I would hav thought that English toffs strolling thru Manaos with axle grease on their faces would be more conspicuous than toffs with clean faces.

The indigenous people of Brazil ar cald »Indians«. Almost half a millennium after some Italian dude working for Spain got lost by some 18 megameters people stil can’t tell apart south Asians and Americans. Oh, and these uncontacted people ar, naturally, treated more as a force of nature than as human beings.

I’m mad that the author kild Aaron Speakdetruf. So, out of nowhere yu get this Black escaped debt slave that gives Our Hero Biggles important information. So, what happens? Biggles absolutely could hav given him a ride in exchange for the information. They had burnt enuf fuel, so their plane was light enuf. Would hav set an example in the fight against peonage. But no. Biggles leaves him behind – with a bit of food, sure. And then the author has him kild. Perhaps to show that the villains ar villainous? Sholudn’t that be clear by now? Close to the end of the book?

[Alan Wightman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biggles books are sometimes known for their racism, and this book certainly is true to the renown. The white characters, or at least all British white characters, of whom there are precisely five, are courageous, resourceful, and gentlemanly. Nearly everyone else is a villain. Page 45 contains the remarkable sentence, describing a prison, “It’s full of Indians, n*ggers, and half-breeds, the scum of the earth.”

Even more stark, however, is the sexism. Women are not objectified, vilified or abused. They simply do not exist. There are exactly zero female characters. It is an extraordinary achievement. I counted only three utterances in the entire story from which one could infer that women may have once, if they do not now, exist. Some houses are referred to as Elizabethan; Biggles refers comically to the “anti-clockwise propeller of my sainted aunt”; and Dickpa notes the absence of women in a village of (entirely male) corpses.

Despite the above, I enjoyed the adventure a great deal. The setting of the wild Amazon river, the impenetrable forest, the exotic and dangerous fauna, the hunting for treasure, felt as exciting to me as to the author’s presumably much younger target audience. Taking off in a plane from a river just before going over a waterfall, climbing narrow staircases in the dark in a cave. The glory of aeroplanes to conquer a hostile territory.

[SierraKiloBravo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Link to my review: https://sierrakilobravo.wordpress.com...

Carrying on my mission to read all 98 Biggles book, I’ve now finished the second book in the series, The Cruise of the Condor.

In this second adventure of Biggles, we find ourselves at an unspecified time after the first world war where Biggles and Algy are feeling a bit bored with how quiet post-war life is, and so they go and visit Biggles’ uncle Dickpa. Upon arrival at uncle Dickpa’s estate, immediately an adventure gets underway leading Biggles, Algy, Dickpa, and the strong silent Smyth to the South American jungle in search of lost treasure.

This book contains everything to keep a young lad’s mind churning; action, adventure, good guys, bad guys, life and death moments, and grim determination. While very much a product of its time – this was released in 1933 – even today, it’s a read that is jolly good fun.

This was the first full length novel for Biggles, as the first book was a collection of short stories. The extra length gives us time to see Biggles in a number of different settings, and his character expands from being a skilled and clever war pilot, to being a civilian with a taste for adventure. We see his sense of justice develop further, as well as his loyalty to family and friends.

It’s a fun book that will take you back to your childhood.

[Andrew Ives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike the only other Biggles book I've read, this is not at all related to WW1 and is slightly less aviation-centric. Biggles' uncle Dickpa is some kind of explorer, who persuades him to come on an adventure to Brazil and Bolivia in the titular amphibious 'Condor' plane, and as such most of the story takes place in South American jungles and mountains. This feels rather Indiana Jones-ish, which is no bad thing, but slightly more believable, educational and a little less action-packed than the movies. If I was a teenage boy in 1930s, I would've really enjoyed this, but time has marched on somewhat from this contrived kind of Boys' Own fare so I can't really see a teenager today finding it as interesting. Similarly, it's a little strait-laced and juvenile for modern-day adult readers. However, it is quite well-written, quaint, likeable, short and pacy. Only 100 more Biggles books to go...! 3.5/5

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

CRUISE OF THE CONDOR is a very different BIGGLES to the first one. That was a collection of WW1-themed short stories linked by the central characters, whereas this is a single jungle adventure in which Biggles and co. join his uncle in a hunt for some missing Incan treasure. It's thrilling, Boy's Own-style adventure material, as page-turning as you could hope for; I read it in a single day. The narrative is lean and action-packed, to the point throughout. The jungle setting is brought to life vividly with attacks by ants, snakes, crocodiles and the usual threats, while the bad guys are little seen on the page but exceptionally sinister. The usual racist and colonial attitudes of the era are present here, so sensitive readers be warned. Otherwise, this is bright and breezy stuff, a joy to read.

[Mick Scrimshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this Biggles adventure we find our hero with his uncle along with a couple of his pals on a trip to one of the remotest parts of Brazil in search of lost treasure. Needless to say their endeavours end in success but not before they have overcome a variety of life threatening events. They are followed by a gang of murderous villains who aim to steal the treasure for themselves, but actually the most dangerous things they come across are all from nature; giant ants, volcano eruptions, earthquakes, a huge King Condor and so many other things they need a death-defying escape from that it actually became a little too fantastic. Another great example of real boys own adventure stuff, but perhaps sometimes even a Biggles adventure can go too far. Having said that...still great fun and I loved it!

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me it was ok but unfortunately no more than that .
Biggles & Algy are bored with life between the wars & so decide to visit Biggles uncle "Dickpa" , leading to an adventure to Brazil in search of lost treasure .
The story is just about realistic but just doesn't grab me in the same way as most of the other Biggles stories do . It doesn't have the "pace & spark" that the typical Biggles story has- but perhaps its because its a " between the wars story" & I generally don't enjoy them as much as his war time adventures .

[Budge Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published in 1933, it features Biggles in a post-World War 1 romp, searching for treasure in South America. Entertaining enough, straight out of "Boys' Own", I first read this when I was a schoolboy and still wearing shorts with my school blazer. I may have matured by several decades and hopefully have slightly more sophisticated tastes these days, but it's entertaining enough and did bring a nostalgic smile or two to my face. Fast paced, comic book, the author is finding his feet writing a book after Biggles' first outing, which is more a set of linked short stories.

[Venkataraghavan Srinivasan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does fine in the patches that the author knows best - short airplane related bursts. The book really struggles in non-airplane sections, most notably in all the numerous hikes and in the history sections. Dialogue is far too expository and just clunky, like reading an amateurish academic paper.

[Rex Libris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biggles is a he-man former WWI aviator. His uncle has learned of a treasure the ancient Incans smuggled out of Peru and into Brazil. They get a flying boat, the Condor, to hunt for it. Some not-so-nice competitors cause them all sorts of trouble. Needless to say, they learn the hard way not to mess with Biggles.

[Andy Dainty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first non-war Biggles book I have read and it is a thrilling adventure novel. There plot is pretty standard for this genre, but kept me involved.

My only down point was an unnecessary fridging incident towards the end of the novel. I already felt the bad guys deserved everything that was coming to them, so it's a shame that this technique was included in the text.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty standard Biggles story, yet not as engaging as the later books. Perhaps John’s became a better writer as he progressed. That, or I just enjoyed the others I’ve read more.
I remember starting this book in primary school in the late 90s. I don’t remember finishing it, but found my copy at my mum’s house in a clean out.

[Ian Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great classic by Johns.

Gripped from the beginning. A true Percy Fawcett type adventure. The jungle is described beautifully as are the animals. I really could picture the train of ants attacking the plane.

[Brian Gormley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 out of 5. Another quick read, typical Boys Own adventure. I’m reading quite a few of the Biggles books at the moment. They’re a real window into social history and geography - in this case the 1920s in the Amazon / Matto Grosso - and a snapshot of the British colonial mindset. I’m pretty sure these modern versions have been edited to remove some of the more racist viewpoints, but there’s a clear theme of foreigners being untrustworthy, and foreign lands existing to enrich westerners - beliefs that have led to understandable resentment.
An enjoyable read for this insight.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic Biggles adventure but instead of fighting in a war he is off looking for treasure in Brazil. Full of derring being done and near-death escapades, it is somewhat dated but none-the-less gripping. Not sure about the ferocity of condors though?

[Ginevra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE Biggles!!!!
Full story, not collection, just as enjoyable and educational, if not more. Engaging, full of fun facts and hair raising adventure all the way!

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic tale of adventure set in deepest South America.

[Andy Gore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cracking read as I had expected Biggles to be.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well-written adventure story, that moves at a good pace and contains plenty of action. Johns proves that the character of Biggles can easily adjust to a setting outside of WWI, in fact it almost seems more entertaining watching him search the jungle for treasure (it only lacks gritty realism that made the first novel so special). 4 stars.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published in 1933, Biggles and the Cruise of the Condor is an exciting thriller in which Biggles assists his explorer uncle in a return trip to the Amazon to seek buried Inca treasure, pursued by crooks after the same treasure. I read this in the 1960s and wondered how my perception would have changed in the years since - but it is also true that Johns rewrote so many of his novels that it wasn't sure to resemble the 1950s copy that I read back then. Treatment of non-white foreigners varies from condescending to mildly racist, whilst the idea of the heroes looting national relics is very out of date, as is casually shooting endangered species out of hand. A boys own adventure in the truest sense, but don't read too much into it. At least the aeronautical details have some sense of authenticity.

[Malcolm · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with most of the other novels in this series, The cruise of the Condor is highly formulaic, there is no depth of thought in the themes and the characters are two dimensional. His characterisation of American gangsters and Brazilian nationals is as ludicrous as his depiction of anyone who is not British, inferior and untrustworthy. Many of the elements of the story also appear in one of his last novels, Biggles and the Blue Moon. The role of Smythe also shows Johns sees value in keeping those lower classes in their place.


In this early novel we can see that he re cycles plot ideas. Here the city inside a volcano which is about to erupt recurs in Mystery Island, while the opening premise comes back in Biggles and the Blue Moon.
The novel also has the more admirable qualities of W E Johns' writing. The descriptions of the Brazilian Matto Grosso (its landscapes and its wild life) are very interesting and have the ring of authenticity, although his references to crocodiles are a significant inaccuracy.
The story also never lets up. A dramatic scene is set up in the very second page and this is how it continues until the conclusion.
As long as you don't expect profound thinking, W E Johns does provide entertainment.

[Barry Haworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was growing up my brother was a great reader of Biggles books, a passion which I did not share at the time. I did read a few of them, and this was one which I remember reading multiple times, and which I still dig out every now and then.

The Cruise of the Condor is one of the earlier Biggles books, in which Biggles and his friend Algy, bored after the end of the first world war, visit Biggles' uncle Dickpa and get caught up in an adventure searching for Inca treasure. Think Indiana Jones with aeroplanes. There are trackless jungles, dangerous animals, a takeoff over a waterfall and the original Snake on a Plane, all the while pursued by a bunch of ruthless American gangsters who are on the trail of the same treasure and will stop at nothing to get it.

Stirring Stuff.