72
explorers have never travelled
under the auspices of
scientific bodies…
Sound effect. Heckler :"Here-here!!"
FAWCETT
And I shall go despite a certain quantity of abuse,
opposition and even hatred. I shall endure… and finally
…..I shall….. unveil
the truth!
Sound:Havoc in the hall as the meeting breaks up.
NINA
moves to FAWCETT.
.
NINA
(
Sobbing violently) You were magnificent!…
BRIAN
Conan Doyle found it all screamingly
funny and pinched
the whole scene for his "Lost World" novel. So
everyone was happy on our side. For a bit.
BRIAN
contemplates his parents who are now in an affectionate
embrace.Blackout.
SCENE THREE. MATO GROSSO. A VOID NEAR SOME HUTS.
BRIAN
with small rucksack is waiting for something. Nearby, a gold
prospector sits daydreaming; a ragged clothed man with beard and straw
hat. Tinny Brazilian music on a transitor radio in the distance. BRIAN
opens a conversation.
BRIAN
Boa tarde, senhor.
The man grunts. Pause.
BRIAN
(Shouting in the man's ear) Eu… viajo… para
Rio
Sangue!
73
MAN
Mmm.
BRIAN
starts to use extravagant sign language as he speaks.
BRIAN
Ora rapaz….eu necessito transporte para
Rio
Sangue…Oh, this language…
MAN
It
is devilish tongue…
BRIAN
You speak some English? Good. I need transport to
Blood River. River of Blood whatever it's called. Is
there a canoe or something?
MAN
(Sniggering ominously) No one return from the River of
Blood. Dangerous place.
BRIAN
I am determined to go.
MAN
Why you go?
BRIAN
That's
my business, dear chap.
MAN
"Dear chap"? …."Dear chap"?…You…You remind me…of
a man.
BRIAN
What man?
MAN
(Smiling inanely) A man…
with a power!
BRIAN
(Awakening to amazement)…."The power of what?"
75
BRIAN
Raleigh Rimell…in dago costume…
RALEIGH
I'm a garimpo! a gold prospector now.'Have to wear
the uniform.
They shake hands very emotionally. BRIAN
reacts slightly to RALEIGH'S
hand.
BRIAN
You're…
RALEIGH
It's wet. It's the malaria.
BRIAN
Raleigh, I'm so sorry. Your mother's
still alive, you
know. She's over a hundred and you haven't written to
her for
forty years, you naughty boy.
RALEIGH
I know what you're going to ask. And I don't know the
answer. I don't know what happened to them. Your
father was an unusual man. But I should never have
gone with him. I was tricked. I never knew that he'd
planned to stay here with Jack and…
BRIAN
No one ever found you?
RALEIGH
A Swiss trapper. We were held by Indians. He said he
was going to get help but he never found us again. He
said other rescue parties had all looked eastward. In
the opposite direction. At
least we got released by the
tribe who thought he'd bring back trouble.
BRIAN
Did Daddy wear rings?
76
RALEIGH
Yes. He bought some magical Macumba rings in
Cuiaba.
BRIAN
So unlike Daddy. Wearing rings.
RALEIGH
There was a coiled one with sapphire snake eyes.
BRIAN
Really.
RALEIGH
"Daddy" was very different here! Believe me Brian.
Nature takes you over here. Brings out urges you
never thought you had and …But it's a cruel life. I
made a fortune when I found a diamond. Spent the lot
in Salvador. Came back
here in a gambling frenzy
determined to find more. But I just find bits of gold
dust which keep me going. This is not the place for
you, Brian. It's evil.
BRIAN
It certainly is. I actually saw an empty coca cola can
discarded in the
virgin forest!
RALEIGH
People kill each other here for a coca cola.
The virgin
forest's all owned' you know.
BRIAN
By Indians.
RALEIGH
Hah! By oil companies, international capital,
hamburger magnates. It was divided into squares like
a chess board in committee
rooms a hundred years
ago. We poor are the shock troops who are clearing the
natives and the jungle and when that's completed,
they'll just come in and its goodbye to us little men.
Gunshots. Raucous laughter. Manic samba music on a transistor.