Isle of the Amazons in the Vermilion Sea

Adventurer Gregory MacDonald narrates recollections of Baja California and the Sea of Cortéz--from the mid-sixteenth century to the present--as told by well-known authors and those who have been moved to record their personal impressions and experiences. Original illustrations by award-winning printmaker Judith Palmer transform Isle of the Amazons in the Vermilion Sea into a masterpiece.Myth has it that Baja California was once ruled by a giant queen Calafia. Her subjects were black Amazon women and they lived in a land of ferocious griffins tall mountains precipitous cliffs and deep valleys. Baja was also said to be an island of gold and precious stones. Spanish explorers lured by tales of riches and beautiful women were drawn to this mythical place. Jesuit priests adventurers fishermen hunters and the curious soon followed.Montalvo Cortéz and Padre Eusebio Kino--in 1400 1535 and 1701 respectively--describe the flora and fauna of a peninsula untouched by civilization and in the twentieth century Bancroft Cannon Crosby Gardner North Steinbeck and Octavio Paz among others speak of the fishing the hunting and despite hardships the pure joy of being. The writers observe fish pileups and feeding-frenzies; suffer insect bites cactus pricks and jellyfish stings; and are awed by magical sunsets the silence of the desert and the stars.Excerpted from diaries letters field notes books and journals this superb collection of short impressions gives us the sights smells sounds and tastes of mountain hamlets lush valleys hot deserts and blue seas creating a stunning narrative of the mythology history and topology of the Baja land sea and people.