Horizon Fever

Not only was A. E. Filby, a famous British explorer, but he was also my Uncle Archie. He died before I was born, but his unpublished manuscript, 'Horizon Fever', and many scrapbooks, survived. Proclaimed "the World's most traveled motorist", Filby undertook some breathtaking expeditions, including his 37,000-mile journey from London to Cape Town and back in a series of dilapidated motorcars. Horizon Fever is an honest, colorful, often shocking account; a snapshot of bygone days and attitudes. It tells of missionaries, pygmies, big-game hunting, gold mining, crossing the Sahara and swimming in the Nile with crocodiles. One of Archie's companions was a monkey called Congo. Another was a dog that adopted him, until it was, killed and dragged, up a tree by a leopard. Archie himself comes across as a courageous, feisty, quick-tempered, bossy little man, but full of fun, generous and never one to bear a grudge.

Even before Archibald Edmund Filby (Victoria Twead's roguish uncle) embarked on his famous African expeditions, he took advantage of a government-sponsored scheme to migrate to Australia. It was 1921 and his daredevil nature, soon had him performing reckless feats as, a buckjumper in a popular circus rodeo. Whilst trekking through this vast continent, he embraced the opportunity to become a jockey, photographer, actor, pilot, car salesman, and pearl diver. But, Australia was just a stepping stone for Archie to explore many other colourful far-eastern countries including India, Singapore, Borneo, Java, and China. Horizon Fever II covers explorer A E Filby's early years and his descriptions, although utterly fascinating, sometimes make uncomfortable reading.