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The Treasure of Pearls: A Romance of Adventures in California

Gustave Aimard

Set against the backdrop of the expansive and often perilous landscapes of California and Mexico, the story revolves around themes of adventure, romance, and survival.

"The Treasure of Pearls: A Romance of Adventures in California" by Gustave Aimard is a historical novel. Set against the backdrop of the expansive and often perilous landscapes of California and Mexico, the story revolves around themes of adventure, romance, and survival.

This edition's title page does not name its translator.

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Read a passage

We stand on Mexican soil. We are on the seaward skirt of its westernmost State of Sonora, in the wild lands almost washed by the Californian Gulf, which will be the formidable last ditch of the unconquerable red men flying before the Star of the Empire.

Before us, the immensity of land; behind us, that of the Pacific Ocean.

O immeasurable stretches of verdure which form the ever-unknown territory, the poetically entitled Far West, grand and attractive, sweet and terrible, the natural trellis of so rich, beautiful, mighty, and unkempt flora, that India has none of more vigour of production!

To an aeronaut's glance, these green and yellow plains would offer only a vast carpet embroidered with dazzling flowers and foliage, almost as gay and multicoloured, irregularly blocked out like the pieces of glass in ancient church windows with the lead, by rivers torrential in the wet season, rugged hollows of glistening quicksands and neck-deep mud in summer, all of which blend with an unexampled brilliant azure on the clear horizon.

It is only gradually, after the view has become inured to the fascinating landscape, that it can make out the details: hills not to be scorned for altitude, steep banks of rivers, and a thousand other unforeseen impediments for the wretch fleeing from hostile animals or fellow beings, which agreeably spoil the somewhat saddening sameness, and are hidden completely from the general glance by the rank grass, rich canes, and gigantic flower stalks.

Contents

  1. 01Chapter I.
  2. 02The Pieces and the Board.
  3. 03Chapter II.
  4. 04Envy No Man His Grave.
  5. 05Chapter III.
  6. 06The Pirate's Bequest.
  7. 07Chapter IV.
  8. 08A Desert Mystery.
  9. 09Chapter V.
  10. 10The Godsend.
  11. 11Chapter VI.
  12. 12Any Port in a Storm.
  13. 13Chapter VII.
  14. 14A Waking Nightmare.
  15. 15Chapter VIII.
  16. 16The "Little Joker."
  17. 17Chapter IX.
  18. 18The Way Layers.
  19. 19Chapter X.
  20. 20The Pearl Diver's Price.
  21. 21Chapter XI.
  22. 22The Two Captains of the "Goleta."
  23. 23Chapter XII.
  24. 24The Rout Complete.
  25. 25Chapter XIII.
  26. 26Intervention.
  27. 27Chapter XIV.
  28. 28The Haul of Millions.
  29. 29Chapter XV.
  30. 30The Pathfinder's Honour.
  31. 31Chapter XVI.
  32. 32A Haven Worse Than the Storm.
  33. 33Chapter XVII.
  34. 34The Purest of Pearls.
  35. 35Chapter XVIII.
  36. 36Out and Away.
  37. 37Chapter XIX.
  38. 38The Old, Old Friends.
  39. 39Chapter XX.
  40. 40The Angelito.
  41. 41Chapter XXI.
  42. 42The Lancers' Charge.
  43. 43Chapter XXII.
  44. 44The Pact of Blood.
  45. 45Chapter XXIII.
  46. 46Cannon Is Brought to Bear.
  47. 47Chapter XXIV.
  48. 48The Unwilling Volunteer.
  49. 49Chapter XXV.
  50. 50The Loyalty of the Apache.
  51. 51Chapter XXVI.
  52. 52The Harvest of the Knife.
  53. 53Chapter XXVII.
  54. 54The True Caballero.
  55. 55Chapter XXVIII.
  56. 56The Best Bait to Catch Apaches.
  57. 57The End.

About this edition

Author
Gustave Aimard
Language
English
Era
Modern (c. 1800–1945)
Reading level
Intermediate: some philosophy helps
Formats
EPUB, PDF
Length
259 pages
This edition
Modern Philosophers

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