It is often said that all that can be discovered has been discovered, and that seems increasingly true in our constantly shrinking world. But journeys of discovery can take many forms, be they the more obvious exploration of new lands or the more spiritual and compelling expeditions to the heart and soul of your own being, and at no point are such voyages ever easy or without risk. Indeed, many lose their lives to dream of the unknown and many more brave lives will be lost to the promise of the intriguing abyss.
So here, without further pontification, are some explorers who gave up their lives in pursuit of discovery:
Ludwig Leichhardt
Despite posthumously being recognised as one of Australia’s most accomplished explorers, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt was, in fact, a Prussian immigrant who had journeyed to Oz in 1842, hoping to find employ as a scientist. When no job opportunities presented themselves, Leichhardt decided to just do his own thing and preceded to study everything from local Aboriginal customs to geology (He even studied the best designs for sheep sheds!). His extensive study and exploration of, what was at that point and still is in many ways, a very hostile continent led him to embark on a self-funded 3,000-mile journey across the wild Northern Territory. Astoundingly, despite much hardship along the way, the crazy Prussian bastard managed to pull off the feat (much to the public’s surprise) and he quickly became a national icon.
Buoyed by his previous exploit, Leichhardt decided to up the ante the following year by trekking from Queensland to Perth, right across the entire landmass of Australia and a distance of 4,500 miles. Ominously, his first attempt in 1846 was forced to turn back due to heavy rain and famine. A second attempt in 1848, would prove to be his last. Himself and his party of 5 Europeans and 2 Aborigines disappeared into the Australian Interior and were never seen again. Due to the expected length of the crossing (as many as 3 years) and his previous feats, it wasn’t until 4 years later a search party was sent out to discover the fate of the Prussian explorer’s group. Little evidence was found.
Gaspar And Miguel Corte-Real
In 1501, Gaspar Corte-Real, the son of Joao Vaz Corte-Real (a failed Azorean explorer), set sail from Portugal with the goal of exploring the land and tributaries around the newly found, eh,…Newfoundland. Upon reaching the coast of the new landmass, a storm separated the fleet and the ship carrying Gaspar was swept away and never seen again. In 1502, desperate to find Gaspar, his brother Miguel set off on an almost identical expedition to the New World. After searching around Labrador and Newfoundland, the three ships decided to split up so they could search a wider area (I think I have seen this movie before). Predictably, at the pre-agreed rendezvous point a month later, Miguel’s ship never turned up and it appeared that the North American coast had claimed another Corte-Real brother. Astoundingly(or perhaps in a laudable example of brotherly love), a third brother called Vasco Corte-Real started to prepare yet another voyage to find his lost brothers, only for the Portuguese king to step in and ban him from his certain doom.
Theories abound at what happened to the two brothers but the strongest one maintains that they may have entered the Hudson Bay only to get caught in the sea ice as the weather worsened. Alternatively, a giant sea monster with a dislike for the Corte-Real family was snatching them and keeping them in his fridge. Either way, it signalled the end of the Portuguese exploration of the Arctic North.
Peng Jiamu
Penj Jiamu wasn’t even an explorer by trade but a biochemist, looking to measure potassium levels in China’s inhospitable Lop Nur desert. Arriving in the area in 1964, his badass credo that “I have a strong wish to explore the frontiers. I have the courage to pave a way in the wilderness”, would be severely tested in the following years as he gleaned important scientific information from the torrid landscape. He would return in 1980, after the Cultural Revolution, in his hopes of continuing his studies. It was here, leading a team of fellow scientists, that he would go off on his own in an attempt to find water and never come back. His disappearance would shock the nation and whenever human remains are found in the Lop Nur desert, hope is rekindled they will belong to the great biochemist.
Vadino And Ugolino Vivaldi
Before Vasco De Gama, many other explorers attempted to plot the sea route from Europe to India. Vadino And Ugolino Vivaldi were just two of them. In 1291 the two brothers set off in two ships to find modern day India. The only problem being that they may have set off the wrong way, into the Atlantic (much like Columbus but with less successful results). It is believed that they reached the Canary Islands before simply vanishing. It is possible that they reached out further into the unknown than any European ever before them. It is also possible they sprung a leak and sunk unceremoniously in the Atlantic Ocean. The truth may never be known.
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson was a 17th-century British explorer who was attempting to find the fabled Northeast passage that would give access to European ships to the East through the Arctic. And, as was the fashion at the time, Hudson instead ended up discovering parts of North American, including what we know today as the Hudson River. Despite ultimately failing in his primary objective, Hudson would be hired to find the equally fictitious Northwest Passage soon after and would set off 1610 to accomplish this goal. Things began well, and his party moved through the Hudson’s Strait and right into Hudson’s Bay. Then it went to shit. Bad weather and some less than courageous leadership decisions from Hudson caused his crew to mutiny. Hudson and his few supporters (including his young son) were put in a rowboat and left behind. They were never seen again, although Hudson did get lots of things named after him so silver lining and all that…
George Bass
George Bass was one of Australia’s most successful naval explorers, despite being a surgeon by trade. He sailed 11,200 miles around the nation’s coastline and was the first man to realise that Tasmania was, in fact, an island (the Bass Strait dividing Australia and Tasmania is named in his honor).
Despite his many heroic exploits, he may also have been something of a criminal as he frequently sold cargo illegally through large ocean crossings. It was on one such crossing to South America, in 1803, that is ship disappeared and was never heard from again. It is possible he may have been captured by the Spanish and sent to the silver mines as punishment for smuggling or, alternatively, (and most convincingly) a sea monster got him. Or a storm. It was a storm.
Everett Ruess
Everett Ruess entered into the American wilderness at just 16 years of age, proclaiming, “I prefer the saddle to the streetcar and the star-sprinkled sky to the roof, the obscure and difficult trail leading into the unknown to any paved highway.” For the next four years he trekked through some of the most remote parts of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, supporting himself by painting pictures of the landscapes he encountered and selling them in towns. Living a truly isolated life, his only communication with his family were letters he dropped off at isolated trading posts. In 1934, he was last seen disappearing into the Davis Gulch canyon. He wasn’t heard from for 4 months, and his parents grew alarmed. He was never found.
In telling moment of foreboding, one of Ruess’ last poems contained the lines,”say that I starved; that I was lost and weary; that I was burned and blinded by the desert sun . . . but that I kept my dream!”.
Park Young-Seok
A more modern example of perils of the natural world, that proves that even today people are being lost to the great wilderness. South Korean climber Park Young-Seok was an experienced and decorated explorer, whose achievements had included conquering the 14 highest Himalayas, the highest peak on every continent, and (amusingly) stealing the South Pole marker (because he totally reached both poles as well!).
He would meet his match on the slopes of Annapurna I, a mountain with a hideous fatality-to-summit ratio of 38%. On October 18th, 2011, standing on the slopes of the man killer and having radioed his intention to return to base camp, he disappeared. His body was never found.
Abu Bakr II
File this one under suspicious circumstances and an unreliable source, but the disappearance of Abu Bakr II in 1311 may be the first example of an explorer being swallowed up by both the brutal frontier and their own ambition. According to a story told by his successor as the ruler of Mali, Abu Bakr II wished to cross the Atlantic as he “did not believe that it was impossible to discover the furthest limit of the Western Ocean and wished vehemently to do so’. He loaded 2,000 (!) ships with provisions and set off for the Americas. However, no evidence of him reaching the other side of the ocean exists, which seems unlikely as even in the 1300’s one would expect at least a few of 2,000 ships to make some kind of landfall.
The issue, of course, is that all the historical evidence of this voyage ever happening comes from Abu Bakr’s II descendant, Mansa Musa. Musa had a rather clear reason for wishing to imply that his predecessor had suddenly just decided to sail off into oblivion, namely that it meant that Mansa Musa now had an indisputable claim to the throne. Modern historians believe Musa may have staged an uprising against Abu Bakr and this fanciful tale was a way of quelling any question of his illegitimacy.
