The Darkest Jungle

• Author: Major Charles C. Ormsby, Jr.
• Pages: 09

THE DARKEST JUNGLE1

REVIEWED BY MAJOR CHARLES C. ORMSBY, JR.2

From a harrowing storm-swept voyage aboard a Nineteenth Century man-of-war, to a treacherous march across the crocodile infested swamps of the Isthmus of Darién, The Darkest Jungle is a gripping tale of survival and leadership. The year was 1854, and Great Britain, France, and the United States were racing to be the first to traverse the Isthmus of Darién, the narrowest land mass separating the Atlantic and Pacific oceans (located in modern day Panama).3 A successful crossing would be a source of great national pride, and yield geographical data critical to determining the feasibility of constructing a strategic and lucrative shipping canal connecting the oceans.4 On 20 January 1854, the twenty-seven member U.S. Darién Exploring Expedition, led by a thirty-three year-old Navy Lieutenant (LT), Isaac Strain,5 was the first among the three competing nations to delve into the Darién jungle.6 Setting out with only ten days worth of rations, and a "sprint strategy"7 to cross the isthmus quickly, the journey quickly deteriorated into a grueling ninety-seven day struggle for survival.8 In the end, it was LT Strain's extraordinary leadership which sustained his men, and prevented a much greater tragedy.

The Darkest Jungle reads less like a history book, and more like a modern thriller. Although some of the earlier chapters move a bit slowly, as they establish the historical and biographical context for the events to come, the story quickly picks up pace as Strain and his party set about preparing for their unprecedented journey. Author Todd Balf masterfully nurtures a subtle, but palpable, sense of impending doom.

Balf foreshadows trouble early on,9 and increases the tension with each chapter. Before long these subtle hints of danger are realized, as the party faces the horrors of starvation, illness, and extreme exhaustion.10

Particularly frightening are the unpredictable actions of the indigenous Kuna Indians, who seem to materialize out of the jungle every so often to offer assistance to the desperate party, only to mysteriously vanish just as quickly and take actions to thwart the party's chances of survival. As the party approached one of the largest known Kuna villages, the tribe evidenced its hostility toward the party:

Strain had heard the "blows of axes" on his approach, but on arrival found yet another vacated village. The axe fells had been delivered to the only substantive item left behind: seven large dugout canoes, scuttled on a nearby shingle beach. The owners had made certain they would be impossible to repair and use. . . . He recognized the pattern. The Kuna's sacking of their own villages was a survival strategy that had its precedent during the conquest, and usually presaged a bloody battle.11

Any concern by the reader for the members of the party is slightly undercut by the fact that, although Balf does an admirable job of providing biographical sketches of Strain and a handful of the other party leaders,12 he fails to bring most of the characters to life. Only about one third of the twenty-seven member party are even named, and only three are fleshed out in any detail.13 With the possible exception of those three, there is scant detail about any of the others in terms of their

personalities, histories, or even appearance, making it hard to feel anything for them. This minor shortcoming is not Balf's fault however, as he explains that such detailed information on members of the party, to include Strain to a certain extent, is simply lost to history.14

Although The Darkest Jungle reads like a thriller, at its heart, it is a lesson in leadership. Strain's seemingly instinctual ability to maintain the cohesion, morale and general welfare of his diverse party,15 despite the brutal toll of starvation, exhaustion, injury, and fear, is remarkable. Balf does an excellent job of noting particular aspects of Strain's leadership style, as well as the positive affects of those techniques. Strain led his men by example, and ensured that he and his fellow officers worked equally hard and received the exact same food ration and comfort items as the men they led.16 This attitude of equality in terms of workload and issued items was very rare at the time.17 Strain further gained the affection and respect of his men by making judicious use of what he termed a "war council."18 The war council was a forum in which Strain allowed all members of the party to cast equal votes in making important decisions.19 Such voting increased morale in the group at critical times, presumably because it gave each member a further sense of equality as well as control over their destiny.20

Strain also knew that effectively leading men in desperate circumstances required giving them a sense of...