In Desert and Wilderness facts for kids

For other uses, see In Desert and Wilderness (disambiguation).

Quick facts for kids
In Desert and Wilderness
1912 Polish edition
Author	Henryk Sienkiewicz
Original title	W pustyni i w puszczy
Country	Poland
Language	Polish
Genre	Young adult novel
Publication date	1911

In Desert and Wilderness (Polish: W pustyni i w puszczy) is a very popular adventure novel. It was written in 1911 by Henryk Sienkiewicz, a Polish author who won the Nobel Prize for his writing. This book is special because it's the only one he wrote for young people.

The story is about two young friends, Staś Tarkowski, who is 14, and Nel Rawlison, who is 8. They get kidnapped during a war in Sudan called the Mahdist War. This exciting book has been made into a movie twice, once in 1973 and again in 2001.

The Story Begins
Main Characters
Movie Versions
Other Stories Inspired by the Book

The Story Begins

The adventure starts in the 1800s in Egypt, during the Mahdist War. Staś, a 14-year-old Polish boy, and Nel, an 8-year-old English girl, live in Port Said. Their fathers are engineers who work on the important Suez Canal.

One day, a rebellion starts in Sudan, led by a religious leader named Mahdi. Staś and Nel are taken hostage by a group of Arabs. The kidnappers hope to trade the children for Fatima, a relative of Mahdi, who was arrested by the British.

A Difficult Journey

Nel and Staś are forced to travel across the huge Sahara Desert to Khartoum. They are meant to be presented to Mahdi there. The journey is very hard and tiring, especially for young Nel. Staś is a brave and responsible boy. He tries his best to protect Nel from their cruel captors, even if it means he gets beaten. His plans to escape don't work, and the children start to lose hope.

When they finally reach Khartoum, the Arabs are disappointed. Mahdi is too busy with the rebellion and doesn't care about their "mission." The kidnappers take out their anger on the children.

Staś is called to meet Mahdi. He bravely refuses to change his religion, even when Mahdi asks him to. Another European captive, a Greek man, warns Staś that his refusal might put Nel in great danger. But Staś stands firm in his beliefs.

Struggles and a Brave Escape

Staś and Nel are exhausted from the heat, thirst, hunger, and bad treatment. They live for a while in the war-torn city, which is full of poverty and sickness. After some time, the children and the Arabs continue their journey south to Fashoda.

One day, a lion attacks their group. The Arabs don't know how to use a shotgun, so they give the weapon to Staś. They beg him to shoot the lion. Staś kills the lion. Then, in a moment of despair and fury, he also shoots the Arabs. He knows they would never set the children free and he hated them for how they treated Nel.

Now free from their captors, the children are alone deep in Africa. They begin a very difficult journey through the African desert and jungle. They hope to find British explorers or the British army. Their journey is full of dangers and amazing adventures. Two young slaves, a boy named Kali and a girl named Mea, join them. Staś had freed them from the Arabs.

New Friends and Challenges

The children stop to rest on a beautiful hill near a waterfall. They soon discover a giant elephant trapped in a gully nearby. Nel loves animals and feels sorry for the huge beast. She saves it from starving by throwing fruits and leaves into the gorge. Nel and the elephant quickly become friends. The elephant is very smart and gentle. Nel calls him "King" because of his size.

Soon after, Nel gets very sick with malaria and is close to dying. Staś is heartbroken. He decides to go to what he thinks is a Bedouin camp to beg for medicine called quinine. When he gets there, he finds an old Swiss explorer named Linde. Linde was badly hurt by a wild boar and is dying. All his African helpers have fallen ill with sleeping sickness and are dying one by one.

Even though the camp is a sad place, Staś becomes friends with Linde. Linde is very kind and gives Staś food, a weapon, gunpowder, and quinine. Thanks to the medicine, Nel gets better. Staś is very thankful for Linde's help and stays with him until Linde passes away. Then, using Linde's gunpowder, Staś frees King the elephant from the trap, and they continue their journey.

Further Adventures and Victories

A 12-year-old slave boy named Nasibu, who belonged to Linde, joins the children on their journey. The group rests on a small mountain that Linde had mentioned. There, Staś teaches Kali how to shoot. One day, a furious gorilla attacks Nasibu on the mountain. But their now-tamed elephant, King, rescues Nasibu by attacking and killing the gorilla. The group decides the mountaintop is no longer safe and moves to the village of Wa-Hima.

The people of the Wa-Hima tribe see Staś riding the elephant. They honor him and Nel as good spirits or gods. The group stays in the villages for a short time because Kali is the prince of the Wa-Hima tribe and well-known there. Staś becomes even more respected when he kills a wobo (a black leopard) that was bothering the villages.

When they reach Kali's home village, they learn that his tribe has been fighting their enemies, the Sambur tribe, for a very long time. With help from Kali's tribe and the guns Staś and Nel have, they win the war. Because Staś is kind, he and Nel order that the Sambur tribe members should not be killed. Instead, they should unite with the Wa-Hima. Staś encourages the tribes to accept Christianity and live together peacefully.

The Journey Home

Staś, Nel, Saba (a dog), King, Kali, and 100 people from the Sambur and Wa-Hima tribes travel east. This area has not been mapped. They hope to reach the Indian Ocean and be found by English explorers who might be looking for them. Kali brings two witch-doctors, M'Kunje and M'Rua, with him. He is afraid they might plot against him while he is away. Sadly, the journey ends tragically for the group: both witch-doctors steal food and the last of the water. They are later found killed by a lion or leopard.

Many of the tribes-people traveling with Nel and Staś die because they run out of water. After the group has gone for at least three days without any water in the hot, dry desert, the children are saved at the last moment. Two familiar officers find them. These officers had found kites that Staś and Nel had sent earlier, describing where they were and where they were going.

The group is saved, and they learn that Mahdi has died. Staś, Nel, and Saba are reunited with their fathers and return to Europe. Kali and his tribe members go back to their home near Lake Turkana.

In a note at the end of the book, it is told that Staś and Nel grow up and get married. Ten years later, they visit their friends in Africa. The places where they once struggled with so much danger are now easy and safe to travel. This is because the British Empire has taken over and started building railways.

Main Characters

Nel Rawlison - An 8-year-old English girl. She is very sweet and pretty. At first, she seems shy, but later she shows she can be brave and determined. She looks up to Staś and respects him.
Stanisław Tarkowski (called Staś) - A 14-year-old Polish boy. At the start of the book, he seems a bit proud. But as the story unfolds, we see that Staś is very brave and willing to risk his own life to save Nel, whom he loves like a sister.
Kali - An African boy from the Wa-Hima tribe. He starts as Staś's servant but quickly becomes his loyal friend. He helps Staś through the dangers of Africa. Kali is famous for "Kali's morality," a saying about fairness: "If someone takes Kali's cow, it's a bad thing. If Kali takes someone else's cow, it's a good thing."
Mea - An African girl from the Dinka tribe. She is Nel's servant. She is shy and quiet, but she loves her young mistress and protects her.
Chamis - One of the kidnappers. He used to work for Staś and Nel's fathers.
Idris - A Bedouin, one of Mahdi's followers. He was generally polite to the children and admired Staś's courage. He was supposed to bring the children safely to Mahdi.
Gebhr - Idris's cruel younger brother.
Linde - A Swiss explorer whom Staś meets.
Nasibu - Linde's servant. After Linde's death, he joins the children on their journey.

Movie Versions

The first movie version was directed by Władysław Ślesicki in 1973. It was a long film, about three hours, and was shown in two parts in theaters. Filming began in 1971 and took place in Egypt, Sudan, and Bulgaria. It had actors and crew from different countries. A TV mini-series was also made at the same time. This version was shown in the U.S. on HBO in 1975.

The 2001 movie version was directed by Gavin Hood. It was filmed much faster, in about three months. The locations included South Africa, Tunisia, and Namibia. The first director got sick at the start of filming, and Gavin Hood took over. A mini-series was also made alongside this movie.