More Journeys Beneath the Earth

Dave GILL

Self-published. 2021. x+190pp, 1 b&w and 62 colour photographs, 17 maps and surveys. Softback, 152mm × 227mm. £25

ISBN 979-8-6171-6514-4

IT has become fashionable over the past twenty years or so for cavers in the speleological ‘eye’ to compose memoirs on their lifelong activity underground. Some have been serious, others intentionally humorous, but very few have managed to run to two volumes. In fact, currently, only Jim Eyre comes to mind.
   Following Journeys Beneath the Earth (reviewed in Descent 275), author Dave Gill has here extended his gripping narrative with a further volume packed with sagas of exploration in many of the world’s most impressive cave systems, especially those within Sarawak’s Gunung Mulu and Gunung Buda national parks. More Journeys Beneath the Earth transports the reader into a far-removed, fairy-tale world of almost impassable pinnacle karst, dense, wet jungle and breathtakingly beautiful caverns of enormous
dimensions and, even for the tropics, unparalleled length.
   A substantial portion of this book deals with the exploration, development and preservation of Borneo rainforest caves and vividly relates the author’s often frustrated attempts to convince governmental powers that the caves and their surroundings required urgent protection, not only from the remorseless spread of logging and plantation companies, but also depredations by indigenous people who were destroying fragile biological communities underground.
   In this latter case, Dave admirably espouses his deep knowledge of, and appreciation for, local cultures, strongly urging that such issues have to be a major factor in framing solutions. Evidently, he frequently encountered, if not direct opposition, then certainly bureaucratic obfuscation to his entreaties, but he persevered for many years and at not inconsiderable financial cost, until his dream of widespread national parks was finally established.
   The book also describes further expeditions to New Britain and work carried out in Europe for the World Heritage Commission, along with descriptions of many foreign expeditions to Mulu, underlining the importance and attraction of these fabulous cave systems. Each chapter seems to outperform its predecessor as ever-more-amazing discoveries in the Gunung Buda range are described.
   Between them, these two volumes recount a life of cave exploration extending over fifty years, featuring many of the world’s most challenging and celebrated karst regions. If adventure is your thing, these are the books for you. However, Dave Gill is one of those rare human beings to whom is granted sympathy and understanding of widely different cultures that matter just as much as our own, even though they may appear to be primitive. As he cogently observes: ‘If they live in a small hut in the jungle, you have to live in a small hut in the jungle. ... If they survive in the mountains or the desert, you have to survive in the mountains or the desert’. Only then can one truly understand indigenous people and work in a compatible manner to preserve some of earth’s last remaining natural wonders.
   This is the secret attraction of More Journeys Beneath the Earth: love, not only of the caves, but also the terrain in which they lie, emanates from the writer’s pen on every page. He sets us an example to be imitated, as well as goals requiring resolution. There is no boasting here, merely an honest account of exploring our last landscape frontier and a journey in the name of conservation, well described and hopefully well learned, so as to be applied by every reader. And these readers should be legion: this is how to be the Compleat Caver. A liberal salting of excellent colour photographs provides yet more delight, while many maps help in comprehending the text, which is engagingly written, flowing from one topic to the next, providing just the right amount of escapism that we all need from time to time. Dave Gill’s contributions to world speleology deserve recognition from us all; this is how it should be done.
Alan L. Jeffreys
First published in Descent (289), June 2021
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