Rima, or her true name Riolama, was a small (4′-6”), demure, and dark-haired 17-year-old girl who wore a smock made of spiderwebs and could communicate with birds, earning her the nickname “Bird Girl.” She lived in a hut located in an enchanted rain forest near Guyana, Venezuela, with her “grandfather” Nuflo. The natives in a nearby village feared Rima because of her strange ways, and believed she was “the Daughter of the Didi”, an evil spirit who guarded the forest. The natives warned newcomer Abel, a wealthy young Spanish gentlemen, to avoid the jungle, as well, but he refused to listen. Abel met Rima and eventually fell in love with her, though she was too young and unfamiliar with white men to understand him. Rima belonged to a gentle, vegetarian people who, without weapons, were wiped out by Indians, plague, and other causes. After discovering she was the last of her tribe, Rima prepared to live a life with Abel, but she was captured by the natives, who tied her to a tree and set it on fire. Arriving too late, Abel collected her ashes and returned home, knowing that if not for his entry into the forest, the natives would have left Rima alone. Note: Rima was the first “jungle girl” and, like Tarzan, would have many imitators, including Sheena, Princess Pantha, Judy of the Jungle, and numerous others.
First Appearance Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest (1904)
First Publisher Duckworth & Co.(novel)
Appearance List Novel: Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest (1904). Comics: Classics Illustrated #90 (1951). Film: Green Mansions (1959). Radio: Green Mansions (1937).
Sample Read ○
Description Rima, or her true name Riolama, was a small (4′-6”), demure, and dark-haired 17-year-old girl who wore a smock made of spiderwebs and could communicate with birds, earning her the nickname “Bird Girl.” She lived in a hut located in an enchanted rain forest near Guyana, Venezuela, with her “grandfather” Nuflo. The natives in a nearby village feared Rima because of her strange ways, and believed she was “the Daughter of the Didi”, an evil spirit who guarded the forest. The natives warned newcomer Abel, a wealthy young Spanish gentlemen, to avoid the jungle, as well, but he refused to listen. Abel met Rima and eventually fell in love with her, though she was too young and unfamiliar with white men to understand him. Rima belonged to a gentle, vegetarian people who, without weapons, were wiped out by Indians, plague, and other causes. After discovering she was the last of her tribe, Rima prepared to live a life with Abel, but she was captured by the natives, who tied her to a tree and set it on fire. Arriving too late, Abel collected her ashes and returned home, knowing that if not for his entry into the forest, the natives would have left Rima alone. Note: Rima was the first “jungle girl” and, like Tarzan, would have many imitators, including Sheena, Princess Pantha, Judy of the Jungle, and numerous others.
