A hunger for life that survives all.

Byline: By Tony Henderson

Tony Henderson on the human urge to explore.

Before technology made mobility easy and life relatively risk-free, what astonishing lives were lived by the great explorers over the centuries.

They endured profound hardships, fearlessly went into the unknown and were rewarded with the thrill of discovery and the triumph of achieving great goals. But some paid for epic adventure with their lives.

Nothing beats first-hand accounts and today's latest in the breed of explorers, Robin Hanbury-Tenison, has compiled a collection of writings of his predecessors which make riveting reading.

Through it all comes the unquenchable human spirit and curiosity which has so far led to Man on the Moon.

The 19th Century was the heyday of exploration and many pioneers were reduced to desperate straits as they battled against odds.

Swedish explorer Sven Hedin and team were dying of thirst in the Gobi desert in 1895. They cut off a rooster's head and killed a sheep and drank the blood. Next they drank camels' urine mixed with sugar and vinegar. Then, maddened by thirst, Hedin stumbled across water, taking some back in his boots to his dying companion.

Ernest Giles was in a similarly desperate position as he explored the interior of Australia in 1874. Starving, he heard a faint squeak.

"I saw a small dying wallaby. It only weighed about two ounces and was scarcely furnished with fur. I pounced upon it and ate it, living, raw, skin , bones, skull and all. The delicious taste of that creature I shall never forget."

Edwin John Eyre, who made the first crossing of Australia, describes a meal eaten by his native companion Wylie.

"He commenced by eating a pound and a half of horse flesh. He then ate the entrails, paunch, liver, lights, tail and two hind legs of a young kangaroo. Next followed a penguin he'd found dead upon the beach. He wound up this meal by swallowing the tough skin of the penguin."

Sir Samuel White Baker took wife Florence along as he sought the source of the Nile in 1864. He wrote: "The entire crowd rushed towards the hut where I led left Mrs Baker. Everyone was squeezing for the best space.

"My wife (was) dressing her hair, which being very long and blonde, was suddenly noticed by the natives and the hut was mobbed by the crowd eager to see the novelty."

Later, he was appalled at an African chief's suggestion he leave behind Mrs Baker for his enjoyment. "Looking at him with undisguised contempt, I told him if he dared repeat the insult I'd shoot him on the spot and that I looked upon him as an ignorant ox who knew no better." The chief replied: "I will give you a wife and I thought you might have no objection to give me yours. Don't make a fuss about it."

In 1855 the great explorer Sir Richard Burton was attacked by Somalis. An account reads: "He received a javelin through both cheeks, carrying away four teeth, and transfixing the palate. He could not draw it out on account of its barb and had to wander for hours from night to daylight."

The Oxford Book of Exploration, by Robin Hanbury-Tenison, Oxford University Press, pounds 16.99.