| Rima | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Riolama |
|
First Appearance |
Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest (1904) |
|
Original Publisher |
Duckworth & Co.(novel) |
|
Created by |
William Henry Hudson |
Origin
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 avoided her forest and warned newcomer Abel, a wealthy young Spanish gentlemen, to avoid the place 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. Rima belonged to a gentle, vegetarian people without weapons, who were wiped out by Indians, plague and other causes. After discovering she was the last of her tribe, Rima decided to prepare to live a life with Abel but, she was captured by the natives who tie her to a tree her and then burn the tree. Abel arrives too late, collects her ashes and returns home feeling that if not for his entry into the forest, the natives would have left Rima alone.
Notes
- Rima was the first jungle girl and, like Tarzan, would have many imitators including Sheena, Princess Pantha, Judy of the Jungle, and numerous others.