in 1911, who believed an indigenous city, which he called "the Lost City of Z", had existed in the Brazilian jungle Fawcett found a document known as
Manuscript 512, held at the
National Library of Brazil, believed to have been written by Portuguese
bandeirante João da Silva Guimarães. According to the document, in 1753, a group of
bandeirantes discovered the ruins of an ancient city that contained arches, a statue, and a temple with
hieroglyphs. He described the city ruins in great detail without giving its location. Manuscript 512 was written after explorations made in the
sertão of the province of
Bahia. Fawcett intended to pursue finding this city as a secondary goal after "Z". He was preparing an expedition to find "Z" when
World War I broke out and the British government suspended its support. Fawcett returned to Britain and served on the
Western Front during the war. In 1920, after the war ended, Fawcett undertook a personal expedition to find the city, but withdrew after suffering from fever and having to shoot his pack animal. In 2022, the remains of settlements near
Llanos de Moxos were surveyed using
lidar. The sites contain the ruins of pyramids, causeways, and other infrastructure, supporting Fawcett's theory about ancient settlements in the Amazon. == In popular culture ==