diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-ligeia-452.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-ligeia-452.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..82a1ce8b --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-ligeia-452.txt @@ -0,0 +1,632 @@ + 1838 + + LIGEIA + + by Edgar Allan Poe +LIGEIA + + LIGEIA + + And the will therein lieth, which dieth not. Who knoweth the +mysteries of the will, with its vigor? For God is but a great will +pervading all things by nature of its intentness. Man doth not yield +himself to the angels, nor unto death utterly, save only through the +weakness of his feeble will. + + Joseph Glanvill. + + I CANNOT, for my soul, remember how, when, or even precisely +where, I first became acquainted with the lady Ligeia. Long years have +since elapsed, and my memory is feeble through much suffering. Or, +perhaps, I cannot now bring these points to mind, because, in truth, +the character of my beloved, her rare learning, her singular yet +placid cast of beauty, and the thrilling and enthralling eloquence +of her low musical language, made their way into my heart by paces +so steadily and stealthily progressive that they have been unnoticed +and unknown. Yet I believe that I met her first and most frequently in +some large, old, decaying city near the Rhine. Of her family --I +have surely heard her speak. That it is of a remotely ancient date +cannot be doubted. Ligeia! Ligeia! in studies of a nature more than +all else adapted to deaden impressions of the outward world, it is +by that sweet word alone --by Ligeia --that I bring before mine eyes +in fancy the image of her who is no more. And now, while I write, a +recollection flashes upon me that I have never known the paternal name +of her who was my friend and my betrothed, and who became the +partner of my studies, and finally the wife of my bosom. Was it a +playful charge on the part of my Ligeia? or was it a test of my +strength of affection, that I should institute no inquiries upon +this point? or was it rather a caprice of my own --a wildly romantic +offering on the shrine of the most passionate devotion? I but +indistinctly recall the fact itself --what wonder that I have +utterly forgotten the circumstances which originated or attended it? +And, indeed, if ever she, the wan and the misty-winged Ashtophet of +idolatrous Egypt, presided, as they tell, over marriages ill-omened, +then most surely she presided over mine. + + There is one dear topic, however, on which my memory falls me not. +It is the person of Ligeia. In stature she was tall, somewhat slender, +and, in her latter days, even emaciated. I would in vain attempt to +portray the majesty, the quiet ease, of her demeanor, or the +incomprehensible lightness and elasticity of her footfall. She came +and departed as a shadow. I was never made aware of her entrance +into my closed study save by the dear music of her low sweet voice, as +she placed her marble hand upon my shoulder. In beauty of face no +maiden ever equalled her. It was the radiance of an opium-dream --an +airy and spirit-lifting vision more wildly divine than the +phantasies which hovered vision about the slumbering souls of the +daughters of Delos. Yet her features were not of that regular mould +which we have been falsely taught to worship in the classical labors +of the heathen. "There is no exquisite beauty," says Bacon, Lord +Verulam, speaking truly of all the forms and genera of beauty, without +some strangeness in the proportion." Yet, although I saw that the +features of Ligeia were not of a classic regularity --although I +perceived that her loveliness was indeed "exquisite," and felt that +there was much of "strangeness" pervading it, yet I have tried in vain +to detect the irregularity and to trace home my own perception of "the +strange." I examined the contour of the lofty and pale forehead --it +was faultless --how cold indeed that word when applied to a majesty so +divine! --the skin rivalling the purest ivory, the commanding extent +and repose, the gentle prominence of the regions above the temples; +and then the raven-black, the glossy, the luxuriant and +naturally-curling tresses, setting forth the full force of the Homeric +epithet, "hyacinthine!" I looked at the delicate outlines of the +nose --and nowhere but in the graceful medallions of the Hebrews had I +beheld a similar perfection. There were the same luxurious +smoothness of surface, the same scarcely perceptible tendency to the +aquiline, the same harmoniously curved nostrils speaking the free +spirit. I regarded the sweet mouth. Here was indeed the triumph of all +things heavenly --the magnificent turn of the short upper lip --the +soft, voluptuous slumber of the under --the dimples which sported, and +the color which spoke --the teeth glancing back, with a brilliancy +almost startling, every ray of the holy light which fell upon them +in her serene and placid, yet most exultingly radiant of all smiles. I +scrutinized the formation of the chin --and here, too, I found the +gentleness of breadth, the softness and the majesty, the fullness +and the spirituality, of the Greek --the contour which the god +Apollo revealed but in a dream, to Cleomenes, the son of the Athenian. +And then I peered into the large eves of Ligeia. + + For eyes we have no models in the remotely antique. It might have +been, too, that in these eves of my beloved lay the secret to which +Lord Verulam alludes. They were, I must believe, far larger than the +ordinary eyes of our own race. They were even fuller than the +fullest of the gazelle eyes of the tribe of the valley of Nourjahad. +Yet it was only at intervals --in moments of intense excitement --that +this peculiarity became more than slightly noticeable in Ligeia. And +at such moments was her beauty --in my heated fancy thus it appeared +perhaps --the beauty of beings either above or apart from the earth +--the beauty of the fabulous Houri of the Turk. The hue of the orbs +was the most brilliant of black, and, far over them, hung jetty lashes +of great length. The brows, slightly irregular in outline, had the +same tint. The "strangeness," however, which I found in the eyes, +was of a nature distinct from the formation, or the color, or the +brilliancy of the features, and must, after all, be referred to the +expression. Ah, word of no meaning! behind whose vast latitude of mere +sound we intrench our ignorance of so much of the spiritual. The +expression of the eyes of Ligeia! How for long hours have I pondered +upon it! How have I, through the whole of a midsummer night, struggled +to fathom it! What was it --that something more profound than the well +of Democritus --which lay far within the pupils of my beloved? What +was it? I was possessed with a passion to discover. Those eyes! +those large, those shining, those divine orbs! they became to me +twin stars of Leda, and I to them devoutest of astrologers. + + There is no point, among the many incomprehensible anomalies of +the science of mind, more thrillingly exciting than the fact +--never, I believe, noticed in the schools --that, in our endeavors to +recall to memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves +upon the very verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to +remember. And thus how frequently, in my intense scrutiny of +Ligeia's eyes, have I felt approaching the full knowledge of their +expression --felt it approaching --yet not quite be mine --and so at +length entirely depart! And (strange, oh strangest mystery of all!) +I found, in the commonest objects of the universe, a circle of +analogies to theat expression. I mean to say that, subsequently to the +period when Ligeia's beauty passed into my spirit, there dwelling as +in a shrine, I derived, from many existences in the material world, +a sentiment such as I felt always aroused within me by her large and +luminous orbs. Yet not the more could I define that sentiment, or +analyze, or even steadily view it. I recognized it, let me repeat, +sometimes in the survey of a rapidly-growing vine --in the +contemplation of a moth, a butterfly, a chrysalis, a stream of running +water. I have felt it in the ocean; in the falling of a meteor. I have +felt it in the glances of unusually aged people. And there are one +or two stars in heaven --(one especially, a star of the sixth +magnitude, double and changeable, to be found near the large star in +Lyra) in a telescopic scrutiny of which I have been made aware of +the feeling. I have been filled with it by certain sounds from +stringed instruments, and not unfrequently by passages from books. +Among innumerable other instances, I well remember something in a +volume of Joseph Glanvill, which (perhaps merely from its quaintness +--who shall say?) never failed to inspire me with the sentiment; +--"And the will therein lieth, which dieth not. Who knoweth the +mysteries of the will, with its vigor? For God is but a great will +pervading all things by nature of its intentness. Man doth not yield +him to the angels, nor unto death utterly, save only through the +weakness of his feeble will." + + Length of years, and subsequent reflection, have enabled me to +trace, indeed, some remote connection between this passage in the +English moralist and a portion of the character of Ligeia. An +intensity in thought, action, or speech, was possibly, in her, a +result, or at least an index, of that gigantic volition which, +during our long intercourse, failed to give other and more immediate +evidence of its existence. Of all the women whom I have ever known, +she, the outwardly calm, the ever-placid Ligeia, was the most +violently a prey to the tumultuous vultures of stern passion. And of +such passion I could form no estimate, save by the miraculous +expansion of those eyes which at once so delighted and appalled me +--by the almost magical melody, modulation, distinctness and placidity +of her very low voice --and by the fierce energy (rendered doubly +effective by contrast with her manner of utterance) of the wild +words which she habitually uttered. + + I have spoken of the learning of Ligeia: it was immense --such as +I have never known in woman. In the classical tongues was she deeply +proficient, and as far as my own acquaintance extended in regard to +the modern dialects of Europe, I have never known her at fault. Indeed +upon any theme of the most admired, because simply the most abstruse +of the boasted erudition of the academy, have I ever found Ligeia at +fault? How singularly --how thrillingly, this one point in the +nature of my wife has forced itself, at this late period only, upon my +attention! I said her knowledge was such as I have never known in +woman --but where breathes the man who has traversed, and +successfully, all the wide areas of moral, physical, and +mathematical science? I saw not then what I now clearly perceive, that +the acquisitions of Ligeia were gigantic, were astounding; yet I was +sufficiently aware of her infinite supremacy to resign myself, with +a child-like confidence, to her guidance through the chaotic world +of metaphysical investigation at which I was most busily occupied +during the earlier years of our marriage. With how vast a triumph +--with how vivid a delight --with how much of all that is ethereal +in hope --did I feel, as she bent over me in studies but little sought +--but less known --that delicious vista by slow degrees expanding +before me, down whose long, gorgeous, and all untrodden path, I +might at length pass onward to the goal of a wisdom too divinely +precious not to be forbidden! + + How poignant, then, must have been the grief with which, after +some years, I beheld my well-grounded expectations take wings to +themselves and fly away! Without Ligeia I was but as a child groping +benighted. Her presence, her readings alone, rendered vividly luminous +the many mysteries of the transcendentalism in which we were immersed. +Wanting the radiant lustre of her eyes, letters, lambent and golden, +grew duller than Saturnian lead. And now those eyes shone less and +less frequently upon the pages over which I pored. Ligeia grew ill. +The wild eyes blazed with a too --too glorious effulgence; the pale +fingers became of the transparent waxen hue of the grave, and the blue +veins upon the lofty forehead swelled and sank impetuously with the +tides of the gentle emotion. I saw that she must die --and I struggled +desperately in spirit with the grim Azrael. And the struggles of the +passionate wife were, to my astonishment, even more energetic than +my own. There had been much in her stern nature to impress me with the +belief that, to her, death would have come without its terrors; +--but not so. Words are impotent to convey any just idea of the +fierceness of resistance with which she wrestled with the Shadow. I +groaned in anguish at the pitiable spectacle. would have soothed --I +would have reasoned; but, in the intensity of her wild desire for +life, --for life --but for life --solace and reason were the uttermost +folly. Yet not until the last instance, amid the most convulsive +writhings of her fierce spirit, was shaken the external placidity of +her demeanor. Her voice grew more gentle --grew more low --yet I would +not wish to dwell upon the wild meaning of the quietly uttered +words. My brain reeled as I hearkened entranced, to a melody more than +mortal --to assumptions and aspirations which mortality had never +before known. + + That she loved me I should not have doubted; and I might have been +easily aware that, in a bosom such as hers, love would have reigned no +ordinary passion. But in death only, was I fully impressed with the +strength of her affection. For long hours, detaining my hand, would +she pour out before me the overflowing of a heart whose more than +passionate devotion amounted to idolatry. How had I deserved to be +so blessed by such confessions? --how had I deserved to be so cursed +with the removal of my beloved in the hour of her making them, But +upon this subject I cannot bear to dilate. Let me say only, that in +Ligeia's more than womanly abandonment to a love, alas! all unmerited, +all unworthily bestowed, I at length recognized the principle of her +longing with so wildly earnest a desire for the life which was now +fleeing so rapidly away. It is this wild longing --it is this eager +vehemence of desire for life --but for life --that I have no power +to portray --no utterance capable of expressing. + + At high noon of the night in which she departed, beckoning me, +peremptorily, to her side, she bade me repeat certain verses +composed by herself not many days before. I obeyed her. --They were +these: + + Lo! 'tis a gala night + + Within the lonesome latter years! + + An angel throng, bewinged, bedight + + In veils, and drowned in tears, + + Sit in a theatre, to see + + A play of hopes and fears, + + While the orchestra breathes fitfully + + The music of the spheres. + + Mimes, in the form of God on high, + + Mutter and mumble low, + + And hither and thither fly -- + + Mere puppets they, who come and go + + At bidding of vast formless things + + That shift the scenery to and fro, + + Flapping from out their Condor wings + + Invisible Wo! + + That motley drama! --oh, be sure + + It shall not be forgot! + + With its Phantom chased forever more, + + By a crowd that seize it not, + + Through a circle that ever returneth in + + To the self-same spot, + + And much of Madness and more of Sin + + And Horror the soul of the plot. + + But see, amid the mimic rout, + + A crawling shape intrude! + + A blood-red thing that writhes from out + + The scenic solitude! + + It writhes! --it writhes! --with mortal pangs + + The mimes become its food, + + And the seraphs sob at vermin fangs + + In human gore imbued. + + Out --out are the lights --out all! + + And over each quivering form, + + The curtain, a funeral pall, + + Comes down with the rush of a storm, + + And the angels, all pallid and wan, + + Uprising, unveiling, affirm + + That the play is the tragedy, "Man," + + And its hero the Conqueror Worm. + +"O God!" half shrieked Ligeia, leaping to her feet and extending her +arms aloft with a spasmodic movement, as I made an end of these +lines --"O God! O Divine Father! --shall these things be undeviatingly +so? --shall this Conqueror be not once conquered? Are we not part +and parcel in Thee? Who --who knoweth the mysteries of the will with +its vigor? Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto death +utterly, save only through the weakness of his feeble will." + + And now, as if exhausted with emotion, she suffered her white arms +to fall, and returned solemnly to her bed of death. And as she +breathed her last sighs, there came mingled with them a low murmur +from her lips. I bent to them my ear and distinguished, again, the +concluding words of the passage in Glanvill --"Man doth not yield +him to the angels, nor unto death utterly, save only through the +weakness of his feeble will." + + She died; --and I, crushed into the very dust with sorrow, could +no longer endure the lonely desolation of my dwelling in the dim and +decaying city by the Rhine. I had no lack of what the world calls +wealth. Ligeia had brought me far more, very far more than +ordinarily falls to the lot of mortals. After a few months, therefore, +of weary and aimless wandering, I purchased, and put in some repair, +an abbey, which I shall not name, in one of the wildest and least +frequented portions of fair England. The gloomy and dreary grandeur of +the building, the almost savage aspect of the domain, the many +melancholy and time-honored memories connected with both, had much +in unison with the feelings of utter abandonment which had driven me +into that remote and unsocial region of the country. Yet although +the external abbey, with its verdant decay hanging about it, +suffered but little alteration, I gave way, with a child-like +perversity, and perchance with a faint hope of alleviating my sorrows, +to a display of more than regal magnificence within. --For such +follies, even in childhood, I had imbibed a taste and now they came +back to me as if in the dotage of grief. Alas, I feel how much even of +incipient madness might have been discovered in the gorgeous and +fantastic draperies, in the solemn carvings of Egypt, in the wild +cornices and furniture, in the Bedlam patterns of the carpets of +tufted gold! I had become a bounden slave in the trammels of opium, +and my labors and my orders had taken a coloring from my dreams. But +these absurdities must not pause to detail. Let me speak only of +that one chamber, ever accursed, whither in a moment of mental +alienation, I led from the altar as my bride --as the successor of the +unforgotten Ligeia --the fair-haired and blue-eyed Lady Rowena +Trevanion, of Tremaine. + + There is no individual portion of the architecture and decoration of +that bridal chamber which is not now visibly before me. Where were the +souls of the haughty family of the bride, when, through thirst of +gold, they permitted to pass the threshold of an apartment so +bedecked, a maiden and a daughter so beloved? I have said that I +minutely remember the details of the chamber --yet I am sadly +forgetful on topics of deep moment --and here there was no system, +no keeping, in the fantastic display, to take hold upon the memory. +The room lay in a high turret of the castellated abbey, was pentagonal +in shape, and of capacious size. Occupying the whole southern face +of the pentagon was the sole window --an immense sheet of unbroken +glass from Venice --a single pane, and tinted of a leaden hue, so that +the rays of either the sun or moon, passing through it, fell with a +ghastly lustre on the objects within. Over the upper portion of this +huge window, extended the trellice-work of an aged vine, which +clambered up the massy walls of the turret. The ceiling, of +gloomy-looking oak, was excessively lofty, vaulted, and elaborately +fretted with the wildest and most grotesque specimens of a +semi-Gothic, semi-Druidical device. From out the most central recess +of this melancholy vaulting, depended, by a single chain of gold +with long links, a huge censer of the same metal, Saracenic in +pattern, and with many perforations so contrived that there writhed in +and out of them, as if endued with a serpent vitality, a continual +succession of parti-colored fires. + + Some few ottomans and golden candelabra, of Eastern figure, were +in various stations about --and there was the couch, too --bridal +couch --of an Indian model, and low, and sculptured of solid ebony, +with a pall-like canopy above. In each of the angles of the chamber +stood on end a gigantic sarcophagus of black granite, from the tombs +of the kings over against Luxor, with their aged lids full of +immemorial sculpture. But in the draping of the apartment lay, alas! +the chief phantasy of all. The lofty walls, gigantic in height +--even unproportionably so --were hung from summit to foot, in vast +folds, with a heavy and massive-looking tapestry --tapestry of a +material which was found alike as a carpet on the floor, as a covering +for the ottomans and the ebony bed, as a canopy for the bed, and as +the gorgeous volutes of the curtains which partially shaded the +window. The material was the richest cloth of gold. It was spotted all +over, at irregular intervals, with arabesque figures, about a foot +in diameter, and wrought upon the cloth in patterns of the most +jetty black. But these figures partook of the true character of the +arabesque only when regarded from a single point of view. By a +contrivance now common, and indeed traceable to a very remote period +of antiquity, they were made changeable in aspect. To one entering the +room, they bore the appearance of simple monstrosities; but upon a +farther advance, this appearance gradually departed; and step by step, +as the visitor moved his station in the chamber, he saw himself +surrounded by an endless succession of the ghastly forms which +belong to the superstition of the Norman, or arise in the guilty +slumbers of the monk. The phantasmagoric effect was vastly +heightened by the artificial introduction of a strong continual +current of wind behind the draperies --giving a hideous and uneasy +animation to the whole. + + In halls such as these --in a bridal chamber such as this --I +passed, with the Lady of Tremaine, the unhallowed hours of the first +month of our marriage --passed them with but little disquietude. +That my wife dreaded the fierce moodiness of my temper --that she +shunned me and loved me but little --I could not help perceiving; +but it gave me rather pleasure than otherwise. I loathed her with a +hatred belonging more to demon than to man. My memory flew back, +(oh, with what intensity of regret!) to Ligeia, the beloved, the +august, the beautiful, the entombed. I revelled in recollections of +her purity, of her wisdom, of her lofty, her ethereal nature, of her +passionate, her idolatrous love. Now, then, did my spirit fully and +freely burn with more than all the fires of her own. In the excitement +of my opium dreams (for I was habitually fettered in the shackles of +the drug) I would call aloud upon her name, during the silence of +the night, or among the sheltered recesses of the glens by day, as if, +through the wild eagerness, the solemn passion, the consuming ardor of +my longing for the departed, I could restore her to the pathway she +had abandoned --ah, could it be forever? --upon the earth. + + About the commencement of the second month of the marriage, the Lady +Rowena was attacked with sudden illness, from which her recovery was +slow. The fever which consumed her rendered her nights uneasy; and +in her perturbed state of half-slumber, she spoke of sounds, and of +motions, in and about the chamber of the turret, which I concluded had +no origin save in the distemper of her fancy, or perhaps in the +phantasmagoric influences of the chamber itself. She became at +length convalescent --finally well. Yet but a brief period elapsed, +ere a second more violent disorder again threw her upon a bed of +suffering; and from this attack her frame, at all times feeble, +never altogether recovered. Her illnesses were, after this epoch, of +alarming character, and of more alarming recurrence, defying alike the +knowledge and the great exertions of her physicians. With the increase +of the chronic disease which had thus, apparently, taken too sure hold +upon her constitution to be eradicated by human means, I could not +fall to observe a similar increase in the nervous irritation of her +temperament, and in her excitability by trivial causes of fear. She +spoke again, and now more frequently and pertinaciously, of the sounds +--of the slight sounds --and of the unusual motions among the +tapestries, to which she had formerly alluded. + + One night, near the closing in of September, she pressed this +distressing subject with more than usual emphasis upon my attention. +She had just awakened from an unquiet slumber, and I had been +watching, with feelings half of anxiety, half of vague terror, the +workings of her emaciated countenance. I sat by the side of her +ebony bed, upon one of the ottomans of India. She partly arose, and +spoke, in an earnest low whisper, of sounds which she then heard, +but which I could not hear --of motions which she then saw, but +which I could not perceive. The wind was rushing hurriedly behind +the tapestries, and I wished to show her (what, let me confess it, I +could not all believe) that those almost inarticulate breathings, +and those very gentle variations of the figures upon the wall, were +but the natural effects of that customary rushing of the wind. But a +deadly pallor, overspreading her face, had proved to me that my +exertions to reassure her would be fruitless. She appeared to be +fainting, and no attendants were within call. I remembered where was +deposited a decanter of light wine which had been ordered by her +physicians, and hastened across the chamber to procure it. But, as I +stepped beneath the light of the censer, two circumstances of a +startling nature attracted my attention. I had felt that some palpable +although invisible object had passed lightly by my person; and I saw +that there lay upon the golden carpet, in the very middle of the +rich lustre thrown from the censer, a shadow --a faint, indefinite +shadow of angelic aspect --such as might be fancied for the shadow +of a shade. But I was wild with the excitement of an immoderate dose +of opium, and heeded these things but little, nor spoke of them to +Rowena. Having found the wine, I recrossed the chamber, and poured out +a gobletful, which I held to the lips of the fainting lady. She had +now partially recovered, however, and took the vessel herself, while I +sank upon an ottoman near me, with my eyes fastened upon her person. +It was then that I became distinctly aware of a gentle footfall upon +the carpet, and near the couch; and in a second thereafter, as +Rowena was in the act of raising the wine to her lips, I saw, or may +have dreamed that I saw, fall within the goblet, as if from some +invisible spring in the atmosphere of the room, three or four large +drops of a brilliant and ruby colored fluid. If this I saw --not so +Rowena. She swallowed the wine unhesitatingly, and I forbore to +speak to her of a circumstance which must, after all, I considered, +have been but the suggestion of a vivid imagination, rendered morbidly +active by the terror of the lady, by the opium, and by the hour. + + Yet I cannot conceal it from my own perception that, immediately +subsequent to the fall of the ruby-drops, a rapid change for the worse +took place in the disorder of my wife; so that, on the third +subsequent night, the hands of her menials prepared her for the +tomb, and on the fourth, I sat alone, with her shrouded body, in +that fantastic chamber which had received her as my bride. --Wild +visions, opium-engendered, flitted, shadow-like, before me. I gazed +with unquiet eye upon the sarcophagi in the angles of the room, upon +the varying figures of the drapery, and upon the writhing of the +parti-colored fires in the censer overhead. My eyes then fell, as I +called to mind the circumstances of a former night, to the spot +beneath the glare of the censer where I had seen the faint traces of +the shadow. It was there, however, no longer; and breathing with +greater freedom, I turned my glances to the pallid and rigid figure +upon the bed. Then rushed upon me a thousand memories of Ligeia +--and then came back upon my heart, with the turbulent violence of a +flood, the whole of that unutterable wo with which I had regarded +her thus enshrouded. The night waned; and still, with a bosom full +of bitter thoughts of the one only and supremely beloved, I remained +gazing upon the body of Rowena. + + It might have been midnight, or perhaps earlier, or later, for I had +taken no note of time, when a sob, low, gentle, but very distinct, +startled me from my revery. --I felt that it came from the bed of +ebony --the bed of death. I listened in an agony of superstitious +terror --but there was no repetition of the sound. I strained my +vision to detect any motion in the corpse --but there was not the +slightest perceptible. Yet I could not have been deceived. I had heard +the noise, however faint, and my soul was awakened within me. I +resolutely and perseveringly kept my attention riveted upon the +body. Many minutes elapsed before any circumstance occurred tending to +throw light upon the mystery. At length it became evident that a +slight, a very feeble, and barely noticeable tinge of color had +flushed up within the cheeks, and along the sunken small veins of +the eyelids. Through a species of unutterable horror and awe, for +which the language of mortality has no sufficiently energetic +expression, I felt my heart cease to beat, my limbs grow rigid where I +sat. Yet a sense of duty finally operated to restore my +self-possession. I could no longer doubt that we had been +precipitate in our preparations --that Rowena still lived. It was +necessary that some immediate exertion be made; yet turret was +altogether apart from the portion of the abbey tenanted by the +servants --there were none within call --I had no means of summoning +them to my aid without leaving the room for many minutes --and this +I could not venture to do. I therefore struggled alone in my endeavors +to call back the spirit ill hovering. In a short period it was +certain, however, that a relapse had taken place; the color +disappeared from both eyelid and cheek, leaving a wanness even more +than that of marble; the lips became doubly shrivelled and pinched +up in the ghastly expression of death; a repulsive clamminess and +coldness overspread rapidly the surface of the body; and all the usual +rigorous illness immediately supervened. I fell back with a shudder +upon the couch from which I had been so startlingly aroused, and again +gave myself up to passionate waking visions of Ligeia. + + An hour thus elapsed when (could it be possible?) I was a second +time aware of some vague sound issuing from the region of the bed. I +listened --in extremity of horror. The sound came again --it was a +sigh. Rushing to the corpse, I saw --distinctly saw --a tremor upon +the lips. In a minute afterward they relaxed, disclosing a bright line +of the pearly teeth. Amazement now struggled in my bosom with the +profound awe which had hitherto reigned there alone. I felt that my +vision grew dim, that my reason wandered; and it was only by a violent +effort that I at length succeeded in nerving myself to the task +which duty thus once more had pointed out. There was now a partial +glow upon the forehead and upon the cheek and throat; a perceptible +warmth pervaded the whole frame; there was even a slight pulsation +at the heart. The lady lived; and with redoubled ardor I betook myself +to the task of restoration. I chafed and bathed the temples and the +hands, and used every exertion which experience, and no little. +medical reading, could suggest. But in vain. Suddenly, the color fled, +the pulsation ceased, the lips resumed the expression of the dead, +and, in an instant afterward, the whole body took upon itself the +icy chilliness, the livid hue, the intense rigidity, the sunken +outline, and all the loathsome peculiarities of that which has been, +for many days, a tenant of the tomb. + + And again I sunk into visions of Ligeia --and again, (what marvel +that I shudder while I write,) again there reached my ears a low sob +from the region of the ebony bed. But why shall I minutely detail +the unspeakable horrors of that night? Why shall I pause to relate +how, time after time, until near the period of the gray dawn, this +hideous drama of revivification was repeated; how each terrific +relapse was only into a sterner and apparently more irredeemable +death; how each agony wore the aspect of a struggle with some +invisible foe; and how each struggle was succeeded by I know not +what of wild change in the personal appearance of the corpse? Let me +hurry to a conclusion. + + The greater part of the fearful night had worn away, and she who had +been dead, once again stirred --and now more vigorously than hitherto, +although arousing from a dissolution more appalling in its utter +hopelessness than any. I had long ceased to struggle or to move, and +remained sitting rigidly upon the ottoman, a helpless prey to a +whirl of violent emotions, of which extreme awe was perhaps the +least terrible, the least consuming. The corpse, I repeat, stirred, +and now more vigorously than before. The hues of life flushed up +with unwonted energy into the countenance --the limbs relaxed --and, +save that the eyelids were yet pressed heavily together, and that +the bandages and draperies of the grave still imparted their charnel +character to the figure, I might have dreamed that Rowena had indeed +shaken off, utterly, the fetters of Death. But if this idea was not, +even then, altogether adopted, I could at least doubt no longer, when, +arising from the bed, tottering, with feeble steps, with closed +eyes, and with the manner of one bewildered in a dream, the thing that +was enshrouded advanced boldly and palpably into the middle of the +apartment. + + I trembled not --I stirred not --for a crowd of unutterable +fancies connected with the air, the stature, the demeanor of the +figure, rushing hurriedly through my brain, had paralyzed --had +chilled me into stone. I stirred not --but gazed upon the +apparition. There was a mad disorder in my thoughts --a tumult +unappeasable. Could it, indeed, be the living Rowena who confronted +me? Could it indeed be Rowena at all --the fair-haired, the +blue-eyed Lady Rowena Trevanion of Tremaine? Why, why should I doubt +it? The bandage lay heavily about the mouth --but then might it not be +the mouth of the breathing Lady of Tremaine? And the cheeks-there were +the roses as in her noon of life --yes, these might indeed be the fair +cheeks of the living Lady of Tremaine. And the chin, with its dimples, +as in health, might it not be hers? --but had she then grown taller +since her malady? What inexpressible madness seized me with that +thought? One bound, and I had reached her feet! Shrinking from my +touch, she let fall from her head, unloosened, the ghastly cerements +which had confined it, and there streamed forth, into the rushing +atmosphere of the chamber, huge masses of long and dishevelled hair; +it was blacker than the raven wings of the midnight! And now slowly +opened the eyes of the figure which stood before me. "Here then, at +least," I shrieked aloud, "can I never --can I never be mistaken +--these are the full, and the black, and the wild eyes --of my lost +love --of the lady --of the LADY LIGEIA." + + -THE END- +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-lionizing-453.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-lionizing-453.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..35e23957 --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-lionizing-453.txt @@ -0,0 +1,300 @@ + 1850 + + LIONIZING + + by Edgar Allan Poe +LIONIZING + + -all people went + + Upon their ten toes in wild wondernment. + + Bishop Hall's Satires. + + I AM, that is to say I was, a great man, but I am neither the author +of Junius nor the man in the mask, for my name, I believe, is Robert +Jones, and I was born somewhere in the city of Fum-Fudge. + + The first action of my life was the taking hold of my nose with both +hands. My mother saw this and called me a genius:- my father wept for +joy and presented me with a treatise on Nosology. This I mastered +before I was breeched. + + I now began to feel my way in the science, and soon came to +understand that, provided a man had a nose sufficiently conspicuous, +he might by merely following it, arrive at a Lionship. But my +attention was not confined to theories alone. Every morning I gave +my proboscis a couple of pulls and swallowed a half-dozen of drams. + + When I came of age my father asked me, one day, if I would step with +him into his study. + + "My son," he said, when we were seated, "what is the chief end of +your existence?" + + "My father," I answered, "it is the study of Nosology." + + "And what, Robert," he inquired, "is Nosology?" + + "Sir," I said, "it is the science of Noses." + + "And can you tell me," he demanded, "what is the meaning of a nose?" + + "A nose, my father," I replied, greatly softened, "has been +variously defined by about a thousand different authors." [Here I +pulled out my watch.] "It is now noon, or thereabouts- We shall have +time enough to get through with them all before midnight. To +commence then: The nose, according to Bartholinus, is that +protuberance- that bump- that excresence- that-" + + "Will do, Robert," interupted the old gentleman. "I am thunderstruck +at the extent of your information- I am positively- upon my soul." +[Here he closed his eyes and placed his hand upon his heart.] "Come +here!" [Here he took me by the arm.] "Your education may now be +considered as finished- it is high time you should scuffle for +yourself- and you cannot do a better thing than merely follow your +nose- so- so- so-" [Here he kicked me down stairs and out of the +door.]-"So get out of my house, and God bless you!" + + As I felt within me the divine afflatus, I considered this +accident rather fortunate than otherwise. I resolved to be guided by +the paternal advice. I determined to follow my nose. I gave it a +pull or two upon the spot, and wrote a pamphlet on Nosology forthwith. + + All Fum-Fudge was in an uproar. + + "Wonderful genius!" said the Quarterly. + + "Superb physiologist!" said the Westminster. + + "Clever fellow!" said the Foreign. + + "Fine writer!", said the Edinburgh. + + "Profound thinker!" said the Dublin. + + "Great man!" said Bentley. + + "Divine soul!" said Fraser. + + "One of us!" said Blackwood. + + "Who can he be?" said Mrs. Bas-Bleu. + + "What can he be?" said big Miss Bas-Bleu. + + "Where can he be?" said little Miss Bas-Bleu.- But I paid these +people no attention whatever- I just stepped into the shop of an +artist. + + The Duchess of Bless-my-Soul was sitting for her portrait; the +Marquis of So-and-So was holding the Duchess' poodle; the Earl of +This-and-That was flirting with her salts; and his Royal Highness of +Touch-me-Not was leaning upon the back of her chair. + + I approached the artist and turned up my nose. + + "Oh, beautiful!" sighed her Grace. + + "Oh, my!" lisped the Marquis. + + "Oh, shocking!" groaned the Earl. + + "Oh, abominable!" growled his Royal Highness. + + "What will you take for it?" asked the artist. + + "For his nose!" shouted her Grace. + + "A thousand pounds," said I, sitting down. + + "A thousand pounds?" inquired the artist, musingly. + + "A thousand pounds," said I. + + "Beautiful!" said he, entranced. + + "A thousand pounds," said I. + + "Do you warrant it?" he asked, turning the nose to the light. + + "I do," said I, blowing it well. + + "Is it quite original?" he inquired, touching it with reverence. + + "Humph!" said I, twisting it to one side. + + "Has no copy been taken?" he demanded, surveying it through a +microscope. + + "None," said I, turning it up. + + "Admirable!" he ejaculated, thrown quite off his guard by the beauty +of the manoeuvre. + + "A thousand pounds," said I. + + "A thousand pounds?" said he. + + "Precisely," said I. + + "A thousand pounds?" said he. + + "Just so," said I. + + "You shall have them," said he. "What a piece of virtu!" So he +drew me a check upon the spot, and took a sketch of my nose. I engaged +rooms in Jermyn street, and sent her Majesty the ninety-ninth +edition of the "Nosology," with a portrait of the proboscis. That +sad little rake, the Prince of Wales, invited me to dinner. + + We are all lions and recherches. + + There was a modern Platonist. He quoted Porphyry, Iamblicus, +Plotinus, Proclus, Hierocles, Maximus Tyrius, and Syrianus. + + There was a human-perfectibility man. He quoted Turgot, Price, +Priestly, Condorcet, De Stael, and the "Ambitious Student in +Ill-Health." + + There was Sir Positive Paradox. He observed that all fools were +philosophers, and that all philosophers were fools. + + There was Aestheticus Ethix. He spoke of fire, unity, and atoms; +bi-part and pre-existent soul; affinity and discord; primitive +intelligence and homoomeria. + + There was Theologos Theology. He talked of Eusebius and Arianus; +heresy and the Council of Nice; Puseyism and consubstantialism; +Homousios and Homouioisios. + + There was Fricassee from the Rocher de Cancale. He mentioned Muriton +of red tongue; cauliflowers with veloute sauce; veal a la St. +Menehoult; marinade a la St. Florentin; and orange jellies en +mosaiques. + + There was Bibulus O'Bumper. He touched upon Latour and +Markbrunnen; upon Mosseux and Chambertin; upon Richbourg and St. +George; upon Haubrion, Leonville, and Medoc; upon Barac and +Preignac; upon Grave, upon Sauterne, upon Lafitte, and upon St. +Peray. He shook his head at Clos de Vougeot, and told with his eyes +shut, the difference between Sherry and Amontillado. + + There was Signor Tintontintino from Florence. He discoursed of +Cimabue, Arpino, Carpaccio, and Argostino- of the gloom of +Caravaggio, of the amenity of Albano, of the colors of Titian, of +the frows of Rubens, and of the waggeries of Jan Steen. + + There was the President of the Fum-Fudge University. He was of the +opinion that the moon was called Bendis in Thrace, Bubastis in +Egypt, Dian in Rome, and Artemis in Greece. + + There was a Grand Turk from Stamboul. He could not help thinking +that the angels were horses, cocks, and bulls; that somebody in the +sixth heaven had seventy thousand heads; and that the earth was +supported by a sky-blue cow with an incalculable number of green +horns. + + There was Delphinus Polyglott. He told us what had become of the +eighty-three lost tragedies of Aeschylus; of the fifty-four orations +of Isaeus; of the three hundred and ninety-one speeches of Lysias; of +the hundred and eighty treatises of Theophrastus; of the eighth book +of the conic sections of Apollonius; of Pindar's hymns and +dithyrambics, and of the five and forty tragedies of Homer Junior. + + There was Ferdinand Fitz-Fossillus Feltspar. He informed us all +about internal fires and tertiary formations; about aeriforms, +fluidiforms, and solidforms; about quartz and marl; about schist and +schorl; about gypsum and trap; about talc and calc; about blende and +horn-blende; about micaslate and pudding-stone; about cyanite and +lepidolite; about haematite and tremolite; about antimony and +calcedony; about manganese and whatever you please. + + There was myself. I spoke of myself;- of myself, of myself, of +myself;- of Nosology, of my pamphlet, and of myself. I turned up my +nose, and I spoke of myself. + + "Marvellous clever man!" said the Prince. + + "Superb!" said his guests;- and next morning her Grace of +Bless-my-soul paid me a visit. + + "Will you go to Almack's, pretty creature?" she said, tapping me +under the chin. + + "Upon honor," said I. + + "Nose and all?" she asked. + + "As I live," I replied. + + "Here then is a card, my life. Shall I say you will be there?" + + "Dear, Duchess, with all my heart." + + "Pshaw, no!- but with all your nose?" + + "Every bit of it, my love," said I:- so I gave it a twist or two, +and found myself at Almack's. + + The rooms were crowded to suffocation. + + "He is coming!" said somebody on the staircase. + + "He is coming!" said somebody farther up. + + "He is coming!" said somebody farther still. + + "He is come!" exclaimed the Duchess, "He is come, the little +love!"- and, seizing me firmly by both hands, she kissed me thrice +upon the nose. + + A marked sensation immediately ensued. + + "Diavolo!" cried Count Capricornutti. + + "Dios guarda!" muttered Don Stiletto. + + "Mille tonnerres!" ejaculated the Prince de Grenouille. + + "Tousand teufel!" growled the Elector of Bluddennuff. + + It was not to be borne. I grew angry. I turned short upon +Bluddennuff. + + "Sir!" said I to him, "you are a baboon." + + "Sir," he replied, after a pause. "Donner und Blitzen!" + + This was all that could be desired. We exchanged cards. At +Chalk-Farm, the next morning, I shot off his nose- and then called +upon my friends. + + "Bete!" said the first. + + "Fool!" said the second. + + "Dolt!" said the third. + + "Ass!" said the fourth. + + "Ninny!" said the fifth. + + "Noodle!" said the sixth. + + "Be off!" said the seventh. + + At all this I felt mortified, and so called upon my father. + + "Father," I asked, "what is the chief end of my existence?" + + "My son," he replied, "it is still the study of Nosology; but in +hitting the Elector upon the nose you have overshot your mark. You +have a fine nose, it is true; but then Bluddennuff has none. You are +damned, and he has become the hero of the day. I grant you that in +Fum-Fudge the greatness of a lion is in proportion to the size of +his proboscis- but, good heavens! there is no competing with a lion +who has no proboscis at all." + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-literary-454.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-literary-454.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..2d295dd1 --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-literary-454.txt @@ -0,0 +1,798 @@ + 1850 + + LITERARY LIFE OF THINGUM BOB, ESQ. + + by Edgar Allan Poe + + LATE EDITOR OF THE "GOOSETHERUMFOODLE" + + BY HIMSELF + + I AM now growing in years, and- since I understand that +Shakespeare and Mr. Emmons are deceased- it is not impossible that I +may even die. It has occurred to me, therefore, that I may as well +retire from the field of Letters and repose upon my laurels. But I +am ambitious of signalizing my abdication of the literary sceptre by +some important bequest to posterity; and, perhaps, I cannot do a +better thing than just pen for it an account of my earlier career. +My name, indeed, has been so long and so constantly before the +public eye, that I am not only willing to admit the naturalness of the +interest which it has everywhere excited, but ready to satisfy the +extreme curiosity which it has inspired. In fact, it is no more than +the duty of him who achieves greatness to leave behind him, in his +ascent, such landmarks as may guide others to be great. I propose, +therefore, in the present paper (which I had some idea of calling +"Memoranda to Serve for the Literary History of America") to give a +detail of those important, yet feeble and tottering, first steps, by +which, at length, I attained the high road to the pinnacle of human +renown. + + Of one's very remote ancestors it is superfluous to say much. My +father, Thomas Bob, Esq., stood for many years at the summit of his +profession, which was that of a merchant-barber, in the city of +Smug. His warehouse was the resort of all the principal people of +the place, and especially of the editorial corps- a body which +inspires all about it with profound veneration and awe. For my own +part, I regarded them as gods, and drank in with avidity the rich +wit and wisdom which continuously flowed from their august mouths +during the process of what is styled "lather." My first moment of +positive inspiration must be dated from that ever-memorable epoch, +when the brilliant conductor of the "Gad-Fly," in the intervals of the +important process just mentioned, recited aloud, before a conclave +of our apprentices, an inimitable poem in honor of the "Only Genuine +Oil-of-Bob" (so called from its talented inventor, my father), and for +which effusion the editor of the "Fly" was remunerated with a regal +liberality by the firm of Thomas Bob & Company, merchant-barbers. + + The genius of the stanzas to the "Oil-of-Bob" first breathed into +me, I say, the divine afflatus. I resolved at once to become a great +man, and to commence by becoming a great poet. That very evening I +fell upon my knees at the feet of my father. + + "Father," I said, "pardon me!- but I have a soul above lather. It is +my firm intention to cut the shop. I would be an editor- I would be +a poet- I would pen stanzas to the 'Oil-of-Bob.' Pardon me and aid +me to be great!" + + "My dear Thingum," replied father, (I had been christened Thingum +after a wealthy relative so surnamed,) "My dear Thingum," he said, +raising me from my knees by the ears- "Thingum, my boy, you're a +trump, and take after your father in having a soul. You have an +immense head, too, and it must hold a great many brains. This I have +long seen, and therefore had thoughts of making you a lawyer. The +business, however, has grown ungenteel and that of a politician +don't pay. Upon the whole you judge wisely;- the trade of editor is +best:- and if you can be a poet at the same time,- as most of the +editors are, by the by, why, you will kill two birds with the one +stone. To encourage you in the beginning of things, I will allow you a +garret, pen, ink, and paper, a rhyming dictionary; and a copy of the +'Gad-Fly.' I suppose you would scarcely demand any more." + + "I would be an ungrateful villain if I did" I replied with +enthusiasm. "Your generosity is boundless. I will repay it by making +you the father of a genius." + + Thus ended my conference with the best of men, and immediately +upon its termination, I betook myself with zeal to my poetical labors; +as upon these, chiefly, I founded my hopes of ultimate elevation to +the editorial chair. + + In my first attempts at composition I found the stanzas to "The +Oil-of-Bob" rather a drawback than otherwise. Their splendor more +dazzled than enlightened me. The contemplation of their excellence +tended, naturally, to discourage me by comparison with my own +abortions; so that for a long time I labored in vain. At length +there came into my head one of those exquisitely original ideas +which now and then will permeate the brain of a man of genius. It +was this:- or, rather, thus was it carried into execution. From the +rubbish of an old book-stall, in a very remote corner of the town, I +got together several antique and altogether unknown or forgotten +volumes. The bookseller sold them to me for a song. From one of these, +which purported to be a translation of one Dantes "Inferno," I +copied with remarkable neatness a long passage about a man named +Ugolino, who had a parcel of brats. From another, which contained a +good many old plays by some person whose name I forget, I enacted in +the same manner, and with the same care, a great number of lines about +"angels" and "ministers saying grace," and "goblins damned," and +more besides of that sort. From a third, which was the composition +of some blind man or other, either a Greek or a Choctaw- I cannot be +at the pains of remembering every trifle exactly,- I took about +fifty verses beginning with "Achilles' wrath," and "grease," and +something else. From a fourth, which I recollect was also the work +of a blind man, I selected a page or two all about "hail" and "holy +light"; and, although a blind man has no business to write about +light, still the verses were sufficiently good in their way. + + Having made fair copies of these poems, I signed every one of them +"Oppodeldoc" (a fine sonorous name), and, doing each up nicely in a +separate envelope, I dispatched one to each of the four principal +Magazines, with a request for speedy insertion and prompt pay. The +result of this well-conceived plan, however, (the success of which +would have saved me much trouble in after-life,) served to convince me +that some editors are not to be bamboozled, and gave the coup-de-grace +(as they say in France) to my nascent hopes (as they say in the city +of the transcendentals). + + The fact is, that each and every one of the Magazines in question +gave Mr. "Oppodeldoc" a complete using-up, in the "Monthly Notices +to Correspondents." The "Hum-Drum" gave him a dressing after this +fashion: + + "'Oppodeldoc' (whoever he is) has sent us a long tirade concerning a +bedlamite whom he styles 'Ugolino,' had a great many children that +should have been all whipped and sent to bed without their suppers. +The whole affair is exceedingly tame- not to say flat. 'Oppodeldoc' +(whoever he is) is entirely devoid of imagination- and imagination, in +our humble opinion, is not only the soul of Poesy, but also its very +heart. 'Oppodeldoc' (whoever he is) has the audacity to demand of +us, for his twattle, a 'speedy insertion and prompt pay.' We neither +insert nor purchase any stuff of the sort. There can be no doubt, +however, that he would meet with a ready sale for all the balderdash +he can scribble, at the office of either the 'Rowdy-Dow,' the +'Lollipop,' or the 'Goosetherumfoodle.' + + All this, it must be acknowledged, was very severe upon +"Oppodeldoc,"- but the unkindest cut was putting the word Poesy in +small caps. In those five pre-eminent letters what a world of +bitterness is there not involved! + + But "Oppodeldoc" was punished with equal severity in the "Rowdy +Dow," which spoke thus: + + "We have received a most singular and insolent communication from +a person (whoever he is) signing himself 'Oppodeldoc,'- thus +desecrating the greatness of the illustrious Roman emperor so named. +Accompanying the letter of 'Oppodeldoc' (whoever he is) we find sundry +lines of most disgusting and unmeaning rant about 'angels and +ministers of grace,'- rant such as no madman short of a Nat Lee, or an +'Oppodeldoc,' could possibly perpetrate. And for this trash of +trash, we are modestly requested to 'pay promptly.' No, sir- no! We +pay for nothing of that sort. Apply to the 'Hum-Drum,' the 'Lollipop,' +or the 'Goosetherumfoodle.' These periodicals will undoubtedly +accept any literary offal you may send them- and as undoubtedly +promise to pay for it." + + This was bitter indeed upon poor "Oppodeldoc"; but, in this +instance, the weight of the satire falls upon the "Hum-Drum," the +"Lollipop," and the "Goosetherumfoodle," who are pungently styled +"periodicals"- in Italics, too- a thing that must have cut them to the +heart. + + Scarcely less savage was the "Lollipop," which thus discoursed: + + "Some individual, who rejoices in the appellation 'Oppodeldoc,' +(to what low uses are the names of the illustrious dead too often +applied!) has enclosed us some fifty or sixty verses commencing +after this fashion: + + 'Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring + + Of woes unnumbered, &c., &c., &c, &c.' + + "'Oppodeldoc?' (whoever he is) is respectfully informed that there +is not a printer's devil in our office who is not in the daily habit +of composing better lines. Those of 'Oppodeldoc' will not scan. +'Oppodeldoc' should learn to count. But why he should have conceived +the idea that we (of all others, we!) would disgrace our pages with +his ineffable nonsense is utterly beyond comprehension. Why, the +absurd twattle is scarcely good enough for the 'Hum-Drum,' the +'Rowdy-Dow,' the 'Goosetherumfoodle,'- things that are in the practice +of publishing 'Mother Gooses Melodies' as original lyrics. And +'Oppodeldoc' (whoever he is) has even the assurance to demand pay +for this drivel. Does 'Oppodeldoc' (whoever he is) know- is he aware +that we could not be paid to insert it?" + + As I perused this I felt myself growing gradually smaller and +smaller, and when I came to the point at which the editor sneered at +the poem as "verses," there was little more than an ounce of me +left. As for "Oppodeldoc," I began to experience compassion for the +poor fellow. But the "Goosetherumfoodle" showed, if possible, less +mercy than the "Lollipop." It was the "Goosetherumfoodle" that said- + + "A wretched poetaster, who signs himself 'Oppodeldoc,' is silly +enough to fancy that we will print and pay for a medley of +incoherent and ungrammatical bombast which he has transmitted to us, +and which commences with the following most intelligible line:- + + 'Hail Holy Light! Offspring of Heaven, first born.' + + "We say, 'most intelligible.' 'Oppodeldoc' (whoever he is) will be +kind enough to tell us, perhaps, how 'hail' can be 'holy light.' We +always regarded it as frozen rain. Will he inform us, also, how frozen +rain can be, at one and the same time, both 'holy light' (whatever +that is) and an 'off-spring'?- which latter term (if we understand +anything about English) is only employed, with propriety, in reference +to small babies of about six weeks old. But it is preposterous to +descant upon such absurdity- although 'Oppodeldoc' (whoever he is) has +the unparalled effrontery to suppose that we will not only 'insert' +his ignorant ravings, but (absolutely) pay for them? + + "Now this is fine- it is rich!- and we have half a mind to punish +this young scribbler for his egotism by really publishing his effusion +verbatim et literatim, as he has written it. We could inflict no +punishment so severe, and we would inflict it, but for the boredom +which we should cause our readers in so doing. + + "Let 'Oppodeldoc' (whoever he is) send any future composition of +like character to the 'Hum-Drum,' the 'Lollipop,' or the 'Rowdy-Dow: +They will 'insert' it. They 'insert' every month just such stuff. Send +it to them. WE are not to be insulted with impunity." + + This made an end of me, and as for the "Hum-Drum," the +"Rowdy-Dow," and the "Lollipop," I never could comprehend how they +survived it. The putting them in the smallest possible minion (that +was the rub- thereby insinuating their lowness- their baseness,) while +WE stood looking upon them in gigantic capitals!- oh it was too +bitter!- it was wormwood- it was gall. Had I been either of these +periodicals I would have spared no pains to have the +"Goosetherumfoodle" prosecuted. It might have been done under the +Act for the "Prevention of Cruelty to Animals." for Oppodeldoc +(whoever he was), I had by this time lost all patience with the +fellow, and sympathized with him no longer. He was a fool, beyond +doubt, (whoever he was,) and got not a kick more than he deserved. + + The result of my experiment with the old books convinced me, in +the first place, that "honesty is the best policy," and, in the +second, that if I could not write better than Mr. Dante, and the two +blind men, and the rest of the old set, it would, at least, be a +difficult matter to write worse. I took heart, therefore, and +determined to prosecute the "entirely original" (as they say on the +covers of the magazines), at whatever cost of study and pains. I again +placed before my eyes, as a model, the brilliant stanzas on "The +Oil-of-Bob" by the editor of the "Gad-Fly" and resolved to construct +an ode on the same sublime theme, in rivalry of what had already +been done. + + With my first line I had no material difficulty. It ran thus: + + "To pen an Ode upon the 'Oil-of-Bob.'" + + Having carefully looked out, however, all the legitimate rhymes to +"Bob," I found it impossible to proceed. In this dilemma I had +recourse to paternal aid; and, after some hours of mature thought, +my father and myself thus constructed the poem: + + "To pen an Ode upon the 'Oil-of-Bob' + + Is all sorts of a job. + + (Signed) Snob." + + To be sure, this composition was of no very great length,- but I +"have yet to learn," as they say in the "Edinburgh Review," that the +mere extent of a literary work has anything to do with its merit. As +for the Quarterly cant about "sustained effort," it is impossible to +see the sense of it. Upon the whole, therefore, I was satisfied with +the success of my maiden attempt, and now the only question regarded +the disposal I should make of it. My father suggested that I should +send it to the "Gad-Fly,"- but there were two reasons which operated +to prevent me from so doing. I dreaded the jealousy of the editor- and +I had ascertained that he did not pay for original contributions. I +therefore, after due deliberation, consigned the article to the more +dignified pages of the "Lollipop" and awaited the event in anxiety, +but with resignation. + + In the very next published number I had the proud satisfaction of +seeing my poem printed at length, as the leading article, with the +following significant words, prefixed in italics and between brackets: + + [We call the attention of our readers to the subjoined admirable +on "The Oil-of-Bob." We need say nothing of their sublimity, or of +their pathos.- it is impossible to peruse them without tears. Those +who have been nauseated with a sad dose on the same august topic +from the goose-quill of the editor of the "Gad-Fly," will do well to +compare the two compositions. + + P. S.- We are consumed with anxiety to probe the mystery which +envelops the evident pseudonym "Snob" May we hope for a personal +interview?] + + All this was scarcely more than justice, but it was, I confess, +rather more than I had expected:- I acknowledge this, be it +observed, to the everlasting disgrace of my country and of mankind. +I lost no time, however, in calling upon the editor of the +"Lollipop" and had the good fortune to find this gentleman at home. He +saluted me with an air of profound respect, slightly blended with a +fatherly and patronizing admiration, wrought in him, no doubt, by my +appearance of extreme youth and inexperience. Begging me to be seated, +he entered at once upon the subject of my poem;- but modesty will ever +forbid me to repeat the thousand compliments which he lavished upon +me. The eulogies of Mr. Crab (such was the editor's name) were, +however, by no means fulsomely indiscriminate. He analyzed my +composition with much freedom and great ability- not hesitating to +point out a few trivial defects- a circumstance which elevated him +highly in my esteem. The "Gad-Fly" was, of course, brought upon the +tapis, and I hope never to be subjected to a criticism so searching, +or to rebukes so withering, as were bestowed by Mr. Crab upon that +unhappy effusion. I had been accustomed to regard the editor of the +"Gad-Fly" as something superhuman; but Mr. Crab soon disabused me of +that idea. He set the literary as well as the personal character of +the Fly (so Mr. C. satirically designated the rival editor), in its +true light. He, the Fly, was very little better than he should be. +He had written infamous things. He was a penny-a-liner, and a buffoon. +He was a villain. He had composed a tragedy which set the whole +country in a guffaw, and a farce which deluged the universe in +tears. Besides all this, he had the impudence to pen what he meant for +a lampoon upon himself (Mr. Crab), and the temerity to style him "an +ass." Should I at any time wish to express my opinion of Mr. Fly, +the pages of the "Lollipop," Mr. Crab assured me, were at my unlimited +disposal. In the meantime, as it was very certain that I would be +attacked in the "Fly" for my attempt at composing a rival poem on +the "Oil-of-Bob," he (Mr. Crab) would take it upon himself to +attend, pointedly, to my private and personal interests. If I were not +made a man of at once, it should not be the fault of himself (Mr. +Crab). + + Mr. Crab having now paused in his discourse (the latter portion of +which I found it impossible to comprehend), I ventured to suggest +something about the remuneration which I had been taught to expect for +my poem, by an announcement on the cover of the "Lollipop," +declaring that it (the "Lollipop") "insisted upon being permitted to +pay exorbitant prices for all accepted contributions,- frequently +expending more money for a single brief poem than the whole annual +cost of the 'Hum-Drum,' the 'Rowdy-Dow,' and the 'Goosetherumfoodle' +combined." + + As I mentioned the word "remuneration," Mr. Crab first opened his +eyes, and then his mouth, to quite a remarkable extent, causing his +personal appearance to resemble that of a highly agitated elderly duck +in the act of quacking; and in this condition he remained (ever and +anon pressing his hinds tightly to his forehead, as if in a state of +desperate bewilderment) until I had nearly made an end of what I had +to say. + + Upon my conclusion, he sank back into his seat, as if much overcome, +letting his arms fall lifelessly by his side, but keeping his mouth +still rigorously open, after the fashion of the duck. While I remained +in speechless astonishment at behavior so alarming he suddenly +leaped to his feet and made a rush at the bell-rope; but just as he +reached this, he appeared to have altered his intention, whatever it +was, for he dived under a table and immediately re-appeared with a +cudgel. This he was in the act of uplifting (for what purpose I am +at a loss to imagine), when all at once, there came a benign smile +over his features, and he sank placidly back in his chair. + + "Mr. Bob," he said, (for I had sent up my card before ascending +myself,) "Mr. Bob, you are a young man, I presume- very?" + + I assented; adding that I had not yet concluded my third lustrum. + + "Ah!" he replied, "very good! I see how it is- say no more! Touching +this matter of compensation, what you observe is very just,- in fact +it is excessively so. But ah- ah- the first contribution- the first, I +say- it is never the Magazine custom to pay for,- you comprehend, +eh? The truth is, we are usually the recipients in such case." [Mr. +Crab smiled blandly as he emphasized the word "recipients."] "for +the most part, we are paid for the insertion of a maiden attempt- +especially in verse. In the second place, Mr. Bob, the Magazine rule +is never to disburse what we term in France the argent comptant:- I +have no doubt you understand. In a quarter or two after publication of +the article- or in a year or two- we make no objection to giving our +note at nine months; provided, always, that we can so arrange our +affairs as to be quite certain of a 'burst up' in six. I really do +hope, Mr. Bob, that you will look upon this explanation as +satisfactory." Here Mr. Crab concluded, and the tears stood in his +eyes. + + Grieved to the soul at having been, however innocently, the cause of +pain to so eminent and so sensitive a man, I hastened to apologize, +and to reassure him, by expressing my perfect coincidence with his +views, as well as my entire appreciation of the delicacy of his +position. Having done all this in a neat speech, I took leave. + + One fine morning, very shortly afterwards, "I awoke and found myself +famous." The extent of my renown will be best estimated by reference +to the editorial opinions of the day. These opinions, it will be seen, +were embodied in critical notices of the number of the "Lollipop" +containing my poem, and are perfectly satisfactory, conclusive, and +clear with the exception, perhaps, of the hieroglyphical marks, +"Sep. 15- 1 t," appended to each of the critiques. + + The "Owl" a journal of profound sagacity, and well known for the +deliberate gravity of its literary decisions- the "Owl," I say, +spoke as follows: + + "The LOLLIPOP! The October number of this delicious Magazine +surpasses its predecessors, and sets competition at defiance. In the +beauty of its typography and paper- in the number and excellence of +its steel plates- as well as in the literary merit of its +contributions- the 'Lollipop' compares with its slow-paced rivals as +Hyperion with Satyr. The 'Hum-Drum,' the 'Rowdy-Dow,' and the +'Goosetherumfoodle,' excel, it is true, in braggadocio, but in all +other points, give us the 'Lollipop'! How this celebrated journal +can sustain its evidently tremendous expenses, is more than we can +understand. To be sure, it has a circulation of 100,000 and its +subscription list has increased one fourth during the last month; but, +on the other hand, the sums it disburses constantly for +contributions are inconceivable. It is reported that Mr. Slyass +received no less than thirty-seven and a half cents for his inimitable +paper on 'Pigs.' With Mr. Crab, as editor, and with such names upon +the list of contributors as SNOB and Slyass, there can be no such word +as 'fail' for the 'Lollipop.' Go and subscribe. Sep. 15- 1 t." + + I must say that I was gratified with this high-toned notice from a +paper so respectable as the "Owl." The placing my name- that is to +say, my nom de guerre- in priority of station to that of the great +Slyass, was a compliment as happy as I felt it to be deserved. + + My attention was next arrested by these paragraphs in the "Toad"- +print highly distinguished for its uprightness and independence- for +its entire freedom from sycophancy and subservience to the givers of +dinners: + + "The 'Lollipop' for October is out in advance of all its +contemporaries, and infinitely surpasses them, of course, in the +splendor of its embellishments, as well as in the richness of its +contents. The 'Hum-Drum,' the 'Rowdy-Dow,' and the 'Goosetherumfoodle' +excel, we admit, in braggadocio, but, in all other points, give us the +'Lollipop.' How this celebrated Magazine can sustain its evidently +tremendous expenses is more than we can understand. To be sure, it has +a circulation of 200,000 and its subscription list has increased one +third during the last fortnight, but, on the other hand, the sums it +disburses, monthly, for contributions, are fearfully great. We learn +that Mr. Mumblethumb received no less than fifty cents for his late +'Monody in a Mud-Puddle.' + + "Among the original contributors to the present number we notice +(besides the eminent editor, Mr. Crab), such men as SNOB, Slyass, +and Mumblethumb. Apart from the editorial matter, the most valuable +paper, nevertheless, is, we think, a poetical gem by Snob, on the +'Oil-of-Bob.'-but our readers must not suppose, from the title of this +incomparable bijou, that it bears any similitude to some balderdash on +the same subject by a certain contemptible individual whose name is +unmentionable to ears polite. The present poem 'On the Oil-of-Bob,' +has excited universal anxiety and curiosity in respect to the owner of +the evident pseudonym, 'Snob,'- a curiosity which, happily, we have it +in our power to satisfy. 'Snob' is the nom de plume of Mr. Thingum +Bob, of this city, a relative of the great Mr. Thingum, (after whom he +is named), and otherwise connected with the most illustrious +families of the State. His father, Thomas Bob, Esq., is an opulent +merchant in Smug. Sep. 15- 1 t." + + This generous approbation touched me to the heart- the more +especially as it emanated from a source so avowedly- so proverbially +pure as the "Toad." The word "balderdash," as applied to the +"Oil-of-Bob" of the Fly, I considered singularly pungent and +appropriate. The words "gem" and "bijou," however, used in reference +to my composition, struck me as being, in some degree, feeble. They +seemed to me to be deficient in force. They were not sufficiently +prononces (as we have it in France). + + I had hardly finished reading the "Toad," when a friend placed in my +hands a copy of the "Mole," a daily, enjoying high reputation for +the keenness of its perception about matters in general, and for the +open, honest, above-ground style of its editorials. The "Mole" spoke +of the "Lollypop" as follows: + + "We have just received the 'Lollipop' for October, and must say that +never before have we perused any single number of any periodical which +afforded us a felicity so supreme. We speak advisedly. The 'Hum-Drum.' +the 'Rowdy-Dow,' and the 'Goosetherumfoodle' must look well to their +laurels. These prints, no doubt, surpass everything in loudness of +pretension, but, in all other points, give us the 'Lollipop'! How this +celebrated Magazine can sustain its evidently tremendous expenses, +is more than we can comprehend. To be sure, it has a circulation of +300,000; and its subscription list has increased one half within the +last week, but then the sum it disburses, monthly, for +contributions, is astoundingly enormous. We have it upon good +authority that Mr. Fatquack received no less than sixty-two cents +and a half for his late Domestic Nouvellette, the 'Dish-Clout.' + + "The contributors to the number before us are Mr. CRAB (the +eminent editor), SNOB, Mumblethumb, Fatquack, and others; but, after +the inimitable compositions of the editor himself, we prefer a +diamond- like effusion from the pen of a rising poet who writes over +the signature 'Snob'- a nom de guerre which we predict will one day +extinguish the radiance of 'BOZ.' 'SNOB,' we learn, is a Mr. THINGUM +BOB, Esq., sole heir of a wealthy merchant of this city, Thomas Bob, +Esq., and a near relative of the distinguished Mr. Thingum. The +title of Mr. B.'s admirable poem is the 'Oil-of-Bob'- a somewhat +unfortunate name, by-the-bye, as some contemptible vagabond +connected with the penny press has already disgusted the town with a +great deal of drivel upon the same topic. There will be no danger, +however, of confounding the compositions. Sep. 15- 1 t. + + The generous approbation of so clear-sighted a journal as the "Mole" +penetrated my soul with delight. The only objection which occurred +to me was, that the terms "contemptible vagabond" might have been +better written "odious and contemptible wretch, villain, and +vagabond." This would have sounded more graceful, I think. +"Diamond-like," also, was scarcely, it will be admitted, of sufficient +intensity to express what the "Mole" evidently thought of the +brilliancy of the "Oil-of-Bob." + + On the same afternoon in which I saw these notices in the "Owl," the +"Toad" and the "Mole," I happened to meet with a copy of the +"Daddy-Long-Legs," a periodical proverbial for the extreme extent of +its understanding. And it was the "Daddy-Long-Legs" which spoke thus: + + "The 'Lollipop'! This gorgeous Magazine is already before the public +for October. The question of pre-eminence is forever put to rest, +and hereafter it will be preposterous in the 'Hum-Drum,' the +'Rowdy-Dow,' or the 'Goosetherumfoodle' to make any further +spasmodic attempts at competition. These journals may excel the +'Lollipop' in outcry, but, in all other points, give us the +'Lollipop'! How this celebrated Magazine can sustain its evidently +tremendous expenses, is past comprehension. To be sure it has a +circulation of precisely half a million, and its subscription list has +increased seventy-five per cent. within the last couple of days, but +then the sums it disburses, monthly, for contributions, are scarcely +credible; we are cognizant of the fact, that Mademoiselle +Cribalittle received no less than eighty-seven cents and a half for +her late valuable Revolutionary Tale, entitled 'The York-Town +Katy-Did, and the Bunker-Hill Katy-Didn't.' + + "The most able papers in the present number are, of course, those +furnished by the editor (the eminent Mr. CRAB), but there are numerous +magnificent contributions from such names as SNOB, Mademoiselle +Cribalittle, Slyass, Mrs. Fibalittle, Mumblethumb, Mrs. +Squibalittle, and last, though not least, Fatquack. The world may well +be challenged to produce so rich a galaxy of genius. + + "The poem over the signature, "SNOB" is, we find, attracting +universal commendation, and, we are constrained to say, deserves, if +possible, even more applause than it has received. The 'Oil-of-Bob' is +the title of this masterpiece of eloquence and art. One or two of +our readers may have a very faint, although sufficiently disgusting +recollection of a poem (?) similarly entitled, the perpetration of a +miserable penny-a-liner, mendicant, and cut-throat, connected in the +capacity of scullion, we believe, with one of the indecent prints +about the purlieus of the city, we beg them, for God's sake, not to +confound the compositions. The author of the 'Oil-of-Bob' is, we hear, +Thingum Bob, Esq, a gentleman of high genius, and a scholar. 'Snob' is +merely a nom de guerre. Sep. 15- 1 t." + + I could scarcely restrain my indignation while I perused the +concluding portions of this diatribe. It was clear to me that the +yea-nay manner- not to say the gentleness,- the positive +forbearance- with which the "Daddy-Long-Legs" spoke of that pig, the +editor of the "Gad-Fly,"- it was evident to me, I say, that this +gentleness of speech could proceed from nothing else than a partiality +for the "Fly"- whom it was clearly the intention of the +"Daddy-Long-Legs" to elevate into reputation at my expense. Any one, +indeed, might perceive, with half an eye, that, had the real design of +the "Daddy" been what it wished to appear, it (the "Daddy") might have +expressed itself in terms more direct, more pungent, and altogether +more to the purpose. The words "penny-a-liner," "mendicant," +"scullion," and "cut-throat," were epithets so intentionally +inexpressive and equivocal, as to be worse than nothing when applied +to the author of the very worst stanzas ever penned by one of the +human race. We all know what is meant by "damning with faint +praise," and, on the other hand, who could fail seeing through the +covert purpose of the "Daddy,"- that of glorifying with feeble abuse? + + What the "Daddy" chose to say to the "Fly," however, was no business +of mine. What it said of myself was. After the noble manner in which +the "Owl," the "Toad," the "Mole," had expressed themselves in respect +to my ability, it was rather too much to be coolly spoken of by a +thing like the "Daddy-Long-Legs," as merely "a gentleman of high +genius and scholar." Gentleman indeed! I made up my mind at once +either to get written apology from the "Daddy-Long-Legs," or to call +it out. + + Full of this purpose, I looked about me to find a friend whom I +could entrust with a message to his "Daddy"ship, and as the editor +of the "Lollipop" had given me marked tokens of regard, I at length +concluded to seek assistance upon the present occasion. + + I have never yet been able to account, in a manner satisfactory to +my own understanding, for the very peculiar countenance and demeanor +with which Mr. Crab listened to me, as I unfolded to him my design. He +again went through the scene of the bell-rope and cudgel, and did +not omit the duck. At one period I thought he really intended to +quack. His fit, nevertheless, finally subsided as before, and he began +to act and speak in a rational way. He declined bearing the cartel, +however, and in fact, dissuaded me from sending it at all; but was +candid enough to admit that the "Daddy-Long-Legs" had been +disgracefully in the wrong- more especially in what related to the +epithets "gentleman and scholar." + + Toward the end of this interview with Mr. Crab, who really +appeared to take a paternal interest in my welfare, he suggested to me +that I might turn an honest penny, and at the same time, advance my +reputation, by occasionally playing Thomas Hawk for the "Lollypop." + + I begged Mr. Crab to inform me who was Mr. Thomas Hawk, and how it +was expected that I should play him. + + Here Mr. Crab again "made great eyes" (as we say in Germany), but at +length, recovering himself from a profound attack of astonishment, +he assured me that he employed the words "Thomas Hawk" to avoid the +colloquialism, Tommy, which was low- but that the true idea was +Tommy Hawk- or tomahawk- and that by "playing tomahawk" he referred to +scalping, brow-beating, and otherwise using- up the herd of poor-devil +authors. + + I assured my patron that, if this was all, I was perfectly +resigned to the task of playing Thomas Hawk. Hereupon Mr. Crab desired +me to use up the editor of the "Gad-Fly" forthwith, in the fiercest +style within the scope of my ability, and as a specimen of my +powers. This I did, upon the spot, in a review of the original +"Oil-of-Bob," occupying thirty-six pages of the "Lollipop." I found +playing Thomas Hawk, indeed, a far less onerous occupation than +poetizing; for I went upon system altogether, and thus it was easy +to do the thing thoroughly well. My practice was this. I bought +auction copies (cheap) of "Lord Brougham's speeches," "Cobbett's +Complete Works," the "New Slang-Syllabus," the "Whole Art of +Snubbing," "Prentice's Billingsgate" (folio edition), and "Lewis G. +Clarke on Tongue." These works I cut up thoroughly with a +curry-comb, and then, throwing the shreds into a sieve, sifted out +carefully all that might be thought decent (a mere trifle); +reserving the hard phrases, which I threw into a large tin +pepper-castor with longitudinal holes, so that an entire sentence +could get through without material injury. The mixture was then +ready for use. When called upon to play Thomas Hawk, I anointed a +sheet of foolscap with the white of a gander's egg; then, shredding +the thing to be reviewed as I had previously shredded the books- +only with more care, so as to get every word separate- I threw the +latter shreds in with the former, screwed on the lid of the castor, +gave it a shake, and so dusted out the mixture upon the egged +foolscap; where it stuck. The effect was beautiful to behold. It was +captivating. Indeed, the reviews I brought to pass by this simple +expedient have never been approached, and were the wonder of the +world. At first, through bashfulness- the result of inexperience- I +was a little put out by a certain inconsistency- a certain air of +the bizarre (as we say in France), worn by the composition as a whole. +All the phrases did not fit (as we say in the Anglo-Saxon). Many +were quite awry. Some, even, were upside-down; and there were none +of them which were not in some measure, injured in regard to effect, +by this latter species of accident, when it occurred- with the +exception of Mr. Lewis Clarkes paragraphs, which were so vigorous +and altogether stout, that they seemed not particularly disconcerted +by any extreme of position, but looked equally happy and satisfactory, +whether on their heads, or on their heels. + + What became of the editor of the "Gad-Fly" after the publication +of my criticism on his "Oil-of-Bob," it is somewhat difficult to +determine. The most reasonable conclusion is, that he wept himself +to death. At all events he disappeared instantaneously from the face +of the earth, and no man has seen even the ghost of him since. + + This matter having been properly accomplished, and the Furies +appeased, I grew at once into high favor with Mr. Crab. He took me +into his confidence, gave me a permanent situation as Thomas Hawk of +the "Lollipop," and, as for the present, he could afford me no salary, +allowed me to profit, at discretion, by his advice. + + "My dear Thingum," said he to me one day after dinner, "I respect +your abilities and love you as a son. You shall be my heir. When I die +I will bequeath you the "Lollipop." In the meantime I will make a +man of you- I will- provided always that you follow my counsel. The +first thing to do is to get rid of the old bore." + + "Boar?" said I inquiringly- "pig, eh?- aper? (as we say in Latin)- +who?- where?" + + "Your father," said he. + + "Precisely," I replied- "pig." + + "You have your fortune to make, Thingum," resumed Mr. Crab, "and +that governor of yours is a millstone about your neck. We must cut him +at once." [Here I took out my knife.] "We must cut him," continued Mr. +Crab, "decidedly and forever. He won't do- he won't. Upon second +thoughts, you had better kick him, or cane him, or something of that +kind." + + "What do you say," I suggested modestly, "to my kicking him in the +first instance, caning him afterward, and winding up by tweaking his +nose?" + + Mr. Crab looked at me musingly for some moments, and then answered: + + "I think, Mr. Bob, that what you propose would answer sufficiently +well- indeed remarkably well- that is to say, as far as it went- but +barbers are exceedingly hard to cut, and I think, upon the whole, +that, having performed upon Thomas Bob the operations you suggest, +it would be advisable to blacken, with your fists, both his eyes, very +carefully and thoroughly, to prevent his ever seeing you again in +fashionable promenades. After doing this, I really do not perceive +that you can do any more. However- it might be just as well to roll +him once or twice in the gutter, and then put him in charge of the +police. Any time the next morning you can call at the watch-house +and swear an assault." + + I was much affected by the kindness of feeling toward me personally, +which was evinced in this excellent advice of Mr. Crab, and I did +not fail to profit by it forthwith. The result was, that I got rid +of the old bore, and began to feel a little independent and +gentleman-like. The want of money, however, was, for a few weeks, a +source of some discomfort; but at length, by carefully putting to +use my two eyes, and observing how matters went just in front of my +nose, I perceived how the thing was to be brought about. I say +"thing"- be it observed- for they tell me in the Latin for it is +rem. By the way, talking of Latin, can any one tell me the meaning +of quocunque- or what is the meaning of modo? + + My plan was exceedingly simple. I bought, for a song, a sixteenth of +the "Snapping-Turtle":- that was all. The thing was done, and I put +money in my purse. There were some trivial arrangements afterward, +to be sure, but these formed no portion of the plan. They were a +consequence- a result. For example, I bought pen, ink, and paper, +and put them into furious activity. Having thus completed a Magazine +article, I gave it, for appellation, "Fol Lol, by the Author of 'THE +OIL-OF-BOB,'" and enveloped it to the "Goosetherumfoodle." That +journal, however, having pronounced it "twattle" in the "Monthly +Notices to Correspondents," I reheaded the paper +"Hey-Diddle-Diddle," by Thigum BOB, Esq., Author of the Ode on 'The +Oil-of-Bob,' and Editor of the 'Snapping Turtle.'" With this +amendment, I re-enclosed it to the "Goosetherumfoodle," and, while I +awaited a reply, published daily, in the "Turtle," six columns of what +may be termed philosophical and analytical investigation of the +literary merits of the "Goosetherumfoodle," as well as of the personal +character of the editor of the "Goosetherumfoodle." At the end of a +week the "Goosetherumfoodle," discovered that it had, by some odd +mistake, "confounded a stupid article, headed 'Hey-Diddle-Diddle,' and +composed by some unknown ignoramus, with a gem of resplendent lustre +similarly entitled, the work of Thingum Bob, Esq, the celebrated +author of 'The Oil-of-Bob.'" The "Goosetherumfoodle" deeply "regretted +this very natural accident," and promised, moreover, an insertion of +the genuine "Hey-Diddle-Diddle" in the very next number of the +Magazine. + + The fact is, I thought- I really thought- I thought at the time- I +thought then- and have no reason for thinking otherwise now- that +the "Goosetherumfoodle" did make a mistake. With the best intentions +in the world, I never knew any thing that made as many singular +mistakes as the "Goosetherumfoodle." From that day I took a liking +to the "Goosetherumfoodle" and the result was I soon saw into the very +depths of its literary merits, and did not fail to expatiate upon +them, in the "Turtle," whenever a fitting opportunity occurred. And it +is to be regarded as a very peculiar coincidence- as one of those +positively remarkable coincidences which set a man to serious +thinking- that just such a total revolution of opinion- just such +entire bouleversement (as we say in French)- just such thorough +topsiturviness (if I may be permitted to employ a rather forcible term +of the Choctaws), as happened, pro and con, between myself on the +one part, and the "Goosetherumfoodle" on the other, did actually again +happen, in a brief period afterwards, and with precisely similar +circumstances, in the case of myself and the "Rowdy-Dow," and in the +case of myself and the "Hum-Drum." + + Thus it was that, by a master-stroke of genius, I at length +consummated my triumphs by "putting money in my purse," and thus may +be said really and fairly to have commenced that brilliant and +eventful career which rendered me illustrious, and which now enables +me to say with Chateaubriand: "I have made history"- J'ai fait +l'histoire." + + I have indeed "made history." From the bright epoch which I now +record, my actions- my works- are the property of mankind. They are +familiar to the world. It is, then, needless for me to detail how, +soaring rapidly, I fell heir to the "Lollipop"- how I merged this +journal in the "Hum-Drum"- how again I made purchase of the +"Rowdy-Dow," thus combining the three periodicals- how lastly, I +effected a bargain for the sole remaining rival, and united all the +literature of the country in one magnificent Magazine known everywhere +as the- + + Rowdy-Dow, Lollipop, Hum-Drum, + + and + + GOOSETHERUMFOODLE. + + Yes, I have made history. My fame is universal. It extends to the +uttermost ends of the earth. You cannot take up a common newspaper +in which you shall not see some allusion to the immortal Thigum Bob. +It is Mr. Thingum Bob said so, and Mr. Thingum Bob wrote this, and Mr. +Thingum Bob did that. But I am meek and expire with an humble heart. +After all, what is it?- this indescribable something which men will +persist in terming "genius"? I agree with Buffon- with Hogarth- it +is but diligence after all. + + Look at me!- how I labored- how I toiled- how I wrote! Ye Gods, +did I not write? I knew not the word "ease." By day I adhered to my +desk, and at night, a pale student, I consumed the midnight oil. You +should have seen me- you should. I leaned to the right. I leaned to +the left. I sat forward. I sat backward. I sat tete baissee (as they +have it in the Kickapoo), bowing my head close to the alabaster +page. And, through all, I- wrote. Through joy and through sorrow, +I-wrote. Through hunger and through thirst, I-wrote. Through good +report and through ill report- I wrote. Through sunshine and through +moonshine, I-wrote. What I wrote it is unnecessary to say. The style!- +that was the thing. I caught it from Fatquack- whizz!- fizz!- and I am +giving you a specimen of it now. + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-loss-455.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-loss-455.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..25ad4ee5 --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-loss-455.txt @@ -0,0 +1,494 @@ + 1850 + + LOSS OF BREATH + + A Tale Neither In nor Out of "Blackwood" + + by Edgar Allan Poe + + O Breathe not, etc. + + Moore's Melodies + + THE MOST notorious ill-fortune must in the end yield to the untiring +courage of philosophy- as the most stubborn city to the ceaseless +vigilance of an enemy. Shalmanezer, as we have it in holy writings, +lay three years before Samaria; yet it fell. Sardanapalus- see +Diodorus- maintained himself seven in Nineveh; but to no purpose. +Troy expired at the close of the second lustrum; and Azoth, as +Aristaeus declares upon his honour as a gentleman, opened at last +her gates to Psammetichus, after having barred them for the fifth part +of a century.... + + "Thou wretch!- thou vixen!- thou shrew!" said I to my wife on the +morning after our wedding; "thou witch!- thou hag!- thou +whippersnapper- thou sink of iniquity!- thou fiery-faced quintessence +of all that is abominable!- thou- thou-" here standing upon tiptoe, +seizing her by the throat, and placing my mouth close to her ear, I +was preparing to launch forth a new and more decided epithet of +opprobrium, which should not fail, if ejaculated, to convince her of +her insignificance, when to my extreme horror and astonishment I +discovered that I had lost my breath. + + The phrases "I am out of breath," "I have lost my breath," etc., are +often enough repeated in common conversation; but it had never +occurred to me that the terrible accident of which I speak could bona +fide and actually happen! Imagine- that is if you have a fanciful +turn- imagine, I say, my wonder- my consternation- my despair! + + There is a good genius, however, which has never entirely deserted +me. In my most ungovernable moods I still retain a sense of propriety, +et le chemin des passions me conduit- as Lord Edouard in the "Julie" +says it did him- a la philosophie veritable. + + Although I could not at first precisely ascertain to what degree the +occurence had affected me, I determined at all events to conceal the +matter from my wife, until further experience should discover to me +the extent of this my unheard of calamity. Altering my countenance, +therefore, in a moment, from its bepuffed and distorted appearance, to +an expression of arch and coquettish benignity, I gave my lady a pat +on the one cheek, and a kiss on the other, and without saying one +syllable (Furies! I could not), left her astonished at my drollery, as +I pirouetted out of the room in a Pas de Zephyr. + + Behold me then safely ensconced in my private boudoir, a fearful +instance of the ill consequences attending upon irascibility- alive, +with the qualifications of the dead- dead, with the propensities of +the living- an anomaly on the face of the earth- being very calm, yet +breathless. + + Yes! breathless. I am serious in asserting that my breath was +entirely gone. I could not have stirred with it a feather if my life +had been at issue, or sullied even the delicacy of a mirror. Hard +fate!- yet there was some alleviation to the first overwhelming +paroxysm of my sorrow. I found, upon trial, that the powers of +utterance which, upon my inability to proceed in the conversation with +my wife, I then concluded to be totally destroyed, were in fact only +partially impeded, and I discovered that had I, at that interesting +crisis, dropped my voice to a singularly deep guttural, I might +still have continued to her the communication of my sentiments; this +pitch of voice (the guttural) depending, I find, not upon the +current of the breath, but upon a certain spasmodic action of the +muscles of the throat. + + Throwing myself upon a chair, I remained for some time absorbed in +meditation. My reflections, be sure, were of no consolatory kind. A +thousand vague and lachrymatory fancies took possesion of my soul- +and even the idea of suicide flitted across my brain; but it is a +trait in the perversity of human nature to reject the obvious and +the ready, for the far-distant and equivocal. Thus I shuddered at +self-murder as the most decided of atrocities while the tabby cat +purred strenuously upon the rug, and the very water dog wheezed +assiduously under the table, each taking to itself much merit for +the strength of its lungs, and all obviously done in derision of my +own pulmonary incapacity. + + Oppressed with a tumult of vague hopes and fears, I at length +heard the footsteps of my wife descending the staircase. Being now +assured of her absence, I returned with a palpitating heart to the +scene of my disaster. + + Carefully locking the door on the inside, I commenced a vigorous +search. It was possible, I thought, that, concealed in some obscure +corner, or lurking in some closet or drawer, might be found the lost +object of my inquiry. It might have a vapory- it might even have a +tangible form. Most philosophers, upon many points of philosophy, +are still very unphilosophical. William Godwin, however, says in his +"Mandeville," that "invisible things are the only realities," and +this, all will allow, is a case in point. I would have the judicious +reader pause before accusing such asseverations of an undue quantum of +absurdity. Anaxagoras, it will be remembered, maintained that snow +is black, and this I have since found to be the case. + + Long and earnestly did I continue the investigation: but the +contemptible reward of my industry and perseverance proved to be +only a set of false teeth, two pair of hips, an eye, and a bundle of +billets-doux from Mr. Windenough to my wife. I might as well here +observe that this confirmation of my lady's partiality for Mr. W. +occasioned me little uneasiness. That Mrs. Lackobreath should admire +anything so dissimilar to myself was a natural and necessary evil. I +am, it is well known, of a robust and corpulent appearance, and at the +same time somewhat diminutive in stature. What wonder, then, that +the lath-like tenuity of my acquaintance, and his altitude, which +has grown into a proverb, should have met with all due estimation in +the eyes of Mrs. Lackobreath. But to return. + + My exertions, as I have before said, proved fruitless. Closet +after closet- drawer after drawer- corner after corner- were +scrutinized to no purpose. At one time, however, I thought myself sure +of my prize, having, in rummaging a dressing-case, accidentally +demolished a bottle of Grandjean's Oil of Archangels- which, as an +agreeable perfume, I here take the liberty of recommending. + + With a heavy heart I returned to my boudoir- there to ponder upon +some method of eluding my wife's penetration, until I could make +arrangements prior to my leaving the country, for to this I had +already made up my mind. In a foreign climate, being unknown, I might, +with some probability of success, endeavor to conceal my unhappy +calamity- a calamity calculated, even more than beggary, to estrange +the affections of the multitude, and to draw down upon the wretch +the well-merited indignation of the virtuous and the happy. I was +not long in hesitation. Being naturally quick, I committed to memory +the entire tragedy of "Metamora." I had the good fortune to +recollect that in the accentuation of this drama, or at least of +such portion of it as is allotted to the hero, the tones of voice in +which I found myself deficient were altogether unnecessary, and the +deep guttural was expected to reign monotonously throughout. + + I practised for some time by the borders of a well frequented +marsh;- herein, however, having no reference to a similar proceeding +of Demosthenes, but from a design peculiarly and conscientiously my +own. Thus armed at all points, I determined to make my wife believe +that I was suddenly smitten with a passion for the stage. In this, I +succeeded to a miracle; and to every question or suggestion found +myself at liberty to reply in my most frog-like and sepulchral tones +with some passage from the tragedy- any portion of which, as I soon +took great pleasure in observing, would apply equally well to any +particular subject. It is not to be supposed, however, that in the +delivery of such passages I was found at all deficient in the +looking asquint- the showing my teeth- the working my knees- the +shuffling my feet- or in any of those unmentionable graces which are +now justly considered the characteristics of a popular performer. To +be sure they spoke of confining me in a strait-jacket- but, good God! +they never suspected me of having lost my breath. + + Having at length put my affairs in order, I took my seat very +early one morning in the mail stage for --, giving it to be +understood, among my acquaintances, that business of the last +importance required my immediate personal attendance in that city. + + The coach was crammed to repletion; but in the uncertain twilight +the features of my companions could not be distinguished. Without +making any effectual resistance, I suffered myself to be placed +between two gentlemen of colossal dimensions; while a third, of a size +larger, requesting pardon for the liberty he was about to take, +threw himself upon my body at full length, and falling asleep in an +instant, drowned all my guttural ejaculations for relief, in a snore +which would have put to blush the roarings of the bull of Phalaris. +Happily the state of my respiratory faculties rendered suffocation +an accident entirely out of the question. + + As, however, the day broke more distinctly in our approach to the +outskirts of the city, my tormentor, arising and adjusting his +shirt-collar, thanked me in a very friendly manner for my civility. +Seeing that I remained motionless (all my limbs were dislocated and my +head twisted on one side), his apprehensions began to be excited; +and arousing the rest of the passengers, he communicated, in a very +decided manner, his opinion that a dead man had been palmed upon +them during the night for a living and responsible fellow-traveller; +here giving me a thump on the right eye, by way of demonstrating the +truth of his suggestion. + + Hereupon all, one after another (there were nine in company), +believed it their duty to pull me by the ear. A young practising +physician, too, having applied a pocket-mirror to my mouth, and +found me without breath, the assertion of my persecutor was pronounced +a true bill; and the whole party expressed a determination to endure +tamely no such impositions for the future, and to proceed no farther +with any such carcasses for the present. + + I was here, accordingly, thrown out at the sign of the "Crow" (by +which tavern the coach happened to be passing), without meeting with +any farther accident than the breaking of both my arms, under the left +hind wheel of the vehicle. I must besides do the driver the justice to +state that he did not forget to throw after me the largest of my +trunks, which, unfortunately falling on my head, fractured my skull in +a manner at once interesting and extraordinary. + + The landlord of the "Crow," who is a hospitable man, finding that my +trunk contained sufficient to indemnify him for any little trouble +he might take in my behalf, sent forthwith for a surgeon of his +acquaintance, and delivered me to his care with a bill and receipt for +ten dollars. + + The purchaser took me to his apartments and commenced operations +immediately. Having cut off my ears, however, he discovered signs of +animation. He now rang the bell, and sent for a neighboring apothecary +with whom to consult in the emergency. In case of his suspicions +with regard to my existence proving ultimately correct, he, in the +meantime, made an incision in my stomach, and removed several of my +viscera for private dissection. + + The apothecary had an idea that I was actually dead. This idea I +endeavored to confute, kicking and plunging with all my might, and +making the most furious contortions- for the operations of the +surgeon had, in a measure, restored me to the possession of my +faculties. All, however, was attributed to the effects of a new +galvanic battery, wherewith the apothecary, who is really a man of +information, performed several curious experiments, in which, from +my personal share in their fulfillment, I could not help feeling +deeply interested. It was a course of mortification to me, +nevertheless, that although I made several attempts at conversation, +my powers of speech were so entirely in abeyance, that I could not +even open my mouth; much less, then, make reply to some ingenious +but fanciful theories of which, under other circumstances, my minute +acquaintance with the Hippocratian pathology would have afforded me +a ready confutation. + + Not being able to arrive at a conclusion, the practitioners remanded +me for farther examination. I was taken up into a garret; and the +surgeon's lady having accommodated me with drawers and stockings, +the surgeon himself fastened my hands, and tied up my jaws with a +pocket-handkerchief- then bolted the door on the outside as he +hurried to his dinner, leaving me alone to silence and to meditation. + + I now discovered to my extreme delight that I could have spoken +had not my mouth been tied up with the pocket-handkerchief. Consoling +myself with this reflection, I was mentally repeating some passages +of the "Omnipresence of the Deity," as is my custom before resigning +myself to sleep, when two cats, of a greedy and vituperative turn, +entering at a hole in the wall, leaped up with a flourish a la +Catalani, and alighting opposite one another on my visage, betook +themselves to indecorous contention for the paltry consideration of my +nose. + + But, as the loss of his ears proved the means of elevating to the +throne of Cyrus, the Magian or Mige-Gush of Persia, and as the cutting +off his nose gave Zopyrus possession of Babylon, so the loss of a +few ounces of my countenance proved the salvation of my body. +Aroused by the pain, and burning with indignation, I burst, at a +single effort, the fastenings and the bandage. Stalking across the +room I cast a glance of contempt at the belligerents, and throwing +open the sash to their extreme horror and disappointment, precipitated +myself, very dexterously, from the window. +this moment passing from the city jail to the scaffold erected for his +execution in the suburbs. His extreme infirmity and long continued ill +health had obtained him the privilege of remaining unmanacled; and +habited in his gallows costume- one very similar to my own,- he lay at +full length in the bottom of the hangman's cart (which happened to +be under the windows of the surgeon at the moment of my precipitation) +without any other guard than the driver, who was asleep, and two +recruits of the sixth infantry, who were drunk. + + As ill-luck would have it, I alit upon my feet within the vehicle. +immediately, he bolted out behind, and turning down an alley, was +out of sight in the twinkling of an eye. The recruits, aroused by +the bustle, could not exactly comprehend the merits of the +transaction. Seeing, however, a man, the precise counterpart of the +felon, standing upright in the cart before their eyes, they were of +(so they expressed themselves,) and, having communicated this +opinion to one another, they took each a dram, and then knocked me +down with the butt-ends of their muskets. + + It was not long ere we arrived at the place of destination. Of +course nothing could be said in my defence. Hanging was my +inevitable fate. I resigned myself thereto with a feeling half stupid, +half acrimonious. Being little of a cynic, I had all the sentiments of +a dog. The hangman, however, adjusted the noose about my neck. The +drop fell. + + I forbear to depict my sensations upon the gallows; although here, +undoubtedly, I could speak to the point, and it is a topic upon +which nothing has been well said. In fact, to write upon such a +theme it is necessary to have been hanged. Every author should confine +himself to matters of experience. Thus Mark Antony composed a treatise +upon getting drunk. + + I may just mention, however, that die I did not. My body was, but +I had no breath to be, suspended; and but for the knot under my left +ear (which had the feel of a military stock) I dare say that I +should have experienced very little inconvenience. As for the jerk +given to my neck upon the falling of the drop, it merely proved a +corrective to the twist afforded me by the fat gentleman in the coach. + + For good reasons, however, I did my best to give the crowd the worth +of their trouble. My convulsions were said to be extraordinary. My +spasms it would have been difficult to beat. The populace encored. +Several gentlemen swooned; and a multitude of ladies were carried home +in hysterics. Pinxit availed himself of the opportunity to retouch, +from a sketch taken upon the spot, his admirable painting of the +"Marsyas flayed alive." + + When I had afforded sufficient amusement, it was thought proper to +remove my body from the gallows;- this the more especially as the +real culprit had in the meantime been retaken and recognized, a fact +which I was so unlucky as not to know. + + Much sympathy was, of course, exercised in my behalf, and as no +one made claim to my corpse, it was ordered that I should be +interred in a public vault. + + Here, after due interval, I was deposited. The sexton departed, +and I was left alone. A line of Marston's "Malcontent"- + + Death's a good fellow and keeps open house- + +struck me at that moment as a palpable lie. + + I knocked off, however, the lid of my coffin, and stepped out. The +place was dreadfully dreary and damp, and I became troubled with +ennui. By way of amusement, I felt my way among the numerous coffins +ranged in order around. I lifted them down, one by one, and breaking +open their lids, busied myself in speculations about the mortality +within. + + "This," I soliloquized, tumbling over a carcass, puffy, bloated, and +rotund- "this has been, no doubt, in every sense of the word, an +unhappy- an unfortunate man. It has been his terrible lot not to walk +but to waddle- to pass through life not like a human being, but like +an elephant- not like a man, but like a rhinoceros. + + "His attempts at getting on have been mere abortions, and his +circumgyratory proceedings a palpable failure. Taking a step +forward, it has been his misfortune to take two toward the right, +and three toward the left. His studies have been confined to the +poetry of Crabbe. He can have no idea of the wonder of a pirouette. To +him a pas de papillon has been an abstract conception. He has never +ascended the summit of a hill. He has never viewed from any steeple +the glories of a metropolis. Heat has been his mortal enemy. In the +dog-days his days have been the days of a dog. Therein, he has dreamed +of flames and suffocation- of mountains upon mountains- of Pelion upon +Ossa. He was short of breath- to say all in a word, he was short of +breath. He thought it extravagant to play upon wind instruments. He +was the inventor of self-moving fans, wind-sails, and ventilators. He +patronized Du Pont the bellows-maker, and he died miserably in +attempting to smoke a cigar. His was a case in which I feel a deep +interest- a lot in which I sincerely sympathize. + + "But here,"- said I- "here"- and I dragged spitefully from its +receptacle a gaunt, tall and peculiar-looking form, whose remarkable +appearance struck me with a sense of unwelcome familiarity- "here is +a wretch entitled to no earthly commiseration." Thus saying, in +order to obtain a more distinct view of my subject, I applied my thumb +and forefinger to its nose, and causing it to assume a sitting +position upon the ground, held it thus, at the length of my arm, while +I continued my soliloquy. + + -"Entitled," I repeated, "to no earthly commiseration. Who indeed +would think of compassioning a shadow? Besides, has he not had his +full share of the blessings of mortality? He was the originator of +tall monuments- shot-towers- lightning-rods- Lombardy poplars. His +treatise upon "Shades and Shadows" has immortalized him. He edited +with distinguished ability the last edition of "South on the Bones." +He went early to college and studied pneumatics. He then came home, +talked eternally, and played upon the French-horn. He patronized the +bagpipes. Captain Barclay, who walked against Time, would not walk +against him. Windham and Allbreath were his favorite writers,- his +favorite artist, Phiz. He died gloriously while inhaling gas- levique +flatu corrupitur, like the fama pudicitae in Hieronymus.* He was +indubitably a"- + + *Tenera res in feminis fama pudicitiae, et quasi flos pulcherrimus, +cito ad levem marcessit auram, levique flatu corrumpitur, maxime, +&c.- Hieronymus ad Salvinam. + + "How can you?- how- can- you?"- interrupted the object of my +animadversions, gasping for breath, and tearing off, with a +desperate exertion, the bandage around its jaws- "how can you, Mr. +Lackobreath, be so infernally cruel as to pinch me in that manner by +the nose? Did you not see how they had fastened up my mouth- and you +must know- if you know any thing- how vast a superfluity of breath I +have to dispose of! If you do not know, however, sit down and you +shall see. In my situation it is really a great relief to be able to +open ones mouth- to be able to expatiate- to be able to communicate +with a person like yourself, who do not think yourself called upon at +every period to interrupt the thread of a gentleman's discourse. +Interruptions are annoying and should undoubtedly be abolished- don't +you think so?- no reply, I beg you,- one person is enough to be +speaking at a time.- I shall be done by and by, and then you may +begin.- How the devil sir, did you get into this place?- not a word I +beseech you- been here some time myself- terrible accident!- heard of +it, I suppose?- awful calamity!- walking under your windows- some +short while ago- about the time you were stage-struck- horrible +occurrence!- heard of "catching one's breath," eh?- hold your tongue +I tell you!- I caught somebody elses!- had always too much of my own- +met Blab at the corner of the street- wouldn't give me a chance for a +word- couldn't get in a syllable edgeways- attacked, consequently, +with epilepsis- Blab made his escape- damn all fools!- they took me up +for dead, and put me in this place- pretty doings all of them!- heard +all you said about me- every word a lie- horrible!- wonderful- +outrageous!- hideous!- incomprehensible!- et cetera- et cetera- et +cetera- et cetera-" + + It is impossible to conceive my astonishment at so unexpected a +discourse, or the joy with which I became gradually convinced that the +breath so fortunately caught by the gentleman (whom I soon +recognized as my neighbor Windenough) was, in fact, the identical +expiration mislaid by myself in the conversation with my wife. Time, +place, and circumstances rendered it a matter beyond question. I did +not at least during the long period in which the inventor of Lombardy +poplars continued to favor me with his explanations. + + In this respect I was actuated by that habitual prudence which has +ever been my predominating trait. I reflected that many difficulties +might still lie in the path of my preservation which only extreme +exertion on my part would be able to surmount. Many persons, I +considered, are prone to estimate commodities in their +possession- however valueless to the then proprietor- however +troublesome, or distressing- in direct ratio with the advantages to +be derived by others from their attainment, or by themselves from +their abandonment. Might not this be the case with Mr. Windenough? +In displaying anxiety for the breath of which he was at present so +willing to get rid, might I not lay myself open to the exactions of +his avarice? There are scoundrels in this world, I remembered with a +sigh, who will not scruple to take unfair opportunities with even a +next door neighbor, and (this remark is from Epictetus) it is +precisely at that time when men are most anxious to throw off the +burden of their own calamities that they feel the least desirous of +relieving them in others. + + Upon considerations similar to these, and still retaining my grasp +upon the nose of Mr. W., I accordingly thought proper to model my +reply. + + "Monster!" I began in a tone of the deepest indignation- "monster +and double-winded idiot!- dost thou, whom for thine iniquities it has +pleased heaven to accurse with a two-fold respimtion- dost thou, I +say, presume to address me in the familiar language of an old +acquaintance?- 'I lie,' forsooth! and 'hold my tongue,' to be +sure!- pretty conversation indeed, to a gentleman with a single +breath!- all this, too, when I have it in my power to relieve the +calamity under which thou dost so justly suffer- to curtail the +superfluities of thine unhappy respiration." + + Like Brutus, I paused for a reply- with which, like a tornado, Mr. +Windenough immediately overwhelmed me. Protestation followed upon +protestation, and apology upon apology. There were no terms with which +he was unwilling to comply, and there were none of which I failed to +take the fullest advantage. + + Preliminaries being at length arranged, my acquaintance delivered me +the respiration; for which (having carefully examined it) I gave him +afterward a receipt. + + I am aware that by many I shall be held to blame for speaking in a +manner so cursory, of a transaction so impalpable. It will be +thought that I should have entered more minutely, into the details +of an occurrence by which- and this is very true- much new light might +be thrown upon a highly interesting branch of physical philosophy. + + To all this I am sorry that I cannot reply. A hint is the only +answer which I am permitted to make. There were circumstances- but I +think it much safer upon consideration to say as little as possible +about an affair so delicate- so delicate, I repeat, and at the time +involving the interests of a third party whose sulphurous resentment I +have not the least desire, at this moment, of incurring. + + We were not long after this necessary arrangement in effecting an +escape from the dungeons of the sepulchre. The united strength of +our resuscitated voices was soon sufficiently apparent. Scissors, +the Whig editor, republished a treatise upon "the nature and origin of +subterranean noises." A reply- rejoinder- confutation- and +justification- followed in the columns of a Democratic Gazette. It +was not until the opening of the vault to decide the controversy, that +the appearance of Mr. Windenough and myself proved both parties to +have been decidedly in the wrong. + + I cannot conclude these details of some very singular passages in +a life at all times sufficiently eventful, without again recalling +to the attention of the reader the merits of that indiscriminate +philosophy which is a sure and ready shield against those shafts of +calamity which can neither be seen, felt nor fully understood. It +was in the spirit of this wisdom that, among the ancient Hebrews, it +was believed the gates of Heaven would be inevitably opened to that +sinner, or saint, who, with good lungs and implicit confidence, should +vociferate the word "Amen!" It was in the spirit of this wisdom +that, when a great plague raged at Athens, and every means had been in +vain attempted for its removal, Epimenides, as Laertius relates, in +his second book, of that philosopher, advised the erection of a shrine +and temple "to the proper God." + + LYTTLETON BARRY. + + -THE END- +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-man-690.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-man-690.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..362b4a8d --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-man-690.txt @@ -0,0 +1,344 @@ + 1850 + + THE MAN OF THE CROWD + + by Edgar Allan Poe + + Ce grand malheur, de ne pouvoir etre seul. + + LA BRUYERE. + + IT WAS well said of a certain German book that "er lasst sich +nicht lesen"- it does not permit itself to be read. There are some +secrets which do not permit themselves to be told. Men die nightly +in their beds, wringing the hands of ghostly confessors, and looking +them piteously in the eyes- die with despair of heart and convulsion +of throat, on account of the hideousness of mysteries which will not +suffer themselves to be revealed. Now and then, alas, the conscience +of man takes up a burden so heavy in horror that it can be thrown down +only into the grave. And thus the essence of all crime is undivulged. + + Not long ago, about the closing in of an evening in autumn, I sat at +the large bow- window of the D-- Coffee-House in London. For some +months I had been ill in health, but was now convalescent, and, with +returning strength, found myself in one of those happy moods which are +so precisely the converse of ennui-moods of the keenest appetency, +when the film from the mental vision departs- achlus os prin epeen- +and the intellect, electrified, surpasses as greatly its everyday +condition, as does the vivid yet candid reason of Leibnitz, the mad +and flimsy rhetoric of Gorgias. Merely to breathe was enjoyment; and I +derived positive pleasure even from many of the legitimate sources +of pain. I felt a calm but inquisitive interest in every thing. With a +cigar in my mouth and a newspaper in my lap, I had been amusing myself +for the greater part of the afternoon, now in poring over +advertisements, now in observing the promiscuous company in the +room, and now in peering through the smoky panes into the street. + + This latter is one of the principal thoroughfares of the city, and +had been very much crowded during the whole day. But, as the +darkness came on, the throng momently increased; and, by the time +the lamps were well lighted, two dense and continuous tides of +population were rushing past the door. At this particular period of +the evening I had never before been in a similar situation, and the +tumultuous sea of human heads filled me, therefore, with a delicious +novelty of emotion. I gave up, at length, all care of things within +the hotel, and became absorbed in contemplation of the scene without. + + At first my observations took an abstract and generalizing turn. I +looked at the passengers in masses, and thought of them in their +aggregate relations. Soon, however, I descended to details, and +regarded with minute interest the innumerable varieties of figure, +dress, air, gait, visage, and expression of countenance. + + By far the greater number of those who went by had a satisfied, +business-like demeanor, and seemed to be thinking only of making their +way through the press. Their brows were knit, and their eyes rolled +quickly; when pushed against by fellow-wayfarers they evinced no +symptom of impatience, but adjusted their clothes and hurried on. +Others, still a numerous class, were restless in their movements, +had flushed faces, and talked and gesticulated to themselves, as if +feeling in solitude on account of the very denseness of the company +around. When impeded in their progress, these people suddenly ceased +muttering; but redoubled their gesticulations, and awaited, with an +absent and overdone smile upon their lips, the course of the persons +impeding them. If jostled, they bowed profusely to the jostlers, and +appeared overwhelmed with confusion. There was nothing very +distinctive about these two large classes beyond what I have noted. +Their habiliments belonged to that order which is pointedly termed the +decent. They were undoubtedly noblemen, merchants, attorneys, +tradesmen, stock-jobbers- the Eupatrids and the common-places of +society- men of leisure and men actively engaged in affairs of their +own- conducting business upon their own responsibility. They did not +greatly excite my attention. + + The tribe of clerks was an obvious one; and here I discerned two +remarkable divisions. There were the junior clerks of flash houses- +young gentlemen with tight coats, bright boots, well-oiled hair, and +supercilious lips. Setting aside a certain dapperness of carriage, +which may be termed deskism for want of a better word, the manner of +these persons seemed to be an exact facsimile of what had been the +perfection of bon ton about twelve or eighteen months before. They +wore the castoff graces of the gentry;- and this, I believe, +involves the best definition of the class. + + The division of the upper clerks of staunch firms, or of the "steady +old fellows," it was not possible to mistake. These were known by +their coats and pantaloons of black or brown, made to sit comfortably, +with white cravats and waistcoats, broad solid-looking shoes, and +thick hose or gaiters. They had all slightly bald heads, from which +the right ears, long used to pen-holding, had an odd habit of standing +off on end. I observed that they always removed or settled their +hats with both bands, and wore watches, with short gold chains of a +substantial and ancient pattern. Theirs was the affectation of +respectability- if indeed there be an affectation so honorable. + + There were many individuals of dashing appearance, whom I easily +understood as belonging to the race of swell pick-pockets, with +which all great cities are infested. I watched these gentry with +much inquisitiveness, and found it difficult to imagine how they +should ever be mistaken for gentlemen by gentlemen themselves. Their +voluminousness of wristband, with an air of excessive frankness, +should betray them at once. + + The gamblers, of whom I descried not a few, were still more easily +recognizable. They wore every variety of dress, from that of the +desperate thimble-rig bully, with velvet waistcoat, fancy neckerchief, +gilt chains, and filagreed buttons, to that of the scrupulously +inornate clergyman, than which nothing could be less liable to +suspicion. Still all were distinguished by a certain sodden +swarthiness of complexion, a filmy dimness of eye, and pallor and +compression of lip. There were two other traits, moreover, by which +I could always detect them: a guarded lowness of tone in conversation, +and a more than ordinary extension of the thumb in a direction at +right angles with the fingers. Very often, in company with these +sharpers, I observed an order of men somewhat different in habits, but +still birds of a kindred feather. They may be defined as the gentlemen +who live by their wits. They seem to prey upon the public in two +battalions- that of the dandies and that of the military men. Of the +first grade the leading features are long locks and smiles; of the +second, frogged coats and frowns. + + Descending in the scale of what is termed gentility, I found +darker and deeper themes for speculation. I saw Jew pedlars, with hawk +eyes flashing from countenances whose every other feature wore only an +expression of abject humility; sturdy professional street beggars +scowling upon mendicants of a better stamp, whom despair alone had +driven forth into the night for charity; feeble and ghastly +invalids, upon whom death had placed a sure hand, and who sidled and +tottered through the mob, looking every one beseechingly in the +face, as if in search of some chance consolation, some lost hope; +modest young girls returning from long and late labor to a cheerless +home, and shrinking more tearfully than indignantly from the glances +of ruffians, whose direct contact, even, could not be avoided; women +of the town of all kinds and of all ages- the unequivocal beauty in +the prime of her womanhood, putting one in mind of the statue in +Lucian, with the surface of Parian marble, and the interior filled +with filth- the loathsome and utterly lost leper in rags- the +wrinkled, bejewelled, and paint-begrimed beldame, making a last effort +at youth- the mere child of immature form, yet, from long association, +an adept in the dreadful coquetries of her trade, and burning with a +rabid ambition to be ranked the equal of her elders in vice; drunkards +innumerable and indescribable- some in shreds and patches, reeling, +inarticulate, with bruised visage and lack-lustre eyes- some in +whole although filthy garments, with a slightly unsteady swagger, +thick sensual lips, and hearty-looking rubicund faces- others +clothed in materials which had once been good, and which even now were +scrupulously well brushed-men who walked with a more than naturally +firm and springy step, but whose countenances were fearfully pale, and +whose eyes were hideously wild and red; and who clutched with +quivering fingers, as they strode through the crowd, at every object +which came within their reach; beside these, pic-men, porters, +coal-heavers, sweeps; organ-grinders, monkey-exhibitors, and +ballad-mongers, those who vended with those who sang; ragged +artizans and exhausted laborers of every description, and all full +of a noisy and inordinate vivacity which jarred discordantly upon +the ear, and gave an aching sensation to the eye. + + As the night deepened, so deepened to me the interest of the +scene; for not only did the general character of the crowd +materially alter (its gentler features retiring in the gradual +withdrawal of the more orderly portion of the people, and its +harsher ones coming out into bolder relief, as the late hour brought +forth every species of infamy from its den), but the rays of the +gas-lamps, feeble at first in their struggle with the dying day, had +now at length gained ascendancy, and threw over every thing a fitful +and garish lustre. All was dark yet splendid- as that ebony to which +has been likened the style of Tertullian. + + The wild effects of the light enchained me to an examination of +individual faces; and although the rapidity with which the world of +light flitted before the window prevented me from casting more than +a glance upon each visage, still it seemed that, in my then peculiar +mental state, I could frequently read, even in that brief interval +of a glance, the history of long years. + + With my brow to the glass, I was thus occupied in scrutinizing the +mob, when suddenly there came into view a countenance (that of a +decrepid old man, some sixty-five or seventy years of age)- a +countenance which at once arrested and absorbed my whole attention, on +account of the absolute idiosyncrasy of its expression. Any thing even +remotely resembling that expression I had never seen before. I well +remember that my first thought, upon beholding it, was that Retszch, +had he viewed it, would have greatly preferred it to his own +pictural incarnations of the fiend. As I endeavored, during the +brief minute of my original survey, to form some analysis of the +meaning conveyed, there arose confusedly and paradoxically within my +mind, the ideas of vast mental power, of caution, of penuriousness, of +avarice, of coolness, of malice, of blood-thirstiness, of triumph, +of merriment, of excessive terror, of intense- of supreme despair. I +felt singularly aroused, startled, fascinated. "How wild a history," I +said to myself, "is written within that bosom!" Then came a craving +desire to keep the man in view- to know more of him. Hurriedly putting +on all overcoat, and seizing my hat and cane, I made my way into the +street, and pushed through the crowd in the direction which I had seen +him take; for he had already disappeared. With some little +difficulty I at length came within sight of him, approached, and +followed him closely, yet cautiously, so as not to attract his +attention. + + I had now a good opportunity of examining his person. He was short +in stature, very thin, and apparently very feeble. His clothes, +generally, were filthy and ragged; but as he came, now and then, +within the strong glare of a lamp, I perceived that his linen, +although dirty, was of beautiful texture; and my vision deceived me, +or, through a rent in a closely buttoned and evidently second-handed +roquelaire which enveloped him, I caught a glimpse both of a diamond +and of a dagger. These observations heightened my curiosity, and I +resolved to follow the stranger whithersoever he should go. + + It was now fully night-fall, and a thick humid fog hung over the +city, soon ending in a settled and heavy rain. This change of +weather had an odd effect upon the crowd, the whole of which was at +once put into new commotion, and overshadowed by a world of umbrellas. +The waver, the jostle, and the hum increased in a tenfold degree. +For my own part I did not much regard the rain- the lurking of an +old fever in my system rendering the moisture somewhat too dangerously +pleasant. Tying a handkerchief about my mouth, I kept on. For half +an hour the old man held his way with difficulty along the great +thoroughfare; and I here walked close at his elbow through fear of +losing sight of him. Never once turning his head to look back, he +did not observe me. By and by he passed into a cross street, which, +although densely filled with people, was not quite so much thronged as +the main one he had quitted. Here a change in his demeanor became +evident. He walked more slowly and with less object than before- +more hesitatingly. He crossed and re-crossed the way repeatedly, +without apparent aim; and the press was still so thick, that, at every +such movement, I was obliged to follow him closely. The street was a +narrow and long one, and his course lay within it for nearly an +hour, during which the passengers had gradually diminished to about +that number which is ordinarily seen at noon in Broadway near the +park- so vast a difference is there between a London populace and that +of the most frequented American city. A second turn brought us into +a square, brilliantly lighted, and overflowing with life. The old +manner of the stranger reappeared. His chin fell upon his breast, +while his eyes rolled wildly from under his knit brows, in every +direction, upon those who hemmed him in. He urged his way steadily and +perseveringly. I was surprised, however, to find, upon his having made +the circuit of the square, that he turned and retraced his steps. +Still more was I astonished to see him repeat the same walk several +times- once nearly detecting me as he came around with a sudden +movement. + + In this exercise he spent another hour, at the end of which we met +with far less interruption from passengers than at first. The rain +fell fast, the air grew cool; and the people were retiring to their +homes. With a gesture of impatience, the wanderer passed into a +by-street comparatively deserted. Down this, some quarter of a mile +long, he rushed with an activity I could not have dreamed of seeing in +one so aged, and which put me to much trouble in pursuit. A few +minutes brought us to a large and busy bazaar, with the localities +of which the stranger appeared well acquainted, and where his original +demeanor again became apparent, as he forced his way to and fro, +without aim, among the host of buyers and sellers. + + During the hour and a half, or thereabouts, which we passed in +this place, it required much caution on my part to keep him within +reach without attracting his observation. Luckily I wore a pair of +caoutchouc overshoes, and could move about in perfect silence. At no +moment did he see that I watched him. He entered shop after shop, +priced nothing, spoke no word, and looked at all objects with a wild +and vacant stare. I was now utterly amazed at his behavior, and firmly +resolved that we should not part until I had satisfied myself in +some measure respecting him. + + A loud-toned clock struck eleven, and the company were fast +deserting the bazaar. A shop-keeper, in putting up a shutter, +jostled the old man, and at the instant I saw a strong shudder come +over his frame. He hurried into the street, looked anxiously around +him for an instant, and then ran with incredible swiftness through +many crooked and peopleless lanes, until we emerged once more upon the +great thoroughfare whence we had started- the street of the D---Hotel. +It no longer wore, however, the same aspect. It was still brilliant +with gas; but the rain fell fiercely, and there were few persons to be +seen. The stranger grew pale. He walked moodily some paces up the once +populous avenue, then, with a heavy sigh, turned in the direction of +the river, and, plunging through a great variety of devious ways, came +out, at length, in view of one of the principal theatres. It was about +being closed, and the audience were thronging from the doors. I saw +the old man gasp as if for breath while he threw himself amid the +crowd; but I thought that the intense agony of his countenance had, in +some measure, abated. His head again fell upon his breast; he appeared +as I had seen him at first. I observed that he now took the course +in which had gone the greater number of the audience but, upon the +whole, I was at a loss to comprehend the waywardness of his actions. + + As he proceeded, the company grew more scattered, and his old +uneasiness and vacillation were resumed. For some time he followed +closely a party of some ten or twelve roisterers; but from this number +one by one dropped off, until three only remained together, in a +narrow and gloomy lane, little frequented. The stranger paused, and, +for a moment, seemed lost in thought; then, with every mark of +agitation, pursued rapidly a route which brought us to the verge of +the city, amid regions very different from those we had hitherto +traversed. It was the most noisome quarter of London, where every +thing wore the worst impress of the most deplorable poverty, and of +the most desperate crime. By the dim light of an accidental lamp, +tall, antique, worm-eaten, wooden tenements were seen tottering to +their fall, in directions so many and capricious, that scarce the +semblance of a passage was discernible between them. The paving-stones +lay at random, displaced from their beds by the rankly-growing +grass. Horrible filth festered in the dammed-up gutters. The whole +atmosphere teemed with desolation. Yet, as we proceeded, the sounds of +human life revived by sure degrees, and at length large bands of the +most abandoned of a London populace were seen reeling to and fro. +The spirits of the old man again flickered up, as a lamp which is near +its death-hour. Once more he strode onward with elastic tread. +Suddenly a corner was turned, a blaze of light burst upon our sight, +and we stood before one of the huge suburban temples of +Intemperance- one of the palaces of the fiend, Gin. + + It was now nearly daybreak; but a number of wretched inebriates +still pressed in and out of the flaunting entrance. With a half shriek +of joy the old man forced a passage within, resumed at once his +original bearing, and stalked backward and forward, without apparent +object, among the throng. He had not been thus long occupied, however, +before a rush to the doors gave token that the host was closing them +for the night. It was something even more intense than despair that +I then observed upon the countenance of the singular being whom I +had watched so pertinaciously. Yet he did not hesitate in his +career, but, with a mad energy, retraced his steps at once, to the +heart of the mighty London. Long and swiftly he fled, while I followed +him in the wildest amazement, resolute not to abandon a scrutiny in +which I now felt an interest all-absorbing. The sun arose while we +proceeded, and, when we had once again reached that most thronged mart +of the populous town, the street of the D-- Hotel, it presented an +appearance of human bustle and activity scarcely inferior to what I +had seen on the evening before. And here, long, amid the momently +increasing confusion, did I persist in my pursuit of the stranger. +But, as usual, he walked to and fro, and during the day did not pass +from out the turmoil of that street. And, as the shades of the +second evening came on, I grew wearied unto death, and, stopping fully +in front of the wanderer, gazed at him steadfastly in the face. He +noticed me not, but resumed his solemn walk, while I, ceasing to +follow, remained absorbed in contemplation. "The old man," I said at +length, "is the type and the genius of deep crime. He refuses to be +alone. He is the man of the crowd. It will be in vain to follow, for I +shall learn no more of him, nor of his deeds. The worst heart of the +world is a grosser book than the 'Hortulus Animae,'* and perhaps it is +but one of the great mercies of God that "er lasst sich nicht lesen." + + * The "Hortulus Animae cum Oratiunculis Aliquibus Superadditis" of +Grunninger. + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-man-691.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-man-691.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..7cd19720 --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-man-691.txt @@ -0,0 +1,428 @@ + 1850 + + THE MAN THAT WAS USED UP + + A Tale of the Late Bugaboo and Kickapoo Campaign + + by Edgar Allan Poe + + Pleurez, pleurez, mes yeux, et fondez vous en eau! + + La moitie de ma vie a mis l'autre au tombeau. + + CORNEILLE + + I CANNOT just now remember when or where I first made the +acquaintance of that truly fine-looking fellow, Brevet Brigadier +General John A. B. C. Smith. Some one did introduce me to the +gentleman, I am sure- at some public meeting, I know very well- held +about something of great importance, no doubt- at some place or other, +I feel convinced, whose name I have unaccountably forgotten. The truth +is- that the introduction was attended, upon my part, with a degree of +anxious embarrassment which operated to prevent any definite +impressions of either time or place. I am constitutionally nervous- +this, with me, is a family failing, and I can't help it. In +especial, the slightest appearance of mystery- of any point I cannot +exactly comprehend- puts me at once into a pitiable state of +agitation. + + There was something, as it were, remarkable- yes, remarkable, +although this is but a feeble term to express my full meaning- about +the entire individuality of the personage in question. He was, +perhaps, six feet in height, and of a presence singularly +commanding. There was an air distingue pervading the whole man, +which spoke of high breeding, and hinted at high birth. Upon this +topic- the topic of Smith's personal appearance- I have a kind of +melancholy satisfaction in being minute. His head of hair would have +done honor to a Brutus,- nothing could be more richly flowing, or +possess a brighter gloss. It was of a jetty black,- which was also the +color, or more properly the no-color of his unimaginable whiskers. You +perceive I cannot speak of these latter without enthusiasm; it is +not too much to say that they were the handsomest pair of whiskers +under the sun. At all events, they encircled, and at times partially +overshadowed, a mouth utterly unequalled. Here were the most +entirely even, and the most brilliantly white of all conceivable +teeth. From between them, upon every proper occasion, issued a voice +of surpassing clearness, melody, and strength. In the matter of +eyes, also, my acquaintance was pre-eminently endowed. Either one of +such a pair was worth a couple of the ordinary ocular organs. They +were of a deep hazel exceedingly large and lustrous; and there was +perceptible about them, ever and anon, just that amount of interesting +obliquity which gives pregnancy to expression. + + The bust of the General was unquestionably the finest bust I ever +saw. For your life you could not have found a fault with its wonderful +proportion. This rare peculiarity set off to great advantage a pair of +shoulders which would have called up a blush of conscious +inferiority into the countenance of the marble Apollo. I have a +passion for fine shoulders, and may say that I never beheld them in +perfection before. The arms altogether were admirably modelled. Nor +were the lower limbs less superb. These were, indeed, the ne plus +ultra of good legs. Every connoisseur in such matters admitted the +legs to be good. There was neither too much flesh nor too little,- +neither rudeness nor fragility. I could not imagine a more graceful +curve than that of the os femoris, and there was just that due +gentle prominence in the rear of the fibula which goes to the +conformation of a properly proportioned calf. I wish to God my young +and talented friend Chiponchipino, the sculptor, had but seen the legs +of Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith. + + But although men so absolutely fine-looking are neither as plenty as +reasons or blackberries, still I could not bring myself to believe +that the remarkable something to which I alluded just now,- that the +odd air of je ne sais quoi which hung about my new acquaintance,- +lay altogether, or indeed at all, in the supreme excellence of his +bodily endowments. Perhaps it might be traced to the manner,- yet here +again I could not pretend to be positive. There was a primness, not to +say stiffness, in his carriage- a degree of measured and, if I may +so express it, of rectangular precision attending his every +movement, which, observed in a more diminutive figure, would have +had the least little savor in the world of affectation, pomposity, +or constraint, but which, noticed in a gentleman of his undoubted +dimensions, was readily placed to the account of reserve, hauteur- +of a commendable sense, in short, of what is due to the dignity of +colossal proportion. + + The kind friend who presented me to General Smith whispered in my +ear some few words of comment upon the man. He was a remarkable man- a +very remarkable man- indeed one of the most remarkable men of the age. +He was an especial favorite, too, with the ladies- chiefly on +account of his high reputation for courage. + + "In that point he is unrivalled- indeed he is a perfect desperado- a +downright fire-eater, and no mistake," said my friend, here dropping +his voice excessively low, and thrilling me with the mystery of his +tone. + + "A downright fire-eater, and no mistake. Showed that, I should +say, to some purpose, in the late tremendous swamp-fight, away down +South, with the Bugaboo and Kickapoo Indians." [Here my friend +opened his eyes to some extent.] "Bless my soul!- blood and thunder, +and all that!- prodigies of valor!- heard of him of course?- you +know he's the man-" + + "Man alive, how do you do? why, how are ye? very glad to see ye, +indeed!" here interrupted the General himself, seizing my companion by +the hand as he drew near, and bowing stiffly but profoundly, as I +was presented. I then thought (and I think so still) that I never +heard a clearer nor a stronger voice, nor beheld a finer set of teeth: +but I must say that I was sorry for the interruption just at that +moment, as, owing to the whispers and insinuations aforesaid, my +interest had been greatly excited in the hero of the Bugaboo and +Kickapoo campaign. + + However, the delightfully luminous conversation of Brevet +Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith soon completely dissipated +this chagrin. My friend leaving us immediately, we had quite a long +tete-a-tete, and I was not only pleased but really-instructed. I never +heard a more fluent talker, or a man of greater general information. +With becoming modesty, he forebore, nevertheless, to touch upon the +theme I had just then most at heart- I mean the mysterious +circumstances attending the Bugaboo war- and, on my own part, what I +conceive to be a proper sense of delicacy forbade me to broach the +subject; although, in truth, I was exceedingly tempted to do so. I +perceived, too, that the gallant soldier preferred topics of +philosophical interest, and that he delighted, especially, in +commenting upon the rapid march of mechanical invention. Indeed, +lead him where I would, this was a point to which he invariably came +back. + + "There is nothing at all like it," he would say, "we are a wonderful +people, and live in a wonderful age. Parachutes and +rail-roads-mantraps and spring-guns! Our steam-boats are upon every +sea, and the Nassau balloon packet is about to run regular trips (fare +either way only twenty pounds sterling) between London and +Timbuctoo. And who shall calculate the immense influence upon social +life- upon arts- upon commerce- upon literature- which will be the +immediate result of the great principles of electro-magnetics! Nor, is +this all, let me assure you! There is really no end to the march of +invention. The most wonderful- the most ingenious- and let me add, +Mr.- Mr.- Thompson, I believe, is your name- let me add, I say the +most useful- the most truly useful- mechanical contrivances are +daily springing up like mushrooms, if I may so express myself, or, +more figuratively, like- ah- grasshoppers- like grasshoppers, Mr. +Thompson- about us and ah- ah- ah- around us!" + + Thompson, to be sure, is not my name; but it is needless to say that +I left General Smith with a heightened interest in the man, with an +exalted opinion of his conversational powers, and a deep sense of +the valuable privileges we enjoy in living in this age of mechanical +invention. My curiosity, however, had not been altogether satisfied, +and I resolved to prosecute immediate inquiry among my +acquaintances, touching the Brevet Brigadier General himself, and +particularly respecting the tremendous events quorum pars magna +fuit, during the Bugaboo and Kickapoo campaign. + + The first opportunity which presented opportunity which presented +itself, and which (horresco referens) I did not in the least scruple +to seize, occurred at the Church of the Reverend Doctor Drummummupp, +where I found myself established, one Sunday, just at sermon time, not +only in the pew, but by the side of that worthy and communicative +little friend of mine, Miss Tabitha T. Thus seated, I congratulated +myself, and with much reason, upon the very flattering state of +affairs. If any person knew any thing about Brevet Brigadier General +John A. B. C. Smith, that person it was clear to me, was Miss +Tabitha T. We telegraphed a few signals and then commenced, soto voce, +a brisk tete-a-tete. + + "Smith!" said she in reply to my very earnest inquiry: "Smith!- why, +not General John A. B. C.? Bless me, I thought you knew all about him! +This is a wonderfully inventive age! Horrid affair that!- a bloody set +of wretches, those Kickapoos!- fought like a hero- prodigies of valor- +immortal renown. Smith!- Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C.! +Why, you know he's the man- + + "Man," here broke in Doctor Drummummupp, at the top of his voice, +and with a thump that came near knocking the pulpit about our ears; +"man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live; he +cometh up and is cut down like a flower!" I started to the extremity +of the pew, and perceived by the animated looks of the divine, that +the wrath which had nearly proved fatal to the pulpit had been excited +by the whispers of the lady and myself. There was no help for it; so I +submitted with a good grace, and listened, in all the martyrdom of +dignified silence, to the balance of that very capital discourse. + + Next evening found me a somewhat late visitor at the Rantipole +Theatre, where I felt sure of satisfying my curiosity at once, by +merely stepping into the box of those exquisite specimens of +affability and omniscience, the Misses Arabella and Miranda +Cognoscenti. That fine tragedian, Climax, was doing Iago to a very +crowded house, and I experienced some little difficulty in making my +wishes understood; especially as our box was next the slips, and +completely overlooked the stage. + + "Smith!" said Miss Arabella, as she at comprehended the purport of +my query; "Smith?- why, not General John A. B. C.?" + + "Smith!" inquired Miranda, musingly. "God bless me, did you ever +behold a finer figure?" + + "Never, madam, but do tell me-" + + "Or so inimitable grace?" + + "Never, upon my word!- But pray, inform me-" + + "Or so just an appreciation of stage effect?" + + "Madam!" + + "Or a more delicate sense of the true beauties of Shakespeare? Be so +good as to look at that leg!" + + "The devil!" and I turned again to her sister. + + "Smith!" said she, "why, not General John A. B. C.? Horrid affair +that, wasn't it?- great wretches, those Bugaboos- savage and so on- +but we live in a wonderfully inventive age!- Smith!- O yes! great +man!- perfect desperado- immortal renown- prodigies of valor! Never +heard!" [This was given in a scream.] "Bless my soul! why, he's the +man-" + + "-mandragora + + Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world + + Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep + + Which thou ow'dst yesterday!" + +here roared our Climax just in my ear, and shaking his fist in my face +all the time, in a way that I couldn't stand, and I wouldn't. I left +the Misses Cognoscenti immediately, went behind the scenes +forthwith, and gave the beggarly scoundrel such a thrashing as I trust +he will remember till the day of his death. + + At the soiree of the lovely widow, Mrs. Kathleen O'Trump, I was +confident that I should meet with no similar disappointment. +Accordingly, I was no sooner seated at the card-table, with my +pretty hostess for a vis-a-vis, than I propounded those questions +the solution of which had become a matter so essential to my peace. + + "Smith!" said my partner, "why, not General John A. B. C.? Horrid +affair that, wasn't it?- diamonds did you say?- terrible wretches +those Kickapoos!- we are playing whist, if you please, Mr. Tattle- +however, this is the age of invention, most certainly the age, one may +say- the age par excellence- speak French?- oh, quite a hero- +perfect desperado!- no hearts, Mr. Tattle? I don't believe it!- +Immortal renown and all that!- prodigies of valor! Never heard!!- why, +bless me, he's the man-" + + "Mann?- Captain Mann!" here screamed some little feminine interloper +from the farthest corner of the room. "Are you talking about Captain +Mann and the duel?- oh, I must hear- do tell- go on, Mrs. O'Trump!- do +now go on!" And go on Mrs. O'Trump did- all about a certain Captain +Mann, who was either shot or hung, or should have been both shot and +hung. Yes! Mrs. O'Trump, she went on, and I- I went off. There was +no chance of hearing any thing farther that evening in regard to +Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith. + + Still I consoled myself with the reflection that the tide of +ill-luck would not run against me forever, and so determined to make a +bold push for information at the rout of that bewitching little angel, +the graceful Mrs. Pirouette. + + "Smith!" said Mrs. P., as we twirled about together in a pas de +zephyr, "Smith?- why, not General John A. B. C.? Dreadful business +that of the Bugaboos, wasn't it?- dreadful creatures, those +Indians!- do turn out your toes! I really am ashamed of you- man of +great courage, poor fellow!- but this is a wonderful age for +invention- O dear me, I'm out of breath- quite a desperado- +prodigies of valor- never heard!!- can't believe it- I shall have to +sit down and enlighten you- Smith! why, he's the man-" + + "Man-Fred, I tell you!" here bawled out Miss Bas-Bleu, as I led Mrs. +Pirouette to a seat. "Did ever anybody hear the like? It's Man-Fred, I +say, and not at all by any means Man-Friday." Here Miss Bas-Bleu +beckoned to me in a very peremptory manner; and I was obliged, will +I nill I, to leave Mrs. P. for the purpose of deciding a dispute +touching the title of a certain poetical drama of Lord Byron's. +Although I pronounced, with great promptness, that the true title +was Man-Friday, and not by any means Man-Fred yet when I returned to +seek Mrs. Pirouette she was not to be discovered, and I made my +retreat from the house in a very bitter spirit of animosity against +the whole race of the Bas-Bleus. + + Matters had now assumed a really serious aspect, and I resolved to +call at once upon my particular friend, Mr. Theodore Sinivate; for I +knew that here at least I should get something like definite +information. + + "Smith!" said he, in his well known peculiar way of drawling out his +syllables; "Smith!- why, not General John A. B. C.? Savage affair that +with the Kickapo-o-o-os, wasn't it? Say, don't you think so?- +perfect despera-a-ado- great pity, 'pon my honor!- wonderfully +inventive age!- pro-o-digies of valor! By the by, did you ever hear +about Captain Ma-a-a-a-n?" + + "Captain Mann be d-d!" said I; "please to go on with your story." + + "Hem!- oh well!- quite la meme cho-o-ose, as we say in France. +Smith, eh? Brigadier-General John A. B. C.? I say"- [here Mr. S. +thought proper to put his finger to the side of his nose]- "I say, you +don't mean to insinuate now, really and truly, and conscientiously, +that you don't know all about that affair of Smith's, as well as I do, +eh? Smith? John A-B-C.? Why, bless me, he's the ma-a-an-" + + "Mr. Sinivate," said I, imploringly, "is he the man in the mask?" + + "No-o-o!" said he, looking wise, "nor the man in the mo-o-on." + + This reply I considered a pointed and positive insult, and so left +the house at once in high dudgeon, with a firm resolve to call my +friend, Mr. Sinivate, to a speedy account for his ungentlemanly +conduct and ill breeding. + + In the meantime, however, I had no notion of being thwarted touching +the information I desired. There was one resource left me yet. I would +go to the fountain head. I would call forthwith upon the General +himself, and demand, in explicit terms, a solution of this +abominable piece of mystery. Here, at least, there should be no chance +for equivocation. I would be plain, positive, peremptory- as short +as pie-crust- as concise as Tacitus or Montesquieu. + + It was early when I called, and the General was dressing, but I +pleaded urgent business, and was shown at once into his bedroom by +an old negro valet, who remained in attendance during my visit. As I +entered the chamber, I looked about, of course, for the occupant, +but did not immediately perceive him. There was a large and +exceedingly odd looking bundle of something which lay close by my feet +on the floor, and, as I was not in the best humor in the world, I gave +it a kick out of the way. + + "Hem! ahem! rather civil that, I should say!" said the bundle, in +one of the smallest, and altogether the funniest little voices, +between a squeak and a whistle, that I ever heard in all the days of +my existence. + + "Ahem! rather civil that I should observe." + + I fairly shouted with terror, and made off, at a tangent, into the +farthest extremity of the room. + + "God bless me, my dear fellow!" here again whistled the bundle, +"what- what- what- why, what is the matter? I really believe you don't +know me at all." + + What could I say to all this- what could I? I staggered into an +armchair, and, with staring eyes and open mouth, awaited the +solution of the wonder. + + "Strange you shouldn't know me though, isn't it?" presently +resqueaked the nondescript, which I now perceived was performing +upon the floor some inexplicable evolution, very analogous to the +drawing on of a stocking. There was only a single leg, however, +apparent. + + "Strange you shouldn't know me though, isn't it? Pompey, bring me +that leg!" Here Pompey handed the bundle a very capital cork leg, +already dressed, which it screwed on in a trice; and then it stood +upright before my eyes. + + "And a bloody action it was," continued the thing, as if in a +soliloquy; "but then one mustn't fight with the Bugaboos and +Kickapoos, and think of coming off with a mere scratch. Pompey, I'll +thank you now for that arm. Thomas" [turning to me] "is decidedly +the best hand at a cork leg; but if you should ever want an arm, my +dear fellow, you must really let me recommend you to Bishop." Here +Pompey screwed on an arm. + + "We had rather hot work of it, that you may say. Now, you dog, +slip on my shoulders and bosom. Pettit makes the best shoulders, but +for a bosom you will have to go to Ducrow." + + "Bosom!" said I. + + "Pompey, will you never be ready with that wig? Scalping is a +rough process, after all; but then you can procure such a capital +scratch at De L'Orme's." + + "Scratch!" + + "Now, you nigger, my teeth! For a good set of these you had better +go to Parmly's at once; high prices, but excellent work. I swallowed +some very capital articles, though, when the big Bugaboo rammed me +down with the butt end of his rifle." + + "Butt end! ram down!! my eye!!" + + "O yes, by the way, my eye- here, Pompey, you scamp, screw it in! +Those Kickapoos are not so very slow at a gouge; but he's a belied +man, that Dr. Williams, after all; you can't imagine how well I see +with the eyes of his make." + + I now began very clearly to perceive that the object before me was +nothing more nor less than my new acquaintance, Brevet Brigadier +General John A. B. C. Smith. The manipulations of Pompey had made, I +must confess, a very striking difference in the appearance of the +personal man. The voice, however, still puzzled me no little; but even +this apparent mystery was speedily cleared up. + + "Pompey, you black rascal," squeaked the General, "I really do +believe you would let me go out without my palate." + + Hereupon, the negro, grumbling out an apology, went up to his +master, opened his mouth with the knowing air of a horse-jockey, and +adjusted therein a somewhat singular-looking machine, in a very +dexterous manner, that I could not altogether comprehend. The +alteration, however, in the entire expression of the General's +countenance was instantaneous and surprising. When he again spoke, his +voice had resumed all that rich melody and strength which I had +noticed upon our original introduction. + + "D-n the vagabonds!" said he, in so clear a tone that I positively +started at the change, "D-n the vagabonds! they not only knocked in +the roof of my mouth, but took the trouble to cut off at least +seven-eighths of my tongue. There isn't Bonfanti's equal, however, +in America, for really good articles of this description. I can +recommend you to him with confidence," [here the General bowed,] +"and assure you that I have the greatest pleasure in so doing." + + I acknowledged his kindness in my best manner, and took leave of him +at once, with a perfect understanding of the true state of affairs- +with a full comprehension of the mystery which had troubled me so +long. It was evident. It was a clear case. Brevet Brigadier General +John A. B. C. Smith was the man- the man that was used up. + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-marginalia-417.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-marginalia-417.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..e171103f --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-marginalia-417.txt @@ -0,0 +1,663 @@ + 1844-49 + + MARGINALIA + + by Edgar Allan Poe +MARGINALIA + + DEMOCRATIC REVIEW, November, 1844 + + In getting my books, I have been always solicitous of an ample +margin; this not so much through any love of the thing in itself, +however agreeable, as for the facility it affords me of pencilling +suggested thoughts, agreements, and differences of opinion, or brief +critical comments in general. Where what I have to note is too much to +be included within the narrow limits of a margin, I commit it to a +slip of paper, and deposit it between the leaves; taking care to +secure it by an imperceptible portion of gum tragacanth paste. + + All this may be whim; it may be not only a very hackneyed, but a +very idle practice;- yet I persist in it still; and it affords me +pleasure; which is profit, in despite of Mr. Bentham, with Mr. Mill on +his back. + + This making of notes, however, is by no means the making of mere +memorandum- a custom which has its disadvantages, beyond doubt "Ce que +je mets sur papier," says Bernadine de St. Pierre, "je remets de ma +memoire et par consequence je l'oublie;"- and, in fact, if you wish to +forget anything upon the spot, make a note that this thing is to be +remembered. + + But the purely marginal jottings, done with no eye to the Memorandum +Book, have a distinct complexion, and not only a distinct purpose, but +none at all; this it is which imparts to them a value. They have a +rank somewhat above the chance and desultory comments of literary +chit-chat- for these latter are not unfrequently "talk for talk's +sake," hurried out of the mouth; while the marginalia are deliberately +pencilled, because the mind of the reader wishes to unburthen itself +of a thought;- however flippant- however silly- however trivial- still +a thought indeed, not merely a thing that might have been a thought in +time, and under more favorable circumstances. In the marginalia, +too, we talk only to ourselves; we therefore talk freshly- boldly- +originally- with abandonnement- without conceit- much after the +fashion of Jeremy Taylor, and Sir Thomas Browne, and Sir William +Temple, and the anatomical Burton, and that most logical analogist, +Butler, and some other people of the old day, who were too full of +their matter to have any room for their manner, which, being thus left +out of question, was a capital manner, indeed,- a model of manners, +with a richly marginalic air. + + The circumscription of space, too, in these pencillings, has in it +something more of advantage than of inconvenience. It compels us +(whatever diffuseness of idea we may clandestinely entertain), into +Montesquieu-ism, into Tacitus-ism (here I leave out of view the +concluding portion of the "Annals")- or even into Carlyle-ism- a thing +which, I have been told, is not to be confounded with your ordinary +affectation and bad grammar. I say "bad grammar," through sheer +obstinacy, because the grammarians (who should know better) insist +upon it that I should not. But then grammar is not what these +grammarians will have it; and, being merely the analysis of +language, with the result of this analysis, must be good or bad just +as the analyst is sage or silly- just as he is Horne Tooke or a +Cobbett. + + But to our sheep. During a rainy afternoon, not long ago, being in a +mood too listless for continuous study, I sought relief from ennui +in dipping here and there, at random, among the volumes of my library- +no very large one, certainly, but sufficiently miscellaneous; and, I +flatter myself, not a little recherche. + + Perhaps it was what the Germans call the "brain-scattering" humor of +the moment; but, while the picturesqueness of the numerous +pencil-scratches arrested my attention, their helter-skelter-iness +of commentary amused me. I found myself at length forming a wish +that it had been some other hand than my own which had so bedevilled +the books, and fancying that, in such case, I might have derived no +inconsiderable pleasure from turning them over. From this the +transition- thought (as Mr. Lyell, or Mr. Murchison, or Mr. +Featherstonhaugh would have it) was natural enough:- there might be +something even in my scribblings which, for the mere sake of +scribblings would have interest for others. + + The main difficulty respected the mode of transferring the notes +from the volumes- the context from the text- without detriment to that +exceedingly frail fabric of intelligibility in which the context was +imbedded. With all appliances to boot, with the printed pages at their +back, the commentaries were too often like Dodona's oracles- or +those of Lycophron Tenebrosus- or the essays of the pedant's pupils, +in Quintilian, which were "necessarily excellent, since even he (the +pedant) found it impossible to comprehend them":- what, then, would +become of it- this context- if transferred?- if translated? Would it +not rather be traduit (traduced) which is the French synonym, or +overzezet (turned topsy-turvy) which is the Dutch one? + + I concluded, at length, to put extensive faith in the acumen and +imagination of the reader:- this as a general rule. But, in some +instances, where even faith would not remove mountains, there seemed +no safer plan than so to re-model the note as to convey at least the +ghost of a conception as to what it was all about. Where, for such +conception, the text itself was absolutely necessary, I could quote +it, where the title of the book commented upon was indispensable, I +could name it. In short, like a novel-hero dilemma'd, I made up my +mind "to be guided by circumstances," in default of more +satisfactory rules of conduct. + + As for the multitudinous opinion expressed in the subjoined farrago- +as for my present assent to all, or dissent from any portion of it- as +to the possibility of my having, in some instances, altered my mind- +or as to the impossibility of my not having altered it often- these +are points upon which I say nothing, because upon these there can be +nothing cleverly said. It may be as well to observe, however, that +just as the goodness of your true pun is in the direct ratio of its +intolerability, so is nonsense the essential sense of the Marginal +Note. + + I have seen many computations respecting the greatest amount of +erudition attainable by an individual in his life-time, but these +computations are falsely based, and fall infinitely beneath the truth. +It is true that, in general we retain, we remember to available +purpose, scarcely one-hundredth part of what we read; yet there are +minds which not only retain all receipts, but keep them at compound +interest forever. Again:- were every man supposed to read out, he +could read, of course, very little, even in half a century; for, in +such case, each individual word must be dwelt upon in some degree. +But, in reading to ourselves, at the ordinary rate of what is called +"light reading," we scarcely touch one word in ten. And, even +physically considered, knowledge breeds knowledge, as gold gold; for +he who reads really much, finds his capacity to read increase in +geometrical ratio. The helluo librorum will but glance at the page +which detains the ordinary reader some minutes; and the difference +in the absolute reading (its uses considered), will be in favor of the +helluo, who will have winnowed the matter of which the tyro mumbled +both the seeds and the chaff. A deep-rooted and strictly continuous +habit of reading will, with certain classes of intellect, result in an +instinctive and seemingly magnetic appreciation of a thing written; +and now the student reads by pages just as other men by words. Long +years to come, with a careful analysis of the mental process, may even +render this species of appreciation a common thing. It may be taught +in the schools of our descendants of the tenth or twentieth +generation. It may become the method of the mob of the eleventh or +twenty-first. And should these matters come to pass- as they will- +there will be in them no more legitimate cause for wonder than there +is, to-day, in the marvel that, syllable by syllable, men comprehend +what, letter by letter, I now trace upon this page. + + Is it not a law that need has a tendency to engender the thing +needed? + + Moore has been noted for the number of appositeness, as well as +novelty of his similes; and the renown thus acquired is indicial of +his deficiency in that noble merit- the noblest of all. No poet thus +distinguished was ever richly ideal. Pope and Cowper are instances. +Direct similes are of too palpably artificial a character to be +artistical. An artist will always contrive to weave his +illustrations into the metaphorical form. + + Moore has a peculiar facility in prosaically telling a poetical +story. By this I mean that he preserves the tone and method of +arrangement of a prose relation, and thus obtains great advantage, +in important points, over his more stilted compeers. His is no +poetical style (such as the French have- a distinct style for a +distinct purpose) but an easy and ordinary prose manner, which rejects +the licenses because it does not require them, and is merely +ornamented into poetry. By means of this manner he is enabled to +encounter, effectually, details which would baffle any other versifier +of the day; and at which Lamartine would stand aghast. In +"Alciphron" we see this exemplified. Here the minute and perplexed +incidents of the descent into the pyramid, are detailed, in verse, +with quite as much precision and intelligibility as could be +attained even by the coolest prose of Mr. Jeremy Bentham. + + Moore has vivacity; verbal and constructive dexterity; a musical ear +not sufficiently cultivated; a vivid fancy; an epigrammatic spirit; +and a fine taste- as far as it goes. + + Democratic Review, December, 1844 + + I am not sure that Tennyson is not the greatest of poets. The +uncertainty attending the public conception of the term "poet" alone +prevents me from demonstrating that he is. Other bards produce effects +which are, now and then, otherwise produced than by what we call +poems; but Tennyson an effect which only a poem does. His alone are +idiosyncratic poems. By the enjoyment or non-enjoyment of the "Morte +D'Arthur" or of the "Oenone," I would test any one's ideal sense. + + There are passages in his works which rivet a conviction I had +long entertained, that the indefinite is an element in the true +poiesis. Why do some persons fatigue themselves in attempts to unravel +such fantasy-pieces as the "Lady of Shalott"? As well unweave the +"ventum textilem." If the author did not deliberately propose to +himself a suggestive indefinitiveness of meaning with the view of +bringing about a definitiveness of vague and therefore of spiritual +effect- this, at least, arose from the silent analytical promptings of +that poetic genius which, in its supreme development, embodies all +orders of intellectual capacity. + + I know that indefinitiveness is an element of the true music- I mean +of the true musical expression. Give to it any undue decision- imbue +it with any very determinate tone- and you deprive it at once of its +ethereal, its ideal, its intrinsic and essential character. You dispel +its luxury of dream. You dissolve the atmosphere of the mystic upon +which it floats. You exhaust it of its breath of fiery. It now becomes +a tangible and easily appreciable idea- a thing of the earth, +earthy. It has not, indeed, lost its power to please, but all which +I consider the distinctiveness of that power. And to the +uncultivated talent, or to the unimaginative apprehension, this +deprivation of its most delicate air will be, not unfrequently, a +recommendation. A determinateness of expression is sought- and often +by composers who should know better- is sought as a beauty rather than +rejected as a blemish. Thus we have, even from high authorities, +attempts at absolute imitation in music. Who can forget the +silliness of the "Battle of Prague"? What man of taste but must +laugh at the interminable drums, trumpets, blunderbusses, and thunder? +"Vocal music," says L'Abbate Gravina, who would have said the same +thing of instrumental, "ought to imitate the natural language of the +human feelings and passions, rather than the warblings of canary +birds, which our singers, now-a-days, affect so vastly to mimic with +their quaverings and boasted cadences." This is true only so far as +the "rather" is concerned. If any music must imitate anything, it were +assuredly better to limit the imitation as Gravina suggests. + + Tennyson's shorter pieces abound in minute rhythmical lapses +sufficient to asure me that- in common with all poets living or +dead- he has neglected to make precise investigation of the principles +of metre; but, on the other hand, so perfect is his rhythmical +instinct in general that, like the present Viscount Canterbury, he +seems to see with his ear. + + Godey's Lady's Book, September, 1845 + + The increase, within a few years, of the magazine literature, is +by no means to be regarded as indicating what some critics would +suppose it to indicate- a downward tendency in American taste or in +American letters. It is but a sign of the times, an indication of an +era in which men are forced upon the curt, the condensed, the +well-digested in place of the voluminous- in a word, upon journalism +in lieu of dissertation. We need now the light artillery rather than +the peace-makers of the intellect. I will not be sure that men at +present think more profoundly than half a century ago, but beyond +question they think with more rapidity, with more skill, with more +tact, with more of method and less of excrescence in the thought. +Besides all this, they have a vast increase in the thinking +material; they have more facts, more to think about. For this +reason, they are disposed to put the greatest amount of thought in the +smallest compass and disperse it with the utmost attainable +rapidity. Hence the journalism of the age; hence, in especial, +magazines. Too many we cannot have, as a general proposition; but we +demand that they have sufficient merit to render them noticeable in +the beginning, and that they continue in existence sufficiently long +to permit us a fair estimation of their value. + + Broadway Journal, Oct. 4, 1845 + + Much has been said, of late, about the necessity of maintaining +a proper nationality in American Letters; but what this nationality +is, or what is to be gained by it, has never been distinctly +understood. That an American should confine himself to American +themes, or even prefer them, is rather a political than a literary +idea- and at best is a questionable point. We would do well to bear in +mind that "distance lends enchantment to the view." Ceteris paribus, a +foreign theme is, in a strictly literary sense, to be preferred. After +all, the world at large is the only legitimate stage for the +autorial histrio. + + But of the need of that nationality which defends our own +literature, sustains our own men of letters, upholds our own +dignity, and depends upon our own resources, there can not be the +shadow of a doubt. Yet here is the very point at which we are most +supine. We complain of our want of International Copyright on the +ground that this want justifies our publishers in inundating us with +British opinion in British books; and yet when these very +publishers, at their own obvious risk, and even obvious loss, do +publish an American book, we turn up our noses at it with supreme +contempt (this is a general thing) until it (the American book) has +been dubbed "readable" by some literate Cockney critic. Is it too much +to say that, with us, the opinion of Washington Irving- of Prescott- +of Bryant- is a mere nullity in comparison with that of any +anonymous sub-sub-editor of the Spectator, the Athenaeum, or the +London Punch? It is not saying too much to say this. It is a solemn- +an absolutely awful fact. Every publisher in the country will admit it +to be a fact. There is not a more disgusting spectacle under the sun +than our subserviency to British criticism. It is disgusting, first +because it is truckling, servile, pusilanimous- secondly, because of +its gross irrationality. We know the British to bear us little but ill +will- we know that, in no case, do they utter unbiased opinions of +American books- we know that in the few instances in which our writers +have been treated with common decency in England, these writers have +either openly paid homage to English institutions, or have had lurking +at the bottom of their hearts a secret principle at war with +Democracy:- we know all this, and yet, day after day, submit our necks +to the degrading yoke of the crudest opinion that emanates from the +fatherland. Now if we must have nationality, let it be a nationality +that will throw off this yoke. + + The chief of the rhapsodists who have ridden us to death like the +Old Man of the Mountain, is the ignorant and egotistical Wilson. We +use the term rhapsodists with perfect deliberation; for, Macaulay, and +Dilke, and one or two others, excepted, there is not in Great +Britain a critic who can be fairly considered worthy the name. The +Germans and even the French, are infinitely superior. As regards +Wilson, no man ever penned worse criticism or better rhodomontade. +That he is "egotistical" his works show to all men, running as they +read. That he is "ignorant" let his absurd and continuous school-boy +blunders about Homer bear witness. Not long ago we ourselves pointed +out a series of similar inanities in his review of Miss Barret's [sic] +poems- a series, we say, of gross blunders, arising from sheer +ignorance- and we defy him or any one to answer a single syllable of +what we then advanced. + + And yet this is the man whose simple dictum (to our shame be it +spoken) has the power to make or to mar any American reputation! In +the last number of Blackwood, he has a continuation of the dull +"Specimens of the British Critics," and makes occasion wantonly to +insult one of the noblest of our poets, Mr. Lowell. The point of the +whole attack consists in the use of slang epithets and phrases of +the most ineffably vulgar description. "Squabashes" is a pet term. +"Faugh!" is another. "We are Scotsmen to the spiner" says Sawney- as +if the thing were not more than self-evident. Mr. Lowell is called a +"magpie," an "ape," a "Yankee cockney," and his name is +intentionally mis-written John Russell Lowell. Now were these +indecencies perpetrated by an American critic, that critic would be +sent to Coventry by the whole press of the country, but since it is +Wilson who insults, we, as in duty bound, not only submit to the +insult, but echo it, as an excellent jest, throughout the length and +breadth of the land. "Quamdiu Catilina?" We do indeed demand the +nationality of self-respect. In Letters as in Government we require +a Declaration of Independence. A better thing still would be a +Declaration of War- and that war should be carried forthwith "into +Africa." + + Graham's Magazine, March, 1846 + + Some Frenchman- possibly Montaigne- says: "People talk about +thinking, but for my part I never think except when I sit down to +write." It is this never thinking, unless when we sit down to write, +which is the cause of so much indifferent composition. But perhaps +there is something more involved in the Frenchman's observation than +meets the eye. It is certain that the mere act of inditing tends, in a +great degree, to the logicalisation of thought. Whenever, on account +of its vagueness, I am dissatisfied with a conception of the brain, +I resort forthwith to the pen, for the purpose of obtaining, through +its aid, the necessary form, consequence, and precision. + + How very commonly we hear it remarked that such and such thoughts +are beyond the compass of words! I do not believe that any thought, +properly so called, is out of the reach of language. I fancy, +rather, that where difficulty in expression is experienced, there +is, in the intellect which experiences it, a want either of +deliberateness or of method. For my own part, I have never had a +thought which I could not set down in words, with even more +distinctness than that with which I conceived it:- as I have before +observed, the thought is logicalised by the effort at (written) +expression. + + There is, however, a class of fancies, of exquisite delicacy, +which are not thoughts, and to which, as yet, I have found it +absolutely impossible to adapt language. I use the word fancies at +random, and merely because I must use some word; but the idea commonly +attached to the term is not even remotely applicable to the shadows of +shadows in question. They seem to me rather psychal than intellectual. +They arise in the soul (alas, how rarely!) only at its epochs of +most intense tranquillity- when the bodily and mental health are in +perfection- and at those mere points of time where the confines of the +waking world blend with those of the world of dreams. I am aware of +these "fancies" only when I am upon the very brink of sleep, with +the consciousness that I am so. I have satisfied myself that this +condition exists but for an inappreciable point of time- yet it is +crowded with these "shadows of shadows"; and for absolute thought +there is demanded time's endurance. + + These "fancies" have in them a pleasurable ecstasy, as far beyond +the most pleasurable of the world of wakefulness, or of dreams, as the +Heaven of the Northman theology is beyond its Hell. I regard the +visions, even as they arise, with an awe which, in some measure +moderates or tranquillises the ecstasy- I so regard them, through a +conviction (which seems a portion of the ecstasy itself) that this +ecstasy, in itself, is of a character supernal to the Human Nature- is +a glimpse of the spirit's outer world; and I arrive at this +conclusion- if this term is at all applicable to instantaneous +intuition- by a perception that the delight experienced has, as its +element, but the absoluteness of novelty. I say the absoluteness- +for in the fancies- let me now term them psychal impressions- there is +really nothing even approximate in character to impressions ordinarily +received. It is as if the five senses were supplanted by five myriad +others alien to mortality. + + Now, so entire is my faith in the power of words, that at times I +have believed it possible to embody even the evanescence of fancies +such as I have attempted to describe. In experiments with this end +in view, I have proceeded so far as, first, to control (when the +bodily and mental health are good), the existence of the condition:- +that is to say, I can now (unless when ill), be sure that the +condition will supervene, if I so wish it, at the point of time +already described: of its supervention until lately I could never be +certain even under the most favorable circumstances. I mean to say, +merely, that now I can be sure, when all circumstances are +favorable, of the supervention of the condition, and feel even the +capacity of inducing or compelling it:- the favorable circumstances, +however, are not the less rare- else had I compelled already the +Heaven into the Earth. + + I have proceeded so far, secondly, as to prevent the lapse from +the Point of which I speak- the point of blending between +wakefulness and sleep- as to prevent at will, I say, the lapse from +this border- ground into the dominion of sleep. Not that I can +continue the condition- not that I can render the point more than a +point- but that I can startle myself from the point into +wakefulness; and thus transfer the point itself into the realm of +Memory- convey its impressions, or more properly their +recollections, to a situation where (although still for a very brief +period) I can survey them with the eye of analysis. + + For these reasons- that is to say, because I have been enabled to +accomplish thus much- I do not altogether despair of embodying in +words at least enough of the fancies in question to convey to +certain classes of intellect, a shadowy conception of their character. + + In saying this I am not to be understood as supposing that the +fancies or psychal impressions to which I allude are confined to my +individual self- are not, in a word, common to all mankind- for on +this point it is quite impossible that I should form an opinion- but +nothing can be more certain than that even a partial record of the +impressions would startle the universal intellect of mankind, by the +supremeness of the novelty of the material employed, and of its +consequent suggestions. In a word- should I ever write a paper on this +topic, the world will be compelled to acknowledge that, at last, I +have done an original thing. + + Democratic Review, April, 1846 + + In general, our first impressions are true ones- the chief +difficulty is in making sure which are the first. In early youth we +read a poem, for instance, and are enraptured with it. At manhood we +are assured by our reason that we had no reason to be enraptured. +But some years elapse, and we return to our primitive admiration, just +as a matured judgment enables us precisely to see what and why we +admired. + + Thus, as individuals, we think in cycles, and may, from the +frequency, or infrequency of our revolutions about the various +thought-centres, form an accurate estimate of the advance of our +thought toward maturity. It is really wonderful to observe how +closely, in all the essentials of truth, the child- opinion +coincides with that of the man proper- of the man at his best. + + And as with individuals so, perhaps, with mankind. When the world +begins to return, frequently, to its first impressions, we shall +then be warranted in looking for the millennium- or whatever it is:- +we may safely take it for granted that we are attaining our maximum of +wit, and of the happiness which is thence to ensue. The indications of +such a return are, at present, like the visits of angels- but we +have them now and then- in the case, for example, of credulity. The +philosophic, of late days, are distinguished by that very facility +in belief which was the characteristic of the illiterate half a +century ago. Skepticism in regard to apparent miracles, is not, as +formerly, an evidence either of superior wisdom or knowledge. In a +word, the wise now believe- yesterday they would not believe- and +day before yesterday (in the time of Strabo, for example) they +believed, exclusively, anything and everything:- here, then, is one of +the indicative cycles of discretion. I mention Strabo merely as an +exception to the rule of his epoch- (just as one in a hurry for an +illustration, might describe Mr. So and So to be as witty or as +amiable as Mr. This and That is not- for so rarely did men reject in +Strabo's time, and so much more rarely did they err by rejection, that +the skepticism of this philosopher must be regarded as one of the most +remarkable anomalies on record. + + I have not the slightest faith in Carlyle. In ten years- possibly in +five- he will be remembered only as a butt for sarcasm. His linguistic +Euphuisms might very well have been taken as prima facie evidence of +his philosophic ones; they were the froth which indicated, first, +the shallowness, and secondly, the confusion of the waters. I would +blame no man of sense for leaving the works of Carlyle unread merely +on account of these Euphuisms; for it might be shown a priori that +no man capable of producing a definite impression upon his age or +race, could or would commit himself to such inanities and +insanities. The book about 'Hero-Worship'- is it possible that it ever +excited a feeling beyond contempt? No hero-worshipper can possess +anything within himself. That man is no man who stands in awe of his +fellow-man. Genius regards genius with respect- with even enthusiastic +admiration- but there is nothing of worship in the admiration, for +it springs from a thorough cognizance of the one admired- from a +perfect sympathy, the result of the cognizance; and it is needless +to say, that sympathy and worship are antagonistic. Your +hero-worshippers, for example- what do they know about Shakespeare? +They worship him- rant about him- lecture about him- about him, him +and nothing else- for no other reason than that he is utterly beyond +their comprehension. They have arrived at an idea of his greatness +from the pertinacity with which men have called him great. As for +their own opinion about him- they really have none at all. In +general the very smallest of mankind are the class of men-worshippers. +Not one out of this class have ever accomplished anything beyond a +very contemptible mediocrity. + + Carlyle, however, has rendered an important service (to posterity, +at least) in pushing rant and cant to that degree of excess which +inevitably induces reaction. Had he not appeared we might have gone on +for yet another century, Emerson-izing in prose, Wordsworth-izing in +poetry, and Fourier-izing in philosophy, Wilson-izing in criticism- +Hudson-izing and Tom O'Bedlam-izing in everything. The author of the +'Sartor Resartus,' however, has overthrown the various arguments of +his own order, by a personal reductio ad absurdum. Yet an Olympiad, +perhaps, and the whole horde will be swept bodily from the memory of +man- or be remembered only when we have occasion to talk of such +fantastic tricks as, erewhile, were performed by the Abderites. + + Graham's Magazine, January, 1848 + + If any ambitious man have a fancy a revolutionize, at one +effort, the universal world of human thought, human opinion, and human +sentiment, the opportunity is his own- the road to immortal renown +lies straight, open, and unencumbered before him. All that he has to +do is to write and publish a very little book. Its title should be +simple- a few plain words- "My Heart Laid Bare." But- this little book +must be true to its title. + + Now, is it not very singular that, with the rabid thirst for +notoriety which distinguishes so many of mankind- so many, too, who +care not a fig what is thought of them after death, there should not +be found one man having sufficient hardihood to write this little +book? To write, I say. There are ten thousand men who, if the book +were once written, would laugh at the notion of being disturbed by its +publication during their life, and who could not even conceive why +they should object to its being published after their death. But to +write it- there is the rub. No man dare write it. No man ever will +dare write it. No man could write it, even if he dared. The paper +would shrivel and blaze at every touch of the fiery pen. + + Southern Literary Messenger, April, 1849 + + I blush to see, in the--, an invidious notice of Bayard Taylor's +"Rhimes of Travel." What makes the matter worse, the critique is +from the pen of one who, although undeservedly, holds, himself, some +position as a poet:- and what makes the matter worst, the attack is +anonymous, and (while ostensibly commending) most zealously +endeavors to damn the young writer "with faint praise." In his whole +life, the author of the criticism never published a poem, long or +short, which could compare, either in the higher merits, or in the +minor morals of the Muse, with the worst of Mr. Taylor's compositions. + + Observe the generalizing, disingenuous, patronizing tone:- + + "It is the empty charlatan, to whom all things are alike impossible, +who attempts everything. He can do one thing as well as another, for +he can really do nothing.... Mr. Taylor's volume, as we have +intimated, is an advance upon his previous publication. We could +have wished, indeed, something more of restraint in the rhetoric, +but," &c., &c., &c. + + The concluding sentence, here, is an excellent example of one of the +most ingeniously malignant of critical ruses- that of condemning an +author, in especial, for what the world, in general, feel to be his +principal merit. In fact, the "rhetoric" of Mr. Taylor, in the sense +intended by the critic, is Mr. Taylor's distinguishing excellence. +He is, unquestionably, the most terse, glowing, and vigorous of all +our poets, young or old- in point, I mean, of expression. His +sonorous, well-balanced rhythm puts me often in mind of Campbell (in +spite of our anonymous friend's implied sneer at "mere jingling of +rhymes, brilliant and successful for the moment,") and his rhetoric in +general is of the highest order:- By "rhetoric, I intend the mode +generally in which thought is presented. When shall we find more +magnificent passages than these? + + First queenly Asia, from the fallen thrones + + Of twice three thousand years + + Came with the woe a grieving Goddess owns + + Who longs for mortal tears. + + The dust of ruin to her mantle clung + + And dimmed her crown of gold, + + While the majestic sorrow of her tongue + + From Tyre to Indus rolled. + + Mourn with me, sisters, in my realm of woe + + Whose only glory streams + + From its lost childhood like the Arctic glow + + Which sunless winter dreams. + + In the red desert moulders Babylon + + And the wild serpent's hiss + + Echoes in Petra's palaces of stone + + And waste Persepolis. + + Then from her seat, amid the palms embowered + + That shade the Lion-land, + + Swart Africa in dusky aspect towered, + + The fetters on her hand. + + Backward she saw, from out the drear eclipse, + + The mighty Theban years, + + And the deep anguish of her mournful lips + + Interpreted, her tears. + + I copy these passages first, because the critic in question has +copied them, without the slightest appreciation of their grandeur- for +they are grand; and secondly, to put the question of "rhetoric" at +rest. No artist who reads them will deny that they are the +perfection of skill in their way. But thirdly, I wish to call +attention to the glowing imagination evinced in the lines. My very +soul revolts at such efforts, (as the one I refer to,) to depreciate +such poems as Mr. Taylor's. Is there no honor- no chivalry left in the +land? Are our most deserving writers to be forever sneered down, or +hooted down, or damned down with faint praise, by a set of men who +possess little other ability than that which assures temporary success +to them, in common with Swaim's Panaces or Morrison's Pills? The +fact is, some person should write, at once, a Magazine paper exposing- +ruthlessly exposing, the dessous de cartes of our literary affairs. He +should show how and why it is that ubiquitous quack in letters can +always "succeed," while genius, (which implies self-respect with a +scorn of creeping and crawling,) must inevitably succumb. He should +point out the "easy arts" by which any one, base enough to do it, +can get himself placed at the very head of American Letters by an +article in that magnanimous Journal, "The Review." He should +explain, too, how readily the same work can be induced (in the case of +Simms,) to vilify personally, any one not a Northerner, for a trifling +"consideration." In fact, our criticism needs a thorough regeneration, +and must have it. + + Southern Literary Messenger, June, 1849 + + I have sometimes amused myself by endeavoring to fancy what +would be the fate of any individual gifted, or rather accursed, with +an intellect very far superior to that of his race. Of course, he +would be conscious of his superiority; nor could he (if otherwise +constituted as man is) help manifesting his consciousness. Thus he +would make himself enemies at all points. And since his opinions and +speculations would widely differ from those of all mankind- that he +would be considered a madman, is evident. How horribly painful such +a condition! Hell could invent no greater torture than that of being +charged with abnormal weakness on account of being abnormally strong. + + In like manner, nothing can be clearer than that a very generous +spirit- truly feeling what all merely profess- must inevitably find +itself misconceived in every direction- its motives misinterpreted. +Just as extremeness of intelligence would be thought fatuity, so +excess of chivalry could not fail of being looked upon as meanness +in its last degree- and so on with other virtues. This subject is a +painful one indeed. That individuals have so soared above the plane of +their race, is scarcely to be questioned; but, in looking back through +history for traces of their existence, we should pass over all +biographies of "the good and the great," while we search carefully the +slight records of wretches who died in prison, in Bedlam, or upon +the gallows. + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-masque-692.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-masque-692.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..f6c31588 --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-masque-692.txt @@ -0,0 +1,235 @@ + 1842 + + THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH + + by Edgar Allan Poe + + THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH + + THE "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had +ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal +--the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and +sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with +dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon +the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from +the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole +seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents +of half an hour. + + But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. +When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his +presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the +knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep +seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive +and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince's own +eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. +This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought +furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to +leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of +despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. +With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to +contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the +meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had +provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there +were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, +there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were +within. Without was the "Red Death." + + It was toward the close of the fifth or sixth month of his +seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, +that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a +masked ball of the most unusual magnificence. + + It was a voluptuous scene, that masquerade. But first let me +tell of the rooms in which it was held. There were seven --an imperial +suite. In many palaces, however, such suites form a long and +straight vista, while the folding doors slide back nearly to the walls +on either hand, so that the view of the whole extent is scarcely +impeded. Here the case was very different; as might have been expected +from the duke's love of the bizarre. The apartments were so +irregularly disposed that the vision embraced but little more than one +at a time. There was a sharp turn at every twenty or thirty yards, and +at each turn a novel effect. To the right and left, in the middle of +each wall, a tall and narrow Gothic window looked out upon a closed +corridor which pursued the windings of the suite. These windows were +of stained glass whose color varied in accordance with the +prevailing hue of the decorations of the chamber into which it opened. +That at the eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue --and +vividly blue were its windows. The second chamber was purple in its +ornaments and tapestries, and here the panes were purple. The third +was green throughout, and so were the casements. The fourth was +furnished and lighted with orange --the fifth with white --the sixth +with violet. The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black +velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, +falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue. But +in this chamber only, the color of the windows failed to correspond +with the decorations. The panes here were scarlet --a deep blood +color. Now in no one of the seven apartments was there any lamp or +candelabrum, amid the profusion of golden ornaments that lay scattered +to and fro or depended from the roof. There was no light of any kind +emanating from lamp or candle within the suite of chambers. But in the +corridors that followed the suite, there stood, opposite to each +window, a heavy tripod, bearing a brazier of fire that protected its +rays through the tinted glass and so glaringly illumined the room. And +thus were produced a multitude of gaudy and fantastic appearances. But +in the western or black chamber the effect of the fire-light that +streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood-tinted panes, was +ghastly in the extreme, and produced so wild a look upon the +countenances of those who entered, that there were few of the +company bold enough to set foot within its precincts at all. + + It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the +western wall, a gigantic clock of ebony. Its pendulum swung to and fro +with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang; and when the minute-hand made +the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there came +from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud +and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and +emphasis that, at each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the +orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily, in their +performance, to hearken to the sound; and thus the waltzers perforce +ceased their evolutions; and there was a brief disconcert of the whole +gay company; and, while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was +observed that the giddiest grew pale, and the more aged and sedate +passed their hands over their brows as if in confused reverie or +meditation. But when the echoes had fully ceased, a light laughter +at once pervaded the assembly; the musicians looked at each other +and smiled as if at their own nervousness and folly, and made +whispering vows, each to the other, that the next chiming of the clock +should produce in them no similar emotion; and then, after the lapse +of sixty minutes, (which embrace three thousand and six hundred +seconds of the Time that flies,) there came yet another chiming of the +clock, and then were the same disconcert and tremulousness and +meditation as before. + + But, in spite of these things, it was a gay and magnificent revel. +The tastes of the duke were peculiar. He had a fine eye for colors and +effects. He disregarded the decora of mere fashion. His plans were +bold and fiery, and his conceptions glowed with barbaric lustre. There +are some who would have thought him mad. His followers felt that he +was not. It was necessary to hear and see and touch him to be sure +that he was not. + + He had directed, in great part, the moveable embellishments of the +seven chambers, upon occasion of this great fete; and it was his own +guiding taste which had given character to the masqueraders. Be sure +they were grotesque. There were much glare and glitter and piquancy +and phantasm --much of what has been since seen in "Hernani." There +were arabesque figures with unsuited limbs and appointments. There +were delirious fancies such as the madman fashions. There was much +of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something +of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited +disgust. To and fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a +multitude of dreams. And these --the dreams --writhed in and about, +taking hue from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra +to seem as the echo of their steps. And, anon, there strikes the ebony +clock which stands in the hall of the velvet. And then, for a +moment, all is still, and all is silent save the voice of the clock. +The dreams are stiff-frozen as they stand. But the echoes of the chime +die away --they have endured but an instant --and a light, +half-subdued laughter floats after them as they depart. And now +again the music swells, and the dreams live, and writhe to and fro +more merrily than ever, taking hue from the many-tinted windows +through which stream the rays from the tripods. But to the chamber +which lies most westwardly of the seven, there are now none of the +maskers who venture; for the night is waning away; and there flows a +ruddier light through the blood-colored panes; and the blackness of +the sable drapery appals; and to him whose foot falls upon the sable +carpet, there comes from the near clock of ebony a muffled peal more +solemnly emphatic than any which reaches their ears who indulge in the +more remote gaieties of the other apartments. + + But these other apartments were densely crowded, and in them +beat feverishly the heart of life. And the revel went whirlingly on, +until at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon the +clock. And then the music ceased, as I have told; and the evolutions +of the waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy cessation of all +things as before. But now there were twelve strokes to be sounded by +the bell of the clock; and thus it happened, perhaps, that more of +thought crept, with more of time, into the meditations of the +thoughtful among those who revelled. And thus, too, it happened, +perhaps, that before the last echoes of the last chime had utterly +sunk into silence, there were many individuals in the crowd who had +found leisure to become aware of the presence of a masked figure which +had arrested the attention of no single individual before. And the +rumor of this new presence having spread itself whisperingly around, +there arose at length from the whole company a buzz, or murmur, +expressive of disapprobation and surprise --then, finally, of +terror, of horror, and of disgust. + + In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it may well be +supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited such +sensation. In truth the masquerade license of the night was nearly +unlimited; but the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod, and +gone beyond the bounds of even the prince's indefinite decorum. +There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be +touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life +and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be +made. The whole company, indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the +costume and bearing of the stranger neither wit nor propriety existed. +The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the +habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made +so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the +closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. +And yet all this might have been endured, if not approved, by the +mad revellers around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume +the type of the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in blood --and +his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled +with the scarlet horror. + + When the eyes of Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral image +(which with a slow and solemn movement, as if more fully to sustain +its role, stalked to and fro among the waltzers) he was seen to be +convulsed, in the first moment with a strong shudder either of +terror or distaste; but, in the next, his brow reddened with rage. + + "Who dares?" he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood +near him --"who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize +him and unmask him --that we may know whom we have to hang at sunrise, +from the battlements!" + + It was in the eastern or blue chamber in which stood the Prince +Prospero as he uttered these words. They rang throughout the seven +rooms loudly and clearly --for the prince was a bold and robust man, +and the music had become hushed at the waving of his hand. + + It was in the blue room where stood the prince, with a group of +pale courtiers by his side. At first, as he spoke, there was a +slight rushing movement of this group in the direction of the +intruder, who at the moment was also near at hand, and now, with +deliberate and stately step, made closer approach to the speaker. +But from a certain nameless awe with which the mad assumptions of +the mummer had inspired the whole party, there were found none who put +forth hand to seize him; so that, unimpeded, he passed within a yard +of the prince's person; and, while the vast assembly, as if with one +impulse, shrank from the centres of the rooms to the walls, he made +his way uninterruptedly, but with the same solemn and measured step +which had distinguished him from the first, through the blue chamber +to the purple --through the purple to the green --through the green to +the orange --through this again to the white --and even thence to +the violet, ere a decided movement had been made to arrest him. It was +then, however, that the Prince Prospero, maddening with rage and the +shame of his own momentary cowardice, rushed hurriedly through the six +chambers, while none followed him on account of a deadly terror that +had seized upon all. He bore aloft a drawn dagger, and had approached, +in rapid impetuosity, to within three or four feet of the retreating +figure, when the latter, having attained the extremity of the velvet +apartment, turned suddenly and confronted his pursuer. There was a +sharp cry --and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, +upon which, instantly afterwards, fell prostrate in death the Prince +Prospero. Then, summoning the wild courage of despair, a throng of the +revellers at once threw themselves into the black apartment, and, +seizing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect and motionless +within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped in unutterable horror +at finding the grave-cerements and corpse-like mask which they handled +with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any tangible form. + + And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had +come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers +in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the +despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went +out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods +expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable +dominion over all. + + -THE END- +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-mellonta-456.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-mellonta-456.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..f1d26caf --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-mellonta-456.txt @@ -0,0 +1,549 @@ + 1850 + + MELLONTA TAUTA + + by Edgar Allan Poe + + TO THE EDITORS OF THE LADY'S BOOK: + + I have the honor of sending you, for your magazine, an article which +I hope you will be able to comprehend rather more distinctly than I do +myself. It is a translation, by my friend, Martin Van Buren Mavis, +(sometimes called the "Toughkeepsie Seer") of an odd-looking MS. which +I found, about a year ago, tightly corked up in a jug floating in +the Mare Tenebrarum- a sea well described by the Nubian geographer, +but seldom visited now-a-days, except for the transcendentalists and +divers for crotchets. + + Truly yours, + + EDGAR A. POE + + ON BOARD BALLOON "SKYLARK" + + April, 1, 2848 + + NOW, my dear friend- now, for your sins, you are to suffer the +infliction of a long gossiping letter. I tell you distinctly that I am +going to punish you for all your impertinences by being as tedious, as +discursive, as incoherent and as unsatisfactory as possible. +Besides, here I am, cooped up in a dirty balloon, with some one or two +hundred of the canaille, all bound on a pleasure excursion, (what a +funny idea some people have of pleasure!) and I have no prospect of +touching terra firma for a month at least. Nobody to talk to. +Nothing to do. When one has nothing to do, then is the time to +correspond with ones friends. You perceive, then, why it is that I +write you this letter- it is on account of my ennui and your sins. + + Get ready your spectacles and make up your mind to be annoyed. I +mean to write at you every day during this odious voyage. + + Heigho! when will any Invention visit the human pericranium? Are +we forever to be doomed to the thousand inconveniences of the balloon? +Will nobody contrive a more expeditious mode of progress? The jog-trot +movement, to my thinking, is little less than positive torture. Upon +my word we have not made more than a hundred miles the hour since +leaving home! The very birds beat us- at least some of them. I +assure you that I do not exaggerate at all. Our motion, no doubt, +seems slower than it actually is- this on account of our having no +objects about us by which to estimate our velocity, and on account +of our going with the wind. To be sure, whenever we meet a balloon +we have a chance of perceiving our rate, and then, I admit, things +do not appear so very bad. Accustomed as I am to this mode of +travelling, I cannot get over a kind of giddiness whenever a balloon +passes us in a current directly overhead. It always seems to me like +an immense bird of prey about to pounce upon us and carry us off in +its claws. One went over us this morning about sunrise, and so +nearly overhead that its drag-rope actually brushed the network +suspending our car, and caused us very serious apprehension. Our +captain said that if the material of the bag had been the trumpery +varnished "silk" of five hundred or a thousand years ago, we should +inevitably have been damaged. This silk, as he explained it to me, was +a fabric composed of the entrails of a species of earth-worm. The worm +was carefully fed on mulberries- kind of fruit resembling a +water-melon- and, when sufficiently fat, was crushed in a mill. The +paste thus arising was called papyrus in its primary state, and went +through a variety of processes until it finally became "silk." +Singular to relate, it was once much admired as an article of female +dress! Balloons were also very generally constructed from it. A better +kind of material, it appears, was subsequently found in the down +surrounding the seed-vessels of a plant vulgarly called euphorbium, +and at that time botanically termed milk-weed. This latter kind of +silk was designated as silk-buckingham, on account of its superior +durability, and was usually prepared for use by being varnished with a +solution of gum caoutchouc- a substance which in some respects must +have resembled the gutta percha now in common use. This caoutchouc was +occasionally called Indian rubber or rubber of twist, and was no doubt +one of the numerous fungi. Never tell me again that I am not at +heart an antiquarian. + + Talking of drag-ropes- our own, it seems, has this moment knocked +a man overboard from one of the small magnetic propellers that swarm +in ocean below us- a boat of about six thousand tons, and, from all +accounts, shamefully crowded. These diminutive barques should be +prohibited from carrying more than a definite number of passengers. +The man, of course, was not permitted to get on board again, and was +soon out of sight, he and his life-preserver. I rejoice, my dear +friend, that we live in an age so enlightened that no such a thing +as an individual is supposed to exist. It is the mass for which the +true Humanity cares. By-the-by, talking of Humanity, do you know +that our immortal Wiggins is not so original in his views of the +Social Condition and so forth, as his contemporaries are inclined to +suppose? Pundit assures me that the same ideas were put nearly in +the same way, about a thousand years ago, by an Irish philosopher +called Furrier, on account of his keeping a retail shop for cat +peltries and other furs. Pundit knows, you know; there can be no +mistake about it. How very wonderfully do we see verified every day, +the profound observation of the Hindoo Aries Tottle (as quoted by +Pundit)- "Thus must we say that, not once or twice, or a few times, +but with almost infinite repetitions, the same opinions come round +in a circle among men." + + April 2.- Spoke to-day the magnetic cutter in charge of the middle +section of floating telegraph wires. I learn that when this species of +telegraph was first put into operation by Horse, it was considered +quite impossible to convey the wires over sea, but now we are at a +loss to comprehend where the difficulty lay! So wags the world. +Tempora mutantur- excuse me for quoting the Etruscan. What would we do +without the Atalantic telegraph? (Pundit says Atlantic was the ancient +adjective.) We lay to a few minutes to ask the cutter some +questions, and learned, among other glorious news, that civil war is +raging in Africa, while the plague is doing its good work +beautifully both in Yurope and Ayesher. Is it not truly remarkable +that, before the magnificent light shed upon philosophy by Humanity, +the world was accustomed to regard War and Pestilence as calamities? +Do you know that prayers were actually offered up in the ancient +temples to the end that these evils (!) might not be visited upon +mankind? Is it not really difficult to comprehend upon what +principle of interest our forefathers acted? Were they so blind as not +to perceive that the destruction of a myriad of individuals is only so +much positive advantage to the mass! + + April 3.- It is really a very fine amusement to ascend the +rope-ladder leading to the summit of the balloon-bag, and thence +survey the surrounding world. From the car below you know the prospect +is not so comprehensive- you can see little vertically. But seated +here (where I write this) in the luxuriously-cushioned open piazza +of the summit, one can see everything that is going on in all +directions. Just now there is quite a crowd of balloons in sight, +and they present a very animated appearance, while the air is resonant +with the hum of so many millions of human voices. I have heard it +asserted that when Yellow or (Pundit will have it) Violet, who is +supposed to have been the first aeronaut, maintained the +practicability of traversing the atmosphere in all directions, by +merely ascending or descending until a favorable current was attained, +he was scarcely hearkened to at all by his contemporaries, who +looked upon him as merely an ingenious sort of madman, because the +philosophers (?) of the day declared the thing impossible. Really +now it does seem to me quite unaccountable how any thing so +obviously feasible could have escaped the sagacity of the ancient +savans. But in all ages the great obstacles to advancement in Art have +been opposed by the so-called men of science. To be sure, our men of +science are not quite so bigoted as those of old:- oh, I have +something so queer to tell you on this topic. Do you know that it is +not more than a thousand years ago since the metaphysicians +consented to relieve the people of the singular fancy that there +existed but two possible roads for the attainment of Truth! Believe it +if you can! It appears that long, long ago, in the night of Time, +there lived a Turkish philosopher (or Hindoo possibly) called Aries +Tottle. This person introduced, or at all events propagated what was +termed the deductive or a priori mode of investigation. He started +with what he maintained to be axioms or "self-evident truths," and +thence proceeded "logically" to results. His greatest disciples were +one Neuclid, and one Cant. Well, Aries Tottle flourished supreme until +advent of one Hog, surnamed the "Ettrick Shepherd," who preached an +entirely different system, which he called the a posteriori or +inductive. His plan referred altogether to Sensation. He proceeded +by observing, analyzing, and classifying facts-instantiae naturae, +as they were affectedly called- into general laws. Aries Tottle's +mode, in a word, was based on noumena; Hog's on phenomena. Well, so +great was the admiration excited by this latter system that, at its +first introduction, Aries Tottle fell into disrepute; but finally he +recovered ground and was permitted to divide the realm of Truth with +his more modern rival. The savans now maintained the Aristotelian +and Baconian roads were the sole possible avenues to knowledge. +"Baconian," you must know, was an adjective invented as equivalent +to Hog-ian and more euphonious and dignified. + + Now, my dear friend, I do assure you, most positively, that I +represent this matter fairly, on the soundest authority and you can +easily understand how a notion so absurd on its very face must have +operated to retard the progress of all true knowledge- which makes its +advances almost invariably by intuitive bounds. The ancient idea +confined investigations to crawling; and for hundreds of years so +great was the infatuation about Hog especially, that a virtual end was +put to all thinking, properly so called. No man dared utter a truth to +which he felt himself indebted to his Soul alone. It mattered not +whether the truth was even demonstrably a truth, for the bullet-headed +savans of the time regarded only the road by which he had attained it. +They would not even look at the end. "Let us see the means," they +cried, "the means!" If, upon investigation of the means, it was +found to come under neither the category Aries (that is to say Ram) +nor under the category Hog, why then the savans went no farther, but +pronounced the "theorist" a fool, and would have nothing to do with +him or his truth. + + Now, it cannot be maintained, even, that by the crawling system +the greatest amount of truth would be attained in any long series of +ages, for the repression of imagination was an evil not to be +compensated for by any superior certainty in the ancient modes of +investigation. The error of these Jurmains, these Vrinch, these +Inglitch, and these Amriccans (the latter, by the way, were our own +immediate progenitors), was an error quite analogous with that of +the wiseacre who fancies that he must necessarily see an object the +better the more closely he holds it to his eyes. These people +blinded themselves by details. When they proceeded Hoggishly, their +"facts" were by no means always facts- a matter of little +consequence had it not been for assuming that they were facts and must +be facts because they appeared to be such. When they proceeded on +the path of the Ram, their course was scarcely as straight as a +ram's horn, for they never had an axiom which was an axiom at all. +They must have been very blind not to see this, even in their own day; +for even in their own day many of the long "established" axioms had +been rejected. For example- "Ex nihilo nihil fit"; "a body cannot +act where it is not"; "there cannot exist antipodes"; "darkness cannot +come out of light"- all these, and a dozen other similar propositions, +formerly admitted without hesitation as axioms, were, even at the +period of which I speak, seen to be untenable. How absurd in these +people, then, to persist in putting faith in "axioms" as immutable +bases of Truth! But even out of the mouths of their soundest reasoners +it is easy to demonstrate the futility, the impalpability of their +axioms in general. Who was the soundest of their logicians? Let me +see! I will go and ask Pundit and be back in a minute.... Ah, here +we have it! Here is a book written nearly a thousand years ago and +lately translated from the Inglitch- which, by the way, appears to +have been the rudiment of the Amriccan. Pundit says it is decidedly +the cleverest ancient work on its topic, Logic. The author (who was +much thought of in his day) was one Miller, or Mill; and we find it +recorded of him, as a point of some importance, that he had a +mill-horse called Bentham. But let us glance at the treatise! + + Ah!- "Ability or inability to conceive," says Mr. Mill, very +properly, "is in no case to be received as a criterion of axiomatic +truth." What modern in his senses would ever think of disputing this +truism? The only wonder with us must be, how it happened that Mr. Mill +conceived it necessary even to hint at any thing so obvious. So far +good- but let us turn over another paper. What have we here?- +"Contradictories cannot both be true- that is, cannot co-exist in +nature." Here Mr. Mill means, for example, that a tree must be +either a tree or not a tree- that it cannot be at the same time a tree +and not a tree. Very well; but I ask him why. His reply is this- and +never pretends to be any thing else than this- "Because it is +impossible to conceive that contradictories can both be true." But +this is no answer at all, by his own showing, for has he not just +admitted as a truism that "ability or inability to conceive is in no +case to be received as a criterion of axiomatic truth." + + Now I do not complain of these ancients so much because their +logic is, by their own showing, utterly baseless, worthless and +fantastic altogether, as because of their pompous and imbecile +proscription of all other roads of Truth, of all other means for its +attainment than the two preposterous paths- the one of creeping and +the one of crawling- to which they have dared to confine the Soul that +loves nothing so well as to soar. + + By the by, my dear friend, do you not think it would have puzzled +these ancient dogmaticians to have determined by which of their two +roads it was that the most important and most sublime of all their +truths was, in effect, attained? I mean the truth of Gravitation. +Newton owed it to Kepler. Kepler admitted that his three laws were +guessed at- these three laws of all laws which led the great +Inglitch mathematician to his principle, the basis of all physical +principle- to go behind which we must enter the Kingdom of +Metaphysics. Kepler guessed- that is to say imagined. He was +essentially a "theorist"- that word now of so much sanctity, +formerly an epithet of contempt. Would it not have puzzled these old +moles too, to have explained by which of the two "roads" a +cryptographist unriddles a cryptograph of more than usual secrecy, +or by which of the two roads Champollion directed mankind to those +enduring and almost innumerable truths which resulted from his +deciphering the Hieroglyphics. + + One word more on this topic and I will be done boring you. Is it not +passing strange that, with their eternal prattling about roads to +Truth, these bigoted people missed what we now so clearly perceive +to be the great highway- that of Consistency? Does it not seem +singular how they should have failed to deduce from the works of God +the vital fact that a perfect consistency must be an absolute truth! +How plain has been our progress since the late announcement of this +proposition! Investigation has been taken out of the hands of the +ground-moles and given, as a task, to the true and only true thinkers, +the men of ardent imagination. These latter theorize. Can you not +fancy the shout of scorn with which my words would be received by +our progenitors were it possible for them to be now looking over my +shoulder? These men, I say, theorize; and their theories are simply +corrected, reduced, systematized- cleared, little by little, of +their dross of inconsistency- until, finally, a perfect consistency +stands apparent which even the most stolid admit, because it is a +consistency, to be an absolute and an unquestionable truth. + + April 4.- The new gas is doing wonders, in conjunction with the +new improvement with gutta percha. How very safe, commodious, +manageable, and in every respect convenient are our modern balloons! +Here is an immense one approaching us at the rate of at least a +hundred and fifty miles an hour. It seems to be crowded with people- +perhaps there are three or four hundred passengers- and yet it soars +to an elevation of nearly a mile, looking down upon poor us with +sovereign contempt. Still a hundred or even two hundred miles an +hour is slow travelling after all. Do you remember our flight on the +railroad across the Kanadaw continent?- fully three hundred miles +the hour- that was travelling. Nothing to be seen though- nothing to +be done but flirt, feast and dance in the magnificent saloons. Do +you remember what an odd sensation was experienced when, by chance, we +caught a glimpse of external objects while the cars were in full +flight? Every thing seemed unique- in one mass. For my part, I +cannot say but that I preferred the travelling by the slow train of +a hundred miles the hour. Here we were permitted to have glass +windows- even to have them open- and something like a distinct view of +the country was attainable.... Pundit says that the route for the +great Kanadaw railroad must have been in some measure marked out about +nine hundred years ago! In fact, he goes so far as to assert that +actual traces of a road are still discernible- traces referable to a +period quite as remote as that mentioned. The track, it appears was +double only; ours, you know, has twelve paths; and three or four new +ones are in preparation. The ancient rails were very slight, and +placed so close together as to be, according to modern notions, +quite frivolous, if not dangerous in the extreme. The present width of +track- fifty feet- is considered, indeed, scarcely secure enough. +For my part, I make no doubt that a track of some sort must have +existed in very remote times, as Pundit asserts; for nothing can be +clearer, to my mind, than that, at some period- not less than seven +centuries ago, certainly- the Northern and Southern Kanadaw continents +were united; the Kanawdians, then, would have been driven, by +necessity, to a great railroad across the continent. + + April 5.- I am almost devoured by ennui. Pundit is the only +conversible person on board; and he, poor soul! can speak of nothing +but antiquities. He has been occupied all the day in the attempt to +convince me that the ancient Amriccans governed themselves!- did +ever anybody hear of such an absurdity?- that they existed in a sort +of every-man-for-himself confederacy, after the fashion of the +"prairie dogs" that we read of in fable. He says that they started +with the queerest idea conceivable, viz: that all men are born free +and equal- this in the very teeth of the laws of gradation so +visibly impressed upon all things both in the moral and physical +universe. Every man "voted," as they called it- that is to say meddled +with public affairs- until at length, it was discovered that what is +everybody's business is nobody's, and that the "Republic" (so the +absurd thing was called) was without a government at all. It is +related, however, that the first circumstance which disturbed, very +particularly, the self-complacency of the philosophers who constructed +this "Republic," was the startling discovery that universal suffrage +gave opportunity for fraudulent schemes, by means of which any desired +number of votes might at any time be polled, without the possibility +of prevention or even detection, by any party which should be merely +villainous enough not to be ashamed of the fraud. A little +reflection upon this discovery sufficed to render evident the +consequences, which were that rascality must predominate- in a word, +that a republican government could never be any thing but a rascally +one. While the philosophers, however, were busied in blushing at their +stupidity in not having foreseen these inevitable evils, and intent +upon the invention of new theories, the matter was put to an abrupt +issue by a fellow of the name of Mob, who took every thing into his +own hands and set up a despotism, in comparison with which those of +the fabulous Zeros and Hellofagabaluses were respectable and +delectable. This Mob (a foreigner, by-the-by), is said to have been +the most odious of all men that ever encumbered the earth. He was a +giant in stature- insolent, rapacious, filthy, had the gall of a +bullock with the heart of a hyena and the brains of a peacock. He +died, at length, by dint of his own energies, which exhausted him. +Nevertheless, he had his uses, as every thing has, however vile, and +taught mankind a lesson which to this day it is in no danger of +forgetting- never to run directly contrary to the natural analogies. +As for Republicanism, no analogy could be found for it upon the face +of the earth- unless we except the case of the "prairie dogs," an +exception which seems to demonstrate, if anything, that democracy is a +very admirable form of government- for dogs. + + April 6.- Last night had a fine view of Alpha Lyrae, whose disk, +through our captain's spy-glass, subtends an angle of half a degree, +looking very much as our sun does to the naked eye on a misty day. +Alpha Lyrae, although so very much larger than our sun, by the by, +resembles him closely as regards its spots, its atmosphere, and in +many other particulars. It is only within the last century, Pundit +tells me, that the binary relation existing between these two orbs +began even to be suspected. The evident motion of our system in the +heavens was (strange to say!) referred to an orbit about a +prodigious star in the centre of the galaxy. About this star, or at +all events about a centre of gravity common to all the globes of the +Milky Way and supposed to be near Alcyone in the Pleiades, every one +of these globes was declared to be revolving, our own performing the +circuit in a period of 117,000,000 of years! We, with our present +lights, our vast telescopic improvements, and so forth, of course find +it difficult to comprehend the ground of an idea such as this. Its +first propagator was one Mudler. He was led, we must presume, to +this wild hypothesis by mere analogy in the first instance; but, +this being the case, he should have at least adhered to analogy in its +development. A great central orb was, in fact, suggested; so far +Mudler was consistent. This central orb, however, dynamically, +should have been greater than all its surrounding orbs taken together. +The question might then have been asked- "Why do we not see it?"- +we, especially, who occupy the mid region of the cluster- the very +locality near which, at least, must be situated this inconceivable +central sun. The astronomer, perhaps, at this point, took refuge in +the suggestion of non-luminosity; and here analogy was suddenly let +fall. But even admitting the central orb non-luminous, how did he +manage to explain its failure to be rendered visible by the +incalculable host of glorious suns glaring in all directions about it? +No doubt what he finally maintained was merely a centre of gravity +common to all the revolving orbs- but here again analogy must have +been let fall. Our system revolves, it is true, about a common +centre of gravity, but it does this in connection with and in +consequence of a material sun whose mass more than counterbalances the +rest of the system. The mathematical circle is a curve composed of +an infinity of straight lines; but this idea of the circle- this +idea of it which, in regard to all earthly geometry, we consider as +merely the mathematical, in contradistinction from the practical, +idea- is, in sober fact, the practical conception which alone we +have any right to entertain in respect to those Titanic circles with +which we have to deal, at least in fancy, when we suppose our +system, with its fellows, revolving about a point in the centre of the +galaxy. Let the most vigorous of human imaginations but attempt to +take a single step toward the comprehension of a circuit so +unutterable! I would scarcely be paradoxical to say that a flash of +lightning itself, travelling forever upon the circumference of this +inconceivable circle, would still forever be travelling in a +straight line. That the path of our sun along such a circumference- +that the direction of our system in such an orbit- would, to any human +perception, deviate in the slightest degree from a straight line +even in a million of years, is a proposition not to be entertained; +and yet these ancient astronomers were absolutely cajoled, it appears, +into believing that a decisive curvature had become apparent during +the brief period of their astronomical history- during the mere point- +during the utter nothingness of two or three thousand years! How +incomprehensible, that considerations such as this did not at once +indicate to them the true state of affairs- that of the binary +revolution of our sun and Alpha Lyrae around a common centre of +gravity! + + April 7.- Continued last night our astronomical amusements. Had a +fine view of the five Neptunian asteroids, and watched with much +interest the putting up of a huge impost on a couple of lintels in the +new temple at Daphnis in the moon. It was amusing to think that +creatures so diminutive as the lunarians, and bearing so little +resemblance to humanity, yet evinced a mechanical ingenuity so much +superior to our own. One finds it difficult, too, to conceive the vast +masses which these people handle so easily, to be as light as our +own reason tells us they actually are. + + April 8.- Eureka! Pundit is in his glory. A balloon from Kanadaw +spoke us to-day and threw on board several late papers; they contain +some exceedingly curious information relative to Kanawdian or rather +Amriccan antiquities. You know, I presume, that laborers have for some +months been employed in preparing the ground for a new fountain at +Paradise, the Emperor's principal pleasure garden. Paradise, it +appears, has been, literally speaking, an island time out of mind- +that is to say, its northern boundary was always (as far back as any +record extends) a rivulet, or rather a very narrow arm of the sea. +This arm was gradually widened until it attained its present +breadth- a mile. The whole length of the island is nine miles; the +breadth varies materially. The entire area (so Pundit says) was, about +eight hundred years ago, densely packed with houses, some of them +twenty stories high; land (for some most unaccountable reason) being +considered as especially precious just in this vicinity. The +disastrous earthquake, however, of the year 2050, so totally +uprooted and overwhelmed the town (for it was almost too large to be +called a village) that the most indefatigable of our antiquarians have +never yet been able to obtain from the site any sufficient data (in +the shape of coins, medals or inscriptions) wherewith to build up even +the ghost of a theory concerning the manners, customs, &c., &c., +&c., of the aboriginal inhabitants. Nearly all that we have hitherto +known of them is, that they were a portion of the Knickerbocker +tribe of savages infesting the continent at its first discovery by +Recorder Riker, a knight of the Golden Fleece. They were by no means +uncivilized, however, but cultivated various arts and even sciences +after a fashion of their own. It is related of them that they were +acute in many respects, but were oddly afflicted with monomania for +building what, in the ancient Amriccan, was denominated "churches"- +a kind of pagoda instituted for the worship of two idols that went +by the names of Wealth and Fashion. In the end, it is said, the island +became, nine tenths of it, church. The women, too, it appears, were +oddly deformed by a natural protuberance of the region just below +the small of the back- although, most unaccountably, this deformity +was looked upon altogether in the light of a beauty. One or two +pictures of these singular women have in fact, been miraculously +preserved. They look very odd, very- like something between a +turkey-cock and a dromedary. + + Well, these few details are nearly all that have descended to us +respecting the ancient Knickerbockers. It seems, however, that while +digging in the centre of the emperors garden, (which, you know, covers +the whole island), some of the workmen unearthed a cubical and +evidently chiseled block of granite, weighing several hundred +pounds. It was in good preservation, having received, apparently, +little injury from the convulsion which entombed it. On one of its +surfaces was a marble slab with (only think of it!) an inscription- +a legible inscription. Pundit is in ecstacies. Upon detaching the +slab, a cavity appeared, containing a leaden box filled with various +coins, a long scroll of names, several documents which appear to +resemble newspapers, with other matters of intense interest to the +antiquarian! There can be no doubt that all these are genuine Amriccan +relics belonging to the tribe called Knickerbocker. The papers +thrown on board our balloon are filled with fac-similes of the +coins, MSS., typography, &c., &c. I copy for your amusement the +Knickerbocker inscription on the marble slab:- + + This Corner Stone of a Monument to + + The Memory of + + GEORGE WASHINGTON + + Was Laid With Appropriate Ceremonies + + on the + + 19th Day of October, 1847 + + The Anniversary of the Surrender of + + Lord Cornwallis + + to General Washington at Yorktown + + A. D. 1781 + + Under the Auspices of the + + Washington Monument Association of + + the City of New York + + This, as I give it, is a verbatim translation done by Pundit +himself, so there can be no mistake about it. From the few words +thus preserved, we glean several important items of knowledge, not the +least interesting of which is the fact that a thousand years ago +actual monuments had fallen into disuse- as was all very proper- the +people contenting themselves, as we do now, with a mere indication +of the design to erect a monument at some future time; a +corner-stone being cautiously laid by itself "solitary and alone" +(excuse me for quoting the great American poet Benton!), as a +guarantee of the magnanimous intention. We ascertain, too, very +distinctly, from this admirable inscription, the how as well as the +where and the what, of the great surrender in question. As to the +where, it was Yorktown (wherever that was), and as to the what, it was +General Cornwallis (no doubt some wealthy dealer in corn). He was +surrendered. The inscription commemorates the surrender of- what? why, +"of Lord Cornwallis." The only question is what could the savages wish +him surrendered for. But when we remember that these savages were +undoubtedly cannibals, we are led to the conclusion that they intended +him for sausage. As to the how of the surrender, no language can be +more explicit. Lord Cornwallis was surrendered (for sausage) "under +the auspices of the Washington Monument Association"- no doubt a +charitable institution for the depositing of corner-stones.- But, +Heaven bless me! what is the matter? Ah, I see- the balloon has +collapsed, and we shall have a tumble into the sea. I have, therefore, +only time enough to add that, from a hasty inspection of the +fac-similes of newspapers, &c., &c., I find that the great men in +those days among the Amriccans, were one John, a smith, and one +Zacchary, a tailor. + + Good-bye, until I see you again. Whether you ever get this letter or +not is point of little importance, as I write altogether for my own +amusement. I shall cork the MS. up in a bottle, however, and throw +it into the sea. + + Yours everlastingly, PUNDITA. + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-mesmeric-556.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-mesmeric-556.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..155a109f --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-mesmeric-556.txt @@ -0,0 +1,448 @@ + 1850 + + MESMERIC REVELATION + + by Edgar Allan Poe + + WHATEVER doubt may still envelop the rationale of mesmerism, its +startling facts are now almost universally admitted. Of these +latter, those who doubt, are your mere doubters by profession- an +unprofitable and disreputable tribe. There can be no more absolute +waste of time than the attempt to prove, at the present day, that man, +by mere exercise of will can so impress his fellow as to cast him into +an abnormal condition, of which the phenomena resemble very closely +those of death, or at least resemble them more nearly than they do the +phenomena of any other normal condition within our cognizance; that, +while in this state, the person so impressed employs only with effort, +and then feebly, the external organs of sense, yet perceives, with +keenly refined perception, and through channels supposed unknown, +matters beyond the scope of the physical organs; that, moreover, his +intellectual faculties are wonderfully exalted and invigorated; that +his sympathies with the person so impressing him are profound, and, +finally, that his susceptibility to the impression increases with +its frequency, while in the same proportion, the peculiar phenomena +elicited are more extended and more pronounced. + + I say that these- which are the laws of mesmerism in its general +features- it would be supererogation to demonstrate; nor shall I +inflict upon my readers so needless a demonstration to-day. My purpose +at present is a very different one indeed. I am impelled, even in +the teeth of a world of prejudice, to detail without comment, the very +remarkable substance of a colloquy occurring between a sleep-waker and +myself. + + I had long been in the habit of mesmerizing the person in question +(Mr. Vankirk), and the usual acute susceptibility and exaltation of +the mesmeric perception had supervened. For many months he had been +laboring under confirmed phthisis, the more distressing effects of +which had been relieved by my manipulations; and on the night of +Wednesday, the fifteenth instant, I was summoned to his bedside. + + The invalid was suffering with acute pain in the region of the +heart, and breathed with great difficulty, having all the ordinary +symptoms of asthma. In spasms such as these he had usually found +relief from the application of mustard to the nervous centres, but +to-night this had been attempted in vain. + + As I entered his room he greeted me with a cheerful smile, and +although evidently in much bodily pain, appeared to be, mentally, +quite at ease. + + "I sent for you to-night," he said, "not so much to administer to my +bodily ailment, as to satisfy me concerning certain physical +impressions which, of late, have occasioned me much anxiety and +surprise. I need not tell you how skeptical I have hitherto been on +the topic of the soul's immortality. I cannot deny that there has +always existed, as if in that very soul which I have been denying, a +vague half-sentiment of its own existence. But this half-sentiment +at no time amounted to conviction. With it my reason had nothing to +do. All attempts at logical inquiry resulted, indeed, in leaving me +more sceptical than before. I had been advised to study Cousin. I +studied him in his own works as well as in those of his European and +American echoes. The 'Charles Elwood' of Mr. Brownson for example, was +placed in my hands. I read it with profound attention. Throughout I +found it logical but the portions which were not merely logical were +unhappily the initial arguments of the disbelieving hero of the +book. In his summing up it seemed evident to me that the reasoner +had not even succeeded in convincing himself. His end had plainly +forgotten his beginning, like the government of Trinculo. In short, +I was not long in perceiving that if man is to be intellectually +convinced of his own immortality, he will never be so convinced by the +mere abstractions which have been so long the fashion of the moralists +of England, of France, and of Germany. Abstractions may amuse and +exercise, but take no hold on the mind. Here upon earth, at least, +philosophy, I am persuaded, will always in vain call upon us to look +upon qualities as things. The will may assent- the soul- the +intellect, never. + + "I repeat, then, that I only half felt, and never intellectually +believed. But latterly there has been a certain deepening of the +feeling, until it has come so nearly to resemble the acquiesence of +reason, that I find it difficult to distinguish the two. I am enabled, +too, plainly to trace this effect to the mesmeric influence. I +cannot better explain my meaning than by the hypothesis that the +mesmeric exaltation enables me to perceive a train of ratiocination +which, in my abnormal existence, convinces, but which, in full +accordance with the mesmeric phenomena, does not extend, except +through its effect, into my normal condition. In sleep-waking, the +reasoning and its conclusion- the cause and its effect- are present +together. In my natural state, the cause vanishes, the effect only, +and perhaps only partially, remains. + + "These considerations have led me to think that some good results +might ensue from a series of well-directed questions propounded to +me while mesmerized. You have often observed the profound +self-cognizance evinced by the sleep-waker- the extensive knowledge he +displays upon all points relating to the mesmeric condition itself, +and from this self-cognizance may be deduced hints for the proper +conduct of a catechism." + + I consented of course to make this experiment. A few passes threw +Mr. Vankirk into the mesmeric sleep. His breathing became +immediately more easy, and he seemed to suffer no physical uneasiness. +The following conversation then ensued:-V. in the dialogue +representing the patient, and P. myself. + + P. Are you asleep? + + V. Yes- no; I would rather sleep more soundly. + + P. [After a few more passes.] Do you sleep now? + + V. Yes. + + P. How do you think your present illness will result? + + V. [After a long hesitation and speaking as if with effort.] I +must die. + + P. Does the idea of death afflict you? + + V. [Very quickly.] No- no! + + P. Are you pleased with the prospect? + + V. If I were awake I should like to die, but now it is no matter. +The mesmeric condition is so near death as to content me. + + P. I wish you would explain yourself, Mr. Vankirk. + + V. I am willing to do so, but it requires more effort than I feel +able to make. You do not question me properly. + + P. What then shall I ask? + + V. You must begin at the beginning. + + P. The beginning! But where is the beginning? + + V. You know that the beginning is GOD. [This was said in a low, +fluctuating tone, and with every sign of the most profound +veneration.] + + P. What, then, is God? + + V. [Hesitating for many minutes.] I cannot tell. + + P. Is not God spirit? + + V. While I was awake I knew what you meant by "spirit," but now it +seems only a word- such, for instance, as truth, beauty- a quality, +I mean. + + P. Is not God immaterial? + + V. There is no immateriality- it is a mere word. That which is not +matter, is not at all- unless qualities are things. + + P. Is God, then, material? + + V. No. [This reply startled me very much.] + + P. What, then, is he? + + V. [After a long pause, and mutteringly.] I see- but it is a thing +difficult to tell. [Another long pause.] He is not spirit, for he +exists. Nor is he matter, as you understand it. But there are +gradations of matter of which man knows nothing; the grosser impelling +the finer, the finer pervading the grosser. The atmosphere, for +example, impels the electric principle, while the electric principle +permeates the atmosphere. These gradations of matter increase in +rarity or fineness until we arrive at a matter unparticled- without +particles- indivisible-one, and here the law of impulsion and +permeation is modified. The ultimate or unparticled matter not only +permeates all things, but impels all things; and thus is all things +within itself. This matter is God. What men attempt to embody in the +word "thought," is this matter in motion. + + P. The metaphysicians maintain that all action is reducible to +motion and thinking, and that the latter is the origin of the former. + + V. Yes; and I now see the confusion of idea. Motion is the action of +mind, not of thinking. The unparticled matter, or God, in quiescence +is (as nearly as we can conceive it) what men call mind. And the power +of self-movement (equivalent in effect to human volition) is, in the +unparticled matter, the result of its unity and omniprevalence; how, I +know not, and now clearly see that I shall never know. But the +unparticled matter, set in motion by a law or quality existing +within itself, is thinking. + + P. Can you give me no more precise idea of what you term the +unparticled matter? + + V. The matters of which man is cognizant escape the senses in +gradation. We have, for example, a metal, a piece of wood, a drop of +water, the atmosphere, a gas, caloric, electricity, the luminiferous +ether. Now, we call all these things matter, and embrace all matter in +one general definition; but in spite of this, there can be no two +ideas more essentially distinct than that which we attach to a +metal, and that which we attach to the luminiferous ether. When we +reach the latter, we feel an almost irresistible inclination to +class it with spirit, or with nihilty. The only consideration which +restrains us is our conception of its atomic constitution; and here, +even, we have to seek aid from our notion of an atom, as something +possessing in infinite minuteness, solidity, palpability, weight. +Destroy the idea of the atomic constitution and we should no longer be +able to regard the ether as an entity, or, at least, as matter. For +want of a better word we might term it spirit. Take, now, a step +beyond the luminiferous ether- conceive a matter as much more rare +than the ether, as this ether is more rare than the metal, and we +arrive at once (in spite of all the school dogmas) at a unique mass- +an unparticled matter. For although we may admit infinite littleness +in the atoms themselves, the infinitude of littleness in the spaces +between them is an absurdity. There will be a point- there will be a +degree of rarity at which, if the atoms are sufficiently numerous, the +interspaces must vanish, and the mass absolutely coalesce. But the +consideration of the atomic constitution being now taken away, the +nature of the mass inevitably glides into what we conceive of +spirit. It is clear, however, that it is as fully matter as before. +The truth is, it is impossible to conceive spirit since it is +impossible to imagine what is not. When we flatter ourselves that we +have formed its conception, we have merely deceived our +understanding by the consideration of infinitely rarefied matter. + + P. There seems to me an insurmountable objection to the idea of +absolute coalescence;- and that is the very slight resistance +experienced by the heavenly bodies in their revolutions through space- +a resistance now ascertained, it is true, to exist in some degree, but +which is, nevertheless, so slight as to have been quite overlooked +by the sagacity even of Newton. We know that the resistance of +bodies is, chiefly, in proportion to their density. Absolute +coalescence is absolute density. Where there are no interspaces, there +can be no yielding. An ether, absolutely dense, would put an +infinitely more effectual stop to the progress of a star than would an +ether of adamant or of iron. + + V. Your objection is answered with an ease which is nearly in the +ratio of its apparent unanswerability.- As regards the progress of the +star, it can make no difference whether the star passes through the +ether or the ether through it. There is no astronomical error more +unaccountable than that which reconciles the known retardation of +the comets with the idea of their passage through an ether, for, +however rare this ether be supposed, it would put a stop to all +sidereal revolution in a very far briefer period than has been +admitted by those astronomers who have endeavored to slur over a point +which they found it impossible to comprehend. The retardation actually +experienced is, on the other hand, about that which might be +expected from the friction of the ether in the instantaneous passage +through the orb. In the one case, the retarding force is momentary and +complete within itself- in the other it is endlessly accumulative. + + P. But in all this- in this identification of mere matter with +God- is there nothing of irreverence? [I was forced to repeat this +question before the sleep-waker fully comprehended my meaning.] + + V. Can you say why matter should be less reverenced than mind? But +you forget that the matter of which "mind" or "spirit" of the schools, +so far as regards its high capacities, and is, moreover, the +"matter" of these schools at the same time. God, with all the powers +attributed to spirit, is but the perfection of matter. + + P. You assert, then, that the unparticled matter, in motion, is +thought. + + V. In general, this motion is the universal thought of the universal +mind. This thought creates. All created things are but the thoughts of +God. + + P. You say, "in general." + + V. Yes. The universal mind is God. For new individualities, matter +is necessary. + + P. But you now speak of "mind" and "matter" as do the +metaphysicians. + + V. Yes- to avoid confusion. When I say "mind," I mean the +unparticled or ultimate matter, by "matter," I intend all else. + + P. You were saying that "for new individualities matter is +necessary." + + V. Yes; for mind, existing unincorporate, is merely God. To create +individual, thinking beings, it was necessary to incarnate portions of +the divine mind. Thus man is individualized. Divested of corporate +investiture, he were God. Now the particular motion of the +incarnated portions of the unparticled matter is the thought of man; +as the motion of the whole is that of God. + + P. You say that divested of the body man will be God? + + V. [After much hesitation.] I could not have said this; it is an +absurdity. + + P. [Referring to my notes.] You did say that "divested of +corporate investiture man were God." + + V. And this is true. Man thus divested would be God- would be +unindividualized. But he can never be thus divested- at least never +will be- else we must imagine an action of God returning upon +itself- a purposeless and futile action. Man is a creature. +Creatures are thoughts of God. It is the nature of thought to be +irrevocable. + + P. I do not comprehend. You say that man will never put off the +body? + + V. I say that he will never be bodiless. + + P. Explain. + + V. There are two bodies- the rudimental and the complete, +corresponding with the two conditions of the worm and the butterfly. +What we call "death," is but the painful metamorphosis. Our present +incarnation is progressive, preparatory, temporary. Our future is +perfected, ultimate, immortal. The ultimate life is the full design. + + P. But of the worm's metamorphosis we are palpably cognizant. + + V. We, certainly- but not the worm. The matter of which our +rudimental body is composed, is within the ken of the organs of that +body; or, more distinctly, our rudimental organs are adapted to the +matter of which is formed the rudimental body, but not to that of +which the ultimate is composed. The ultimate body thus escapes our +rudimental senses, and we perceive only the shell which falls, in +decaying, from the inner form, not that inner form itself; but this +inner form as well as the shell, is appreciable by those who have +already acquired the ultimate life. + + P. You have often said that the mesmeric state very nearly resembles +death. How is this? + + V. When I say that it resembles death, I mean that it resembles +the ultimate life; for when I am entranced the senses of my rudimental +life are in abeyance and I perceive external things directly, +without organs, through a medium which I shall employ in the ultimate, +unorganized life. + + P. Unorganized? + + V. Yes; organs are contrivances by which the individual is brought +into sensible relation with particular classes and forms of matter, to +the exclusion of other classes and forms. The organs of man are +adapted to his rudimental condition, and to that only; his ultimate +condition, being unorganized, is of unlimited comprehension in all +points but one- the nature of the volition of God- that is to say, the +motion of the unparticled matter. You may have a distinct idea of +the ultimate body by conceiving it to be entire brain. This it is not, +but a conception of this nature will bring you near a comprehension of +what it is. A luminous body imparts vibration to the luminiferous +ether. The vibrations generate similar ones within the retina; these +again communicate similar ones to the optic nerve. The nerve conveys +similar ones to the brain; the brain, also, similar ones to the +unparticled matter which permeates it. The motion of this latter is +thought, of which perception is the first undulation. This is the mode +by which the mind of the rudimental life communicates with the +external world; and this external world is, to the rudimental life, +limited, through the idiosyncrasy of its organs. But in the +ultimate, unorganized life, the external world reaches the whole body, +(which is of a substance having affinity to brain, as I have said,) +with no other intervention than that of an infinitely rarer ether than +even the luminiferous; and to this ether- in unison with it- the whole +body vibrates, setting in motion the unparticled matter which +permeates it. It is to the absence of idiosyncratic organs, therefore, +that we must attribute the nearly unlimited perception of the ultimate +life. To rudimental beings, organs are the cages necessary to +confine them until fledged. + + P. You speak of rudimental "beings." Are there other rudimental +thinking beings than man? + + V. The multitudinous conglomeration of rare matter into nebulae, +planets, suns, and other bodies which are neither nebulae, suns, nor +planets, is for the sole purpose of supplying pabulum for the +idiosyncrasy of the organs of an infinity of rudimental beings. But +for the necessity of the rudimental, prior to the ultimate life, there +would have been no bodies such as these. Each of these is tenanted +by a distinct variety of organic rudimental thinking creatures. In +all, the organs vary with the features of the place tenanted. At +death, or metamorphosis, these creatures, enjoying the ultimate +life- immortality- and cognizant of all secrets but the one, act all +things and pass every where by mere volition:- indwelling, not the +stars, which to us seem the sole palpabilities, and for the +accommodation of which we blindly deem space created- but that space +itself- that infinity of which the truly substantive vastness swallows +up the star-shadows- blotting them out as non-entities from the +perception of the angels. + + P. You say that "but for the necessity of the rudimental life, there +would have been no stars." But why this necessity? + + V. In the inorganic life, as well as in the inorganic matter +generally, there is nothing to impede the action of one simple +unique law- the Divine Volition. With the view of producing +impediment, the organic life and matter (complex, substantial and law- +encumbered) were contrived. + + P. But again- why need this impediment have been produced? + + V. The result of law inviolate is perfection- right- negative +happiness. The result of law violate is imperfection, wrong, +positive pain. Through the impediments afforded by the number, +complexity, and substantiality of the laws of organic life and matter, +the violation of law is rendered, to a certain extent, practicable. +Thus pain, which is the inorganic life is impossible, is possible in +the organic. + + P. But to what good end is pain thus rendered possible? + + V. All things are either good or bad by comparison. A sufficient +analysis will show that pleasure in all cases, is but the contrast +of pain. Positive pleasure is a mere idea. To be happy at any one +point we must have suffered at the same. Never to suffer would have +been never to have been blessed. But it has been shown that, in the +inorganic life, pain cannot be; thus the necessity for the organic. +The pain of the primitive life of Earth, is the sole basis of the +bliss of the ultimate life in Heaven. + + P. Still there is one of your expressions which I find it impossible +to comprehend- "the truly substantive vastness of infinity." + + V. This, probably, is because you have no sufficiently generic +conception of the term "substance" itself. We must not regard it as +a quality, but as a sentiment:- it is the perception, in thinking +beings, of the adaptation of matter to their organization. There are +many things on the Earth, which would be nihility to the inhabitants +of Venus- many things visible and tangible in Venus, which we could +not be brought to appreciate as existing at all. But to the +inorganic beings- to the angels- the whole of the unparticled matter +is substance; that is to say, the whole of what we term "space," is to +them the truest substantiality;- the stars, meantime, through what +we consider their materiality, escaping the angelic sense, just in +proportion as the unparticled matter, through what we consider its +immateriality, eludes the organic. + + As the sleep-waker pronounced these latter words, in a feeble +tone, I observed on his countenance a singular expression, which +somewhat alarmed me, and induced me to awake him at once. No sooner +had I done this than, with a bright smile irradiating all his +features, he fell back upon his pillow and expired. I noticed that +in less than a minute afterward his corpse had all the stern +rigidity of stone. His brow was of the coldness of ice. Thus, +ordinarily, should it have appeared, only after long pressure from +Azrael's hand. Had the sleep-waker, indeed, during the latter +portion of his discourse, been addressing me from out the regions of +the shadows? + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-metzengerstein-557.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-metzengerstein-557.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..e04398d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-metzengerstein-557.txt @@ -0,0 +1,379 @@ + 1850 + + METZENGERSTEIN + + by Edgar Allan Poe +METZENGERSTEIN + + Pestis eram vivus - moriens tua mors ero. Martin Luther + + HORROR and fatality have been stalking abroad in all ages. Why +then give a date to this story I have to tell? Let it suffice to +say, that at the period of which I speak, there existed, in the +interior of Hungary, a settled although hidden belief in the doctrines +of the Metempsychosis. Of the doctrines themselves- that is, of their +falsity, or of their probability- I say nothing. I assert, however, +that much of our incredulity- as La Bruyere says of all our +unhappiness- "vient de ne pouvoir etre seuls." + + But there are some points in the Hungarian superstition which were +fast verging to absurdity. They- the Hungarians- differed very +essentially from their Eastern authorities. For example, "The soul," +said the former- I give the words of an acute and intelligent +Parisian- "ne demeure qu'un seul fois dans un corps sensible: au +reste- un cheval, un chien, un homme meme, n'est que la ressemblance +peu tangible de ces animaux." + + The families of Berlifitzing and Metzengerstein had been at variance +for centuries. Never before were two houses so illustrious, mutually +embittered by hostility so deadly. Indeed at the era of this +history, it was observed by an old crone of haggard and sinister +appearance, that "fire and water might sooner mingle than a +Berlifitzing clasp the hand of a Metzengerstein." The origin of this +enmity seems to be found in the words of an ancient prophecy- "A +lofty name shall have a fearful fall when, as the rider over his +horse, the mortality of Metzengerstein shall triumph over the +immortality of Berlifitzing." + + To be sure the words themselves had little or no meaning. But more +trivial causes have given rise- and that no long while ago- to +consequences equally eventful. Besides, the estates, which were +contiguous, had long exercised a rival influence in the affairs of a +busy government. Moreover, near neighbors are seldom friends; and +the inhabitants of the Castle Berlifitzing might look, from their +lofty buttresses, into the very windows of the palace +Metzengerstein. Least of all had the more than feudal magnificence, +thus discovered, a tendency to allay the irritable feelings of the +less ancient and less wealthy Berlifitzings. What wonder then, that +the words, however silly, of that prediction, should have succeeded in +setting and keeping at variance two families already predisposed to +quarrel by every instigation of hereditary jealousy? The prophecy +seemed to imply- if it implied anything- a final triumph on the part +of the already more powerful house; and was of course remembered +with the more bitter animosity by the weaker and less influential. + + Wilhelm, Count Berlifitzing, although loftily descended, was, at the +epoch of this narrative, an infirm and doting old man, remarkable +for nothing but an inordinate and inveterate personal antipathy to the +family of his rival, and so passionate a love of horses, and of +hunting, that neither bodily infirmity, great age, nor mental +incapacity, prevented his daily participation in the dangers of the +chase. + + Frederick, Baron Metzengerstein, was, on the other hand, not yet +Mary, followed him quickly after. Frederick was, at that time, in +his fifteenth year. In a city, fifteen years are no long period- a +child may be still a child in his third lustrum: but in a +wilderness- in so magnificent a wilderness as that old principality, +fifteen years have a far deeper meaning. + + The beautiful Lady Mary! How could she die?- and of consumption! +But it is a path I have prayed to follow. I would wish all I love to +perish of that gentle disease. How glorious- to depart in the heyday +of the young blood- the heart of all passion- the imagination all +fire- amid the remembrances of happier days- in the fall of the year- +and so be buried up forever in the gorgeous autumnal leaves! + + Thus died the Lady Mary. The young Baron Frederick stood without a +living relative by the coffin of his dead mother. He placed his hand +upon her placid forehead. No shudder came over his delicate frame- no +sigh from his flinty bosom. Heartless, self-willed and impetuous +from his childhood, he had reached the age of which I speak through +a career of unfeeling, wanton, and reckless dissipation; and a barrier +had long since arisen in the channel of all holy thoughts and gentle +recollections. + + From some peculiar circumstances attending the administration of his +father, the young Baron, at the decease of the former, entered +immediately upon his vast possessions. Such estates were seldom held +before by a nobleman of Hungary. His castles were without number. +The chief in point of splendor and extent was the "Chateau +Metzengerstein." The boundary line of his dominions was never clearly +defined; but his principal park embraced a circuit of fifty miles. + + Upon the succession of a proprietor so young, with a character so +well known, to a fortune so unparalleled, little speculation was +afloat in regard to his probable course of conduct. And, indeed, for +the space of three days, the behavior of the heir out-heroded Herod, +and fairly surpassed the expectations of his most enthusiastic +admirers. Shameful debaucheries- flagrant treacheries- unheard-of +atrocities- gave his trembling vassals quickly to understand that no +servile submission on their part- no punctilios of conscience on his +own- were thenceforward to prove any security against the remorseless +fangs of a petty Caligula. On the night of the fourth day, the stables +of the castle Berlifitzing were discovered to be on fire; and the +unanimous opinion of the neighborhood added the crime of the +incendiary to the already hideous list of the Baron's misdemeanors and +enormities. + + But during the tumult occasioned by this occurrence, the young +nobleman himself sat apparently buried in meditation, in a vast and +desolate upper apartment of the family palace of Metzengerstein. The +rich although faded tapestry hangings which swung gloomily upon the +walls, represented the shadowy and majestic forms of a thousand +illustrious ancestors. Here, rich-ermined priests, and pontifical +dignitaries, familiarly seated with the autocrat and the sovereign, +put a veto on the wishes of a temporal king, or restrained with the +fiat of papal supremacy the rebellious sceptre of the Arch-enemy. +There, the dark, tall statures of the Princes Metzengerstein- their +muscular war-coursers plunging over the carcasses of fallen +foes- startled the steadiest nerves with their vigorous expression; +and here, again, the voluptuous and swan-like figures of the dames of +days gone by, floated away in the mazes of an unreal dance to the +strains of imaginary melody. + + But as the Baron listened, or affected to listen, to the gradually +increasing uproar in the stables of Berlifitzing- or perhaps pondered +upon some more novel, some more decided act of audacity- his eyes +became unwittingly rivetted to the figure of an enormous, and +unnaturally colored horse, represented in the tapestry as belonging to +a Saracen ancestor of the family of his rival. The horse itself, in +the foreground of the design, stood motionless and statue-like- while +farther back, its discomfited rider perished by the dagger of a +Metzengerstein. + + On Frederick's lip arose a fiendish expression, as he became aware +of the direction which his glance had, without his consciousness, +assumed. Yet he did not remove it. On the contrary, he could by no +means account for the overwhelming anxiety which appeared falling like +a pall upon his senses. It was with difficulty that he reconciled +his dreamy and incoherent feelings with the certainty of being +awake. The longer he gazed the more absorbing became the spell- the +more impossible did it appear that he could ever withdraw his glance +from the fascination of that tapestry. But the tumult without becoming +suddenly more violent, with a compulsory exertion he diverted his +attention to the glare of ruddy light thrown full by the flaming +stables upon the windows of the apartment. + + The action, however, was but momentary, his gaze returned +mechanically to the wall. To his extreme horror and astonishment, +the head of the gigantic steed had, in the meantime, altered its +position. The neck of the animal, before arched, as if in +compassion, over the prostrate body of its lord, was now extended, +at full length, in the direction of the Baron. The eyes, before +invisible, now wore an energetic and human expression, while they +gleamed with a fiery and unusual red; and the distended lips of the +apparently enraged horse left in full view his gigantic and disgusting +teeth. + + Stupefied with terror, the young nobleman tottered to the door. As +he threw it open, a flash of red light, streaming far into the +chamber, flung his shadow with a clear outline against the quivering +tapestry, and he shuddered to perceive that shadow- as he staggered +awhile upon the threshold- assuming the exact position, and precisely +filling up the contour, of the relentless and triumphant murderer of +the Saracen Berlifitzing. + + To lighten the depression of his spirits, the Baron hurried into the +open air. At the principal gate of the palace he encountered three +equerries. With much difficulty, and at the imminent peril of their +lives, they were restraining the convulsive plunges of a gigantic +and fiery-colored horse. + + "Whose horse? Where did you get him?" demanded the youth, in a +querulous and husky tone of voice, as he became instantly aware that +the mysterious steed in the tapestried chamber was the very +counterpart of the furious animal before his eyes. + + "He is your own property, sire," replied one of the equerries, "at +least he is claimed by no other owner. We caught him flying, all +smoking and foaming with rage, from the burning stables of the +Castle Berlifitzing. Supposing him to have belonged to the old Count's +stud of foreign horses, we led him back as an estray. But the grooms +there disclaim any title to the creature; which is strange, since he +bears evident marks of having made a narrow escape from the flames. + + "The letters W. V. B. are also branded very distinctly on his +forehead," interrupted a second equerry, "I supposed them, of +course, to be the initials of Wilhelm Von Berlifitzing- but all at +the castle are positive in denying any knowledge of the horse." + + "Extremely singular!" said the young Baron, with a musing air, and +apparently unconscious of the meaning of his words. "He is, as you +say, a remarkable horse- a prodigious horse! although, as you very +justly observe, of a suspicious and untractable character, let him +be mine, however," he added, after a pause, "perhaps a rider like +Frederick of Metzengerstein, may tame even the devil from the +stables of Berlifitzing." + + "You are mistaken, my lord; the horse, as I think we mentioned, is +not from the stables of the Count. If such had been the case, we +know our duty better than to bring him into the presence of a noble of +your family." + + "True!" observed the Baron, dryly, and at that instant a page of the +bedchamber came from the palace with a heightened color, and a +precipitate step. He whispered into his master's ear an account of the +sudden disappearance of a small portion of the tapestry, in an +apartment which he designated; entering, at the same time, into +particulars of a minute and circumstantial character; but from the low +tone of voice in which these latter were communicated, nothing escaped +to gratify the excited curiosity of the equerries. + + The young Frederick, during the conference, seemed agitated by a +variety of emotions. He soon, however, recovered his composure, and an +expression of determined malignancy settled upon his countenance, as +he gave peremptory orders that a certain chamber should be immediately +locked up, and the key placed in his own possession. + + "Have you heard of the unhappy death of the old hunter +Berlifitzing?" said one of his vassals to the Baron, as, after the +departure of the page, the huge steed which that nobleman had +adopted as his own, plunged and curvetted, with redoubled fury, down +the long avenue which extended from the chateau to the stables of +Metzengerstein. + + "No!" said the Baron, turning abruptly toward the speaker, "dead! +say you?" + + "It is indeed true, my lord; and, to a noble of your name, will +be, I imagine, no unwelcome intelligence." + + A rapid smile shot over the countenance of the listener. "How died +he?" + + "In his rash exertions to rescue a favorite portion of his hunting +stud, he has himself perished miserably in the flames." + + "I-n-d-e-e-d-!" ejaculated the Baron, as if slowly and +deliberately impressed with the truth of some exciting idea. + + "Indeed;" repeated the vassal. + + "Shocking!" said the youth, calmly, and turned quietly into the +chateau. + + From this date a marked alteration took place in the outward +demeanor of the dissolute young Baron Frederick Von Metzengerstein. +Indeed, his behavior disappointed every expectation, and proved little +in accordance with the views of many a manoeuvering mamma; while his +habits and manner, still less than formerly, offered any thing +congenial with those of the neighboring aristocracy. He was never to +be seen beyond the limits of his own domain, and, in this wide and +social world, was utterly companionless- unless, indeed, that +unnatural, impetuous, and fiery-colored horse, which he henceforward +continually bestrode, had any mysterious right to the title of his +friend. + + Numerous invitations on the part of the neighborhood for a long +time, however, periodically came in. "Will the Baron honor our +festivals with his presence?" "Will the Baron join us in a hunting +of the boar?"- "Metzengerstein does not hunt;" "Metzengerstein will +not attend," were the haughty and laconic answers. + + These repeated insults were not to be endured by an imperious +nobility. Such invitations became less cordial- less frequent- in +time they ceased altogether. The widow of the unfortunate Count +Berlifitzing was even heard to express a hope "that the Baron might be +at home when he did not wish to be at home, since he disdained the +company of his equals; and ride when he did not wish to ride, since he +preferred the society of a horse." This to be sure was a very silly +explosion of hereditary pique; and merely proved how singularly +unmeaning our sayings are apt to become, when we desire to be +unusually energetic. + + The charitable, nevertheless, attributed the alteration in the +conduct of the young nobleman to the natural sorrow of a son for the +untimely loss of his parents- forgetting, however, his atrocious and +reckless behavior during the short period immediately succeeding +that bereavement. Some there were, indeed, who suggested a too haughty +idea of self-consequence and dignity. Others again (among them may be +mentioned the family physician) did not hesitate in speaking of morbid +melancholy, and hereditary ill-health; while dark hints, of a more +equivocal nature, were current among the multitude. + + Indeed, the Baron's perverse attachment to his lately-acquired +charger- an attachment which seemed to attain new strength from every +fresh example of the animal's ferocious and demon-like propensities- +at length became, in the eyes of all reasonable men, a hideous and +unnatural fervor. In the glare of noon- at the dead hour of night- in +sickness or in health- in calm or in tempest- the young Metzengerstein +seemed rivetted to the saddle of that colossal horse, whose +intractable audacities so well accorded with his own spirit. + + There were circumstances, moreover, which coupled with late +events, gave an unearthly and portentous character to the mania of the +rider, and to the capabilities of the steed. The space passed over +in a single leap had been accurately measured, and was found to +exceed, by an astounding difference, the wildest expectations of the +most imaginative. The Baron, besides, had no particular name for the +animal, although all the rest in his collection were distinguished +by characteristic appellations. His stable, too, was appointed at a +distance from the rest; and with regard to grooming and other +necessary offices, none but the owner in person had ventured to +officiate, or even to enter the enclosure of that particular stall. It +was also to be observed, that although the three grooms, who had +caught the steed as he fled from the conflagration at Berlifitzing, +had succeeded in arresting his course, by means of a chain-bridle +and noose- yet no one of the three could with any certainty affirm +that he had, during that dangerous struggle, or at any period +thereafter, actually placed his hand upon the body of the beast. +Instances of peculiar intelligence in the demeanor of a noble and +high-spirited horse are not to be supposed capable of exciting +unreasonable attention- especially among men who, daily trained to +the labors of the chase, might appear well acquainted with the +sagacity of a horse- but there were certain circumstances which +intruded themselves per force upon the most skeptical and phlegmatic; +and it is said there were times when the animal caused the gaping +crowd who stood around to recoil in horror from the deep and +impressive meaning of his terrible stamp- times when the young +Metzengerstein turned pale and shrunk away from the rapid and +searching expression of his earnest and human-looking eye. + + Among all the retinue of the Baron, however, none were found to +doubt the ardor of that extraordinary affection which existed on the +part of the young nobleman for the fiery qualities of his horse; at +least, none but an insignificant and misshapen little page, whose +deformities were in everybody's way, and whose opinions were of the +least possible importance. He- if his ideas are worth mentioning at +all- had the effrontery to assert that his master never vaulted into +the saddle without an unaccountable and almost imperceptible +shudder, and that, upon his return from every long-continued and +habitual ride, an expression of triumphant malignity distorted every +muscle in his countenance. + + One tempestuous night, Metzengerstein, awaking from a heavy slumber, +descended like a maniac from his chamber, and, mounting in hot +haste, bounded away into the mazes of the forest. An occurrence so +common attracted no particular attention, but his return was looked +for with intense anxiety on the part of his domestics, when, after +some hours' absence, the stupendous and magnificent battlements of the +Chateau Metzengerstein, were discovered crackling and rocking to their +very foundation, under the influence of a dense and livid mass of +ungovernable fire. + + As the flames, when first seen, had already made so terrible a +progress that all efforts to save any portion of the building were +evidently futile, the astonished neighborhood stood idly around in +silent and pathetic wonder. But a new and fearful object soon rivetted +the attention of the multitude, and proved how much more intense is +the excitement wrought in the feelings of a crowd by the contemplation +of human agony, than that brought about by the most appalling +spectacles of inanimate matter. + + Up the long avenue of aged oaks which led from the forest to the +main entrance of the Chateau Metzengerstein, a steed, bearing an +unbonneted and disordered rider, was seen leaping with an +impetuosity which outstripped the very Demon of the Tempest, and +extorted from every stupefied beholder the ejaculation- "horrible." + + The career of the horseman was indisputably, on his own part, +uncontrollable. The agony of his countenance, the convulsive +struggle of his frame, gave evidence of superhuman exertion: but no +sound, save a solitary shriek, escaped from his lacerated lips, +which were bitten through and through in the intensity of terror. +One instant, and the clattering of hoofs resounded sharply and shrilly +above the roaring of the flames and the shrieking of the +winds- another, and, clearing at a single plunge the gate-way and the +moat, the steed bounded far up the tottering staircases of the palace, +and, with its rider, disappeared amid the whirlwind of chaotic fire. + + The fury of the tempest immediately died away, and a dead calm +sullenly succeeded. A white flame still enveloped the building like +a shroud, and, streaming far away into the quiet atmosphere, shot +forth a glare of preternatural light; while a cloud of smoke settled +heavily over the battlements in the distinct colossal figure of- a +horse. + + -THE END- +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-morella-558.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-morella-558.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..a168b40a --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-morella-558.txt @@ -0,0 +1,216 @@ + 1850 + + MORELLA + + by Edgar Allan Poe +MORELLA + + Itself, by itself, solely, one everlasting, and single. + + PLATO: SYMPOS. + + WITH a feeling of deep yet most singular affection I regarded my +friend Morella. Thrown by accident into her society many years ago, my +soul from our first meeting, burned with fires it had never before +known; but the fires were not of Eros, and bitter and tormenting to my +spirit was the gradual conviction that I could in no manner define +their unusual meaning or regulate their vague intensity. Yet we met; +and fate bound us together at the altar, and I never spoke of +passion nor thought of love. She, however, shunned society, and, +attaching herself to me alone rendered me happy. It is a happiness +to wonder; it is a happiness to dream. + + Morella's erudition was profound. As I hope to live, her talents +were of no common order- her powers of mind were gigantic. I felt +this, and, in many matters, became her pupil. I soon, however, found +that, perhaps on account of her Presburg education, she placed before +me a number of those mystical writings which are usually considered +the mere dross of the early German literature. These, for what reason +I could not imagine, were her favourite and constant study- and that +in process of time they became my own, should be attributed to the +simple but effectual influence of habit and example. + + In all this, if I err not, my reason had little to do. My +convictions, or I forget myself, were in no manner acted upon by the +ideal, nor was any tincture of the mysticism which I read to be +discovered, unless I am greatly mistaken, either in my deeds or in +my thoughts. Persuaded of this, I abandoned myself implicitly to the +guidance of my wife, and entered with an unflinching heart into the +intricacies of her studies. And then- then, when poring over +forbidden pages, I felt a forbidden spirit enkindling within me- +would Morella place her cold hand upon my own, and rake up from the +ashes of a dead philosophy some low, singular words, whose strange +meaning burned themselves in upon my memory. And then, hour after +hour, would I linger by her side, and dwell upon the music of her +voice, until at length its melody was tainted with terror, and there +fell a shadow upon my soul, and I grew pale, and shuddered inwardly at +those too unearthly tones. And thus, joy suddenly faded into horror, +and the most beautiful became the most hideous, as Hinnon became +Ge-Henna. + + It is unnecessary to state the exact character of those +disquisitions which, growing out of the volumes I have mentioned, +formed, for so long a time, almost the sole conversation of Morella +and myself. By the learned in what might be termed theological +morality they will be readily conceived, and by the unlearned they +would, at all events, be little understood. The wild Pantheism of +Fichte; the modified Paliggenedia of the Pythagoreans; and, above all, +the doctrines of Identity as urged by Schelling, were generally the +points of discussion presenting the most of beauty to the imaginative +Morella. That identity which is termed personal, Mr. Locke, I think, +truly defines to consist in the saneness of rational being. And +since by person we understand an intelligent essence having reason, +and since there is a consciousness which always accompanies +thinking, it is this which makes us all to be that which we call +ourselves, thereby distinguishing us from other beings that think, and +giving us our personal identity. But the principium indivduationis, +the notion of that identity which at death is or is not lost for ever, +was to me, at all times, a consideration of intense interest; not more +from the perplexing and exciting nature of its consequences, than from +the marked and agitated manner in which Morella mentioned them. + + But, indeed, the time had now arrived when the mystery of my wife's +manner oppressed me as a spell. I could no longer bear the touch of +her wan fingers, nor the low tone of her musical language, nor the +lustre of her melancholy eyes. And she knew all this, but did not +upbraid; she seemed conscious of my weakness or my folly, and, +smiling, called it fate. She seemed also conscious of a cause, to me +unknown, for the gradual alienation of my regard; but she gave me no +hint or token of its nature. Yet was she woman, and pined away +daily. In time the crimson spot settled steadily upon the cheek, and +the blue veins upon the pale forehead became prominent; and one +instant my nature melted into pity, but in, next I met the glance of +her meaning eyes, and then my soul sickened and became giddy with +the giddiness of one who gazes downward into some dreary and +unfathomable abyss. + + Shall I then say that I longed with an earnest and consuming +desire for the moment of Morella's decease? I did; but the fragile +spirit clung to its tenement of clay for many days, for many weeks and +irksome months, until my tortured nerves obtained the mastery over +my mind, and I grew furious through delay, and, with the heart of a +fiend, cursed the days and the hours and the bitter moments, which +seemed to lengthen and lengthen as her gentle life declined, like +shadows in the dying of the day. + + But one autumnal evening, when the winds lay still in heaven, +Morella called me to her bedside. There was a dim mist over all the +earth, and a warm glow upon the waters, and amid the rich October +leaves of the forest, a rainbow from the firmament had surely fallen. + + "It is a day of days," she said, as I approached; "a day of all days +either to live or die. It is a fair day for the sons of earth and +life- ah, more fair for the daughters of heaven and death!" + + I kissed her forehead, and she continued: + + "I am dying, yet shall I live." + + "Morella!" + + "The days have never been when thou couldst love me- but her whom +in life thou didst abhor, in death thou shalt adore." + + "Morella!" + + "I repeat I am dying. But within me is a pledge of that affection- +ah, how little!- which thou didst feel for me, Morella. And when my +spirit departs shall the child live- thy child and mine, Morella's. +But thy days shall be days of sorrow- that sorrow which is the most +lasting of impressions, as the cypress is the most enduring of trees. +For the hours of thy happiness are over and joy is not gathered +twice in a life, as the roses of Paestum twice in a year. Thou shalt +no longer, then, play the Teian with time, but, being ignorant of +the myrtle and the vine, thou shalt bear about with thee thy shroud +on the earth, as do the Moslemin at Mecca." + + "Morella!" I cried, "Morella! how knowest thou this?" but she turned +away her face upon the pillow and a slight tremor coming over her +limbs, she thus died, and I heard her voice no more. + + Yet, as she had foretold, her child, to which in dying she had given +birth, which breathed not until the mother breathed no more, her +child, a daughter, lived. And she grew strangely in stature and +intellect, and was the perfect resemblance of her who had departed, +and I loved her with a love more fervent than I had believed it +possible to feel for any denizen of earth. + + But, ere long the heaven of this pure affection became darkened, and +gloom, and horror, and grief swept over it in clouds. I said the child +grew strangely in stature and intelligence. Strange, indeed, was her +rapid increase in bodily size, but terrible, oh! terrible were the +tumultuous thoughts which crowded upon me while watching the +development of her mental being. Could it be otherwise, when I daily +discovered in the conceptions of the child the adult powers and +faculties of the woman? when the lessons of experience fell from the +lips of infancy? and when the wisdom or the passions of maturity I +found hourly gleaming from its full and speculative eye? When, I +say, all this beeame evident to my appalled senses, when I could no +longer hide it from my soul, nor throw it off from those perceptions +which trembled to receive it, is it to be wondered at that suspicions, +of a nature fearful and exciting, crept in upon my spirit, or that +my thoughts fell back aghast upon the wild tales and thrilling +theories of the entombed Morella? I snatched from the scrutiny of +the world a being whom destiny compelled me to adore, and in the +rigorous seclusion of my home, watched with an agonizing anxiety +over all which concerned the beloved. + + And as years rolled away, and I gazed day after day upon her holy, +and mild, and eloquent face, and poured over her maturing form, day +after day did I discover new points of resemblance in the child to her +mother, the melancholy and the dead. And hourly grew darker these +shadows of similitude, and more full, and more definite, and more +perplexing, and more hideously terrible in their aspect. For that +her smile was like her mother's I could bear; but then I shuddered +at its too perfect identity, that her eyes were like Morella's I could +endure; but then they, too, often looked down into the depths of my +soul with Morella's own intense and bewildering meaning. And in the +contour of the high forehead, and in the ringlets of the silken +hair, and in the wan fingers which buried themselves therein, and in +the sad musical tones of her speech, and above all- oh, above all, in +the phrases and expressions of the dead on the lips of the loved and +the living, I found food for consuming thought and horror, for a +worm that would not die. + + Thus passed away two lustra of her life, and as yet my daughter +remained nameless upon the earth. "My child," and "my love," were +the designations usually prompted by a father's affection, and the +rigid seclusion of her days precluded all other intercourse. Morella's +name died with her at her death. Of the mother I had never spoken to +the daughter, it was impossible to speak. Indeed, during the brief +period of her existence, the latter had received no impressions from +the outward world, save such as might have been afforded by the narrow +limits of her privacy. But at length the ceremony of baptism presented +to my mind, in its unnerved and agitated condition, a present +deliverance from the terrors of my destiny. And at the baptismal +font I hesitated for a name. And many titles of the wise and +beautiful, of old and modern times, of my own and foreign lands, +came thronging to my lips, with many, many fair titles of the +gentle, and the happy, and the good. What prompted me then to +disturb the memory of the buried dead? What demon urged me to +breathe that sound, which in its very recollection was wont to make +ebb the purple blood in torrents from the temples to the heart? What +fiend spoke from the recesses of my soul, when amid those dim +aisles, and in the silence of the night, I whispered within the ears +of the holy man the syllables- Morella? What more than fiend +convulsed the features of my child, and overspread them with hues of +death, as starting at that scarcely audible sound, she turned her +glassy eyes from the earth to heaven, and falling prostrate on the +black slabs of our ancestral vault, responded- "I am here!" + + Distinct, coldly, calmly distinct, fell those few simple sounds +within my ear, and thence like molten lead rolled hissingly into my +brain. Years- years may pass away, but the memory of that epoch +never. Nor was I indeed ignorant of the flowers and the vine- but the +hemlock and the cypress overshadowed me night and day. And I kept no +reckoning of time or place, and the stars of my fate faded from +heaven, and therefore the earth grew dark, and its figures passed by +me like flitting shadows, and among them all I beheld only- Morella. +The winds of the firmament breathed but one sound within my ears, +and the ripples upon the sea murmured evermore- Morella. But she +died; and with my own hands I bore her to the tomb; and I laughed with +a long and bitter laugh as I found no traces of the first in the +channel where I laid the second.- Morella. + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-morning-559.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-morning-559.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..512fb41b --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-morning-559.txt @@ -0,0 +1,196 @@ + 1850 + + MORNING ON THE WISSAHICCON + + by Edgar Allen Poe +MORNING ON THE WISSAHICCON + + THE NATURAL scenery of America has often been contrasted, in its +general features as well as in detail, with the landscape of the Old +World- more especially of Europe- and not deeper has been the +enthusiasm, than wide the dissension, of the supporters of each +region. The discussion is one not likely to be soon closed, for, +although much has been said on both sides, a word more yet remains +to be said. + + The most conspicuous of the British tourists who have attempted a +comparison, seem to regard our northern and eastern seaboard, +comparatively speaking, as all of America, at least, as all of the +United States, worthy consideration. They say little, because they +have seen less, of the gorgeous interior scenery of some of our +western and southern districts- of the vast valley of Louisiana, for +example,- a realization of the wildest dreams of paradise. For the +most part, these travellers content themselves with a hasty inspection +of the natural lions of the land- the Hudson, Niagara, the +Catskills, Harper's Ferry, the lakes of New York, the Ohio, the +prairies, and the Mississippi. These, indeed, are objects well +worthy the contemplation even of him who has just clambered by the +castellated Rhine, or roamed + + By the blue rushing of the arrowy Rhone; + +but these are not all of which we can boast; and, indeed, I will be so +hardy as to assert that there are innumerable quiet, obscure, and +scarcely explored nooks, within the limits of the United States, that, +by the true artist, or cultivated lover of the grand and beautiful +amid the works of God, will be preferred to each and to all of the +chronicled and better accredited scenes to which I have referred. + + In fact, the real Edens of the land lie far away from the track of +our own most deliberate tourists- how very far, then, beyond the reach +of the foreigner, who, having made with his publisher at home +arrangements for a certain amount of comment upon America, to be +furnished in a stipulated period, can hope to fulfil his agreement +in no other manner than by steaming it, memorandum- book in hand, +through only the most beaten thoroughfares of the country! + + I mentioned, just above, the valley of Louisiana. Of all extensive +areas of natural loveliness, this is perhaps the most lovely. No +fiction has approached it. The most gorgeous imagination might +derive suggestions from its exuberant beauty. And beauty is, indeed, +its sole character. It has little, or rather nothing, of the +sublime. Gentle undulations of soil, interwreathed with fantastic +crystallic streams, banked by flowery slopes, and backed by a forest +vegetation, gigantic, glossy, multicoloured, sparkling with gay +birds and burthened with perfume- these features make up, in the +vale of Louisiana, the most voluptuous natural scenery upon earth. + + But, even of this delicious region, the sweeter portions are reached +only by the bypaths. Indeed, in America generally, the traveller who +would behold the finest landscapes, must seek them not by the +railroad, nor by the steamboat, not by the stage-coach, nor in his +private carriage, not yet even on horseback- but on foot. He must +walk, he must leap ravines, he must risk his neck among precipices, or +he must leave unseen the truest, the richest, and most unspeakable +glories of the land. + + Now in the greater portion of Europe no such necessity exists. In +England it exists not at all. The merest dandy of a tourist may +there visit every nook worth visiting without detriment to his silk +stockings; so thoroughly known are all points of interest, and so +well-arranged are the means of attaining them. This consideration +has never been allowed its due weight, in comparisons of the natural +scenery of the Old and New Worlds. The entire loveliness of the former +is collated with only the most noted, and with by no means the most +eminent items in the general loveliness of the latter. + + River scenery has, unquestionably, within itself, all the main +elements of beauty, and, time out of mind, has been the favourite +theme of the poet. But much of this fame is attributable to the +predominance of travel in fluvial over that in mountainous +districts. In the same way, large rivers, because usually highways, +have, in all countries, absorbed an undue share of admiration. They +are more observed, and, consequently, made more the subject of +discourse, than less important, but often more interesting streams. + + A singular exemplification of my remarks upon this head may be found +in the Wissahiccon, a brook, (for more it can scarcely be called,) +which empties itself into the Schuylkill, about six miles westward +of Philadelphia. Now the Wissahiccon is of so remarkable a +loveliness that, were it flowing in England, it would be the theme +of every bard, and the common topic of every tongue, if, indeed, its +banks were not parcelled off in lots, at an exorbitant price, as +building-sites for the villas of the opulent. Yet it is only within +a very few years that any one has more than heard of the +Wissahiccon, while the broader and more navigable water into which +it flows, has been long celebrated as one of the finest specimens of +American river scenery. The Schuylkill, whose beauties have been +much exaggerated, and whose banks, at least in the neighborhood of +Philadelphia, are marshy like those of the Delaware, is not at all +comparable, as an object of picturesque interest, with the more humble +and less notorious rivulet of which we speak. + + It was not until Fanny Kemble, in her droll book about the United +States, pointed out to the Philadelphians the rare loveliness of a +stream which lay at their own doors, that this loveliness was more +than suspected by a few adventurous pedestrians of the vicinity. +But, the "Journal" having opened all eyes, the Wissahiccon, to a +certain extent, rolled at once into notoriety. I say "to a certain +extent," for, in fact, the true beauty of the stream lies far above +the route of the Philadelphian picturesque-hunters, who rarely proceed +farther than a mile or two above the mouth of the rivulet- for the +very excellent reason that here the carriage-road stops. I would +advise the adventurer who would behold its finest points to take the +Ridge Road, running westwardly from the city, and, having reached +the second lane beyond the sixth mile-stone, to follow this lane to +its termination. He will thus strike the Wissahiccon, at one of its +best reaches, and, in a skiff, or by clambering along its banks, he +can go up or down the stream, as best suits his fancy, and in either +direction will meet his reward. + + I have already said, or should have said, that the brook is +narrow. Its banks are generally, indeed almost universally, +precipitous, and consist of high hills, clothed with noble shrubbery +near the water, and crowned at a greater elevation, with some of the +most magnificent forest trees of America, among which stands +conspicuous the liriodendron tulipiferum. The immediate shores, +however, are of granite, sharply defined or moss-covered, against +which the pellucid water lolls in its gentle flow, as the blue waves +of the Mediterranean upon the steps of her palaces of marble. +Occasionally in front of the cliffs, extends a small definite +plateau of richly herbaged land, affording the most picturesque +position for a cottage and garden which the richest imagination +could conceive. The windings of the stream are many and abrupt, as +is usually the case where banks are precipitous, and thus the +impression conveyed to the voyager's eye, as he proceeds, is that of +an endless succession of infinitely varied small lakes, or, more +properly speaking, tarns. The Wissahiccon, however, should be visited, +not like "fair Melrose," by moonlight, or even in cloudy weather, +but amid the brightest glare of a noonday sun; for the narrowness of +the gorge through which it flows, the height of the hills on either +hand, and the density of the foliage, conspire to produce a +gloominess, if not an absolute dreariness of effect, which, unless +relieved by a bright general light, detracts from the mere beauty of +the scene. + + Not long ago I visited the stream by the route described, and +spent the better part of a sultry day in floating in a skiff upon +its bosom. The heat gradually overcame me, and, resigning myself to +the influence of the scenes and of the weather, and of the gentle +moving current, I sank into a half slumber, during which my +imagination revelled in visions of the Wissahiccon of ancient days- of +the "good old days" when the Demon of the Engine was not, when picnics +were undreamed of, when "water privileges" were neither bought nor +sold, and when the red man trod alone, with the elk, upon the ridges +that now towered above. And, while gradually these conceits took +possession of my mind, the lazy brook had borne me, inch by inch, +around one promontory and within full view of another that bounded the +prospect at the distance of forty or fifty yards. It was a steep rocky +cliff, abutting far into the stream, and presenting much more of the +Salvator character than any portion of the shore hitherto passed. What +I saw upon this cliff, although surely an object of very extraordinary +nature, the place and season considered, at first neither startled nor +amazed me- so thoroughly and appropriately did it chime in with the +half-slumberous fancies that enwrapped me. I saw, or dreamed that I +saw, standing upon the extreme verge of the precipice, with neck +outstretched, with ears erect, and the whole attitude indicative of +profound and melancholy inquisitiveness, one of the oldest and boldest +of those identical elks which had been coupled with the red men of +my vision. + + I say that, for a few moments, this apparition neither startled +nor amazed me. During this interval my whole soul was bound up in +intense sympathy alone. I fancied the elk repining, not less than +wondering, at the manifest alterations for the worse, wrought upon the +brook and its vicinage, even within the last few years, by the stern +hand of the utilitarian. But a slight movement of the animal's head at +once dispelled the dreaminess which invested me, and aroused me to a +full sense of novelty of the adventure. I arose upon one knee within +the skiff, and, while I hesitated whether to stop my career, or let +myself float nearer to the object of my wonder, I heard the words +"hist!" "hist!" ejaculated quickly but cautiously, from the +shrubbery overhead. In an instant afterwards, a negro emerged from the +thicket, putting aside the bushes with care, and treading +stealthily. He bore in one hand a quantity of salt, and, holding it +towards the elk, gently yet steadily approached. The noble animal, +although a little fluttered, made no attempt at escape. The negro +advanced; offered the salt; and spoke a few words of encouragement +or conciliation. Presently, the elk bowed and stamped, and then lay +quietly down and was secured with a halter. + + Thus ended my romance of the elk. It was a pet of great age and very +domestic habits, and belonged to an English family occupying a villa +in the vicinity. + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-ms-560.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-ms-560.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..96493b2f --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-ms-560.txt @@ -0,0 +1,402 @@ + 1833 + + MS. FOUND IN A BOTTLE + + by Edgar Allan Poe + + Qui n'a plus qu'un moment a vivre + + N'a plus rien a dissimuler. --Quinault --Atys. + + OF my country and of my family I have little to say. Ill usage and +length of years have driven me from the one, and estranged me from the +other. Hereditary wealth afforded me an education of no common +order, and a contemplative turn of mind enabled me to methodize the +stores which early study very diligently garnered up. --Beyond all +things, the study of the German moralists gave me great delight; not +from any ill-advised admiration of their eloquent madness, but from +the ease with which my habits of rigid thought enabled me to detect +their falsities. I have often been reproached with the aridity of my +genius; a deficiency of imagination has been imputed to me as a crime; +and the Pyrrhonism of my opinions has at all times rendered me +notorious. Indeed, a strong relish for physical philosophy has, I +fear, tinctured my mind with a very common error of this age --I +mean the habit of referring occurrences, even the least susceptible of +such reference, to the principles of that science. Upon the whole, +no person could be less liable than myself to be led away from the +severe precincts of truth by the ignes fatui of superstition. I have +thought proper to premise thus much, lest the incredible tale I have +to tell should be considered rather the raving of a crude imagination, +than the positive experience of a mind to which the reveries of +fancy have been a dead letter and a nullity. + + After many years spent in foreign travel, I sailed in the year 18--, +from the port of Batavia, in the rich and populous island of Java, +on a voyage to the Archipelago of the Sunda islands. I went as +passenger --having no other inducement than a kind of nervous +restlessness which haunted me as a fiend. + + Our vessel was a beautiful ship of about four hundred tons, +copper-fastened, and built at Bombay of Malabar teak. She was +freighted with cotton-wool and oil, from the Lachadive islands. We had +also on board coir, jaggeree, ghee, cocoa-nuts, and a few cases of +opium. The stowage was clumsily done, and the vessel consequently +crank. + + We got under way with a mere breath of wind, and for many days stood +along the eastern coast of Java, without any other incident to beguile +the monotony of our course than the occasional meeting with some of +the small grabs of the Archipelago to which we were bound. + + One evening, leaning over the taffrail, I observed a very +singular, isolated cloud, to the N.W. It was remarkable, as well for +its color, as from its being the first we had seen since our departure +from Batavia. I watched it attentively until sunset, when it spread +all at once to the eastward and westward, girting in the horizon +with a narrow strip of vapor, and looking like a long line of low +beach. My notice was soon afterwards attracted by the dusky-red +appearance of the moon, and the peculiar character of the sea. The +latter was undergoing a rapid change, and the water seemed more than +usually transparent. Although I could distinctly see the bottom, +yet, heaving the lead, I found the ship in fifteen fathoms. The air +now became intolerably hot, and was loaded with spiral exhalations +similar to those arising from heat iron. As night came on, every +breath of wind died away, an more entire calm it is impossible to +conceive. The flame of a candle burned upon the poop without the least +perceptible motion, and a long hair, held between the finger and +thumb, hung without the possibility of detecting a vibration. However, +as the captain said he could perceive no indication of danger, and +as we were drifting in bodily to shore, he ordered the sails to be +furled, and the anchor let go. No watch was set, and the crew, +consisting principally of Malays, stretched themselves deliberately +upon deck. I went below --not without a full presentiment of evil. +Indeed, every appearance warranted me in apprehending a Simoom. I told +the captain my fears; but he paid no attention to what I said, and +left me without deigning to give a reply. My uneasiness, however, +prevented me from sleeping, and about midnight I went upon deck. +--As I placed my foot upon the upper step of the companion-ladder, I +was startled by a loud, humming noise, like that occasioned by the +rapid revolution of a mill-wheel, and before I could ascertain its +meaning, I found the ship quivering to its centre. In the next +instant, a wilderness of foam hurled us upon our beam-ends, and, +rushing over us fore and aft, swept the entire decks from stem to +stern. + + The extreme fury of the blast proved, in a great measure, the +salvation of the ship. Although completely water-logged, yet, as her +masts had gone by the board, she rose, after a minute, heavily from +the sea, and, staggering awhile beneath the immense pressure of the +tempest, finally righted. + + By what miracle I escaped destruction, it is impossible to say. +Stunned by the shock of the water, I found myself, upon recovery, +jammed in between the stern-post and rudder. With great difficulty I +gained my feet, and looking dizzily around, was, at first, struck with +the idea of our being among breakers; so terrific, beyond the +wildest imagination, was the whirlpool of mountainous and foaming +ocean within which we were engulfed. After a while, I heard the +voice of an old Swede, who had shipped with us at the moment of our +leaving port. I hallooed to him with all my strength, and presently he +came reeling aft. We soon discovered that we were the sole survivors +of the accident. All on deck, with the exception of ourselves, had +been swept overboard; --the captain and mates must have perished as +they slept, for the cabins were deluged with water. Without +assistance, we could expect to do little for the security of the ship, +and our exertions were at first paralyzed by the momentary expectation +of going down. Our cable had, of course, parted like pack-thread, at +the first breath of the hurricane, or we should have been +instantaneously overwhelmed. We scudded with frightful velocity before +the sea, and the water made clear breaches over us. The frame-work +of our stern was shattered excessively, and, in almost every +respect, we had received considerable injury; but to our extreme Joy +we found the pumps unchoked, and that we had made no great shifting of +our ballast. The main fury of the blast had already blown over, and we +apprehended little danger from the violence of the wind; but we looked +forward to its total cessation with dismay; well believing, that, in +our shattered condition, we should inevitably perish in the tremendous +swell which would ensue. But this very just apprehension seemed by +no means likely to be soon verified. For five entire days and nights +--during which our only subsistence was a small quantity of +jaggeree, procured with great difficulty from the forecastle --the +hulk flew at a rate defying computation, before rapidly succeeding +flaws of wind, which, without equalling the first violence of the +Simoom, were still more terrific than any tempest I had before +encountered. Our course for the first four days was, with trifling +variations, S.E. and by S.; and we must have run down the coast of New +Holland. --On the fifth day the cold became extreme, although the wind +had hauled round a point more to the northward. --The sun arose with a +sickly yellow lustre, and clambered a very few degrees above the +horizon --emitting no decisive light. --There were no clouds apparent, +yet the wind was upon the increase, and blew with a fitful and +unsteady fury. About noon, as nearly as we could guess, our +attention was again arrested by the appearance of the sun. It gave out +no light, properly so called, but a dull and sullen glow without +reflection, as if all its rays were polarized. Just before sinking +within the turgid sea, its central fires suddenly went out, as if +hurriedly extinguished by some unaccountable power. It was a dim, +sliver-like rim, alone, as it rushed down the unfathomable ocean. + + We waited in vain for the arrival of the sixth day --that day to +me has not arrived --to the Swede, never did arrive. Thenceforward +we were enshrouded in patchy darkness, so that we could not have +seen an object at twenty paces from the ship. Eternal night +continued to envelop us, all unrelieved by the phosphoric +sea-brilliancy to which we had been accustomed in the tropics. We +observed too, that, although the tempest continued to rage with +unabated violence, there was no longer to be discovered the usual +appearance of surf, or foam, which had hitherto attended us. All +around were horror, and thick gloom, and a black sweltering desert +of ebony. --Superstitious terror crept by degrees into the spirit of +the old Swede, and my own soul was wrapped up in silent wonder. We +neglected all care of the ship, as worse than useless, and securing +ourselves, as well as possible, to the stump of the mizen-mast, looked +out bitterly into the world of ocean. We had no means of calculating +time, nor could we form any guess of our situation. We were, +however, well aware of having made farther to the southward than any +previous navigators, and felt great amazement at not meeting with +the usual impediments of ice. In the meantime every moment +threatened to be our last --every mountainous billow hurried to +overwhelm us. The swell surpassed anything I had imagined possible, +and that we were not instantly buried is a miracle. My companion spoke +of the lightness of our cargo, and reminded me of the excellent +qualities of our ship; but I could not help feeling the utter +hopelessness of hope itself, and prepared myself gloomily for that +death which I thought nothing could defer beyond an hour, as, with +every knot of way the ship made, the swelling of the black +stupendous seas became more dismally appalling. At times we gasped for +breath at an elevation beyond the albatross --at times became dizzy +with the velocity of our descent into some watery hell, where the +air grew stagnant, and no sound disturbed the slumbers of the kraken. + + We were at the bottom of one of these abysses, when a quick scream +from my companion broke fearfully upon the night. "See! see!" cried +he, shrieking in my ears, "Almighty God! see! see!" As he spoke, I +became aware of a dull, sullen glare of red light which streamed +down the sides of the vast chasm where we lay, and threw a fitful +brilliancy upon our deck. Casting my eyes upwards, I beheld a +spectacle which froze the current of my blood. At a terrific height +directly above us, and upon the very verge of the precipitous descent, +hovered a gigantic ship of, perhaps, four thousand tons. Although +upreared upon the summit of a wave more than a hundred times her own +altitude, her apparent size exceeded that of any ship of the line or +East Indiaman in existence. Her huge hull was of a deep dingy black, +unrelieved by any of the customary carvings of a ship. A single row of +brass cannon protruded from her open ports, and dashed from their +polished surfaces the fires of innumerable battle-lanterns, which +swung to and fro about her rigging. But what mainly inspired us with +horror and astonishment, was that she bore up under a press of sail in +the very teeth of that supernatural sea, and of that ungovernable +hurricane. When we first discovered her, her bows were alone to be +seen, as she rose slowly from the dim and horrible gulf beyond her. +For a moment of intense terror she paused upon the giddy pinnacle, +as if in contemplation of her own sublimity, then trembled and +tottered, and --came down. + + At this instant, I know not what sudden self-possession came over my +spirit. Staggering as far aft as I could, I awaited fearlessly the +ruin that was to overwhelm. Our own vessel was at length ceasing +from her struggles, and sinking with her head to the sea. The shock of +the descending mass struck her, consequently, in that portion of her +frame which was already under water, and the inevitable result was +to hurl me, with irresistible violence, upon the rigging of the +stranger. + + As I fell, the ship hove in stays, and went about; and to the +confusion ensuing I attributed my escape from the notice of the +crew. With little difficulty I made my way unperceived to the main +hatchway, which was partially open, and soon found an opportunity of +secreting myself in the hold. Why I did so I can hardly tell. An +indefinite sense of awe, which at first sight of the navigators of the +ship had taken hold of my mind, was perhaps the principle of my +concealment. I was unwilling to trust myself with a race of people who +had offered, to the cursory glance I had taken, so many points of +vague novelty, doubt, and apprehension. I therefore thought proper +to contrive a hiding-place in the hold. This I did by removing a small +portion of the shifting-boards, in such a manner as to afford me a +convenient retreat between the huge timbers of the ship. + + I had scarcely completed my work, when a footstep in the hold forced +me to make use of it. A man passed by my place of concealment with a +feeble and unsteady gait. I could not see his face, but had an +opportunity of observing his general appearance. There was about it an +evidence of great age and infirmity. His knees tottered beneath a load +of years, and his entire frame quivered under the burthen. He muttered +to himself, in a low broken tone, some words of a language which I +could not understand, and groped in a corner among a pile of +singular-looking instruments, and decayed charts of navigation. His +manner was a wild mixture of the peevishness of second childhood, +and the solemn dignity of a God. He at length went on deck, and I +saw him no more. + + A feeling, for which I have no name, has taken possession of my soul +--a sensation which will admit of no analysis, to which the lessons of +bygone times are inadequate, and for which I fear futurity itself will +offer me no key. To a mind constituted like my own, the latter +consideration is an evil. I shall never --I know that I shall never +--be satisfied with regard to the nature of my conceptions. Yet it +is not wonderful that these conceptions are indefinite, since they +have their origin in sources so utterly novel. A new sense --a new +entity is added to my soul. + + It is long since I first trod the deck of this terrible ship, and +the rays of my destiny are, I think, gathering to a focus. +Incomprehensible men! Wrapped up in meditations of a kind which I +cannot divine, they pass me by unnoticed. Concealment is utter folly +on my part, for the people will not see. It was but just now that I +passed directly before the eyes of the mate --it was no long while ago +that I ventured into the captain's own private cabin, and took +thence the materials with which I write, and have written. I shall +from time to time continue this Journal. It is true that I may not +find an opportunity of transmitting it to the world, but I will not +fall to make the endeavour. At the last moment I will enclose the +MS. in a bottle, and cast it within the sea. + + An incident has occurred which has given me new room for meditation. +Are such things the operation of ungoverned Chance? I had ventured +upon deck and thrown myself down, without attracting any notice, among +a pile of ratlin-stuff and old sails in the bottom of the yawl. +While musing upon the singularity of my fate, I unwittingly daubed +with a tar-brush the edges of a neatly-folded studding-sail which +lay near me on a barrel. The studding-sail is now bent upon the +ship, and the thoughtless touches of the brush are spread out into the +word DISCOVERY. + + I have made many observations lately upon the structure of the +vessel. Although well armed, she is not, I think, a ship of war. Her +rigging, build, and general equipment, all negative a supposition of +this kind. What she is not, I can easily perceive --what she is I fear +it is impossible to say. I know not how it is, but in scrutinizing her +strange model and singular cast of spars, her huge size and +overgrown suits of canvas, her severely simple bow and antiquated +stern, there will occasionally flash across my mind a sensation of +familiar things, and there is always mixed up with such indistinct +shadows of recollection, an unaccountable memory of old foreign +chronicles and ages long ago. I have been looking at the timbers of +the ship. She is built of a material to which I am a stranger. There +is a peculiar character about the wood which strikes me as rendering +it unfit for the purpose to which it has been applied. I mean its +extreme porousness, considered independently by the worm-eaten +condition which is a consequence of navigation in these seas, and +apart from the rottenness attendant upon age. It will appear perhaps +an observation somewhat over-curious, but this wood would have +every, characteristic of Spanish oak, if Spanish oak were distended by +any unnatural means. + + In reading the above sentence a curious apothegm of an old +weather-beaten Dutch navigator comes full upon my recollection. "It is +as sure," he was wont to say, when any doubt was entertained of his +veracity, "as sure as there is a sea where the ship itself will grow +in bulk like the living body of the seaman." + + About an hour ago, I made bold to thrust myself among a group of the +crew. They paid me no manner of attention, and, although I stood in +the very midst of them all, seemed utterly unconscious of my presence. +Like the one I had at first seen in the hold, they all bore about them +the marks of a hoary old age. Their knees trembled with infirmity; +their shoulders were bent double with decrepitude; their shrivelled +skins rattled in the wind; their voices were low, tremulous and +broken; their eyes glistened with the rheum of years; and their gray +hairs streamed terribly in the tempest. Around them, on every part +of the deck, lay scattered mathematical instruments of the most quaint +and obsolete construction. + + I mentioned some time ago the bending of a studding-sail. From +that period the ship, being thrown dead off the wind, has continued +her terrific course due south, with every rag of canvas packed upon +her, from her trucks to her lower studding-sail booms, and rolling +every moment her top-gallant yard-arms into the most appalling hell of +water which it can enter into the mind of a man to imagine. I have +just left the deck, where I find it impossible to maintain a +footing, although the crew seem to experience little inconvenience. It +appears to me a miracle of miracles that our enormous bulk is not +swallowed up at once and forever. We are surely doomed to hover +continually upon the brink of Eternity, without taking a final +plunge into the abyss. From billows a thousand times more stupendous +than any I have ever seen, we glide away with the facility of the +arrowy sea-gull; and the colossal waters rear their heads above us +like demons of the deep, but like demons confined to simple threats +and forbidden to destroy. I am led to attribute these frequent escapes +to the only natural cause which can account for such effect. --I +must suppose the ship to be within the influence of some strong +current, or impetuous under-tow. + + I have seen the captain face to face, and in his own cabin --but, as +I expected, he paid me no attention. Although in his appearance +there is, to a casual observer, nothing which might bespeak him more +or less than man-still a feeling of irrepressible reverence and awe +mingled with the sensation of wonder with which I regarded him. In +stature he is nearly my own height; that is, about five feet eight +inches. He is of a well-knit and compact frame of body, neither robust +nor remarkably otherwise. But it is the singularity of the +expression which reigns upon the face --it is the intense, the +wonderful, the thrilling evidence of old age, so utter, so extreme, +which excites within my spirit a sense --a sentiment ineffable. His +forehead, although little wrinkled, seems to bear upon it the stamp of +a myriad of years. --His gray hairs are records of the past, and his +grayer eyes are Sybils of the future. The cabin floor was thickly +strewn with strange, iron-clasped folios, and mouldering instruments +of science, and obsolete long-forgotten charts. His head was bowed +down upon his hands, and he pored, with a fiery unquiet eye, over a +paper which I took to be a commission, and which, at all events, +bore the signature of a monarch. He muttered to himself, as did the +first seaman whom I saw in the hold, some low peevish syllables of a +foreign tongue, and although the speaker was close at my elbow, his +voice seemed to reach my ears from the distance of a mile. + + The ship and all in it are imbued with the spirit of Eld. The crew +glide to and fro like the ghosts of buried centuries; their eyes +have an eager and uneasy meaning; and when their fingers fall +athwart my path in the wild glare of the battle-lanterns, I feel as +I have never felt before, although I have been all my life a dealer in +antiquities, and have imbibed the shadows of fallen columns at Balbec, +and Tadmor, and Persepolis, until my very soul has become a ruin. + + When I look around me I feel ashamed of my former apprehensions. +If I trembled at the blast which has hitherto attended us, shall I not +stand aghast at a warring of wind and ocean, to convey any idea of +which the words tornado and simoom are trivial and ineffective? All in +the immediate vicinity of the ship is the blackness of eternal +night, and a chaos of foamless water; but, about a league on either +side of us, may be seen, indistinctly and at intervals, stupendous +ramparts of ice, towering away into the desolate sky, and looking like +the walls of the universe. + + As I imagined, the ship proves to be in a current; if that +appellation can properly be given to a tide which, howling and +shrieking by the white ice, thunders on to the southward with a +velocity like the headlong dashing of a cataract. + + To conceive the horror of my sensations is, I presume, utterly +impossible; yet a curiosity to penetrate the mysteries of these +awful regions, predominates even over my despair, and will reconcile +me to the most hideous aspect of death. It is evident that we are +hurrying onwards to some exciting knowledge --some +never-to-be-imparted secret, whose attainment is destruction. +Perhaps this current leads us to the southern pole itself. It must +be confessed that a supposition apparently so wild has every +probability in its favor. + + The crew pace the deck with unquiet and tremulous step; but there is +upon their countenances an expression more of the eagerness of hope +than of the apathy of despair. + + In the meantime the wind is still in our poop, and, as we carry a +crowd of canvas, the ship is at times lifted bodily from out the sea +--Oh, horror upon horror! the ice opens suddenly to the right, and +to the left, and we are whirling dizzily, in immense concentric +circles, round and round the borders of a gigantic amphitheatre, the +summit of whose walls is lost in the darkness and the distance. But +little time will be left me to ponder upon my destiny --the circles +rapidly grow small --we are plunging madly within the grasp of the +whirlpool --and amid a roaring, and bellowing, and thundering of ocean +and of tempest, the ship is quivering, oh God! and --going down. + + NOTE.--The "MS. Found in a Bottle," was originally published in 1831 +[1833], and it was not until many years afterwards that I became +acquainted with the maps of Mercator, in which the ocean is +represented as rushing, by four mouths, into the (northern) Polar +Gulf, to be absorbed into the bowels of the earth; the Pole itself +being represented by a black rock, towering to a prodigious height. + + -THE END- +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-murders-693.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-murders-693.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..adc26736 --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-murders-693.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1375 @@ + 1841 + + THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE + + by Edgar Allan Poe + + THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE + +What song the Syrens sang, or what name Achilles assumed when he hid +himself among women, although puzzling questions are not beyond all +conjecture. --SIR THOMAS BROWNE, Urn-Burial. + + THE mental features discoursed of as the analytical, are, in +themselves, but little susceptible of analysis. We appreciate them +only in their effects. We know of them, among other things, that +they are always to their possessor, when inordinately possessed, a +source of the liveliest enjoyment. As the strong man exults in his +physical ability, delighting in such exercises as call his muscles +into action, so glories the analyst in that moral activity which +disentangles. He derives pleasure from even the most trivial +occupations bringing his talents into play. He is fond of enigmas, +of conundrums, of hieroglyphics; exhibiting in his solutions of each a +degree of acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension +preternatural. His results, brought about by the very soul and essence +of method, have, in truth, the whole air of intuition. The faculty +of re-solution is possibly much invigorated by mathematical study, and +especially by that highest branch of it which, unjustly, and merely on +account of its retrograde operations, has been called, as if par +excellence, analysis. Yet to calculate is not in itself to analyze. +A chess-player, for example, does the one without effort at the other. +It follows that the game of chess, in its effects upon mental +character, is greatly misunderstood. I am not now writing a +treatise, but simply prefacing a somewhat peculiar narrative by +observations very much at random; I will, therefore, take occasion +to assert that the higher powers of the reflective intellect are +more decidedly and more usefully tasked by the unostentatious game +of draughts than by all the elaborate frivolity of chess. In this +latter, where the pieces have different and bizarre motions, with +various and variable values, what is only complex is mistaken (a not +unusual error) for what is profound. The attention is here called +powerfully into play. If it flag for an instant, an oversight is +committed, resulting in injury or defeat. The possible moves being not +only manifold but involute, the chances of such oversights are +multiplied; and in nine cases out of ten it is the more +concentrative rather than the more acute player who conquers. In +draughts, on the contrary, where the moves are unique and have but +little variation, the probabilities of inadvertence are diminished, +and the mere attention being left comparatively what advantages are +obtained by either party are obtained by superior acumen. To be less +abstract --Let us suppose a game of draughts where the pieces are +reduced to four kings, and where, of course, no oversight is to be +expected. It is obvious that here the victory can be decided (the +players being at all equal) only by some recherche movement, the +result of some strong exertion of the intellect. Deprived of +ordinary resources, the analyst throws himself into the spirit of +his opponent, identifies himself therewith, and not unfrequently +sees thus, at a glance, the sole methods (sometimes indeed absurdly +simple ones) by which he may seduce into error or hurry into +miscalculation. + + Whist has long been noted for its influence upon what is termed +the calculating power; and men of the highest order of intellect +have been known to take an apparently unaccountable delight in it, +while eschewing chess as frivolous. Beyond doubt there is nothing of a +similar nature so greatly tasking the faculty of analysis. The best +chess-player in Christendom may be little more than the best player of +chess; but proficiency in whist implies capacity for success in all +these more important undertakings where mind struggles with mind. When +I say proficiency, I mean that perfection in the game which includes a +comprehension of all the sources whence legitimate advantage may be +derived. These are not only manifold but multiform, and lie frequently +among recesses of thought altogether inaccessible to the ordinary +understanding. To observe attentively is to remember distinctly; +and, so far, the concentrative chess-player will do very well at +whist; while the rules of Hoyle (themselves based upon the mere +mechanism of the game) are sufficiently and generally +comprehensible. Thus to have a retentive memory, and to proceed by +"the book," are points commonly regarded as the sum total of good +playing. But it is in matters beyond the limits of mere rule that +the skill of the analyst is evinced. He makes, in silence, a host of +observations and inferences. So, perhaps, do his companions; and the +difference in the extent of the information obtained, lies not so much +in the validity of the inference as in the quality of the observation. +The necessary knowledge is that of what to observe. Our player +confines himself not at all; nor, because the game is the object, does +he reject deductions from things external to the game. He examines the +countenance of his partner, comparing it carefully with that of each +of his opponents. He considers the mode of assorting the cards in each +hand; often counting trump by trump, and honor by honor, through the +glances bestowed by their holders upon each. He notes every +variation of face as the play progresses, gathering a fund of +thought from the differences in the expression of certainty, of +surprise, of triumph, or chagrin. From the manner of gathering up a +trick he judges whether the person taking it can make another in the +suit. He recognizes what is played through feint, by the air with +which it is thrown upon the table. A casual or inadvertent word; the +accidental dropping or turning of a card, with the accompanying +anxiety or carelessness in regard to its concealment; the counting +of the tricks, with the order of their arrangement; embarrassment, +hesitation, eagerness or trepidation --all afford, to his apparently +intuitive perception, indications of the true state of affairs. The +first two or three rounds having been played, he is in full possession +of the contents of each hand, and thenceforward puts down his cards +with as absolute a precision of purpose as if the rest of the party +had turned outward the faces of their own. + + The analytical power should not be confounded with simple ingenuity; +for while the analyst is necessarily ingenious, the ingenious man +often remarkably incapable of analysis. The constructive or +combining power, by which ingenuity is usually manifested, and which +the phrenologists (I believe erroneously) have assigned a separate +organ, supposing it a primitive faculty, has been so frequently seen +in those whose intellect bordered otherwise upon idiocy, as to have +attracted general observation among writers on morals. Between +ingenuity and the analytic ability there exists a difference far +greater, indeed, than that between the fancy and the imagination, +but of a character very strictly analogous. It will found, in fact, +that the ingenious are always fanciful, and the truly imaginative +never otherwise than analytic. + + The narrative which follows will appear to the reader somewhat in +the light of a commentary upon the propositions just advanced. + + Residing in Paris during the spring and part of the summer of +18--, I there became acquainted with a Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin. This +young gentleman was of an excellent --indeed of an illustrious family, +but, by a variety of untoward events, had been reduced to such poverty +that the energy of his character succumbed beneath it, and he ceased +to bestir himself in the world, or to care for the retrieval of his +fortunes. By courtesy of his creditors, there still remained in his +possession a small remnant of his patrimony; and, upon the income +arising from this, he managed, by means of a rigorous economy, to +procure the necessaries of life, without troubling himself about its +superfluities. Books, indeed, were his sole luxuries, and in Paris +these are easily obtained. + + Our first meeting was at an obscure library in the Rue Montmartre, +where the accident of our both being in search of the same very rare +and very remarkable volume, brought us into closer communion. We saw +each other again and again. I was deeply interested in the little +family history which he detailed to me with all that candor which a +Frenchman indulges whenever mere self is the theme. I was +astonished, too, at the vast extent of his reading; and, above all, +I felt my soul enkindled within me by the wild fervor, and the vivid +freshness of his imagination. Seeking in Paris the objects I then +sought, I felt that the society of such a man would be to me a +treasure beyond price; and this feeling I frankly confided to him. +It was at length arranged that we should live together during my +stay in the city; and as my worldly circumstances were somewhat less +embarrassed than his own, I was permitted to be at the expense of +renting, and furnishing in a style which suited the rather fantastic +gloom of our common temper, a time-eaten and grotesque mansion, long +deserted through superstitions into which we did not inquire, and +tottering to its fall in a retired and desolate portion of the +Faubourg St. Germain. + + Had the routine of our life at this place been known to the world, +we should have been regarded as madmen --although, perhaps, as +madmen of a harmless nature. Our seclusion was perfect. We admitted no +visitors. Indeed the locality of our retirement had been carefully +kept a secret from my own former associates; and it had been many +years since Dupin had ceased to know or be known in Paris. We +existed within ourselves alone. + + It was a freak of fancy in my friend (for what else shall I call +it?) to be enamored of the Night for her own sake; and into this +bizarrerie, as into all his others, I quietly fell; giving myself up +to his wild whims with a perfect abandon. The sable divinity would not +herself dwell with us always; but we could counterfeit her presence. +At the first dawn of the morning we closed all the massy shutters of +our old building; lighted a couple of tapers which, strongly perfumed, +threw out only the ghastliest and feeblest of rays. By the aid of +these we then busied our souls in dreams --reading, writing, or +conversing, until warned by the clock of the advent of the true +Darkness. Then we sallied forth into the streets, arm and arm, +continuing the topics of the day, or roaming far and wide until a late +hour, seeking, amid the wild lights and shadows of the populous +city, that infinity of mental excitement which quiet observation can +afford. + + At such times I could not help remarking and admiring (although from +his rich ideality I had been prepared to expect it) a peculiar +analytic ability in Dupin. He seemed, too, to take an eager delight in +its exercise --if not exactly in its display --and did not hesitate to +confess the pleasure thus derived. He boasted to me, with a low +chuckling laugh, that most men, in respect to himself, wore windows in +their bosoms, and was wont to follow up such assertions by direct +and very startling proofs of his intimate knowledge of my own. His +manner at these moments was frigid and abstract; his eyes were +vacant in expression; while his voice, usually a rich tenor, rose into +a treble which would have sounded petulantly but for the +deliberateness and entire distinctness of the enunciation. Observing +him in these moods, I often dwelt meditatively upon the old philosophy +of the Bi-Part Soul, and amused myself with the fancy of a double +Dupin --the creative and the resolvent. + + Let it not be supposed, from what I have just said, that I am +detailing any mystery, or penning any romance. What I have described +in the Frenchman, was merely the result of an excited, or perhaps of a +diseased intelligence. But of the character of his remarks at the +periods in question an example will best convey the idea. + + We were strolling one night down a long dirty street, in the +vicinity of the Palais Royal. Being both, apparently, occupied with +thought, neither of us had spoken a syllable for fifteen minutes at +least. All at once Dupin broke forth with these words:- + + "He is a very little fellow, that's true, and would do better for +the Theatre des Varietes." + + "There can be no doubt of that," I replied unwittingly, and not at +first observing (so much had I been absorbed in reflection) the +extraordinary manner in which the speaker had chimed in with my +meditations. In an instant afterward I recollected myself, and my +astonishment was profound. + + "Dupin," said I, gravely, "this is beyond my comprehension. I do not +hesitate to say that I am amazed, and can scarcely credit my senses. +How was it possible you should know I was thinking of --?" Here I +paused, to ascertain beyond a doubt whether he really knew of whom I +thought. + + --"of Chantilly," said he, "why do you pause? You were remarking +to yourself that his diminutive figure unfitted him for tragedy." + + This was precisely what had formed the subject of my reflections. +Chantilly was a quondam cobbler of the Rue St. Denis, who, becoming +stage-mad, had attempted the role of Xerxes, in Crebillon's tragedy so +called, and been notoriously Pasquinaded for his pains. + + "Tell me, for Heaven's sake," I exclaimed, "the method --if method +there is --by which you have been enabled to fathom my soul in this +matter." In fact I was even more startled than I would have been +willing to express. + + "It was the fruiterer," replied my friend, "who brought you to the +conclusion that the mender of soles was not of sufficient height for +Xerxes et id genus omne." + + "The fruiterer! --you astonish me --I know no fruiterer +whomsoever." + + "The man who ran up against you as we entered the street --it may +have been fifteen minutes ago." + + I now remembered that, in fact, a fruiterer, carrying upon his +head a large basket of apples, had nearly thrown me down, by accident, +as we passed from the Rue C-- into the thoroughfare where we stood; but +what this had to do with Chantilly I could not possibly understand. + + There was not a particle of charlatanerie about Dupin. "I will +explain," he said, "and that you may comprehend all clearly, we will +explain," he said, "and that you may comprehend all clearly, we will +first retrace the course of your meditations, from the moment in which +I spoke to you until that of the rencontre with the fruiterer in +question. The larger links of the chain run thus --Chantilly, Orion, +Dr. Nichols, Epicurus, Stereotomy, the street stones, the fruiterer." + + There are few persons who have not, at some period of their lives, +amused themselves in retracing the steps by which particular +conclusions of their own minds have been attained. The occupation is +often full of interest; and he who attempts it for the first time is +astonished by the apparently illimitable distance and incoherence +between the starting-point and the goal. What, then, must have been my +amazement when I heard the Frenchman speak what he had just spoken, +and when I could not help acknowledging that he had spoken the +truth. He continued: + + "We had been talking of horses, if I remember aright, just before +leaving the Rue C--. This was the last subject we discussed. As we +crossed into this street, a fruiterer, with a large basket upon his +head, brushing quickly past us, thrust you upon a pile of +paving-stones collected at a spot where the causeway is undergoing +repair. You stepped upon one of the loose fragments) slipped, slightly +strained your ankle, appeared vexed or sulky, muttered a few words, +turned to look at the pile, and then proceeded in silence. I was not +particularly attentive to what you did; but observation has become +with me, of late, a species of necessity. + + "You kept your eyes upon the ground --glancing, with a petulant +expression, at the holes and ruts in the pavement, (so that I saw +you were still thinking of the stones,) until we reached the little +alley called Lamartine, which has been paved, by way of experiment, +with the overlapping and riveted blocks. Here your countenance +brightened up, and, perceiving your lips move, I could not doubt +that you murmured the word 'stereotomy,' a term very affectedly +applied to this species of pavement. I knew that you could not say +to yourself 'stereotomy' without being brought to think of atomies, +and thus of the theories of Epicurus; and since, when we discussed +this subject not very long ago, I mentioned to you how singularly, yet +with how little notice, the vague guesses of that noble Greek had +met with confirmation in the late nebular cosmogony, I felt that you +could not avoid casting your eyes upward to the great nebula in Orion, +and I certainly expected that you would do so. You did look up; and +I was now assured that I had correctly followed your steps. But in +that bitter tirade upon Chantilly, which appeared in yesterday's +'Musee,' the satirist, making some disgraceful allusions to the +cobbler's change of name upon assuming the buskin, quoted a Latin line +about which we have often conversed. I mean the line + + Perdidit antiquum litera prima sonum. + +I had told you that this was in reference to Orion, formerly written +Urion; and, from certain pungencies connected with this explanation, I +was aware that you could not have forgotten it. It was clear, +therefore, that you would not fall to combine the ideas of Orion and +Chantilly. That you did combine them I say by the character of the +smile which passed over your lips. You thought of the poor cobbler's +immolation. So far, you had been stooping in your gait; but now I +saw you draw yourself up to your full height. I was then sure that you +reflected upon the diminutive figure of Chantilly. At this point I +interrupted your meditations to remark that as, in fact, he was a very +little fellow --that Chantilly --he would do better at the Theatre des +Varietes." + + Not long after this, we were looking over an evening edition of +the "Gazette des Tribunaux," when the following paragraphs arrested +our attention. + +"Extraordinary Murders. --This morning, about three o'clock, the +inhabitants of the Quartier St. Roch were aroused from sleep by a +succession of terrific shrieks, issuing, apparently, from the fourth +story of a house in the Rue Morgue, known to be in the sole +occupancy of one Madame L'Espanaye, and her daughter, Mademoiselle +Camille L'Espanaye. After some delay, occasioned by a fruitless +attempt to procure admission in the usual manner, the gateway was +broken in with a crowbar, and eight or ten of the neighbors entered, +accompanied by two gendarmes. By this time the cries had ceased; +but, as the party rushed up the first flight of stairs, two or more +rough voices, in angry contention, were distinguished, and seemed to +proceed from the upper part of the house. As the second landing was +reached, these sounds, also, had ceased, and everything remained +perfectly quiet. The party spread themselves, and hurried from room to +room. Upon arriving at a large back chamber in the fourth story, +(the door of which, being found locked, with the key inside, was +forced open,) a spectacle presented itself which struck every one +present not less with horror than with astonishment. + + "The apartment was in the wildest disorder --the furniture broken +and thrown about in all directions. There was only one bedstead; and +from this the bed had been removed, and thrown into the middle of +the floor. On a chair lay a razor, besmeared with blood. On the hearth +were two or three long and thick tresses of grey human hair, also +dabbled in blood, and seeming to have been pulled out by the roots. +Upon the floor were found four Napoleons, an ear-ring of topaz, +three large silver spoons, three smaller of metal d'Alger, and two +bags, containing nearly four thousand francs in gold. The drawers of a +bureau, which stood in one corner, were open, and had been, +apparently, rifled, although many articles still remained in them. A +small iron safe was discovered under the bed (not under the bedstead). +It was open, with the key still in the door. It had no contents beyond +a few old letters, and other papers of little consequence. + + "Of Madame L'Espanaye no traces were here seen; but an unusual +quantity of soot being observed in the fire-place, a search was made +in the chimney, and (horrible to relate!) the corpse of the +daughter, head downward, was dragged therefrom; it having been thus +forced up the narrow aperture for a considerable distance. The body +was quite warm. Upon examining it, many excoriations were perceived, +no doubt occasioned by the violence with which it had been thrust up +and disengaged. Upon the face were many severe scratches, and, upon +the throat, dark bruises, and deep indentations of finger nails, as if +the deceased had been throttled to death. + + "After a thorough investigation of every portion of the house, +without farther discovery, the party made its way into a small paved +yard in the rear of the building, where lay the corpse of the old +lady, with her throat so entirely cut that, upon an attempt to raise +her, the head fell off. The body, as well as the head, was fearfully +mutilated --the former so much so as scarcely to retain any +semblance of humanity. + + "To this horrible mystery there is not as yet, we believe, the +slightest clew." + + The next day's paper had these additional particulars. + + "The Tragedy in the Rue Morgue. Many individuals have been +examined in relation to this most extraordinary and frightful affair," +[The word 'affaire' has not yet, in France, that levity of import +which it conveys with us] "but nothing whatever has transpired to +throw light upon We give below all the material testimony elicited. + + "Pauline Dubourg, laundress, deposes that she has known both the +deceased for three years, having washed for them during that period. +The old lady and her daughter seemed on good terms-very affectionate +towards each other. They were excellent pay. Could not speak in regard +to their mode or means of living. Believed that Madame L. told +fortunes for a living. Was reputed to have money put by. Never met any +persons in the house when she called for the clothes or took them +home. Was sure that they had no servant in employ. There appeared to +be no furniture in any part of the building except in the fourth +story. + + "Pierre Moreau, tobacconist, deposes that he has been in the habit +of selling small quantities of tobacco and snuff to Madame +L'Espanaye for nearly four years. Was born in the neighborhood, and +has always resided there. The deceased and her daughter had occupied +the house in which the corpses were found, for more than six years. It +was formerly occupied by a jeweller, who under-let the upper rooms +to various persons. The house was the property of Madame L. She became +dissatisfied with the abuse of the premises by her tenant, and moved +into them herself, refusing to let any portion. The old lady was +childish. Witness had seen the daughter some five or six times +during the six years. The two lived an exceedingly retired life --were +reputed to have money. Had heard it said among the neighbors that +Madame L. told fortunes --did not believe it. Had never seen any +person enter the door except the old lady and her daughter, a porter +once or twice, and a physician some eight or ten times. + + "Many other persons, neighbors, gave evidence to the same effect. No +one was spoken of as frequenting the house. It was not known whether +there were any living connexions of Madame L. and her daughter. The +shutters of the front windows were seldom opened. Those in the rear +were always closed, with the exception of the large back room, +fourth story. The house was a good house --not very old. + + "Isidore Muset, gendarme, deposes that he was called to the house +about three o'clock in the morning, and found some twenty or thirty +persons at the gateway, endeavoring to gain admittance. Forced it +open, at length, with a bayonet --not with a crowbar. Had but little +difficulty in getting it open, on account of its being a double or +folding gate, and bolted neither at bottom nor top. The shrieks were +continued until the gate was forced --and then suddenly ceased. They +seemed to be screams of some person (or persons) in great agony --were +loud and drawn out, not short and quick. Witness led the way up +stairs. Upon reaching the first landing, heard two voices in loud +and angry contention-the one a gruff voice, the other much shriller +--a very strange voice. Could distinguish some words of the former, +which was that of a Frenchman. Was positive that it was not a +woman's voice. Could distinguish the words 'sacre' and 'diable.' The +shrill voice was that of a foreigner. Could not be sure whether it was +the voice of a man or of a woman. Could not make out what was said, +but believed the language to be Spanish. The state of the room and +of the bodies was described by this witness as we described them +yesterday. + + "Henri Duval, a neighbor, and by trade a silversmith, deposes that +he was one of the party who first entered the house. Corroborates +the testimony of Muset in general. As soon as they forced an entrance, +they reclosed the door, to keep out the crowd, which collected very +fast, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour. The shrill voice, +the witness thinks, was that of an Italian. Was certain it was not +French. Could not be sure that it was a man's voice. It might have +been a woman's. Was not acquainted with the Italian language. Could +not distinguish the words, but was convinced by the intonation that +the speaker was an Italian. Knew Madame L. and her daughter. Had +conversed with both frequently. Was sure that the shrill voice was not +that of either of the deceased. + + "--Odenheimer, restaurateur. This witness volunteered his testimony. +Not speaking French, was examined through an interpreter. Is a +native of Amsterdam. Was passing the house at the time of the shrieks. +They lasted for several minutes --probably ten. They were long and +loud --very awful and distressing. Was one of those who entered the +building. Corroborated the previous evidence in every respect but one. +Was sure that the shrill voice was that of a man --of a Frenchman. +Could not distinguish the words uttered. They were loud and quick +--unequal --spoken apparently in fear as well as in anger. The voice +was harsh --not so much shrill as harsh. Could not call it a shrill +voice. The gruff voice said repeatedly 'sacre,' 'diable' and once 'mon +Dieu.' + + "Jules Mignaud, banker, of the firm of Mignaud et Fils, Rue +Deloraine. Is the elder Mignaud. Madame L'Espanaye had some +property. Had opened an account with his baking house in the spring of +the year --(eight years previously). Made frequent deposits in small +sums. Had checked for nothing until the third day before her death, +when she took out in person the sum of 4000 francs. This sum was +paid in gold, and a clerk sent home with the money. + + "Adolphe Le Bon, clerk to Mignaud et Fils, deposes that on the day +in question, about noon, he accompanied Madame L'Espanaye to her +residence with the 4000 francs, put up in two bags. Upon the door +being opened, Mademoiselle L. appeared and took from his hands one +of the bags, while the old lady relieved him of the other. He then +bowed and departed. Did not see any person in the street at the +time. It is a bye-street --very lonely. + + William Bird, tailor, deposes that he was one of the party who +entered the house. Is an Englishman. Has lived in Paris two years. Was +one of the first to ascend the stairs. Heard the voices in contention. +The gruff voice was that of a Frenchman. Could make out several words, +but cannot now remember all. Heard distinctly 'sacre' and 'mon +Dieu.' There was a sound at the moment as if of several persons +struggling --a scraping and scuffling sound. The shrill voice was very +loud --louder than the gruff one. Is sure that it was not the voice of +an Englishman. Appeared to be that of a German. Might have been a +woman's voice. Does not understand German. + + "Four of the above-named witnesses, being recalled, deposed that the +door of the chamber in which was found the body of Mademoiselle L. was +locked on the inside when the party reached it. Every thing was +perfectly silent --no groans or noises of any kind. Upon forcing the +door no person was seen. The windows, both of the back and front room, +were down and firmly fastened from within. A door between the two +rooms was closed, but not locked. The door leading from the front room +into the passage was locked, with the key on the inside. A small +room in the front of the house, on the fourth story, at the head of +the passage, was open, the door being ajar. This room was crowded with +old beds, boxes, and so forth. These were carefully removed and +searched. There was not an inch of any portion of the house which +was not carefully searched. Sweeps were sent up and down the chimneys. +The house was a four story one, with garrets (mansardes). A +trap-door on the roof was nailed down very securely --did not appear +to have been opened for years. The time elapsing between the hearing +of the voices in contention and the breaking open of the room door, +was variously stated by the witnesses. Some made it as short as +three minutes --some as long as five. The door was opened with +difficulty. + + "Alfonzo Garcio, undertaker, deposes that he resides in the Rue +Morgue. Is a native of Spain. Was one of the party who entered the +house. Did not proceed up stairs. Is nervous, and was apprehensive +of the consequences of agitation. Heard the voices in contention. +The gruff voice was that of a Frenchman. Could not distinguish what +was said. The shrill voice was that of an Englishman --is sure of +this. Does not understand the English language, but judges by the +intonation. + + "Alberto Montani, confectioner, deposes that he was among the +first to ascend the stairs. Heard the voices in question. The gruff +voice was that of a Frenchman. Distinguished several words. The +speaker appeared to be expostulating. Could not make out the words +of the shrill voice. Spoke quick and unevenly. Thinks it the voice +of a Russian. Corroborates the general testimony. Is an Italian. Never +conversed with a native of Russia. + + "Several witnesses, recalled, here testified that the chimneys of +all the rooms on the fourth story were too narrow to admit the passage +of a human being. By 'sweeps' were meant cylindrical sweeping-brushes, +such as are employed by those who clean chimneys. These brushes were +passed up and down every flue in the house. There is no back passage +by which any one could have descended while the party proceeded up +stairs. The body of Mademoiselle L'Espanaye was so firmly wedged in +the chimney that it could not be got down until four or five of the +party united their strength. + + "Paul Dumas, physician, deposes that he was called to view the +bodies about day-break. They were both then lying on the sacking of +the bedstead in the chamber where Mademoiselle L. was found. The +corpse of the young lady was much bruised and excoriated. The fact +that it had been thrust up the chimney would sufficiently account +for these appearances. The throat was greatly chafed. There were +several deep scratches just below the chin, together with a series +of livid spots which were evidently the impression of fingers. The +face was fearfully discolored, and the eye-balls protruded. The tongue +had been partially bitten through. A large bruise was discovered +upon the pit of the stomach, produced, apparently, by the pressure +of a knee. In the opinion of M. Dumas, Mademoiselle L'Espanaye had +been throttled to death by some person or persons unknown. The +corpse of the mother was horribly mutilated. All the bones of the +right leg and arm were more or less shattered. The left tibia much +splintered, as well as all the ribs of the left side. Whole body +dreadfully bruised and discolored. It was not possible to say how +the injuries had been inflicted. A heavy club of wood, or a broad +bar of iron --a chair --any large, heavy, and obtuse weapon have +produced such results, if wielded by the hands of a very powerful man. +No woman could have inflicted the blows with any weapon. The head of +the deceased, when seen by witness, was entirely separated from the +body, and was also greatly shattered. The throat had evidently been +cut with some very sharp instrument --probably with a razor. + + "Alexandre Etienne, surgeon, was called with M. Dumas to view the +bodies. Corroborated the testimony, and the opinions of M. Dumas. + + "Nothing farther of importance was elicited, although several +other persons were examined. A murder so mysterious, and so perplexing +in all its particulars, was never before committed in Paris --if +indeed a murder has been committed at all. The police are entirely +at fault --an unusual occurrence in affairs of this nature. There is +not, however, the shadow of a clew apparent." + +The evening edition of the paper stated that the greatest excitement +continued in the Quartier St. Roch --that the premises in question had +been carefully re-searched, and fresh examinations of witnesses +instituted, but all to no purpose. A postscript, however mentioned +that Adolphe Le Bon had been arrested and imprisoned --although +nothing appeared to criminate him, beyond the facts already detailed. + + Dupin seemed singularly interested in the progress of this affair +--at least so I judged from his manner, for he made no comments. It +was only after the announcement that Le Bon had been imprisoned, +that he asked me my opinion respecting the murders. + + I could merely agree with all Paris in considering them an insoluble +mystery. I saw no means by which it would be possible to trace the +murderer. + + "We must not judge of the means," said Dupin, "by this shell of an +examination. The Parisian police, so much extolled for acumen, are +cunning, but no more. There is no method in their proceedings, +beyond the method of the moment. They make a vast parade of +measures; but, not unfrequently, these are so ill adapted to the +objects proposed, as to put us in mind of Monsieur Jourdain's +calling for his robe-de-chambre --pour mieux entendre la musique. +The results attained by them are not unfrequently surprising, but, for +the most part, are brought about by simple diligence and activity. +When these qualities are unavailing, their schemes fall. Vidocq, for +example, was a good guesser, and a persevering man. But, without +educated thought, he erred continually by the very intensity of his +investigations. He impaired his vision by holding the object too +close. He might see, perhaps, one or two points with unusual +clearness, but in so doing he, necessarily, lost sight of the matter +as a whole. Thus there is such a thing as being too profound. Truth is +not always in a well. In fact, as regards the more important +knowledge, I do believe that she is invariably superficial. The +depth lies in the valleys where we seek her, and not upon the +mountain-tops where she is found. The modes and sources of this kind +of error are well typified in the contemplation of the heavenly +bodies. To look at a star by glances --to view it in a side-long +way, by turning toward it the exterior portions of the retina (more +susceptible of feeble impressions of light than the interior), is to +behold the star distinctly --is to have the best appreciation of its +lustre --a lustre which grows dim just in proportion as we turn our +vision fully upon it. A greater number of rays actually fall upon +the eye in the latter case, but, in the former, there is the more +refined capacity for comprehension. By undue profundity we perplex and +enfeeble thought; and it is possible to make even Venus herself vanish +from the firmament by a scrutiny too sustained, too concentrated, or +too direct. + + "As for these murders, let us enter into some examinations for +ourselves, before we make up an opinion respecting them. An inquiry +will afford us amusement," (I thought this an odd term, so applied, +but said nothing) "and, besides, Le Bon once rendered me a service for +which I am not ungrateful. We will go and see the premises with our +own eyes. I know G--, the Prefect of Police, and shall have no +difficulty in obtaining the necessary permission." + + The permission was obtained, and we proceeded at once to the Rue +Morgue. This is one of those miserable thoroughfares which intervene +between the Rue Richelieu and the Rue St. Roch. It was late in the +afternoon when we reached it; as this quarter is at a great distance +from that in which we resided. The house was readily found; for +there were still many persons gazing up at the closed shutters, with +an objectless curiosity, from the opposite side of the way. It was +an ordinary Parisian house, with a gateway, on one side of which was a +glazed watch-box, with a sliding way, on one si panel in the window, +indicating a loge de concierge. Before going in we walked up the +street, turned down an alley, and then, again turning, passed in the +rear of the building-Dupin, meanwhile, examining the whole +neighborhood, as well as the house, with a minuteness of attention for +which I could see no possible object. + + Retracing our steps, we came again to the front of the dwelling, +rang, and, having shown our credentials, were admitted by the agents +in charge. We went up stairs --into the chamber where the body of +Mademoiselle L'Espanaye had been found, and where both the deceased +still lay. The disorders of the room had, as usual, been suffered to +exist. I saw nothing beyond what had been stated in the "Gazette des +Tribunaux." Dupin scrutinized every thing-not excepting the bodies +of the victims. We then went into the other rooms, and into the +yard; a gendarme accompanying us throughout. The examination +occupied us until dark, when we took our departure. On our way home my +companion stopped in for a moment at the office of one of the dally +papers. + + I have said that the whims of my friend were manifold, and that Fe +les menageais: --for this phrase there is no English equivalent. It +was his humor, now, to decline all conversation on the subject of +the murder, until about noon the next day. He then asked me, suddenly, +if I had observed any thing peculiar at the scene of the atrocity. + + There was something in his manner of emphasizing the word +"peculiar," which caused me to shudder, without knowing why. + + "No, nothing peculiar," I said; "nothing more, at least, than we +both saw stated in the paper." + + "The 'Gazette,'" he replied, "has not entered, I fear, into the +unusual horror of the thing. But dismiss the idle opinions of this +print. It appears to me that this mystery is considered insoluble, for +the very reason which should cause it to be regarded as easy of +solution --I mean for the outre character of its features. The +police are confounded by the seeming absence of motive --not for the +murder itself --but for the atrocity of the murder. They are +puzzled, too, by the seeming impossibility of reconciling the voices +heard in contention, with the facts that no one was discovered up +stairs but the assassinated Mademoiselle L'Espanaye, and that there +were no means of egress without the notice of the party ascending. The +wild disorder of the room; the corpse thrust, with the head +downward, up the chimney; the frightful mutilation of the body of +the old lady; these considerations with those just mentioned, and +others which I need not mention, have sufficed to paralyze the powers, +by putting completely at fault the boasted acumen, of the government +agents. They have fallen into the gross but common error of +confounding the unusual with the abstruse. But it is by these +deviations from the plane of the ordinary, that reason feels its +way, if at all, in its search for the true. In investigations such +as we are now pursuing, it should not be so much asked 'what has +occurred,' as 'what has occurred that has never occurred before.' In +fact, the facility with which I shall arrive, or have arrived, at +the solution of this mystery, is in the direct ratio of its apparent +insolubility in the eyes of the police." + + I stared at the speaker in mute astonishment. + + "I am now awaiting," continued he, looking toward the door of our +apartment --"I am now awaiting a person who, although perhaps not +the perpetrator of these butcheries, must have been in some measure +implicated in their perpetration. Of the worst portion of the crimes +committed, it is probable that he is innocent. I hope that I am +right in this supposition; for upon it I build my expectation of +reading the entire riddle. I look for the man here --in this room +--every moment. It is true that he may not arrive; but the probability +is that he will. Should he come, it will be necessary to detain him. +Here are pistols; and we both know how to use them when occasion +demands their use." + + I took the pistols, scarcely knowing what I did, or believing what I +heard, while Dupin went on, very much as if in a soliloquy. I have +already spoken of his abstract manner at such times. His discourse was +addressed to myself; but his voice, although by no means loud, had +that intonation which is commonly employed in speaking to some one +at a great distance. His eyes, vacant in expression, regarded only the +wall. + + "That the voices heard in contention," he said, "by the party upon +the stairs, were not the voices of the women themselves, was fully +proved by the evidence. This relieves us of all doubt upon the +question whether the old lady could have first destroyed the daughter, +and afterward have committed suicide. I speak of this point chiefly +for the sake of method; for the strength of Madame L'Espanaye would +have been utterly unequal to the task of thrusting her daughter's +corpse up the chimney as it was found; and the nature of the wounds +upon her own person entirely preclude the idea of self-destruction. +Murder, then, has been committed by some third party; and the voices +of this third party were those heard in contention. Let me now +advert --not to the whole testimony respecting these voices --but to +what was peculiar in that testimony. Did you observe anything peculiar +about it?" + + I remarked that, while all the witnesses agreed in supposing the +gruff voice to be that of a Frenchman, there was much disagreement +in regard to the shrill, or, as one individual termed it, the harsh +voice. + + "That was the evidence itself," said Dupin, "but it was not the +peculiarity of the evidence. You have observed nothing distinctive. +Yet there was something to be observed. The witnesses, as you +remark, agreed about the gruff voice; they were here unanimous. But in +regard to the shrill voice, the peculiarity is not that they disagreed +--but that, while an Italian, an Englishman, a Spaniard, a +Hollander, and a Frenchman attempted to describe it, each one spoke of +it as that of a foreigner. Each is sure that it was not the voice of +one of his own countrymen. Each likens it --not to the voice of an +individual of any nation with whose language he is conversant --but +the converse. The Frenchman supposes it the voice of a Spaniard, and +'might have distinguished some words had he been acquainted with the +Spanish.' The Dutchman maintains it to have been that of a +Frenchman; but we find it stated that 'not understanding French this +witness was examined through an interpreter.' The Englishman thinks it +the voice of a German, and 'does not understand German.' The +Spaniard 'is sure' that it was that of an Englishman, but 'judges by +the intonation' altogether, 'as he has no knowledge of the English.' +The Italian believes it the voice of a Russian, but 'has never +conversed with a native of Russia.' A second Frenchman differs, +moreover, with the first, and is positive that the voice was that of +an Italian; but, not being cognizant of that tongue, is, like the +Spaniard, 'convinced by the intonation.' Now, how strangely unusual +must that voice have really been, about which such testimony as this +could have been elicited! --in whose tones, even, denizens of the five +great divisions of Europe could recognise nothing familiar! You will +say that it might have been the voice of an Asiatic --of an African. +Neither Asiatics nor Africans abound in Paris; but, without denying +the inference, I will now merely call your attention to three +points. The voice is termed by one witness 'harsh rather than shrill.' +It is represented by two others to have been 'quick and unequal' No +words --no sounds resembling words --were by any witness mentioned +as distinguishable. + + "I know not," continued Dupin, "what impression I may have made, +so far, upon your own understanding; but I do not hesitate to say that +legitimate deductions even from this portion of the testimony --the +portion respecting the gruff and shrill voices --are in themselves +sufficient to engender a suspicion which should give direction to +all farther progress in the investigation of the mystery. I said +'legitimate deductions;' but my meaning is not thus fully expressed. I +designed to imply that the deductions are the sole proper ones, and +that the suspicion arises inevitably from them as the single result. +What the suspicion is, however, I will not say just yet. I merely wish +you to bear in mind that, with myself, it was sufficiently forcible to +give a definite form --a certain tendency --to my inquiries in the +chamber. + + "Let us now transport ourselves, in fancy, to this chamber. What +shall we first seek here? The means of egress employed by the +murderers. It is not too much to say that neither of us believe in +praeternatural events. Madame and Mademoiselle L'Espanaye were not +destroyed by spirits. The doers of the deed were material, and escaped +materially. Then how? Fortunately, there is but one mode of +reasoning upon the point, and that mode must lead us to a definite +decision. --Let us examine, each by each, the possible means of +egress. It is clear that the assassins were in the room where +Mademoiselle L'Espanaye was found, or at least in the room +adjoining, when the party ascended the stairs. It is then only from +these two apartments that we have to seek issues. The police have laid +bare the floors, the ceilings, and the masonry of the walls, in +every direction. No secret issues could have escaped their +vigilance. But, not trusting to their eyes, I examined with my own. +There were, then, no secret issues. Both doors leading from the +rooms into the passage were securely locked, with the keys inside. Let +us turn to the chimneys. These, although of ordinary width for some +eight or ten feet above the hearths, will not admit, throughout +their extent, the body of a large cat. The impossibility of egress, by +means already stated, being thus absolute, we are reduced to the +windows. Through those of the front room no one could have escaped +without notice from the crowd in the street. The murderers must have +passed, then, through those of the back room. Now, brought to this +conclusion in so unequivocal a manner as we are, it is not our part, +as reasoners, to reject it on account of apparent impossibilities. +It is only left for us to prove that these apparent +'impossibilities' are, in reality, not such. + + "There are two windows in the chamber. One of them is unobstructed +by furniture, and is wholly visible. The lower portion of the other is +hidden from view by the head of the unwieldy bedstead which is +thrust close up against it. The former was found securely fastened +from within. It resisted the utmost force of those who endeavored to +raise it. A large gimlet-hole had been pierced in its frame to the +left, and a very stout nail was found fitted therein, nearly to the +head. Upon examining the other window, a similar nail was seen +similarly fitted in it; and a vigorous attempt to raise this sash, +failed also. The police were now entirely satisfied that egress had +not been in these directions. And, therefore, it was thought a +matter of supererogation to withdraw the nails and open the windows. + + "My own examination was somewhat more particular, and was so for the +reason I have just given --because here it was, I knew, that all +apparent impossibilities must be proved to be not such in reality. + + "I proceeded to think thus --a posteriori. The murderers did +escape from one of these windows. This being so, they could not have +re-fastened the sashes from the inside, as they were found fastened; +--the consideration which put a stop, through its obviousness, to +the scrutiny of the police in this quarter. Yet the sashes were +fastened. They must, then, have the power of fastening themselves. +There was no escape from this conclusion. I stepped to the +unobstructed casement, withdrew the nail with some difficulty, and +attempted to raise the sash. It resisted all my efforts, as I had +anticipated. A concealed spring must, I now knew, exist; and this +corroboration of my idea convinced me that my premises, at least, were +correct, however mysterious still appeared the circumstances attending +the nails. A careful search soon brought to light the hidden spring. I +pressed it, and, satisfied with the discovery, forebore to upraise the +sash. + + "I now replaced the nail and regarded it attentively. A person +passing out through this window might have reclosed it, and the spring +would have caught --but the nail could not have been replaced. The +conclusion was plain, and again narrowed in the field of my +investigations. The assassins must have escaped through the other +window. Supposing, then, the springs upon each sash to be the same, as +was probable, there must be found a difference between the nails, or +at least between the modes of their fixture. Getting upon the +sacking of the bedstead, I looked over the headboard minutely at the +second casement. Passing my hand down behind the board, I readily +discovered and pressed the spring, which was, as I had supposed, +identical in character with its neighbor. I now looked at the nail. It +was as stout as the other, and apparently fitted in the same manner +--driven in nearly up to the head. + + "You will say that I was puzzled; but, if you think so, you must +have misunderstood the nature of the inductions. To use a sporting +phrase, I had not been once 'at fault.' The scent had never for an +instant been lost. There was no flaw in any link of the chain. I had +traced the secret to its ultimate result, --and that result was the +nail. It had, I say, in every respect, the appearance of its fellow in +the other window; but this fact was an absolute nullity (conclusive as +it might seem to be) when compared with the consideration that here, +at this point, terminated the clew. 'There must be something wrong,' I +said, 'about the nail.' I touched it; and the head, with about a +quarter of an inch of the shank, came off in my fingers. The rest of +the shank was in the gimlet-hole, where it had been broken off. The +fracture was an old one (for its edges were incrusted with rust), +and had apparently been accomplished by the blow of a hammer, which +had partially imbedded, in the top of the bottom sash, the head +portion of the nail. now carefully replaced this head portion in the +indentation whence I had taken it, and the resemblance to a perfect +nail was complete-the fissure was invisible. Pressing the spring, I +gently raised the sash for a few inches; the head went up with it, +remaining firm in its bed. I closed the window, and the semblance of +the whole nail was again perfect. + + "The riddle, so far, was now unriddled. The assassin had escaped +through the window which looked upon the bed. Dropping of its own +accord upon his exit (or perhaps purposely closed) it had become +fastened by the spring; and it was the retention of this spring +which had been mistaken by the police for that of the nail, +--farther inquiry being thus considered unnecessary. + + "The next question is that of the mode of descent. Upon this point I +had been satisfied in my walk with you around the building. About five +feet and a half from the casement in question there runs a +lightning-rod. From this rod it would have been impossible for any one +to reach the window itself, to say nothing of entering it. I observed, +however, that shutters of the fourth story were of the peculiar kind +called by Parisian carpenters ferrades --a kind rarely employed at the +present day, but frequently seen upon very old mansions at Lyons and +Bordeaux. They are in the form of an ordinary door, (a single, not a +folding door) except that the upper half is latticed or worked in open +trellis --thus affording an excellent hold for the hands. In the +present instance these shutters are fully three feet and a half broad. +When we saw them from the rear of the house, they were both about half +open --that is to say, they stood off at right angles from the wall. +It is probable that the police, as well as myself, examined the back +of the tenement; but, if so, in looking at these ferrades in the +line of their breadth (as they must have done), they did not +perceive this great breadth itself, or, at all events, failed to +take it into due consideration. In fact, having once satisfied +themselves that no egress could have been made in this quarter, they +would naturally bestow here a very cursory examination. It was clear +to me, however, that the shutter belonging to the window at the head +of the bed, would, if swung fully back to the wall, reach to within +two feet of the lightning-rod. It was also evident that, by exertion +of a very unusual degree of activity and courage, an entrance into the +window, from the rod, might have been thus effected. --By reaching +to the distance of two feet and a half (we now suppose the shutter +open to its whole extent) a robber might have taken a firm grasp +upon the trellis-work. Letting go, then, his hold upon the rod, +placing his feet securely against the wall, and springing boldly +from it, he might have swung the shutter so as to close it, and, if we +imagine the window open at the time, might have swung himself into the +room. + + "I wish you to bear especially in mind that I have spoken of a +very unusual degree of activity as requisite to success in so +hazardous and so difficult a feat. It is my design to show you, first, +that the thing might possibly have been accomplished: --but, +secondly and chiefly, I wish to impress upon your understanding the +very extraordinary --the almost praeternatural character of that +agility which could have accomplished it. + + "You will say, no doubt, using the language of the law, that 'to +make out my case' I should rather undervalue, than insist upon a +full estimation of the activity required in this matter. This may be +the practice in law, but it is not the usage of reason. My ultimate +object is only the truth. My immediate purpose is to lead you to place +in juxta-position that very unusual activity of which I have just +spoken, with that very peculiar shrill (or harsh) and unequal voice, +about whose nationality no two persons could be found to agree, and in +whose utterance no syllabification could be detected." + + At these words a vague and half-formed conception of the meaning +of Dupin flitted over my mind. I seemed to be upon the verge of +comprehension, without power to comprehend --as men, at times, find +themselves upon the brink of remembrance, without being able, in the +end, to remember. My friend went on with his discourse. + + "You will see," he said, "that I have shifted the question from +the mode of egress to that of ingress. It was my design to suggest +that both were effected in the same manner, at the same point. Let +us now revert to the interior of the room. Let us survey the +appearances here. The drawers of the bureau, it is said, had been +rifled, although many articles of apparel still remained within +them. The conclusion here is absurd. It is a mere guess --a very silly +one --and no more. How are we to know that the articles found in the +drawers were not all these drawers had originally contained? Madame +L'Espanaye and her daughter lived an exceedingly retired life --saw no +company --seldom went out --had little use for numerous changes of +habiliment. Those found were at least of as good quality as any likely +to be possessed by these ladies. If a thief had taken any, why did +he not take the best --why did he not take all? In a word, why did +he abandon four thousand francs in gold to encumber himself with a +bundle of linen? The gold was abandoned. Nearly the whole sum +mentioned by Monsieur Mignaud, the banker, was discovered, in bags, +upon the floor. I wish you, therefore, to discard from your thoughts +the blundering idea of motive, engendered in the brains of the +police by that portion of the evidence which speaks of money delivered +at the door of the house. Coincidences ten times as remarkable as this +(the delivery of the money, and murder committed within three days +upon the party receiving it), happen to all of us every hour of our +lives, without attracting even momentary notice. Coincidences, in +general, are great stumbling-blocks in the way of that class of +thinkers who have been educated to know nothing of the theory of +probabilities --that theory to which the most glorious objects of +human research are indebted for the most glorious of illustration. +In the present instance, had the gold been gone, the fact of its +delivery three days before would have formed something more than a +coincidence. It would have been corroborative of this idea of +motive. But, under the real circumstances of the case, if we are to +suppose gold the motive of this outrage, we must also imagine the +perpetrator so vacillating an idiot as to have abandoned his gold +and his motive together. + + "Keeping now steadily in mind the points to which I have drawn +your attention --that peculiar voice, that unusual agility, and that +startling absence of motive in a murder so singularly atrocious as +this --let us glance at the butchery itself. Here is a woman strangled +to death by manual strength, and thrust up a chimney, head downward. +Ordinary assassins employ no such modes of murder as this. Least of +all, do they thus dispose of the murdered. In the manner of +thrusting the corpse up the chimney, you will that there was something +excessively outre --something altogether irreconcilable with our +common notions of human action, even when we suppose the actors the +most depraved of men. Think, too, how great must have been that +strength which could have thrust the body up such an aperture so +forcibly that the united vigor of several persons was found barely +sufficient to drag it down! + + "Turn, now, to other indications of the employment of a vigor most +marvellous. On the hearth were thick tresses --very thick tresses --of +grey human hair. These had been torn out by the roots. You are aware +of the great force necessary in tearing thus from the head even twenty +or thirty hairs together. You saw the locks in question as well as +myself. Their roots (a hideous sight!) were clotted with fragments +of the flesh of the scalp --sure token of the prodigious power which +had been exerted in uprooting perhaps half a million of hairs at a +time. The throat of the old lady was not merely cut, but the head +absolutely severed from the body: the instrument was a mere razor. I +wish you also to look at the brutal ferocity of these deeds. Of the +bruises upon the body of Madame L'Espanaye I do not speak. Monsieur +Dumas, and his worthy coadjutor Monsieur Etienne, have pronounced that +they were inflicted by some obtuse instrument; and so far these +gentlemen are very correct. The obtuse instrument was clearly the +stone pavement in the yard, upon which the victim had fallen from +the window which looked in upon the bed. This idea, however simple +it may now seem, escaped the police for the same reason that the +breadth of the shutters escaped them --because, by the affair of the +nails, their perceptions had been hermetically sealed against the +possibility of the windows have ever been opened at all. + + If now, in addition to all these things, you have properly reflected +upon the odd disorder of the chamber, we have gone so far as to +combine the ideas of an agility astounding, a strength superhuman, a +ferocity brutal, a butchery without motive, a grotesquerie in horror +absolutely alien from humanity, and a voice foreign in tone to the +ears of men of many nations, and devoid of all distinct or +intelligible syllabification. What result, then, has ensued? What +impression have I made upon your fancy?" + + I felt a creeping of the flesh as Dupin asked me the question. "A +madman," I said, "has done this deed --some raving maniac, escaped +from a neighboring Maison de Sante." + + "In some respects," he replied, "your idea is not irrelevant. But +the voices of madmen, even in their wildest paroxysms, are never found +to tally with that peculiar voice heard upon the stairs. Madmen are of +some nation, and their language, however incoherent in its words, +has always the coherence of syllabification. Besides, the hair of a +madman is not such as I now hold in my hand. I disentangled this +little tuft from the rigidly clutched fingers of Madame L'Espanaye. +Tell me what you can make of it." + + "Dupin!" I said, completely unnerved; "this hair is most unusual +--this is no human hair." + + "I have not asserted that it is," said he; "but, before we decide +this point, I wish you to glance at the little sketch I have here +traced upon this paper. It is a fac-simile drawing of what has been +described in one portion of the testimony as 'dark bruises, and deep +indentations of finger nails,' upon the throat of Mademoiselle +L'Espanaye, and in another, (by Messrs. Dumas and Etienne,) as a +'series of livid spots, evidently the impression of fingers.' + + "You will perceive," continued my friend, spreading out the paper +upon the table before us, "that this drawing gives the idea of a +firm and fixed hold. There is no slipping apparent. Each finger has +retained --possibly until the death of the victim --the fearful +grasp by which it originally imbedded itself. Attempt, now, to place +all your fingers, at the same time, in the respective impressions as +you see them." + + I made the attempt in vain. + + "We are possibly not giving this matter a fair trial," he said. "The +paper is spread out upon a plane surface; but the human throat is +cylindrical. Here is a billet of wood, the circumference of which is +about that of the throat. Wrap the drawing around it, and try the +experiment again." + + I did so; but the difficulty was even more obvious than before. + + "This," I said, "is the mark of no human hand." + + "Read now," replied Dupin, "this passage from Cuvier." It was a +minute anatomical and generally descriptive account of the large +fulvous Ourang-Outang of the East Indian Islands. The gigantic +stature, the prodigious strength and activity, the wild ferocity, +and the imitative propensities of these mammalia are sufficiently well +known to all. I understood the full horrors of the murder at once. + + "The description of the digits," said I, as I made an end of +reading, "is in exact accordance with this drawing, I see that no +animal but an Ourang-Outang, of the species here mentioned, could have +impressed the indentations as you have traced them. This tuft of tawny +hair, too, is identical in character with that of the beast of Cuvier. +But I cannot possibly comprehend the particulars of this frightful +mystery. Besides, there were two voices heard in contention, and one +of them was unquestionably the voice of a Frenchman." + + True; and you will remember an expression attributed almost +unanimously, by the evidence, to this voice, --the expression, 'mon +Dieu!' This, under the circumstances, has been justly characterized by +one of the witnesses (Montani, the confectioner,) as an expression +of remonstrance or expostulation. Upon these two words, therefore, I +have mainly built my hopes of a full solution of the riddle. A +Frenchman was cognizant of the murder. It is possible --indeed it is +far more than probable --that he was innocent of all participation +in the bloody transactions which took place. The Ourang-Outang may +have escaped from him. He may have traced it to the chamber; but, +under the agitating circumstances which ensued, he could never have +re-captured it. It is still at large. I will not pursue these +guesses-for I have no right to call them more --since the shades of +reflection upon which they are based are scarcely of sufficient +depth to be appreciable by my own intellect, and since I could not +pretend to make them intelligible to the understanding of another. +We will call them guesses then, and speak of them as such. If the +Frenchman in question is indeed, as I suppose, innocent of this +atrocity, this advertisement, which I left last night, upon our return +home, at the office of 'Le Monde,' (a paper devoted to the shipping +interest, and much sought by sailors,) will bring him to our +residence." + + He handed me a paper, and I read thus: + +Caught --In the Bois de Boulogne, early in the morning of the --inst., +(the morning of the murder,) a very large, tawny Ourang-Outang of +the Bornese species. The owner, (who is ascertained to be a sailor, +belonging to a Maltese vessel,) may have the animal again, upon +identifying it satisfactorily, and paying a few charges arising from +its capture and keeping. Call at No.--, Rue --, Faubourg St. Germain +--au troisieme. + + "How was it possible," I asked, "that you should know the man to +be a sailor, and belonging to a Maltese vessel?" + + "I do not know it," said Dupin. "I am not sure of it. Here, however, +is a small piece of ribbon, which from its form, and from its greasy +appearance, has evidently been used in tying the hair in one of +those long queues of which sailors are so fond. Moreover, this knot is +one which few besides sailors can tie, and is peculiar to the Maltese. +I picked the ribbon up at the foot of the lightning-rod. It could +not have belonged to either of the deceased. Now if, after all, I am +wrong in my induction from this ribbon, that the Frenchman was a +sailor belonging to a Maltese vessel, still I can have done no harm in +saying what I did in the advertisement. If I am in error, he will +merely suppose that I have been misled by some circumstance into which +he will not take the trouble to inquire. But if I am right, a great +point is gained. Cognizant although innocent of the murder, the +Frenchman will naturally hesitate about replying to the +advertisement --about demanding the Ourang-Outang. He will reason +thus: --'I am innocent; I am poor; my Ourang-Outang is of great +value --to one in my circumstances a fortune of itself --why should +I lose it through idle apprehensions of danger? Here it is, within +my grasp. It was found in the Bois de Boulogne --at a vast distance +from the scene of that butchery. How can it ever be suspected that a +brute beast should have done the deed? The police are at fault +--they have failed to procure the slightest clew. Should they even +trace the animal, it would be impossible to prove me cognizant of +the murder, or to implicate me in guilt on account of that cognizance. +Above all, I am known. The advertiser designates me as the possessor +of the beast. I am not sure to what limit his knowledge may extend. +Should I avoid claiming a property of so great value, which it is +known that I possess, I will render the animal, at least, liable to +suspicion. It is not my policy to attract attention either to myself +or to the beast. I will answer the advertisement, get the +Ourang-Outang, and keep it close until this matter has blown over. + + At this moment we heard a step upon the stairs. + + "Be ready," said Dupin, "with your pistols, but neither use them nor +show them until at a signal from myself." + + The front door of the house had been left open, and the visitor +had entered, without ringing, and advanced several steps upon the +staircase. Now, however, he seemed to hesitate. Presently we heard him +descending. Dupin was moving quickly to the door, when we again +heard him coming up. He did not turn back a second time, but stepped +up with decision and rapped at the door of our chamber. + + "Come in," said Dupin, in a cheerful and hearty tone. + + A man entered. He was a sailor, evidently, --a tall, stout, and +muscular-looking person, with a certain dare-devil expression of +countenance, not altogether unprepossessing. His face, greatly +sunburnt, was more than half hidden by whisker and mustachio. He had +with him a huge oaken cudgel, but appeared to be otherwise unarmed. He +bowed awkwardly, and bade us "good evening," in French accents, which, +although somewhat Neufchatelish, were still sufficiently indicative of +a Parisian origin. + + Sit down, my friend," said Dupin. "I suppose you have called about +the Ourang-Outang. Upon my word, I almost envy you the possession of +him; a remarkably fine, and no doubt a very valuable animal. How old +do you suppose him to be?" + + The sailor drew a long breath, with the air of a man relieved of +some intolerable burden, and then replied, in an assured tone: + + "I have no way of telling --but he can't be more than four or five +years old. Have you got him here?" + + "Oh no; we had no conveniences for keeping him here. He is at a +livery stable in the Rue Dubourg, just by. You can get him in the +morning. Of course you are prepared to identify the property?" + + "To be sure I am, sir." + + "I shall be sorry to part with him," said Dupin. + + "I don't mean that you should be at all this trouble for nothing, +sir," said the man. "Couldn't expect it. Am very willing to pay a +reward for the finding of the animal --that is to say, any thing in +reason." + + "Well," replied my friend, "that is all very fair, to be sure. Let +me think! --what should I have? Oh! I will tell you. My reward shall +be this. You shall give me all the information in your power about +these murders in the Rue Morgue." + + Dupin said the last words in a very low tone, and very quietly. Just +as quietly, too, he walked toward the door, locked it, and put the key +in his pocket. He then drew a pistol from his bosom and placed it, +without the least flurry, upon the table. + + The sailor's face flushed up as if he were struggling with +suffocation. He started to his feet and grasped his cudgel; but the +next moment he fell back into his seat, trembling violently, and +with the countenance of death itself. He spoke not a word. I pitied +him from the bottom of my heart. + + "My friend," said Dupin, in a kind tone, "you are alarming +yourself unnecessarily --you are indeed. We mean you no harm whatever. +I pledge you the honor of a gentleman, and of a Frenchman, that we +intend you no injury. I perfectly well know that you are innocent of +the atrocities in the Rue Morgue. It will not do, however, to deny +that you are in some measure implicated in them. From what I have +already said, you must know that I have had means of information about +this matter --means of which you could never have dreamed. Now the +thing stands thus. You have done nothing which you could have +avoided --nothing, certainly, which renders you culpable. You were not +even guilty of robbery, when you might have robbed with impunity. +You have nothing to conceal. You have no reason for concealment. On +the other hand, you are bound by every principle of honor to confess +all you know. An innocent man is now imprisoned, charged with that +crime of which you can point out the perpetrator." + + The sailor had recovered his presence of mind, in a great measure, +while Dupin uttered these words; but his original boldness of +bearing was all gone. + + "So help me God," said he, after a brief pause, "I will tell you all +I know about this affair; --but I do not expect you to believe one +half I say --I would be a fool indeed if I did. Still, I am +innocent, and I will make a clean breast if I die for it." + + What he stated was, in substance, this. He had lately made a +voyage to the Indian Archipelago. A party, of which he formed one, +landed at Borneo, and passed into the interior on an excursion of +pleasure. Himself and a companion had captured the Ourang-Outang. This +companion dying, the animal fell into his own exclusive possession. +After great trouble, occasioned by the intractable ferocity of his +captive during the home voyage, he at length succeeded in lodging it +safely at his own residence in Paris, where, not to attract toward +himself the unpleasant curiosity of his neighbors, he kept it +carefully secluded, until such time as it should recover from a +wound in the foot, received from a splinter on board ship. His +ultimate design was to sell it. + + Returning home from some sailors' frolic on the night, or rather +in the morning of the murder, he found the beast occupying his own +bed-room, into which it had broken from a closet adjoining, where it +had been, as was thought, securely confined. Razor in hand, and +fully lathered, it was sitting before a looking-glass, attempting +the operation of shaving, in which it had no doubt previously +watched its master through the key-hole of the closet. Terrified at +the sight of so dangerous a weapon in the possession of an animal so +ferocious, and so well able to use it, the man, for some moments, +was at a loss what to do. He had been accustomed, however, to quiet +the creature, even in its fiercest moods, by the use of a whip, and to +this he now resorted. Upon sight of it, the Ourang-Outang sprang at +once through the door of the chamber, down the stairs, and thence, +through a window, unfortunately open, into the street. + + The Frenchman followed in despair; the ape, razor still in hand, +occasionally stopping to look back and gesticulate at its pursuer, +until the latter had nearly come up with it. It then again made off. +In this manner the chase continued for a long time. The streets were +profoundly quiet, as it was nearly three o'clock in the morning. In +passing down an alley in the rear of the Rue Morgue, the fugitive's +attention was arrested by a light gleaming from the open window of +Madame L'Espanaye's chamber, in the fourth story of her house. Rushing +to the building, it perceived the lightning-rod, clambered up with +inconceivable agility, grasped the shutter, which was thrown fully +back against the wall, and, by its means, swung itself directly upon +the headboard of the bed. The whole feat did not occupy a minute. +The shutter was kicked open again by the Ourang-Outang as it entered +the room. + + The sailor, in the meantime, was both rejoiced and perplexed. He had +strong hopes of now recapturing the brute, as it could scarcely escape +from the trap into which it had ventured, except by the rod, where +it might be intercepted as it came down. On the other hand, there +was much cause for anxiety as to what it might do in the house. This +latter reflection urged the man still to follow the fugitive. A +lightning-rod is ascended without difficulty, especially by a +sailor; but, when he had arrived as high as the window, which lay +far to his left, his career was stopped; the most that he could +accomplish was to reach over so as to obtain a glimpse of the interior +of the room. At this glimpse he nearly fell from his hold through +excess of horror. Now it was that those hideous shrieks arose upon the +night, which had startled from slumber the inmates of the Rue +Morgue. Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter, habited in their night +clothes, had apparently been arranging some papers in the iron chest +already mentioned, which had been wheeled into the middle of the room. +It was open, and its contents lay beside it on the floor. The +victims must have been sitting with their backs toward the window; +and, from the time elapsing between the ingress of the beast and the +screams, it seems probable that it was not immediately perceived. +The flapping-to of the shutter would naturally have been attributed to +the wind. + + As the sailor looked in, the gigantic animal had seized Madame +L'Espanaye by the hair, (which was loose, as she had been combing it,) +and was flourishing the razor about her face, in imitation of the +motions of a barber. The daughter lay prostrate and motionless; she +had swooned. The screams and struggles of the old lady (during which +the hair was torn from her head) had the effect of changing the +probably pacific purposes of the Ourang-Outang into those of wrath. +With one determined sweep of its muscular arm it nearly severed her +head from her body. The sight of blood inflamed its anger into +phrenzy. Gnashing its teeth, and flashing fire from its eves, it +flew upon the body of the girl, and imbedded its fearful talons in her +throat, retaining its grasp until she expired. Its wandering and +wild glances fell at this moment upon the head of the bed, over +which the face of its master, rigid with horror, was just discernible. +The fury of the beast, who no doubt bore still in mind the dreaded +whip, was instantly converted into fear. Conscious of having +deserved punishment, it seemed desirous of concealing its bloody +deeds, and skipped about the chamber in an agony of nervous agitation; +throwing down and breaking the furniture as it moved, and dragging the +bed from the bedstead. In conclusion, it seized first the corpse of +the daughter, and thrust it up the chimney, as it was found; then that +of the old lady, which it immediately hurled through the window +headlong. + + As the ape approached the casement with its mutilated burden, the +sailor shrank aghast to the rod, and, rather gliding than clambering +down it, hurried at once home --dreading the consequences of the +butchery, and gladly abandoning, in his terror, all solicitude about +the fate of the Ourang-Outang. The words heard by the party upon the +staircase were the Frenchman's exclamations of horror and affright, +commingled with the fiendish jabberings of the brute. + + I have scarcely anything to add. The Ourang-Outang must have escaped +from the chamber, by the rod, just before the breaking of the door. It +must have closed the window as it passed through it. It was +subsequently caught by the owner himself, who obtained for it a very +large sum at the Jardin des Plantes. Le Bon was instantly released, +upon our narration of the circumstances (with some comments from +Dupin) at the bureau of the Prefect of Police. This functionary, +however well disposed to my friend, could not altogether conceal his +chagrin at the turn which affairs had taken, and was fain to indulge +in a sarcasm or two, about the propriety of every person minding his +own business. + + "Let them talk," said Dupin, who had not thought it necessary to +reply. "Let him discourse; it will ease his conscience. I am satisfied +with having defeated him in his own castle. Nevertheless, that he +failed in the solution of this mystery, is by no means that matter for +wonder which he supposes it; for, in truth, our friend the Prefect +is somewhat too cunning to be profound. In his wisdom is no stamen. It +is all head and no body, like the pictures of the Goddess Laverna, +--or, at best, all head and shoulders, like a codfish. But he is a +good creature after all. I like him especially for one master stroke +of cant, by which he has attained his reputation for ingenuity. I mean +the way he has 'de nier ce qui est, et d'expliquer ce qui n'est +pas.'"* + + * Rousseau, Nouvelle Heloise. + + -THE END- +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-mystery-694.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-mystery-694.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..7598efd9 --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-mystery-694.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1910 @@ + 1850 + + THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET + + A Sequel to "The Murder in the Rue Morgue" + + by Edgar Allan Poe +INTRODUCTION + + There are ideal series of events which run parallel with the real +ones. They rarely coincide. Men and circumstances generally modify the +ideal train of events, so that it seems imperfect, and its +consequences are equally imperfect. Thus with the Reformation; instead +of Protestantism came Lutheranism. + + Novalis. Moral Ansichten. + + Upon the original publication of "Marie Roget," the footnotes now +appended were considered unnecessary; but the lapse of several years +since the tragedy upon which the tale is based, renders it expedient +to give them, and also to say a few words in explanation of the +general design. A young girl, Mary Cecilia Rogers, was murdered in the +vicinity of New York; and although her death occasioned an intense and +long-enduring excitement, the mystery attending it had remained +unsolved at the period when the present paper was written and +published (November, 1842). Herein, under pretence of relating the +fate of a Parisian grisette, the author has followed, in minute +detail, the essential, while merely paralleling the inessential, facts +of the real murder of Mary Rogers. Thus all argument founded upon +the fiction is applicable to the truth: and the investigation of the +truth was the object. + + The "Mystery of Marie Roget" was composed at a distance from the +scene of the atrocity, and with no other means of investigation than +the newspapers afforded. Thus much escaped the writer of which he +could have availed himself had he been upon the spot and visited the +localities. It may not be improper to record, nevertheless, that the +confessions of two persons (one of them the Madame Deluc of the +narrative), made, at different periods, long subsequent to the +publication, confirmed, in full, not only the general conclusion, +but absolutely all the chief hypothetical details by which that +conclusion was attained. + + THERE ARE few persons, even among the calmest thinkers, who have not +occasionally been startled into a vague yet thrilling half-credence in +the supernatural, by coincidences of so seemingly marvellous a +character that, as mere coincidences, the intellect has been unable to +receive them. Such sentiments- for the half-credences of which I speak +have never the full force of thought- such sentiments are seldom +thoroughly stifled unless by reference to the doctrine of chance, +or, as it is technically termed, the Calculus of Probabilities. Now +this Calculus is, in its essence, purely mathematical; and thus we +have the anomaly of the most rigidly exact in science applied to the +shadow and spirituality of the most intangible in speculation. + + The extraordinary details which I am now called upon to make public, +will be found to form, as regards sequence of time, the primary branch +of a series of scarcely intelligible coincidences, whose secondary +or concluding branch will be recognized by all readers in the late +murder of MARY CECILIA ROGERS, at New York. + + When, in an article entitled "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," I +endeavored, about a year ago, to depict some very remarkable +features in the mental character of my friend, the Chevalier C. +Auguste Dupin, it did not occur to me that I should ever resume the +subject. This depicting of character constituted my design; and this +design was thoroughly fulfilled in the wild train of circumstances +brought to instance Dupin's idiosyncrasy. I might have adduced other +examples, but I should have proven no more. Late events, however, in +their surprising development, have startled me into some farther +details, which will carry with them the air of extorted confession. +Hearing what I have lately heard, it would be indeed strange should +I remain silent in regard to what I both heard and saw so long ago. + + Upon the winding up of the tragedy involved in the deaths of +Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter, the Chevalier dismissed the affair +at once from his attention, and relapsed into his old habits of +moody revery. Prone, at all times, to abstraction, I readily fell in +with his humor; and continuing to occupy our chambers in the +Faubourg Saint Germain, we gave the Future to the winds, and slumbered +tranquilly in the Present, weaving the dull world around us into +dreams. + + But these dreams were not altogether uninterrupted. It may readily +be supposed that the part played by my friend, in the drama at the Rue +Morgue had not failed of its impression upon the fancies of the +Parisian police. With its emissaries, the name of Dupin had grown into +a household word. The simple character of those inductions by which he +had disentangled the mystery never having been explained even to the +Prefect, or to any other individual than myself, of course it is not +surprising that the affair was regarded as little less than +miraculous, or that the Chevalier's analytical abilities acquired +for him the credit of intuition. His frankness would have led him to +disabuse every inquirer of such prejudice; but his indolent humor +forbade all further agitation of a topic whose interest to himself had +long ceased. It thus happened that he found himself the cynosure of +the political eyes; and the cases were not few in which attempt was +made to engage his services at the Prefecture. One of the most +remarkable instances was that of the murder of a young girl named +Marie Roget. + + This event occurred about two years after the atrocity in the Rue +Morgue. Marie, whose Christian and family name will at once arrest +attention from their resemblance to those of the unfortunate +"cigar-girl" was the only daughter of the widow Estelle Roget. The +father had died during the child's infancy, and from the period of his +death, until within eighteen months before the assassination which +forms the subject of our narrative, the mother and daughter had +dwelt together in the Rue Pavee Saint Andree;* Madame there keeping +a pension, assisted by Marie. Affairs went on thus until the latter +had attained her twenty-second year, when her great beauty attracted +the notice of a perfumer, who occupied one of the shops in the +basement of the Palais Royal, and whose custom lay, chiefly among +the desperate adventurers infesting that neighborhood. Monsieur Le +Blanc*(2) was not unaware of the advantages to be derived from the +attendance of the fair Marie in his perfumery; and his liberal +proposals were accepted eagerly by the girl, although with somewhat +more of hesitation by Madame. + + * Nassau Street + + *(2) Anderson + + The anticipations of the shopkeeper were realized, and his rooms +soon became notorious through the charms of the sprightly grisette. +She had been in his employ about a year, when her admirers were thrown +into confusion by her sudden disappearance from the shop. Monsieur +Le Blanc was unable to account for her absence, and Madame Roget was +distracted with anxiety and terror. The public papers immediately took +up the theme, and the police were upon the point of making serious +investigations, when, one fine morning, after the lapse of a week, +Marie, in good health, but with a somewhat saddened air, made her +re-appearance at her usual counter in the perfumery. All inquiry, +except that of a private character, was of course, immediately hushed. +Monsieur Le Blanc professed total ignorance, as before. Marie, with +Madame, replied to all questions, that the last week had been spent at +the house of a relation in the country. Thus the affair died away, and +was generally forgotten; for the girl, ostensibly to relieve herself +from the impertinence of curiosity soon bade a final adieu to the +perfumer, and sought the shelter of her mother's residence in the +Rue Pavee Saint Andree. + + It was about five months after this return home, that her friends +were alarmed by her sudden disappearance for the second time. Three +days elapsed, and nothing was heard of her. On the fourth her corpse +was found floating in the Seine* near the shore which is opposite +the Quartier of the Rue Saint Andre, and at a point not very far +distant from the secluded neighborhood of the Barriere du Roule.*(2) + + * The Hudson + + *(2) Weehawken + + The atrocity of this murder (for it was at once evident that +murder had been committed), the youth and beauty of the victim, and, +above all her previous notoriety, conspired to produce intense +excitement in the minds of the sensitive Parisians. I can call to mind +no similar occurrence producing so general and so intense an effect. +For several weeks, in the discussion of this one absorbing theme, even +the momentous political topics of the day were forgotten. The +Prefect made unusual exertions; and the powers of the whole Parisian +police were, of course, tasked to the utmost extent. + + Upon the first discovery of the corpse, it was not supposed that the +murderer would be able to elude, for more than a very brief period, +the inquisition which was immediately set on foot. It was not until +the expiration of a week that it was deemed necessary to offer a +reward; and even then this reward was limited to a thousand francs. In +the meantime the investigation proceeded with vigor, if not always +with judgment, and numerous individuals were examined to no purpose; +while, owing to the continual absence of all clew to the mystery, +the popular excitement greatly increased. At the end of the tenth +day it was thought advisable to double the sum originally proposed; +and, at length, the second week having elapsed without leading to +any discoveries, and the prejudice which always exists in Paris +against the Police having given vent to itself in several serious +emeutes, the Prefect took it upon himself to offer the sum of twenty +thousand francs "for the conviction of the assassin," or, if more than +one should prove to have been implicated, "for the conviction of any +one of the assassins." In the proclamation setting forth this +reward, a full pardon was promised to any accomplice who should come +forward in evidence against his fellow; and to the whole was appended, +wherever it appeared, the private placard of a committee of +citizens, offering ten thousand francs, in addition to the amount +proposed by the Prefecture. The entire reward thus stood at no less +than thirty thousand francs, which will be regarded as an +extraordinary sum when we consider the humble condition of the girl, +and the great frequency, in large cities, of such atrocities as the +one described. + + No one doubted now that the mystery of this murder would be +immediately brought to light. But although, in one or two instances, +arrests were made which promised elucidation, yet nothing was elicited +which could implicate the parties suspected; and they were +discharged forthwith. Strange as it may appear, the third week from +the discovery of the body had passed, and passed without any light +being thrown upon the subject, before even a rumor of the events which +had so agitated the public mind reached the ears of Dupin and +myself. Engaged in researches which had absorbed our whole +attention, it had been nearly a month since either of us had gone +abroad, or received a visitor, or more than glanced at the leading +political articles in one of the daily papers. The first +intelligence of the murder was brought us by G--, in person. He called +upon us early in the afternoon of the thirteenth of July, 18-, and +remained with us until late in the night. He had been piqued by the +failure of all his endeavors to ferret out the assassins. His +reputation- so he said with a peculiarly Parisian air- was at stake. +Even his honor was concerned. The eyes of the public were upon him; +and there was really no sacrifice which he would not be willing to +make for the development of the mystery. He concluded a somewhat droll +speech with a compliment upon what he was pleased to term the tact +of Dupin, and made him a direct and certainly a liberal proposition, +the precise nature of which I do not feel myself at liberty to +disclose, but which has no bearing upon the proper subject of my +narrative. + + The compliment my friend rebutted as best he could, but the +proposition he accepted at once, although its advantages were +altogether provisional. This point being settled, the Prefect broke +forth at once into explanations of his own views, interspersing them +with long comments upon the evidence; of which latter we were not +yet in possession. He discoursed much and, beyond doubt, learnedly; +while I hazarded an occasional suggestion as the night wore drowsily +away. Dupin, sitting steadily in his accustomed armchair, was the +embodiment of respectful attention. He wore spectacles, during the +whole interview; and an occasional glance beneath their green +glasses sufficed to convince me that he slept not the less soundly, +because silently, throughout the seven or eight leaden-footed hours +which immediately preceded the departure of the Prefect. + + In the morning, I procured, at the Prefecture, a full report of +all the evidence elicited, and, at the various newspaper offices, a +copy of every paper in which, from first to last, had been published +any decisive information in regard to this sad affair. Freed from +all that was positively disproved, this mass of information stood +thus: + + Marie Roget left the residence of her mother, in the Rue Pavee St. +Andree, about nine o'clock in the morning of Sunday, June the twenty +second, 18-. In going out, she gave notice to a Monsieur Jacques St. +Eustache,* and to him only, of her intention to spend the day with +an aunt, who resided in the Rue des Dromes. The Rue des Dromes is a +short and narrow but populous thoroughfare, not far from the banks +of the river, and at a distance of some two miles, in the most +direct course possible, from the pension of Madame Roget. St. Eustache +was the accepted suitor of Marie, and lodged, as well as took his +meals, at the pension. He was to have gone for his betrothed at +dusk, and to have escorted her home. In the afternoon, however, it +came on to rain heavily; and, supposing that she would remain all +night at her aunt's (as she had done under similar circumstances +before), he did not think it necessary to keep his promise. As night +drew on, Madame Roget (who was an infirm old lady, seventy years of +age) was heard to express a fear "that she should never see Marie +again;" but this observation attracted little attention at the time. + + * Payne + + On Monday it was ascertained that the girl had not been to the Rue +des Dromes; and when the day elapsed without tidings of her, a tardy +search was instituted at several points in the city and its +environs. It was not, however, until the fourth day from the period of +her disappearance that any thing satisfactory was ascertained +respecting her. On this day (Wednesday, the twenty-fifth of June) a +Monsieur Beauvais,* who, with a friend, had been making inquiries +for Marie near the Barriere du Roule, on the shore of the Seine +which is opposite the Rue Pavee St. Andree, was informed that a corpse +had just been towed ashore by some fishermen, who had found it +floating in the river. Upon seeing the body, Beauvais, after some +hesitation, identified it as that of the perfumery-girl. His friend +recognized it more promptly. + + * Crommelin + + The face was suffused with dark blood, some of which issued from the +mouth. No foam was seen, as in the case of the merely drowned. There +was no discoloration in the cellular tissue. About the throat were +bruises and impressions of fingers. The arms were bent over on the +chest, and were rigid. The right hand was clenched; the left partially +open. On the left wrist were two circular excoriations, apparently the +effect of ropes, or of a rope in more than one volution. A part of the +right wrist, also, was much chafed, as well as the back throughout its +extent, but more especially at the shoulder-blades. In bringing the +body to the shore the fishermen had attached to it a rope, but none of +the excorations had been effected by this. The flesh of the neck was +much swollen. There were no cuts apparent, or bruises which appeared +the effect of blows. A piece of lace was found tied so tightly +around the neck as to be hidden from sight; it was completely buried +in the flesh, and was fastened by a knot which lay just under the left +ear. This alone would have sufficed to produce death. The medical +testimony spoke confidently of the virtuous character of the deceased. +She had been subjected, it said, to brutal violence. The corpse was in +such condition when found, that there could have been no difficulty in +its recognition by friends. + + The dress was much torn and otherwise disordered. In the outer +garment, a slip, about a foot wide, had been torn upward from the +bottom hem to the waist, but not torn off. It was wound three times +around the waist, and secured by a sort of hitch in the back. The +dress immediately beneath the frock was of fine muslin; and from +this a slip eighteen inches wide had been torn entirely out-torn +very evenly and with great care. It was found around her neck, fitting +loosely, and secured with a hard knot. Over this muslin slip and the +slip of lace the strings of a bonnet were attached, the bonnet being +appended. The knot by which the strings of the bonnet were fastened +was not a lady's, but a slip or sailors knot. + + After the recognition of the corpse, it was not, as usual, taken +to the Morgue (this formality being superfluous), but hastily interred +not far from the spot at which it was brought ashore. Through the +exertions of Beauvais, the matter was industriously hushed up, as +far as possible; and several days had elapsed before any public +emotion resulted. A weekly paper,* however, at length took up the +theme; the corpse was disinterred, and a re-examination instituted; +but nothing was elicited beyond what has been already noted. The +clothes, however, were now submitted to the mother and friends of +the deceased, and fully identified as those worn by the girl upon +leaving home. + + * The New York Mercury. + + Meantime, the excitement increased hourly. Several individuals +were arrested and discharged. St. Eustache fell especially under +suspicion; and he failed, at first, to give an intelligible account of +his whereabouts during the Sunday on which Marie left home. +Subsequently, however, he submitted to Monsieur G--, affidavits, +accounting satisfactorily for every hour of the day in question. As +time passed and no discovery ensued, a thousand contradictory rumors +were circulated and journalists busied themselves in suggestions. +Among these, the one which attracted the most notice, was the idea +that Marie Roget still lived- that the corpse found in the Seine was +that of some other unfortunate. It will be proper that I submit to the +reader some passages which embody the suggestion alluded to. These +passages are literal translations from L'Etoile,* a paper conducted, +in general, with much ability. + + * The New York Brother Jonathon, edited by H. Hastings Weld, Esq. + + "Mademoiselle Roget left her mother's house on Sunday morning, +June the twenty-second, 18-, with the ostensible purpose of going to +see her aunt, or some other connection, in the Rue des Dromes. From +that hour, nobody is proved to have seen her. There is no trace or +tidings of her at all.... There has no person, whatever, come forward, +so far, who saw her at all in that day, after she left her mother's +door.... Now, though we have no evidence that Marie Roget was in the +land of the living after nine o'clock on Sunday, June the +twenty-second, we have proof that, up to that hour, she was alive. +On Wednesday noon, at twelve, a female body was discovered afloat on +the shore of the Barriere du Roule. This was, even if we presume +that Marie Roget was thrown into the river within three hours after +she left her mother's house, only three days from the time she left +her home- three days to an hour. But it is folly to suppose that the +murder, if murder was committed on her body, could have been +consummated soon enough to have enabled her murderers to throw the +body into the river before midnight. Those who are guilty of such +horrid crimes choose darkness rather than light... Thus we see that if +the body found in the river was that of Marie Roget it could only have +been in the water two and a half days, or three at the outside. All +experience has shown that drowned bodies, or bodies thrown into the +water immediately after death by violence, require from six to ten +days for sufficient decomposition to take place to bring them to the +top of the water. Even where a cannon is fired over a corpse, and it +rises before at least five or six days' immersion, it sinks again, +if left alone. Now, we ask, what was there in this case to cause a +departure from the ordinary course of nature?... If the body had +been kept in its mangled state on shore until Tuesday night some trace +would be found in shore of the murderers. It is a doubtful point, +also, whether the body would be so soon afloat, even were it thrown in +after having been dead two days. And, furthermore, it is exceedingly +improbable that any villains who had committed such a murder as is +here supposed, would have thrown the body in without weight to sink +it, when such a precaution could have so easily been taken." + + The editor here proceeds to argue that the body must have been in +the water "not three days merely, but, at least, five times three +days," because it was so far decomposed that Beauvais had great +difficulty in recognizing it. This latter point, however, was fully +disproved. I continue the translation: + + "What, then, are the facts on which M. Beauvais says that he had +no doubt the body was that of Marie Roget? He ripped up the gown +sleeve, and says he found marks which satisfied him of the identity. +The public generally supposed those marks to have consisted of some +description of scars. He rubbed the arm and found hair upon it- +something as indefinite, we think, as can readily be imagined- as +little conclusive as finding an arm in the sleeve. M. Beauvais did not +return that night, but sent word to Madame Roget, at seven o'clock, on +Wednesday evening, that an investigation was still in progress +respecting her daughter. If we allow that Madame Roget, from her age +and grief, could not go over (which is allowing a great deal), there +certainly must have been some one who would have thought it worth +while to go over and attend the investigation, if they thought the +body was that of Marie. Nobody went over. There was nothing said or +heard about the matter in the Rue Pavee St. Andree, that reached +even the occupants of the same building. M. St. Eustache, the lover +and intended husband of Marie, who boarded in her mother's house, +deposes that he did not hear of the discovery of the body of his +intended until the next morning, when M. Beauvais came into his +chamber and told him of it. For an item of news like this, it +strikes us it was very coolly received." + + In this way the journal endeavored to create the impression of an +apathy on the part of the relatives of Marie, inconsistent with the +supposition that these relatives believed the corpse to be hers. Its +insinuations amount to this:- that Marie, with the connivance of her +friends, had absented herself from the city for reasons involving a +charge against her chastity; and that these friends upon the discovery +of a corpse in the Seine, somewhat resembling that of the girl, had +availed themselves of the opportunity to impress the public with the +belief of her death. But L'Etoile was again overhasty. It was +distinctly proved that no apathy, such as was imagined, existed; +that the old lady was exceedingly feeble, and so agitated as to be +unable to attend to any duty; that St. Eustache, so far from receiving +the news coolly, was distracted with grief, and bore himself so +frantically, that M. Beauvais prevailed upon a friend and relative +to take charge of him, and prevent his attending the examination at +the disinterment. Moreover, although it was stated by L'Etoile, that +the corpse was re-interred at the public expense,- that an +advantageous offer of private sepulture was absolutely declined by the +family,- and that no member of the family attended the ceremonial:- +although, I say, all this was asserted by L'Etoile in furtherance of +the impression it designed to convey- yet all this was +satisfactorily disproved. In a subsequent number of the paper, an +attempt was made to throw suspicion upon Beauvais himself. The +editor says: + + "Now, then, a change comes over the matter. We are told that, on one +occasion, while a Madame B- was at Madame Roget's house, M. +Beauvais, who was going out, told her that a gendarme was expected +there, and that she, Madame B., must not say any thing to the gendarme +until he returned, but let the matter be for him.... In the present +posture of affairs, M. Beauvais appears to have the whole matter +locked up in his head. A single step cannot be taken without M. +Beauvais, for, go which way you will you run against him.... For +some reason he determined that nobody shall have anything to do with +the proceedings but himself, and he has elbowed the male relatives out +of the way, according to their representations, in a very singular +manner. He seems to have been very much averse to permitting the +relatives to see the body." + + By the following fact, some color was given to the suspicion thus +thrown upon Beauvais. A visitor at his office, a few days prior to the +girl's disappearance, and during the absence of its occupant, had +observed a rose in the key-hole of the door, and the name "Marie" +inscribed upon a slate which hung near at hand. + + The general impression, so far as we were enabled to glean it from +the newspapers, seemed to be, that Marie had been the victim of a gang +of desperadoes- that by these she had been borne across the river, +maltreated, and murdered. Le Commerciel,* however, a print of +extensive influence, was earnest in combatting this popular idea. I +quote a passage or two from its columns: + + * New York Journal of Commerce + + "We are persuaded that pursuit has hitherto been on a false scent, +so far as it has been directed to the Barriere du Roule. It is +impossible that a person so well known to thousands as this young +woman was, should have passed three blocks without some one having +seen her; and any one who saw her would have remembered it, for she +interested all who knew her. It was when the streets were full of +people, when she went out.... It is impossible that she could have +gone to the Barriere du Roule, or to the Rue des Dromes, without being +recognized by a dozen persons; yet no one has come forward who saw her +outside of her mother's door, and there is no evidence, except the +testimony concerning her expressed intentions, that she did go out +at all. Her gown was torn, bound round her, and tied; and by that +the body was carried as a bundle. If the murder had been committed +at the Barriere du Roule, there would have been no necessity for any +such arrangement. The fact that the body was found floating near the +Barriere, is no proof as to where it was thrown into the water.... A +piece of one of the unfortunate girl's petticoats, two feet long and +one foot wide, was torn out and tied under her chin around the back of +her head, probably to prevent screams. This was done by fellows who +had no pocket-handkerchief." + + A day or two before the Prefect called upon us, however, some +important information reached the police, which seemed to overthrow, +at least, the chief portion of Le Commerciel's argument. Two small +boys, sons of a Madame Deluc, while roaming among the woods near the +Barriere du Roule, chanced to penetrate a close thicket, within +which were three or four large stones, forming a kind of seat with a +back and footstool. On the upper stone lay a white petticoat; on the +second, a silk scarf. A parasol, gloves, and a pocket-handkerchief +were also here found. The handkerchief bore the name "Marie Roget." +Fragments of dress were discovered on the brambles around. The earth +was trampled, the bushes were broken, and there was every evidence +of a struggle. Between the thicket and the river, the fences were +found taken down, and the ground bore evidence of some heavy burthen +having been dragged along it. + + A weekly paper, Le Soleil,* had the following comments upon this +discovery- comments which merely echoed the sentiment of the whole +Parisian press: + + * Philadelphia Saturday Evening Post, edited by C. I. Peterson, Esq. + + "The things had all evidently been there at least three or four +weeks; they were all mildewed down hard with the action of the rain, +and stuck together from mildew. The grass had grown around and over +some of them. The silk on the parasol was strong, but the threads of +it were run together within. The upper part, where it had been doubled +and folded, was all mildewed and rotten, and tore on its being +opened.... The pieces of her frock torn out by the bushes were about +three inches wide and six inches long. One part was the hem of the +frock, and it had been mended; the other piece was part of the +skirt, not the hem. They looked like strips torn off, and were on +the thorn bush, about a foot from the ground.... There can be no +doubt, therefore, that the spot of this appalling outrage has been +discovered." + + Consequent upon this discovery, new evidence appeared. Madame +Deluc testified that she keeps a roadside inn not far from the bank of +the river, opposite the Barriere du Roule. The neighborhood is +secluded- particularly so. It is the usual Sunday resort of +blackguards from the city, who cross the river in boats. About three +o'clock, in the afternoon of the Sunday in question, a young girl +arrived at the inn, accompanied by a young man of dark complexion. The +two remained here for some time. On their departure, they took the +road to some thick woods in the vicinity. Madame Deluc's attention was +called to the dress worn by the girl, on account of its resemblance to +one worn by a deceased relative. A scarf was particularly noticed. +Soon after the departure of the couple, a gang of miscreants made +their appearance, behaved boisterously, ate and drank without making +payment, followed in the route of the young man and girl, returned +to the inn about dusk, and re-crossed the river as if in great haste. + + It was soon after dark, upon this same evening, that Madame Deluc, +as well as her eldest son, heard the screams of a female in the +vicinity of the inn. The screams were violent but brief. Madame D. +recognized not only the scarf which was found in the thicket, but +the dress which was discovered upon the corpse. An omnibus-driver, +Valence,* now also testified that he saw Marie Roget cross a ferry +on the Seine, on the Sunday in question, in company with a young man +of dark complexion. He, Valence, knew Marie, and could not be mistaken +in her identity. The articles found in the thicket were fully +identified by the relatives of Marie. + + * Adam + + The items of evidence and information thus collected by myself, from +the newspapers, at the suggestion of Dupin, embraced only one more +point- but this was a point of seemingly vast consequence. It +appears that, immediately after the discovery of the clothes as +above described, the lifeless or nearly lifeless body of St. Eustache, +Marie's betrothed, was found in the vicinity of what all now +supposed the scene of the outrage. A phial labelled "laudanum," and +emptied, was found near him. His breath gave evidence of the poison. +He died without speaking. Upon his person was found a letter, +briefly stating his love for Marie, with his design of +self-destruction. + + "I need scarcely tell you," said Dupin, as he finished the perusal +of my notes, "that this is a far more intricate case than that of +the Rue Morgue; from which it differs in one important respect. This +is an ordinary, although an atrocious, instance of crime. There is +nothing peculiarly outre about it. You will observe that, for this +reason, the mystery has been considered easy, when, for this reason, +it should have been considered difficult, of solution. Thus, at first, +it was thought unnecessary to offer a reward. The myrmidons of G- were +able at once to comprehend how and why such an atrocity might have +been committed. They could picture to their imaginations a mode- +many modes- and a motive- many motives; and because it was not +impossible that either of these numerous modes or motives could have +been the actual one, they have taken it for granted that one of them +must. But the ease with which these variable fancies were entertained, +and the very plausibility which each assumed, should have been +understood as indicative rather of the difficulties than of the +facilities which must attend elucidation. I have before observed +that it is by prominences above the plane of the ordinary, that reason +feels her way, if at all, in her search for the true, and that the +proper question in cases such as this, is not so much 'what has +occurred?' as 'what has occurred that has never occurred before?' In +the investigations at the house of Madame L'Espanaye,* the agents of +G- were discouraged and confounded by that very unusualness which, +to a properly regulated intellect, would have afforded the surest omen +of success; while this same intellect might have been plunged in +despair at the ordinary character of all that met the eye in the +case of the perfumery girl, and yet told of nothing but easy triumph +to the functionaries of the Prefecture. + + * See "Murder's in the Rue Morgue." + + "In the case of Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter, there was, +even at the begining of our investigation, no doubt that murder had +been committed. The idea of suicide was excluded at once. Here, too, +we are freed, at the commencement, from all supposition of +self-murder. The body found at the Barriere du Roule was found under +such circumstances as to leave us no room for embarrassment upon +this important point. But it has been suggested that the corpse +discovered is not that of the Marie Roget for the conviction of +whose assassin, or assassins, the reward is offered, and respecting +whom, solely, our agreement has been arranged with the Prefect. We +both know this gentleman well. It will not do to trust him too far. +If, dating our inquiries from the body found, and then tracing a +murderer, we yet discover this body to be that of some other +individual than Marie; or if, starting from the living Marie, we +find her, yet find her unassassinated- in either case we lose our +labor; since it is Monsieur G- with whom we have to deal. For our +own purpose, therefore, if not for the purpose of justice, it is +indispensable that our first step should be the determination of the +identity of the corpse with the Marie Roget who is missing. + + "With the public the arguments of L'Etoile have had weight; and that +the journal itself is convinced of their importance would appear +from the manner in which it commences one of its essays upon the +subject- 'Several of the morning papers of the day,' it says, 'speak +of the conclusive article in Monday's Etoile.' To me, this article +appears conclusive of little beyond the zeal of its inditer. We should +bear in mind that, in general, it is the object of our newspapers +rather to create a sensation- to make a point- than to further the +cause of truth. The latter end is only pursued when it seems +coincident with the former. The print which merely falls in with +ordinary opinion (however well founded this opinion may be) earns +for itself no credit with the mob. The mass of the people regard as +profound only him who suggests pungent contradictions of the general +idea. In ratiocination, not less than in literature, it is the epigram +which is the most immediately and the most universally appreciated. In +both, it is of the lowest order of merit. + + "What I mean to say is, that it is the mingled epigram and melodrame +of the idea, that Marie Roget still lives, rather than any true +plausibility in this idea, which have suggested it to L'Etoile, and +secured it a favorable reception with the public. Let us examine the +heads of this journal's argument, endeavoring to avoid the incoherence +with which it is originally set forth. + + "The first aim of the writer is to show, from the brevity of the +interval between Marie's disappearance and the finding of the floating +corpse, that this corpse cannot be that of Marie. The reduction of +this interval to its smallest possible dimension, becomes thus, at +once, an object with the reasoner. In the rash pursuit of this object, +he rushes into mere assumption at the outset. 'It is folly to +suppose,' he says, 'that the murder, if murder was committed on her +body, could have been consummated soon enough to have enabled her +murderers to throw the body into the river before midnight.' We demand +at once, and very naturally, why? Why is it folly to suppose that +the murder was committed within five minutes after the girl's quitting +her mother's house? Why is it folly to suppose that the murder was +committed at any given period of the day? There have been +assassinations at all hours. But, had the murder taken place at any +moment between nine o'clock in the morning of Sunday and a quarter +before midnight, there would still have been time enough 'to throw the +body into the river before midnight.' This assumption, then, amounts +precisely to this- that the murder was not committed on Sunday at all- +and, if we allow L'Etoile to assume this, we may permit it any +liberties whatever. The paragraph beginning 'It is folly to suppose +that the murder, etc.,' however it appears as printed in L'Etoile, may +be imagined to have existed actually thus in the brain of its inditer: +'It is folly to suppose that the murder, if murder was committed on +the body, could have been committed soon enough to have enabled her +murderers to throw the body into the river before midnight; it is +folly, we say, to suppose all this, and to suppose at the same time, +(as we are resolved to suppose), that the body was not thrown in until +after midnight'- a sentence sufficiently inconsequential in itself, +but not so utterly preposterous as the one printed. + + "Were it my purpose," continued Dupin, "merely to make out a case +against this passage of L'Etoile's argument, I might safely leave it +where it is. It is not, however, with L'Etoile that we have to do, but +with truth. The sentence in question has but one meaning, as it +stands; and this meaning I have fairly stated, but it is material that +we go behind the mere words, for an idea which these words have +obviously intended, and failed to convey. It was the design of the +journalists to say that at whatever period of the day or night of +Sunday this murder was committed, it was improbable that the assassins +would have ventured to bear the corpse to the river before midnight. +And herein lies, really, the assumption of which I complain. It is +assumed that the murder was committed at such a position, and under +such circumstances, that the bearing it to the river became necessary. +Now, the assassination might have taken place upon the river's +brink, or on the river itself; and, thus, the throwing the corpse in +the water might have been resorted to at any period of the day or +night, as the most obvious and most immediate mode of disposal. You +will understand that I suggest nothing here as probable, or as +coincident with my own opinion. My design, so far, has no reference to +the facts of the case. I wish merely to caution you against the +whole tone of L'Etoile's suggestion, by calling your attention to +its ex-parte character at the outset. + + "Having prescribed thus a limit to suit its own preconceived +notions; having assumed that, if this were the body of Marie, it could +have been in the water but a very brief time, the journal goes on to +say: + + All experience has shown that drowned bodies, or bodies thrown +into the water immediately after death by violence, require from six +to ten days for sufficient decomposition to take place to bring them +to the top of the water. Even when a cannon is fired over a corpse, +and it rises before at least five or six days' immersion, it sinks +again if let alone. + + "These assertions have been tacitly received by every paper in +Paris, with the exception of Le Moniteur.* This latter print endeavors +to combat that portion of the paragraph which has reference to +'drowned bodies' only, by citing some five or six instances in which +the bodies of individuals known to be drowned were found floating +after the lapse of less time than is insisted upon by L'Etoile. But +there is something excessively unphilosophical in the attempt, on +the part of Le Moniteur, to rebut the general assertion of L'Etoile, +by a citation of particular instances militating against that +assertion. Had it been possible to adduce fifty instead of five +examples of bodies found floating at the end of two or three days, +these fifty examples could still have been properly regarded only as +exceptions to L'Etoile's rule, until such time as the rule itself +should be confuted. Admitting the rule, (and this Le Moniteur does not +deny, insisting merely upon its exceptions,) the argument of +L'Etoile is suffered to remain in full force; for this argument does +not pretend to involve more than a question of the probability of +the body having risen to the surface in less than three days; and this +probability will be in favor of L'Etoile's position until the +instances so childishly adduced shall be sufficient in number to +establish an antagonistical rule. + + * The New York Commercial Advertiser, Edited by Col. Stone. + + "You will see at once that all argument upon this head should be +urged, if at all, against the rule itself; and for this end we must +examine the rationale of the rule. Now the human body, in general is +neither much lighter nor much heavier than the water of the Seine; +that is to say, the specific gravity of the human body, in its natural +condition, is about equal to the bulk of fresh water which it +displaces. The bodies of fat and fleshy persons, with small bones, and +of women generally, are lighter than those of the lean and +large-boned, and of men; and the specific gravity of the water of a +river is somewhat influenced by the presence of the tide from the sea. +But, leaving this tide out of the question, it may be said that very +few human bodies will sink at all, even in fresh water, of their own +accord. Almost any one, falling into a river, will be enabled to +float, if he suffer the specific gravity of the water fairly to be +adduced in comparison with his own- that is to say, if he suffer his +whole person to be immersed, with as little exception as possible. The +proper position for one who cannot swim, is the upright position of +the walker on land, with the head thrown fully back, and immersed; the +mouth and nostrils alone remaining above the surface. Thus +circumstanced; we shall find that we float without difficulty and +without exertion. It is evident, however, that the gravities of the +body, and of the bulk of water displaced, are very nicely balanced, +and that a trifle will cause either to preponderate. An arm, for +instance, uplifted from the water, and thus deprived of its support, +is an additional weight sufficient to immerse the whole head, while +the accidental aid of the smallest piece of timber will enable us to +elevate the head so as to look about. Now, in the struggles of one +unused to swimming, the arms are invariably thrown upward, while an +attempt is made to keep the head in its usual perpendicular +position. The result is the immersion of the mouth and nostrils, and +the inception, during efforts to breathe while beneath the surface, of +water into the lungs. Much is also received into the stomach, and +the whole body becomes heavier by the difference between the weight of +the air originally distending these cavities, and that of the fluid +which now fills them. This difference is sufficient to cause the +body to sink, as a general rule; but is insufficient in the case of +individuals with small bones and an abnormal quantity of flaccid or +fatty matter. Such individuals float even after drowning. + + "The corpse, being supposed at the bottom of the river, will there +remain until, by some means, its specific gravity again becomes less +than that of the bulk of water which it displaces. This effect is +brought about by decomposition, or otherwise. The result of +decomposition is the generation of gas, distending the cellular +tissues and all the cavities, and giving the puffed appearance which +is so horrible. When this distension has so far progressed that the +bulk of the corpse is materially increased without a corresponding +increase of mass or weight, its specific gravity becomes less than +that of the water displaced, and it forthwith makes its appearance +at the surface. But decomposition is modified by innumerable +circumstances- is hastened or retarded by innumerable agencies; for +example, by the heat or cold of the season, by the mineral +impregnation or purity of the water, by its depth or shallowness, by +its currency or stagnation, by the temperament of the body, by its +infection or freedom from disease before death. Thus it is evident +that we can assign no period, with anything like accuracy, at which +the corpse shall rise through decomposition. Under certain +conditions this result would be brought about within an hour, under +others it might not take place at all. There are chemical infusions by +which the animal frame can be preserved forever from corruption; the +Bi-chloride of Mercury is one. But, apart from decomposition, there +may be, and very usually is, a generation of gas within the stomach, +from the acetous fermentation of vegetable matter (or within other +cavities from other causes), sufficient to induce a distension which +will bring the body to the surface. The effect produced by the +firing of a cannon is that of simple vibration. This may either loosen +the corpse from the soft mud or ooze in which it is imbedded, thus +permitting it to rise when other agencies have already prepared it for +so doing, or it may overcome the tenacity of some putrescent +portions of the cellular tissue, allowing the cavities to distend +under the influence of the gas. + + "Having thus before us the whole philosophy of this subject, we +can easily test by it the assertions of L'Etoile. 'All experience +shows,' says this paper, 'that drowned bodies, or bodies thrown into +the water immediately after death by violence, require from six to ten +days for sufficient decomposition to take place to bring them to the +top of the water. Even when a cannon is fired over a corpse, and it +rises before at least five or six days' immersion, it sinks again if +let alone.' + + "The whole of this paragraph must now appear a tissue of +inconsequence and incoherence. All experience does not show that +'drowned bodies' require from six to ten days for sufficient +decomposition to take place to bring them to the surface. Both science +and experience show that the period of their rising is, and +necessarily must be, indeterminate. If, moreover, a body has risen +to the surface through firing of cannon, it will not 'sink again if +let alone,' until decomposition has so far progressed as to permit the +escape of the generated gas. But I wish to call your attention to +the distinction which is made between 'drowned bodies,' and 'bodies +thrown into the water immediately after death by violence: Although +the writer admits the distinction, he yet includes them all in the +same category. I have shown how it is that the body of a drowning +man becomes specifically heavier than its bulk of water, and that he +would not sink at all, except for the struggle by which he elevates +his arms above the surface, and his gasps for breath while beneath the +surface- gasps which supply by water the place of the original air +in the lungs. But these struggles and these gasps would not occur in +the body 'thrown into the water immediately after death by +violence.' Thus, in the latter instance, the body, as a general +rule, would not sink at all- a fact of which L'Etoile is evidently +ignorant. When decomposition had proceeded to a very great extent- +when the flesh had in a great measure left the bones- then, indeed, +but not till then, should we lose sight of the corpse. + + "And now what are we to make of the argument, that the body found +could not be that of Marie Roget, because, three days only having +elapsed, this body was found floating? If drowned, being a woman, +she might never have sunk; or, having sunk, might have reappeared in +twenty- four hours or less. But no one supposes her to have been +drowned; and, dying before being thrown into the river, she might have +been found floating at any period afterwards whatever. + + "'But,' says L'Etoile, 'if the body had been kept in its mangled +state on shore until Tuesday night, some trace would be found on shore +of the murderers.' Here it is at first difficult to perceive the +intention of the reasoner. He means to anticipate what he imagines +would be an objection to his theory- viz.: that the body was kept on +shore two days, suffering rapid decomposition- more rapid than if +immersed in water. He supposes that, had this been the case, it +might have appeared at the surface on the Wednesday, and thinks that +only under such circumstances it could so have appeared. He is +accordingly in haste to show that it was not kept on shore; for, if +so, 'some trace would be found on shore of the murderers.' I presume +you smile at the sequitur. You cannot be made to see how the mere +duration of the corpse on the shore could operate to multiply traces +of the assassins. Nor can I. + + "'And furthermore it is exceedingly improbable,' continues our +journal, 'that any villains who had committed such a murder as is here +supposed, would have thrown the body in without weight to sink it, +when such a precaution could have so easily been taken.' Observe, +here, the laughable confusion of thought! No one- not even L'Etoile- +disputes the murder committed on the body found. The marks of violence +are too obvious. It is our reasoner's object merely to show that +this body is not Marie's. He wishes to prove that Marie is not +assassinated- not that the corpse was not. Yet his observation +proves only the latter point. Here is a corpse without weight +attached. Murderers, casting it in, would not have failed to attach +a weight. Therefore it was not thrown in by murderers. This is all +which is proved, if any thing is. The question of identity is not even +approached, and L'Etoile has been at great pains merely to gainsay now +what it has admitted only a moment before. 'We are perfectly +convinced,' it says, 'that the body found was that of a murdered +female.' + + "Nor is this the sole instance, even in this division of the +subject, where our reasoner unwittingly reasons against himself. His +evident object I have already said, is to reduce, as much as possible, +the interval between Marie's disappearance and the finding of the +corpse. Yet we find him urging the point that no person saw the girl +from the moment of her leaving her mother's house. 'We have no +evidence,' he says, 'that Marie Roget was in the land of the living +after nine o'clock on Sunday, June the twenty-second.' As his argument +is obviously an ex-parte one, he should, at least, have left this +matter out of sight; for had any one been known to see Marie, say on +Monday, or on Tuesday, the interval in question would have been much +reduced, and, by his own ratiocination, the probability much +diminished of the corpse being that of the grisette. It is, +nevertheless, amusing to observe that L'Etoile insists upon its +point in the full belief of its furthering its general argument. + + "Reperuse now that portion of this argument which has reference to +the identification of the corpse by Beauvais. In regard to the hair +upon the arm, L'Etoile has been obviously disingenuous. M. Beauvais, +not being an idiot, could never have urged in identification of the +corpse, simply hair upon its arm. No arm is without hair. The +generality of the expression of L'Etoile is a mere perversion of the +witness' phraseology. He must have spoken of some peculiarity in +this hair. It must have been a peculiarity of color, of quantity, of +length, or of situation. + + "'Her foot,' says the journal, 'was small- so are thousands of feet. +Her garter is no proof whatever- nor is her shoe- for shoes and +garters are sold in packages. The same may be said of the flowers in +her hat. One thing upon which M. Beauvais strongly insists is, that +the clasp on the garter found had been set back to take it in. This +amounts to nothing; for most women find it proper to take a pair of +garters home and, fit them to the size of the limbs they are to +encircle, rather than to try them in the store where they purchase.' +Here it is difficult to suppose the reasoner in earnest. Had M. +Beauvais, in his search for the body of Marie, discovered a corpse +corresponding in general size and appearance to the missing girl, he +would have been warranted (without reference to the question of +habiliment at all) in forming an opinion that his search had been +successful. If, in addition to the point of general size and +contour, he had found upon the arm a peculiar hairy appearance which +he had observed upon the living Marie, his opinion might have been +justly strengthened; and the increase of positiveness might well +have been in the ratio of the peculiarity, or unusualness, of the +hairy mark. If, the feet of Marie being small, those of the corpse +were also small, the increase of probability that the body was that of +Marie would not be an increase in a ratio merely arithmetical, but +in one highly geometrical, or accumulative. Add to all this shoes such +as she had been known to wear upon the day of her disappearance, +and, although these shoes may be 'sold in packages,' you so far +augment the probability as to verge upon the certain. What, of itself, +would be no evidence of identity, becomes through its corroborative +position, proof most sure. Give us, then, flowers in the hat +corresponding to those worn by the missing girl, and we seek for +nothing farther. If only one flower, we seek for nothing farther- what +then if two or three, or more? Each successive one is multiple +evidence- proof not added to proof, but multiplied by hundreds or +thousands. Let us now discover, upon the deceased, garters such as the +living used, and it is almost folly to proceed. But these garters +are found to be tightened, by the setting back of a clasp, in just +such a manner as her own had been tightened by Marie shortly +previous to her leaving home. It is now madness or hypocrisy to doubt. +What L'Etoile says in respect to this abbreviation of the garter's +being an unusual occurrence, shows nothing beyond its own +pertinacity in error. The elastic nature of the clasp-garter is +self-demonstration of the unusualness of the abbreviation. What is +made to adjust itself, must of necessity require foreign adjustment +but rarely. It must have been by an accident, in its strictest +sense, that these garters of Marie needed the tightening described. +They alone would have amply established her identity. But it is not +that the corpse was found to have the garters of the missing girl, +or found to have her shoes, or her bonnet, or the flowers of her +bonnet, or her feet, or a peculiar mark upon the arm, or her general +size and appearance- it is that the corpse had each and all +collectively. Could it be proved that the editor of L'Etoile really +entertained a doubt, under the circumstances, there would be no +need, in his case, of a commission de lunatico inquirendo. He has +thought it sagacious to echo the small talk of the lawyers, who, for +the most part, content themselves with echoing the rectangular +precepts of the courts. I would here observe that very much of what is +rejected as evidence by a court, is the best of evidence to the +intellect. For the court, guiding itself by the general principles +of evidence- the recognized and booked principles- is averse from +swerving at particular instances. And this steadfast adherence to +principle, with rigorous disregard of the conflicting exception, is +a sure mode of attaining the maximum of attainable truth, in any +long sequence of time. The practice, in mass, is therefore +philosophical; but it is not the less certain that it engenders vast +individual error.* + + * "A theory based on the qualities of an object, will prevent its +being unfolded according to its objects; and he who arranges topics in +reference to their causes, will cease to value them according to their +results. Thus the jurisprudence of every nation will show that, when +law becomes a science and a system, it ceases to be justice. The +errors into which a blind devotion to principles of classification has +led the common law, will be seen by observing how often the +legislature has been obliged to come forward to restore the equity its +scheme had lost."- Landor. + + "In respect to the insinuations levelled at Beauvais, you will be +willing to dismiss them in a breath. You have already fathomed the +true character of this good gentleman. He is a busy-body, with much of +romance and little of wit. Any one so constituted will readily so +conduct himself, upon occasion of real excitement, as to render +himself liable to suspicion on the part of the over-acute, or the +ill-disposed. M. Beauvais (as it appears from your notes) had some +personal interviews with the editor of L'Etoile, and offended him by +venturing an opinion that the corpse, notwithstanding the theory of +the editor, was, in sober fact, that of Marie. 'He persists,' says the +paper, 'in asserting the corpse to be that of Marie, but cannot give a +circumstance, in addition to those which we have commented upon, to +make others believe.' Now, without readverting to the fact that +stronger evidence 'to make others believe,' could never have been +adduced, it may be remarked that a man may very well be understood +to believe, in a case of this kind, without the ability to advance a +single reason for the belief of a second party. Nothing is more +vague than impressions of individual identity. Each man recognizes his +neighbor, yet there are few instances in which any one is prepared +to give a reason for his recognition. The editor of L'Etoile had no +right to be offended at M. Beauvais' unreasoning belief. + + "The suspicious circumstances which invest him, will be found to +tally much better with my hypothesis of romantic busy-bodyism, than +with the reasoner's suggestion of guilt. Once adopting the more +charitable interpretation, we shall find no difficulty in +comprehending the rose in the key-hole; the 'Marie' upon the slate; +the 'elbowing the male relatives out of the way'; the 'aversion to +permitting them to see the body'; the caution given to Madame B-, that +she must hold no conversation with the gendarme until his return +(Beauvais); and, lastly, his apparent determination 'that nobody +should have any thing to do with the proceedings except himself.' It +seems to be unquestionable that Beauvais was a suitor of Marie's; that +she coquetted with him; and that he was ambitious of being thought +to enjoy her fullest intimacy and confidence. I shall say nothing more +upon this point; and, as the evidence fully rebuts the assertion of +L'Etoile, touching the matter of apathy on the part of the mother +and other relatives- an apathy inconsistent with the supposition of +their believing the corpse to be that of the perfumery- girl- we shall +now proceed as if the question of identity were settled to our perfect +satisfaction." + + "And what," I here demanded, "do you think of the opinions of Le +Commerciel?" + + "That in spirit, they are far more worthy of attention than any +which have been promulgated upon the subject. The deductions from +the premises are philosophical and acute; but the premises, in two +instances, at least, are founded in imperfect observation. Le +Commerciel wishes to intimate that Marie was seized by some gang of +low ruffians not far from her mother's door. 'It is impossible,' it +urges, 'that a person so well known to thousands as this young woman +was, should have passed three blocks without some one having seen +her." This is the idea of a man long resident in Paris- a public +man- and one whose walks to and fro in the city have been mostly +limited to the vicinity of the public offices. He is aware that he +seldom passes so far as a dozen blocks from his own bureau, without +being recognized and accosted. And, knowing the extent of his personal +acquaintance with others, and of others with him, he compares his +notoriety with that of the perfumery-girl, finds no great difference +between them, and reaches at once the conclusion that she, in her +walks, would be equally liable to recognition with himself in his. +This could only be the case were her walks of the same unvarying, +methodical character, and within the same species of limited region as +are his own. He passes to and fro, at regular intervals, within a +confined periphery, abounding in individuals who are led to +observation of his person through interest in the kindred nature of +his occupation with their own. But the walks of Marie may, in general, +be supposed discursive. In this particular instance, it will be +understood as most probable, that she proceeded upon a route of more +than average diversity from her accustomed ones. The parallel which we +imagine to have existed in the mind of Le Commerciel would only be +sustained in the event of the two individuals traversing the whole +city. In this case, granting the personal acquaintances to be equal, +the chances would be also equal that an equal number of personal +encounters would be made. For my own part, I should hold it not only +as possible, but as very far more probable, that Marie might have +proceeded, at any given period, by any one of the many routes +between her own residence and that of her aunt, without meeting a +single individual whom she knew, or by whom she was known. In +viewing this question in its full and proper light, we must hold +steadily in mind the great disproportion between the personal +acquaintances of even the most noted individual in Paris, and the +entire population of Paris itself. + + "But whatever force there may still appear to be in the suggestion +of Le Commerciel, will be much diminished when we take into +consideration the hour at which the girl went abroad. 'It was when the +streets were full of people,' says Le Commerciel, 'that she went out.' +But not so. It was at nine o'clock in the morning. Now at nine o'clock +of every morning in the week, with the exception of Sunday, the +streets of the city are, it is true, thronged with people. At nine +on Sunday, the populace are chiefly within doors preparing for church. +No observing person can have failed to notice the peculiarly +deserted air of the town, from about eight until ten on the morning of +every Sabbath. Between ten and eleven the streets are thronged, but +not at so early a period as that designated. + + "There is another point at which there seems a deficiency of +observation on the part of Le Commerciel. 'A piece,' it says, 'of +one of the unfortunate girl's petticoats, two feet long, and one +foot wide, was torn out and tied under her chin, and around the back +of her head, probably to prevent screams. This was done by fellows who +had no pocket-handkerchiefs.' Whether this idea is or is not well +founded, we will endeavor to see hereafter, but by 'fellows who have +no pocket-handkerchiefs,' the editor intends the lowest class of +ruffians. These, however, are the very description of people who +will always be found to have handkerchiefs even when destitute of +shirts. You must have had occasion to observe how absolutely +indispensable, of late years, to the thorough blackguard, has become +the pocket-handkerchief." + + "And what are we to think," I asked, "of the article in Le Soleil?" + + "That it is a vast pity its inditer was not born a parrot- in +which case he would have been the most illustrious parrot of his race. +He has merely repeated the individual items of the already published +opinion; collecting them, with a laudable industry, from this paper +and from that. 'The things had all evidently been there,' he says, 'at +least three or four weeks, and there can be no doubt that the spot +of this appalling outrage has been discovered.' The facts here +re-stated by Le Soleil, are very far indeed from removing my own +doubts upon this subject, and we will examine them more particularly +hereafter in connection with another division of the theme. + + "At present we must occupy ourselves with other investigations. +You cannot fail to have remarked the extreme laxity of the examination +of the corpse. To be sure, the question of identity was readily +determined, or should have been; but there were other points to be +ascertained. Had the body been in any respect despoiled? Had the +deceased any articles of jewelry about her person upon leaving home? +If so, had she any when found? These are important questions utterly +untouched by the evidence; and there are others of equal moment, which +have met with no attention. We must endeavor to satisfy ourselves by +personal inquiry. The case of St. Eustache must be re-examined. I have +no suspicion of this person; but let us proceed methodically. We +will ascertain beyond a doubt the validity of the affidavits in regard +to his whereabouts on the Sunday. Affidavits of this character are +readily made matter of mystification. Should there be nothing wrong +here, however, we will dismiss St. Eustache from our investigations. +His suicide, however, corroborative of suspicion, were there found +to be deceit in the affidavits, is, without such deceit, in no respect +an unaccountable circumstance, or one which need cause us to deflect +from the line of ordinary analysis. + + "In that which I now propose, we will discard the interior points of +this tragedy, and concentrate our attention upon its outskirts. Not +the least usual error in investigations such as this is the limiting +of inquiry to the immediate, with total disregard of the collateral or +circumstantial events. It is the malpractice of the courts to +confine evidence and discussion to the bounds of apparent relevancy. +Yet experience has shown, and a true philosophy will always show, that +a vast, perhaps the larger, portion of truth arises from the seemingly +irrelevant. It is through the spirit of this principle, if not +precisely through its letter, that modern science has resolved to +calculate upon the unforeseen. But perhaps you do not comprehend me. +The history of human knowledge has so uninterruptedly shown that to +collateral, or incidental, or accidental events we are indebted for +the most numerous and most valuable discoveries, that it has at length +become necessary, in any prospective view of improvement, to make +not only large, but the largest, allowances for inventions that +shall arise by chance, and quite out of the range of ordinary +expectation. It is no longer philosophical to base upon what has +been a vision of what is to be. Accident is admitted as a portion of +the substructure. We make chance a matter of absolute calculation. +We subject the unlooked for and unimagined to the mathematical +formulae of the schools. + + "I repeat that it is no more than fact that the larger portion of +all truth has sprung from the collateral; and it is but in +accordance with the spirit of the principle involved in this fact that +I would divert inquiry, in the present case, from the trodden and +hitherto unfruitful ground of the event itself to the contemporary +circumstances which surround it. While you ascertain the validity of +the affidavits, I will examine the newspapers more generally than +you have as yet done. So far, we have only reconnoitred the field of +investigation; but it will be strange, indeed, if a comprehensive +survey, such as I propose, of the public prints will not afford us +some minute points which shall establish a direction for inquiry." + + In pursuance of Dupin's suggestion, I made scrupulous examination of +the affair of the affidavits. The result was a firm conviction of +their validity, and of the consequent innocence of St. Eustache. In +the meantime my friend occupied himself, with what seemed to me a +minuteness altogether objectless, in a scrutiny of the various +newspaper files. At the end of a week he placed before me the +following extracts: + + "About three years and a half ago, a disturbance very similar to the +present was caused by the disappearance of this same Marie Roget +from the parfumerie of Monsieur Le Blanc, in the Palais Royal. At +the end of a week, however, she re-appeared at her customary comptoir, +as well as ever, with the exception of a slight paleness not +altogether usual. It was given out by Monsieur Le Blanc and her mother +that she had merely been on a visit to some friend in the country; and +the affair was speedily hushed up. We presume that the present absence +is a freak of the same nature, and that, at the expiration of a week +or, perhaps, of a month, we shall have her among us again."- Evening +Paper, Monday, June 23.* + + * New York Express + + "An evening journal of yesterday refers to a former mysterious +disappearance of Mademoiselle Roget. It is well known that, during the +week of her absence from Le Blanc's parfumerie, she was in the company +of a young naval officer much noted for his debaucheries. A quarrel, +it is supposed, providentially, led to her return home. We have the +name of the Lothario in question, who is at present stationed in +Paris, but for obvious reasons forbear to make it public."- Le +Mercure, Tuesday Morning, June 24.* + + * New York Herald + + "An outrage of the most atrocious character was perpetrated near +this city the day before yesterday. A gentleman, with his wife and +daughter, engaged, about dusk, the services of six young men, who were +idly rowing a boat to and fro near the banks of the Seine, to convey +him across the river. Upon reaching the opposite shore the three +passengers stepped out, and had proceeded so far as to be beyond the +view of the boat, when the daughter discovered that she had left in it +her parasol. She returned for it, was seized by the gang, carried +out into the stream, gagged, brutally treated, and finally taken to +the shore at a point not far from that at which she had originally +entered the boat with her parents. The villains have escaped for the +time, but the police are upon their trail, and some of them will +soon be taken."- Morning Paper, June 25-* + + * New York Courier and Inquirer + + "We have received one or two communications, the object of which +is to fasten the crime of the late atrocity upon Mennais*; but as this +gentleman has been fully exonerated by a legal inquiry, and as the +arguments of our several correspondents appear to be more zealous than +profound, we do not think it advisable to make them public."- +Morning Paper, June 28.*(2) + + * Mennais was one of the parties originally arrested, but discharged +through total lack of evidence. + + *(2) New York Courier and Inquirer + + "We have received several forcibly written communications, +apparently from various sources, and which go far to render it a +matter of certainty that the unfortunate Marie Roget has become a +victim of one of the numerous bands of blackguards which infest the +vicinity of the city upon Sunday. Our own opinion is decidedly in +favor of this supposition. We shall endeavor to make room for some +of these arguments hereafter."- Evening Paper, Tuesday, June 31.* + + * New York Evening Post + + "On Monday, one of the bargemen connected with the revenue service +saw an empty boat floating down the Seine. Sails were lying in the +bottom of the boat. The bargeman towed it under the barge office. +The next morning it was taken from thence without the knowledge of any +of the officers. The rudder is now at the barge office."- Le +Diligence, Thursday, June 26.* + + * New York Standard + + Upon reading these various extracts, they not only seemed to me +irrelevant, but I could perceive no mode in which any one of them +could be brought to bear upon the matter in hand. I waited for some +explanation from Dupin. + + "It is not my present design," he said, "to dwell upon the first and +second of these extracts. I have copied them chiefly to show you the +extreme remissness of the police, who, as far as I can understand from +the Prefect, have not troubled themselves, in any respect, with an +examination of the naval officer alluded to. Yet it is mere folly to +say that between the first and second disappearance of Marie there +is no supposable connection. Let us admit the first elopement to +have resulted in a quarrel between the lovers, and the return home +of the betrayed. We are now prepared to view a second elopement (if we +know that an elopement has again taken place) as indicating a +renewal of the betrayer's advances, rather than as the result of new +proposals by a second individual- we are prepared to regard it as a +'making up' of the old amour, rather than as the commencement of a new +one. The chances are ten to one, that he who had once eloped with +Marie would again propose an elopement, rather than that she to whom +proposals of an elopement had been made by one individual, should have +them made to her by another. And here let me call your attention to +the fact, that the time elapsing between the first ascertained and the +second supposed elopement is a few months more than the general period +of the cruises of our men-of-war. Had the lover been interrupted in +his first villainy by the necessity of departure to sea, and had he +seized the first moment of his return to renew the base designs not +yet altogether accomplished- or not yet altogether accomplished by +him? Of all these things we know nothing. + + "You will say, however, that, in the second instance, there was no +elopement as imagined. Certainly not- but are we prepared to say +that there was not the frustrated design? Beyond St. Eustache, and +perhaps Beauvais, we find no recognized, no open, no honorable suitors +of Marie. Of none other is there any thing said. Who, then, is the +secret lover, of whom the relatives (at least most of them) know +nothing, but whom Marie meets upon the morning of Sunday, and who is +so deeply in her confidence, that she hesitates not to remain with him +until the shades of the evening descend, amid the solitary groves of +the Barriere du Roule? Who is that secret lover, I ask, of whom, at +least, most of the relatives know nothing? And what means the singular +prophecy of Madam Roget on the morning of Marie's departure? - 'I fear +that I shall never see Marie again.' + + "But if we cannot imagine Madame Roget privy to the design of +elopement, may we not at least suppose this design entertained by +the girl? Upon quitting home, she gave it to be understood that she +was about to visit her aunt in the Rue des Dromes, and St. Eustache +was requested to call for her at dark. Now, at first glance, this fact +strongly militates against my suggestion;- but let us reflect. That +she did meet some companion, and proceed with him across the river, +reaching the Barriere du Roule at so late an hour as three o'clock +in the afternoon, is known. But in consenting so to accompany this +individual, (for whatever purpose- to her mother known or unknown,) +she must have thought of her expressed intention when leaving home, +and of the surprise and suspicion aroused in the bosom of her +affianced suitor, St. Eustache, when, calling for her, at the hour +appointed, in the Rue des Dromes, he should find that she had not been +there, and when, moreover, upon returning to the pension with this +alarming intelligence, he should become aware of her continued absence +from home. She must have thought of these things, I say. She must have +foreseen the chagrin of St. Eustache, the suspicion of all. She +could not have thought of returning to brave this suspicion; but the +suspicion becomes a point of trivial importance to her, if we +suppose her not intending to return. + + "We may imagine her thinking thus- 'I am to meet a certain person +for the purpose of elopement, or for certain other purposes known only +to myself. It is necessary that there be no chance of interruption- +there must be sufficient time given us to elude pursuit- I will give +it to be understood that I shall visit and spend the day with my +aunt at the Rue des Dromes- I will tell St. Eustache not to call for +me until dark- in this way, my absence from home for the longest +possible period, without causing suspicion or anxiety, will be +accounted for, and I shall gain more time than in any other manner. If +I bid St. Eustache call for me at dark, he will be sure not to call +before; but if I wholly neglect to bid him call, my time for escape +will be diminished, since it will be expected that I return the +earlier, and my absence will the sooner excite anxiety. Now, if it +were my design to return at all- if I had in contemplation merely a +stroll with the individual in question- it would not be my policy to +bid St. Eustache call; for, calling, he will be sure to ascertain that +I have played him false- a fact of which I might keep him forever in +ignorance, by leaving home without notifying him of my intention, by +returning before dark, and by then stating that I had been to visit my +aunt in the Rue des Dromes. But, as it is my design never to return- +or not for some weeks- or not until certain concealments are effected- +the gaining of time is the only point about which I need give myself +any concern.' + + "You have observed, in your notes, that the most general opinion +in relation to this sad affair is, and was from the first, that the +girl had been the victim of a gang of blackguards. Now, the popular +opinion, under certain conditions, is not to be disregarded. When +arising of itself- when manifesting itself in a strictly spontaneous +manner- we should look upon it as analogous with that intuition +which is the idiosyncrasy of the individual man of genius. In +ninety-nine cases from the hundred I would abide by its decision. +But it is important that we find no palpable traces of suggestion. The +opinion must be rigorously the public's own, and the distinction is +often exceedingly difficult to perceive and to maintain. In the +present instance, it appears to me that this 'public opinion,' in +respect to a gang, has been superinduced by the collateral event which +is detailed in the third of my extracts. All Paris is excited by the +discovered corpse of Marie, a girl young, beautiful, and notorious. +This corpse is found, bearing marks of violence, and floating in the +river. But it is now made known that, at the very period, or about the +very period, in which it is supposed that the girl was assassinated, +an outrage similar in nature to that endured by the deceased, although +less in extent, was perpetrated by a gang of young ruffians, upon +the person of a second young female. Is it wonderful that the one +known atrocity should influence the popular judgment in regard to +the other unknown? This judgment awaited direction, and the known +outrage seemed so opportunely to afford it! Marie, too, was found in +the river; and upon this very river was this known outrage +committed. The connection of the two events had about it so much of +the palpable, that the true wonder would have been a failure of the +populace to appreciate and to seize it. But, in fact, the one +atrocity, known to be so committed, is, if any thing, evidence that +the other, committed at a time nearly coincident, was not so +committed. It would have been a miracle indeed, if, while a gang of +ruffians were perpetrating, at a given locality, a most unheard- of +wrong, there should have been another similar gang, in a similar +locality, in the same city, under the same circumstances, with the +same means and appliances, engaged in a wrong of precisely the same +aspect, at precisely the same period of time! Yet in what, if not in +this marvellous train of coincidence, does the accidentally +suggested opinion of the populace call upon us to believe? + + "Before proceeding farther, let us consider the supposed scene of +the assassination, in the thicket at the Barriere du Roule. This +thicket, although dense, was in the close vicinity of a public road. +Within were three or four large stones, forming a kind of seat with +a back and a footstool. On the upper stone was discovered a white +petticoat; on the second, a silk scarf. A parasol, gloves, and a +pocket-handkerchief were also here found. The handkerchief bore the +name 'Marie Roget'. Fragments of dress were seen on the branches +around. The earth was trampled, the bushes were broken, and there +was every evidence of a violent struggle. + + "Notwithstanding the acclamation with which the discovery of this +thicket was received by the press, and the unanimity with which it was +supposed to indicate the precise scene of the outrage, it must be +admitted that there was some very good reason for doubt. That it was +the scene, I may or I may not believe- but there was excellent +reason for doubt. Had the true scene been, as Le Commerciel suggested, +in the neighborhood of the Rue Pavee St. Andree, the perpetrators of +the crime, supposing them still resident in Paris, would naturally +have been stricken with terror at the public attention thus acutely +directed into the proper channel; and, in certain classes of minds, +there would have arisen, at once, a sense of the necessity of some +exertion to re-divert this attention. And thus, the thicket of the +Barriere du Roule having been already suspected, the idea of placing +the articles where they were found, might have been naturally +entertained. There is no real evidence, although Le Soleil so +supposes, that the articles discovered had been more than a very few +days in the thicket; while there is much circumstantial proof that +they could not have remained there, without attracting attention, +during the twenty days elapsing between the fatal Sunday and the +afternoon upon which they were found by the boys. 'They were all +mildewed down hard,' says Le Soleil, adopting the opinions of its +predecessors, 'with the action of the rain and stuck together from +mildew. The grass had grown around and over some of them. The silk +of the parasol was strong, but the threads of it were run together +within. The upper part, where it had been doubled and folded, was +all mildewed and rotten, and tore on being opened.' In respect to +the grass having 'grown around and over some of them,' it is obvious +that the fact could only have been ascertained from the words, and +thus from the recollections, of two small boys; for these boys removed +the articles and took them home before they had been seen by a third +party. But the grass will grow, especially in warm and damp weather +(such as was that of the period of the murder), as much as two or +three inches in a single day. A parasol lying upon a newly turfed +ground, might, in a single week, be entirely concealed from sight by +the upspringing grass. And touching that mildew upon which the +editor of Le Soleil so pertinaciously insists, that he employs the +word no less than three times in the brief paragraph just quoted, is +he really unaware of the nature of this mildew? Is he to be told +that it is one of the many classes of fungus, of which the most +ordinary feature is its upspringing and decadence within twenty-four +hours? + + "Thus we see, at a glance, that what has been most triumphantly +adduced in support of the idea that the articles had been 'for at +least three or four weeks' in the thicket, is most absurdly null as +regards any evidence of that fact. On the other hand, it is +exceedingly difficult to believe that these articles could have +remained in the thicket specified for a longer period than a single +week- for a longer period than from one Sunday to the next. Those +who know any thing of the vicinity of Paris, know the extreme +difficulty of finding seclusion, unless at a great distance from its +suburbs. Such a thing as an unexplored or even an unfrequently visited +recess, amid its woods or groves, is not for a moment to be +imagined. Let any one who, being at heart a lover of nature, is yet +chained by duty to the dust and heat of this great metropolis- let any +such one attempt, even during the week-days, to slake his thirst for +solitude amid the scenes of natural loveliness which immediately +surround us. At every second step, he will find the growing charm +dispelled by the voice and personal intrusion of some ruffian or party +of carousing blackguards. He will seek privacy amid the densest +foliage, all in vain. Here are the very nooks where the unwashed +most abound- here are the temples most desecrate. With sickness of the +heart the wanderer will flee back to the polluted Paris as to a less +odious because less incongruous sink of pollution. But if the vicinity +of the city is so beset during the working days of the week, how +much more so on the Sabbath! It is now especially that, released +from the claims of labor, or deprived of the customary opportunities +of crime, the town blackguard seeks the precincts of the town, not +through love of the rural, which in his heart he despises, but by +way of escape from the restraints and conventionalities of society. He +desires less the fresh air and the green trees, than the utter license +of the country. Here, at the road-side inn, or beneath the foliage +of the woods, he indulges unchecked by any eye except those of his +boon companions, in all the mad excess of a counterfeit hilarity- +the joint offspring of liberty and of rum. I say nothing more than +what must be obvious to every dispassionate observer, when I repeat +that the circumstance of the articles in question having remained +undiscovered, for a longer period than from one Sunday to another, +in any thicket in the immediate neighborhood of Paris, is to be looked +upon as little less than miraculous. + + "But there are not wanting other grounds for the suspicion that +the articles were placed in the thicket with the view of diverting +attention from the real scene of the outrage. And first, let me direct +your notice to the date of the discovery of the articles. Collate this +with the date of the fifth extract made by myself from the newspapers. +You will find that the discovery followed, almost immediately, the +urgent communications sent to the evening paper. These communications, +although various, and apparently from various sources, tended all to +the same point-viz., the directing of attention to a gang as the +perpetrators of the outrage, and to the neighborhood of the Barriere +du Roule as its scene. Now, here, of course, the suspicion is not +that, in consequence of these communications, or of the public +attention by them directed, the articles were found by the boys; but +the suspicion might and may well have been, that the articles were not +before found by the boys, for the reason that the articles had not +before been in the thicket; having been deposited there only at so +late a period as at the date, or shortly prior to the date of the +communications, by the guilty authors of these communications +themselves. + + "This thicket was a singular- an exceedingly singular one. It was +unusually dense. Within its naturally walled enclosure were three +extraordinary stones, forming a seat with a back and a footstool. +And this thicket, so full of art, was in the immediate vicinity, +within a few rods, of the dwelling of Madame Deluc, whose boys were in +the habit of closely examining the shrubberies about them in search of +the bark of the sassafras. Would it be a rash wager- a wager of one +thousand to one- that a day never passed over the heads of these +boys without finding at least one of them ensconced in the +umbrageous hall, and enthroned upon its natural throne? Those who +would hesitate at such a wager, have either never been boys +themselves, or have forgotten the boyish nature. I repeat- it is +exceedingly hard to comprehend how the articles could have remained in +this thicket undiscovered, for a longer period than one or two days; +and that thus there is good ground for suspicion, in spite of the +dogmatic ignorance of Le Soleil, that they were, at a comparatively +late date, deposited where found. + + "But there are still other and stronger reasons for believing them +so deposited, than any which I have as yet urged. And, now, let me beg +your notice to the highly artificial arrangement of the articles. On +the upper stone lay a white petticoat; on the second, a silk scarf; +scattered around, were a parasol, gloves, and a pocket-handkerchief +bearing the name 'Marie Roget.' Here is just such an arrangement as +would naturally be made by a not over-acute person wishing to +dispose the articles naturally. But it is by no means a really natural +arrangement. I should rather have looked to see the things all lying +on the ground and trampled under foot. In the narrow limits of that +bower, it would have been scarcely possible that the petticoat and +scarf should have retained a position upon the stones, when +subjected to the brushing to and fro of many struggling persons. +'There was evidence,' it is said, 'of a struggle; and the earth was +trampled, the bushes were broken,'- but the petticoat and the scarf +are found deposited as if upon shelves. 'The pieces of the frock +torn out by the bushes were about three inches wide and six inches +long. One part was the hem of the frock and it had been mended. They +looked like strips torn off.' Here, inadvertently, Le Soleil has +employed an exceedingly suspicious phrase. The pieces, as described, +do indeed look like strips torn off; but purposely and by hand. It +is one of the rarest of accidents that a piece is 'torn off,' from any +garment such as is now in question, by the agency of a thorn. From the +very nature of such fabrics, a thorn or nail becoming tangled in them, +tears them rectangularly- divides them into two longitudinal rents, at +right angles with each other, and meeting at an apex where the thorn +enters- but it is scarcely possible to conceive the piece 'torn +off.' I never so knew it, nor did you. To tear a piece off from such +fabric, two distinct forces, in different directions, will be, in +almost every case, required. If there be two edges to the fabric- +if, for example, it be a pocket-handkerchief, and it is desired to +tear from it a slip, then, and then only, will the one force serve the +purpose. But in the present case the question is of a dress, +presenting but one edge. To tear a piece from the interior, where no +edge is presented, could only be effected by a miracle through the +agency of thorns, and no one thorn could accomplish it. But, even +where an edge is presented, two thorns will be necessary, operating, +the one in two distinct directions, and the other in one. And this +in the supposition that the edge is unhemmed. If hemmed, the matter is +nearly out of the question. We thus see the numerous and great +obstacles in the way of pieces being 'torn off' through the simple +agency of 'thorns'; yet we are required to believe not only that one +piece but that many have been so torn. 'And one part,' too, 'was the +hem of the frock'! Another piece was 'part of the skirt, not the +hem,'- that is to say, was torn completely out, through the agency +of thorns, from the unedged interior of the dress! These, I say, are +things which one may well be pardoned for disbelieving; yet, taken +collectedly, they form, perhaps, less of reasonable ground for +suspicion, than the one startling circumstance of the articles +having been left in this thicket at all, by any murderers who had +enough precaution to think of removing the corpse. You will not have +apprehended me rightly, however, if you suppose it my design to deny +this thicket as the scene of the outrage. There might have been a +wrong here, or more possibly, an accident at Madame Deluc's. But, in +fact, this is a point of minor importance. We are not engaged in an +attempt to discover the scene, but to produce the perpetrators of +the murder. What I have adduced, notwithstanding the minuteness with +which I have adduced it, has been with the view, first, to show the +folly of the positive and headlong assertions of Le Soleil, but +secondly and chiefly, to bring you, by the most natural route, to a +further contemplation of the doubt whether this assassination has, +or has not, been the work of a gang. + + "We will resume this question by mere allusion to the revolting +details of the surgeon examined at the inquest. It is only necessary +to say that his published inferences, in regard to the number of the +ruffians, have been properly ridiculed as unjust and totally baseless, +by all the reputable anatomists of Paris. Not that the matter might +not have been as inferred, but that there was no ground for the +inference:- was there not much for another? + + "Let us reflect now upon 'the traces of a struggle'; let me- ask +what these traces have been supposed to demonstrate. A gang. But do +they not rather demonstrate the absence of a gang? What struggle could +have taken place- what struggle so violent and so enduring as to +have left its 'traces' in all directions- between a weak and +defenceless girl and a gang of ruffians imagined? The silent grasp +of a few rough arms and all would have been over. The victim must have +been absolutely passive at their will. You will here bear in mind that +the arguments urged against the thicket as the scene, are +applicable, in chief part, only against it as the scene of an +outrage committed by more than a single individual. If we imagine +but one violator, we can conceive, and thus only conceive, the +struggle of so violent and so obstinate a nature as to have left the +'traces' apparent. + + "And again. I have already mentioned the suspicion to be excited +by the fact that the articles in question were suffered to remain at +all in the thicket where discovered. It seems almost impossible that +these evidences of guilt should have been accidentally left where +found. There was sufficient presence of mind (it is supposed) to +remove the corpse, and yet a more positive evidence than the corpse +itself (whose features might have been quickly obliterated by +decay), is allowed to lie conspicuously in the scene of the outrage- I +allude to the handkerchief with the name of the deceased. If this +was accident, it was not the accident of a gang. We can imagine it +only the accident of an individual. Let us see. An individual has +committed the murder. He is alone with the ghost of the departed. He +is appalled by what lies motionless before him. The fury of his +passion is over, and there is abundant room in his heart for the +natural awe of the deed. His is none of that confidence which the +presence of numbers inevitably inspires. He is alone with the dead. He +trembles and is bewildered. Yet there is a necessity for disposing +of the corpse. He bears it to the river, and leaves behind him the +other evidences of his guilt; for it is difficult, if not impossible +to carry all the burthen at once, and it will be easy to return for +what is left. But in his toilsome journey to the water his fears +redouble within him. The sounds of life encompass his path. A dozen +times he hears or fancies he hears the step of an observer. Even the +very lights from the city bewilder him. Yet, in time, and by long +and frequent pauses of deep agony, he reaches the river's brink, and +disposes of his ghastly charge- perhaps through the medium of a +boat. But now what treasure does the world hold- what threat of +vengeance could it hold out- which would have power to urge the return +of that lonely murderer over that toilsome and perilous path, to the +thicket and its blood-chilling recollections? He returns not, let +the consequences be what they may. He could not return if he would. +His sole thought is immediate escape. He turns his back forever upon +those dreadful shrubberies, and flees as from the wrath to come. + + "But how with a gang? Their number would have inspired them with +confidence; if, indeed, confidence is ever wanting in the breast of +the arrant blackguard; and of arrant blackguards alone are the +supposed gangs ever constituted. Their number, I say, would have +prevented the bewildering and unreasoning terror which I have imagined +to paralyze the single man. Could we suppose an oversight in one, or +two, or three, this oversight would have been remedied by a fourth. +They would have left nothing behind them; for their number would +have enabled them to carry all at once. There would have been no +need of return. + + "Consider now the circumstance that, in the outer garment of the +corpse when found, 'a slip, about a foot wide, had been torn upward +from the bottom hem to the waist, wound three times around the +waist, and secured by a sort of hitch in the back.' This was done with +the obvious design of affording a handle by which to carry the body. +But would any number of men have dreamed of resorting to such an +expedient? To three or four, the limbs of the corpse would have +afforded not only a sufficient, but the best possible, hold. The +device is that of a single individual; and this brings us to the +fact that 'between the thicket and the river, the rails of the +fences were found taken down, and the ground bore evident traces of +some heavy burden having been dragged along it!' But would a number of +men have put themselves to the superfluous trouble of taking down a +fence, for the purpose of dragging through it a corpse which they +might have lifted over any fence in an instant? Would a number of +men have so dragged a corpse at all as to have left evident traces +of the dragging? + + "And here we must refer to an observation of Le Commerciel; an +observation upon which I have already, in some measure, commented. +'A piece,' says this journal, 'of one of the unfortunate girl's +petticoats was torn out and tied under her chin, and around the back +of her head, probably to prevent screams. This was done by fellows who +had no pocket-handkerchiefs.' + + "I have before suggested that a genuine blackguard is never +without a pocket-handkerchief. But it is not to this fact that I now +especially advert. That it was not through want of a handkerchief +for the purpose imagined by Le Commerciel that this bandage was +employed, is rendered apparent by the handkerchief left in the +thicket; and that the object was not 'to prevent screams' appears, +also, from the bandage having been employed in preference to what +would so much better have answered the purpose. But the language of +the evidence speaks of the strip in question as 'found around the +neck, fitting loosely, and secured with a hard knot.' These words +are sufficiently vague, but differ materially from those of Le +Commerciel. The slip was eighteen inches wide, and therefore, although +of muslin, would form a strong band when folded or rumpled +longitudinally. And thus rumpled it was discovered. My inference is +this. The solitary murderer, having borne the corpse for some distance +(whether from the thicket or elsewhere) by means of the bandage +hitched around its middle, found the weight, in this mode of +procedure, too much for his strength. He resolved to drag the burthen- +the evidence goes to show that it was dragged. With this object in +view, it became necessary to attach something like a rope to one of +the extremities. It could be best attached about the neck, where the +head would prevent it slipping off. And now the murderer bethought +him, unquestionably, of the bandage about the loins. He would have +used this, but for its volution about the corpse, the hitch which +embarrassed it, and the reflection that it had not been 'torn off from +the garment. It was easier to tear a new slip from the petticoat. He +tore it, made it fast about the neck, and so dragged his victim to the +brink of the river. That this 'bandage,' only attainable with +trouble and delay, and but imperfectly answering its purpose- that +this bandage was employed at all, demonstrates that the necessity +for its employment sprang from circumstances arising at a period +when the handkerchief was no longer attainable- that is to say, +arising, as we have imagined, after quitting the thicket (if the +thicket it was), and on the road between the thicket and the river. + + "But the evidence, you will say, of Madame Deluc(!) points +especially to the presence of a gang in the vicinity of the thicket, +at or about the epoch of the murder. This I grant. I doubt if there +were not a dozen gangs, such as described by Madame Deluc, in and +about the vicinity of the Barriere du Roule at or about the period +of this tragedy. But the gang which has drawn upon itself the +pointed animadversion, although the somewhat tardy and very suspicious +evidence, of Madame Deluc, is the only gang which is represented by +that honest and scrupulous old lady as having eaten her cakes and +swallowed her brandy, without putting themselves to the trouble of +making her payment. Et hinc illae irae? + + "But what is the precise evidence of Madame Deluc? 'A gang of +miscreants made their appearance, behaved boisterously, ate and +drank without making payment, followed in the route of the young man +and the girl, returned to the inn about dusk, and re-crossed the river +as if in great haste.' + + "Now this 'great haste very possibly seemed greater haste in the +eyes of Madame Deluc, since she dwelt lingeringly and lamentingly upon +her violated cakes and ale,- cakes and ale for which she might still +have entertained a faint hope of compensation. Why, otherwise, since +it was about dusk, should she make a point of the haste? It is no +cause for wonder, surely, that even a gang of blackguards should +make haste to get home when a wide river is to be crossed in small +boats, when storm impends, and when night approaches. + + "I say approaches, for the night had not yet arrived. It was only +about dusk that the indecent haste of these 'miscreants' offended +the sober eyes of Madame Deluc. But we are told that it was upon +this very evening that Madame Deluc, as well as her eldest son, 'heard +the screams of a female in the vicinity of the inn.' And in what words +does Madame Deluc designate the period of the evening at which these +screams were heard? 'It was soon after dark' she says. But 'soon after +dark' is, at least, dark; and 'about dusk' is as certainly daylight. +Thus it is abundantly clear that the gang quitted the Barriere da +Roule prior to the screams overheard(?) by Madame Deluc. And although, +in all the many reports of the evidence, the relative expressions in +question are distinctly and invariably employed just as I have +employed them in this conversation with yourself, no notice whatever +of the gross discrepancy has, as yet, been taken by any of the +public journals, or by any of the myrmidons of police. + + "I shall add but one to the arguments against a gang, but this one +has, to my own understanding at least, a weight altogether +irresistible. Under the circumstances of large reward offered, and +full pardon to any king's evidence, it is not to be imagined, for a +moment, that some member of a gang of low ruffians, or of any body +of men would not long ago have betrayed his accomplices. Each one of a +gang, so placed, is not so much greedy of reward, or anxious for +escape, as fearful of betrayal. He betrays eagerly and early that he +may not himself be betrayed. That the secret has not been divulged +is the very best of proof that it is, in fact, a secret. The horrors +of this dark deed are known only to one, or two, living human +beings, and to God. + + "Let us sum up now the meagre yet certain fruits of our long +analysis. We have attained the idea either of a fatal accident under +the roof of Madame Deluc, or of a murder perpetrated, in the thicket +at the Barriere du Roule, by a lover, or at least by an intimate and +secret associate of the deceased. This associate is of swarthy +complexion. This complexion, the 'hitch' in the bandage, and the +'sailor's knot' with which the bonnet-ribbon is tied, point to a +seaman. His companionship with the deceased, a gay but not an abject +young girl, designates him as above the grade of the common sailor. +Here the well-written and urgent communications to the journals are +much in the way of corroboration. The circumstance of the first +elopement as mentioned by Le Mercurie, tends to blend the idea of this +seaman with that of that 'naval officer' who is first known to have +led the unfortunate into crime. + + "And here, most fitly, comes the consideration of the continued +absence of him of the dark complexion. Let me pause to observe that +the complexion of this man is dark and swarthy; it was no common +swarthiness which constituted the sole point of remembrance, both as +regards Valence and Madame Deluc. But why is this man absent? Was he +murdered by the gang? If so, why are there only traces of the +assassinated girl? The scene of the two outrages will naturally be +supposed identical. And where is his corpse? The assassins would +most probably have disposed of both in the same way. But it may be +said that this man lives, and is deterred from making himself known, +through dread of being charged with the murder. This consideration +might be supposed to operate upon him now- at late period- since it +has been given in evidence that he was seen with Marie- but it would +have had no force at the period of the deed. The first impulse of an +innocent man would have been to announce the outrage, and to aid in +identifying the ruffians. This, policy would have suggested. He had +been seen with the girl. He had crossed the river with her in an +open ferry-boat. The denouncing of the assassins would have +appeared, even to an idiot, the surest and sole means of relieving +himself from suspicion. We cannot suppose him, on the night of the +fatal Sunday, both innocent himself and incognizant of an outrage +committed. Yet only under such circumstances is it possible to imagine +that he would have failed, if alive, in the denouncement of the +assassins. + + "And what means are ours of attaining the truth? We shall find these +means multiplying and gathering distinctness as we proceed. Let us +sift to the bottom this affair of the first elopement. Let us know the +full history of 'the officer,' with his present circumstances, and his +whereabouts at the precise period of the murder. Let us carefully +compare with each other the various communications sent to the evening +paper, in which the object was to inculpate a gang. This done, let +us compare these communications, both as regards style and MS., with +those sent to the morning paper, at a previous period, and insisting +so vehemently upon the guilt of Mennais. And, all this done, let us +again compare these various communications with the known MSS. of +the officer. Let us endeavor to ascertain, by repeated questionings of +Madame Deluc and her boys, as well as of the omnibus-driver, +Valence, something more of the personal appearance and bearing of +the 'man of dark complexion.' Queries, skillfully directed will not +fail to elicit, from some of these parties, information on this +particular point (or upon others)- information which the parties +themselves may not even be aware of possessing. And let us now trace +the boat picked up by the bargeman on the morning of Monday the +twenty-third of June, and which was removed from the barge-office, +without the cognizance of the officer in attendance, and without the +rudder, at some period prior to the discovery of the corpse. With a +proper caution and perseverance we shall infallibly trace this boat; +for not only can the bargeman who picked it up identify it, but the +rudder is at hand. The rudder of a sail boat would not have been +abandoned, without inquiry, by one altogether at ease in heart. And +here let me pause to insinuate a question. There was no +advertisement of the picking up of this boat. It was silently taken to +the barge-office and as silently removed. But its owner or employer- +how happened he, at so early a period as Tuesday morning, to be +informed, without the agency of advertisement, of the locality of +the boat taken up on Monday, unless we imagine some connection with +the navy- some personal permanent connexion leading to cognizance of +its minute interests- its petty local news? + + "In speaking of the lonely assassin dragging his burden to the +shore, I have already suggested the probability of his availing +himself of a boat. Now we are to understand that Marie Roget was +precipitated from a boat. This would naturally have been the case. The +corpse could not have been trusted to the shallow waters of the shore. +The peculiar marks on the back and shoulders of the victim tell of the +bottom ribs of a boat. That the body was found without weight is +also corroborative of the idea. If thrown from the shore a weight +would have been attached. We can only account for its absence by +supposing the murderer to have neglected the precaution of supplying +himself with it before pushing off. In the act of consigning the +corpse to the water, he would unquestionably have noticed his +oversight; but then no remedy would have been at hand. Any risk +would have been preferred to a return to that accursed shore. Having +rid himself of his ghastly charge, the murderer would have hastened to +the city. There, at some obscure wharf, he would have leaped on +land. But the boat- would he have secured it? He would have been in +too great haste for such things as securing a boat. Moreover, in +fastening it to the wharf, he would have felt as if securing +evidence against himself. His natural thought would have been to +cast from him, as far as possible, all that had held connection with +his crime. He would not only have fled from the wharf, but he would +not have permitted the boat to remain. Assuredly he would have cast it +adrift. Let us pursue our fancies. In the morning, the wretch is +stricken with unutterable horror at finding that the boat has been +picked up and detained at a locality which he is in the daily habit of +frequenting- at a locality, perhaps, which his duty compels him to +frequent. The next night, without daring to ask for the rudder, he +removes it. Now where is that rudderless boat? Let it be one of our +first purposes to discover. With the first glimpse we obtain of it, +the dawn of our success shall begin. This boat shall guide us, with +a rapidity which will surprise even ourselves, to him who employed +it in the midnight of the fatal Sabbath. Corroboration will rise +upon corroboration, and the murderer will be traced." + + [For reasons which we shall not specify, but which to many readers +will appear obvious, we have taken the liberty of here omitting, +from the MSS. placed in our hands, such portion as details the +following up of the apparently slight clew obtained by Dupin. We +feel it advisable only to state, in brief, that the result desired was +brought to pass; and that the Prefect fulfilled punctually, although +with reluctance, the terms of his compact with the Chevalier. Mr. +Poe's article concludes with the following words.- Eds.*] + + * Of the magazine in which the article was originally published. + + It will be understood that I speak of coincidences and no more. What +I have said above upon this topic must suffice. In my own heart +there dwells no faith in praeter-nature. That Nature and its God are +two, no man who thinks will deny. That the latter, creating the +former, can, at will, control or modify it, is also unquestionable. +I say "at will"; for the question is of will, and not, as the insanity +of logic has assumed, of power. It is not that the Deity cannot modify +his laws, but that we insult him in imagining a possible necessity for +modification. In their origin these laws were fashioned to embrace all +contingencies which could lie in the Future. With God all is Now. + + I repeat, then, that I speak of these things only as of +coincidences. And further: in what I relate it will be seen that +between the fate of the unhappy Mary Cecilia Rogers, so far as that +fate is known, and the fate of one Marie Roget up to a certain epoch +in her history, there has existed a parallel in the contemplation of +whose wonderful exactitude the reason becomes embarrassed. I say all +this will be seen. But let it not for a moment be supposed that, in +proceeding with the sad narrative of Marie from the epoch just +mentioned, and in tracing to its denouement the mystery which +enshrouded her, it is my covert design to hint at an extension of +the parallel, or even to suggest that the measures adopted in Paris +for the discovery of the assassin of a grisette, or measures founded +in any similar ratiocination would produce any similar result. + + For, in respect to the latter branch of the supposition, it should +be considered that the most trifling variation in the facts of the two +cases might give rise to the most important miscalculations, by +diverting thoroughly the two courses of events; very much as, in +arithmetic, an error which, in its own individuality, may be +inappreciable, produces, at length, by dint of multiplication at all +points of the process, a result enormously at variance with truth. +And, in regard to the former branch, we must not fail to hold in +view that the very Calculus of Probabilities to which I have referred, +forbids all idea of the extension of the parallel,- forbids it with +a positiveness strong and decided just in proportion as this +parallel has already been long-drawn and exact. This is one of those +anomalous propositions which, seemingly appealing to thought +altogether apart from the mathematical, is yet one which only the +mathematician can fully entertain. Nothing, for example, is more +difficult than to convince the merely general reader that the fact +of sixes having been thrown twice in succession by a player at dice, +is sufficient cause for betting the largest odds that sixes will not +be thrown in the third attempt. A suggestion to this effect is usually +rejected by the intellect at once. It does not appear that the two +throws which have been completed, and which lie now absolutely in +the Past, can have influence upon the throw which exists only in the +Future. The chance for throwing sixes seems to be precisely as it +was at any ordinary time- that is to say, subject only to the +influence of the various other throws which may be made by the dice. +And this is a reflection which appears so exceedingly obvious that +attempts to controvert it are received more frequently with a derisive +smile than with any thing like respectful attention. The error here +involved- a gross error redolent of mischief- I cannot pretend to +expose within the limits assigned me at present; and with the +philosophical it needs no exposure. It may be sufficient here to say +that it forms one of an infinite series of mistakes which arise in the +path of Reason through her propensity for seeking truth in detail. + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-mystification-561.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-mystification-561.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..f0bab029 --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-mystification-561.txt @@ -0,0 +1,322 @@ + 1850 + + MYSTIFICATION + + by Edgar Allan Poe +MYSTIFICATION + + Slid, if these be your "passados" and "montantes," I'll have none o' +them. + + NED KNOWLES. + + THE BARON RITZNER VON JUNG was a noble Hungarian family, every +member of which (at least as far back into antiquity as any certain +records extend) was more or less remarkable for talent of some +description- the majority for that species of grotesquerie in +conception of which Tieck, a scion of the house, has given a vivid, +although by no means the most vivid exemplifications. My +acquaintance with Ritzner commenced at the magnificent Chateau Jung, +into which a train of droll adventures, not to be made public, threw +a place in his regard, and here, with somewhat more difficulty, a +partial insight into his mental conformation. In later days this +insight grew more clear, as the intimacy which had at first +permitted it became more close; and when, after three years +of the character of the Baron Ritzner von Jung. + + I remember the buzz of curiosity which his advent excited within the +college precincts on the night of the twenty-fifth of June. I remember +still more distinctly, that while he was pronounced by all parties +at first sight "the most remarkable man in the world," no person +made any attempt at accounting for his opinion. That he was unique +appeared so undeniable, that it was deemed impertinent to inquire +wherein the uniquity consisted. But, letting this matter pass for +the present, I will merely observe that, from the first moment of +his setting foot within the limits of the university, he began to +exercise over the habits, manners, persons, purses, and propensities +of the whole community which surrounded him, an influence the most +extensive and despotic, yet at the same time the most indefinite and +altogether unaccountable. Thus the brief period of his residence at +the university forms an era in its annals, and is characterized by all +classes of people appertaining to it or its dependencies as "that very +extraordinary epoch forming the domination of the Baron Ritzner von +Jung." +then of no particular age, by which I mean that it was impossible to +form a guess respecting his age by any data personally afforded. He +might have been fifteen or fifty, and was twenty-one years and seven +months. He was by no means a handsome man- perhaps the reverse. The +contour of his face was somewhat angular and harsh. His forehead was +lofty and very fair; his nose a snub; his eyes large, heavy, glassy, +and meaningless. About the mouth there was more to be observed. The +lips were gently protruded, and rested the one upon the other, after +such a fashion that it is impossible to conceive any, even the most +complex, combination of human features, conveying so entirely, and +so singly, the idea of unmitigated gravity, solemnity and repose. + + It will be perceived, no doubt, from what I have already said, +that the Baron was one of those human anomalies now and then to be +found, who make the science of mystification the study and the +business of their lives. For this science a peculiar turn of mind gave +him instinctively the cue, while his physical appearance afforded +him unusual facilities for carrying his prospects into effect. I +quaintly termed the domination of the Baron Ritzner von Jung, ever +rightly entered into the mystery which overshadowed his character. I +truly think that no person at the university, with the exception of +myself, ever suspected him to be capable of a joke, verbal or +practical:- the old bull-dog at the garden-gate would sooner have been +accused,- the ghost of Heraclitus,- or the wig of the Emeritus +Professor of Theology. This, too, when it was evident that the most +egregious and unpardonable of all conceivable tricks, whimsicalities +and buffooneries were brought about, if not directly by him, at +least plainly through his intermediate agency or connivance. The +beauty, if I may so call it, of his art mystifique, lay in that +consummate ability (resulting from an almost intuitive knowledge of +human nature, and a most wonderful self-possession,) by means of which +he never failed to make it appear that the drolleries he was +occupied in bringing to a point, arose partly in spite, and partly +in consequence of the laudable efforts he was making for their +prevention, and for the preservation of the good order and dignity +of Alma Mater. The deep, the poignant, the overwhelming mortification, +which upon each such failure of his praise worthy endeavors, would +suffuse every lineament of his countenance, left not the slightest +room for doubt of his sincerity in the bosoms of even his most +skeptical companions. The adroitness, too, was no less worthy of +observation by which he contrived to shift the sense of the +grotesque from the creator to the created- from his own person to +the absurdities to which he had given rise. In no instance before that +of which I speak, have I known the habitual mystific escape the +natural consequence of his manoevres- an attachment of the ludicrous +to his own character and person. Continually enveloped in an +atmosphere of whim, my friend appeared to live only for the severities +of society; and not even his own household have for a moment +associated other ideas than those of the rigid and august with the +memory of the Baron Ritzner von Jung. +the demon of the dolce far niente lay like an incubus upon the +university. Nothing, at least, was done beyond eating and drinking +and making merry. The apartments of the students were converted into +so many pot-houses, and there was no pot-house of them all more famous +or more frequented than that of the Baron. Our carousals here were +many, and boisterous, and long, and never unfruitful of events. + + Upon one occasion we had protracted our sitting until nearly +daybreak, and an unusual quantity of wine had been drunk. The +company consisted of seven or eight individuals besides the Baron +and myself. Most of these were young men of wealth, of high +connection, of great family pride, and all alive with an exaggerated +sense of honor. They abounded in the most ultra German opinions +respecting the duello. To these Quixotic notions some recent +Parisian publications, backed by three or four desperate and fatal +conversation, during the greater part of the night, had run wild +upon the all- engrossing topic of the times. The Baron, who had been +unusually silent and abstracted in the earlier portion of the evening, +at length seemed to be aroused from his apathy, took a leading part in +the discourse, and dwelt upon the benefits, and more especially upon +the beauties, of the received code of etiquette in passages of arms +with an ardor, an eloquence, an impressiveness, and an +affectionateness of manner, which elicited the warmest enthusiasm from +his hearers in general, and absolutely staggered even myself, who well +knew him to be at heart a ridiculer of those very points for which +he contended, and especially to hold the entire fanfaronade of +duelling etiquette in the sovereign contempt which it deserves. + + Looking around me during a pause in the Baron's discourse (of +which my readers may gather some faint idea when I say that it bore +resemblance to the fervid, chanting, monotonous, yet musical +sermonic manner of Coleridge), I perceived symptoms of even more +than the general interest in the countenance of one of the party. This +gentleman, whom I shall call Hermann, was an original in every +respect- except, perhaps, in the single particular that he was a +very great fool. He contrived to bear, however, among a particular set +at the university, a reputation for deep metaphysical thinking, and, I +believe, for some logical talent. As a duellist he had acquired +who had fallen at his hands; but they were many. He was a man of +courage undoubtedly. But it was upon his minute acquaintance with +the etiquette of the duello, and the nicety of his sense of honor, +that he most especially prided himself. These things were a hobby +which he rode to the death. To Ritzner, ever upon the lookout for +the grotesque, his peculiarities had for a long time past afforded +food for mystification. Of this, however, I was not aware; although, +in the present instance, I saw clearly that something of a whimsical +nature was upon the tapis with my friend, and that Hermann was its +especial object. + + As the former proceeded in his discourse, or rather monologue I +perceived the excitement of the latter momently increasing. At +length he spoke; offering some objection to a point insisted upon by +R., and giving his reasons in detail. To these the Baron replied at +length (still maintaining his exaggerated tone of sentiment) and +concluding, in what I thought very bad taste, with a sarcasm and a +sneer. The hobby of Hermann now took the bit in his teeth. This I +could discern by the studied hair-splitting farrago of his +rejoinder. His last words I distinctly remember. "Your opinions, allow +me to say, Baron von Jung, although in the main correct, are, in +many nice points, discreditable to yourself and to the university of +which you are a member. In a few respects they are even unworthy of +serious refutation. I would say more than this, sir, were it not for +the fear of giving you offence (here the speaker smiled blandly), I +would say, sir, that your opinions are not the opinions to be expected +from a gentleman." + + As Hermann completed this equivocal sentence, all eyes were turned +upon the Baron. He became pale, then excessively red; then, dropping +his pocket-handkerchief, stooped to recover it, when I caught a +glimpse of his countenance, while it could be seen by no one else at +the table. It was radiant with the quizzical expression which was +its natural character, but which I had never seen it assume except +when we were alone together, and when he unbent himself freely. In +an instant afterward he stood erect, confronting Hermann; and so total +an alteration of countenance in so short a period I certainly never +saw before. For a moment I even fancied that I had misconceived him, +and that he was in sober earnest. He appeared to be stifling with +passion, and his face was cadaverously white. For a short time he +remained silent, apparently striving to master his emotion. Having +at length seemingly succeeded, he reached a decanter which stood +near him, saying as he held it firmly clenched "The language you +have thought proper to employ, Mynheer Hermann, in addressing yourself +to me, is objectionable in so many particulars, that I have neither +temper nor time for specification. That my opinions, however, are +not the opinions to be expected from a gentleman, is an observation so +directly offensive as to allow me but one line of conduct. Some +courtesy, nevertheless, is due to the presence of this company, and to +yourself, at this moment, as my guest. You will pardon me, +therefore, if, upon this consideration, I deviate slightly from the +general usage among gentlemen in similar cases of personal affront. +You will forgive me for the moderate tax I shall make upon your +imagination, and endeavor to consider, for an instant, the +reflection of your person in yonder mirror as the living Mynheer +Hermann himself. This being done, there will be no difficulty +whatever. I shall discharge this decanter of wine at your image in +yonder mirror, and thus fulfil all the spirit, if not the exact +letter, of resentment for your insult, while the necessity of physical +violence to your real person will be obviated." + + With these words he hurled the decanter, full of wine, against the +mirror which hung directly opposite Hermann; striking the reflection +of his person with great precision, and of course shattering the glass +into fragments. The whole company at once started to their feet, +and, with the exception of myself and Ritzner, took their departure. +As Hermann went out, the Baron whispered me that I should follow him +and make an offer of my services. To this I agreed; not knowing +precisely what to make of so ridiculous a piece of business. + + The duellist accepted my aid with his stiff and ultra recherche air, +and, taking my arm, led me to his apartment. I could hardly forbear +laughing in his face while he proceeded to discuss, with the +profoundest gravity, what he termed "the refinedly peculiar character" +of the insult he had received. After a tiresome harangue in his +ordinary style, he took down from his book shelves a number of musty +volumes on the subject of the duello, and entertained me for a long +time with their contents; reading aloud, and commenting earnestly as +he read. I can just remember the titles of some of the works. There +were the "Ordonnance of Philip le Bel on Single Combat"; the +"Theatre of Honor," by Favyn, and a treatise "On the Permission of +Duels," by Andiguier. He displayed, also, with much pomposity, +Brantome's "Memoirs of Duels,"- published at Cologne, 1666, in the +types of Elzevir- a precious and unique vellum-paper volume, with a +fine margin, and bound by Derome. But he requested my attention +particularly, and with an air of mysterious sagacity, to a thick +octavo, written in barbarous Latin by one Hedelin, a Frenchman, and +having the quaint title, "Duelli Lex Scripta, et non; aliterque." From +this he read me one of the drollest chapters in the world concerning +"Injuriae per applicationem, per constructionem, et per se," about +half of which, he averred, was strictly applicable to his own +"refinedly peculiar" case, although not one syllable of the whole +matter could I understand for the life of me. Having finished the +chapter, he closed the book, and demanded what I thought necessary +to be done. I replied that I had entire confidence in his superior +delicacy of feeling, and would abide by what he proposed. With this +answer he seemed flattered, and sat down to write a note to the Baron. +It ran thus: + + Sir,- My friend, M. P.-, will hand you this note. I find it +incumbent upon me to request, at your earliest convenience, an +explanation of this evening's occurrences at your chambers. In the +event of your declining this request, Mr. P. will be happy to arrange, +with any friend whom you may appoint, the steps preliminary to a +meeting. + + With sentiments of perfect respect, + + Your most humble servant, + + JOHANN HERMAN. + + To the Baron Ritzner von Jung, + + Not knowing what better to do, I called upon Ritzner with this +epistle. He bowed as I presented it; then, with a grave countenance, +motioned me to a seat. Having perused the cartel, he wrote the +following reply, which I carried to Hermann. + + SIR,- Through our common friend, Mr. P., I have received your note +of this evening. Upon due reflection I frankly admit the propriety +of the explanation you suggest. This being admitted, I still find +great difficulty, (owing to the refinedly peculiar nature of our +disagreement, and of the personal affront offered on my part,) in so +wording what I have to say by way of apology, as to meet all the +minute exigencies, and all the variable shadows, of the case. I have +great reliance, however, on that extreme delicacy of discrimination, +in matters appertaining to the rules of etiquette, for which you +have been so long and so pre-eminently distinguished. With perfect +certainty, therefore, of being comprehended, I beg leave, in lieu of +offering any sentiments of my own, to refer you to the opinions of +Sieur Hedelin, as set forth in the ninth paragraph of the chapter of +"Injuriae per applicationem, per constructionem, et per se," in his +"Duelli Lex scripta, et non; aliterque." The nicety of your +discernment in all the matters here treated, will be sufficient, I +am assured, to convince you that the mere circumstance of me referring +you to this admirable passage, ought to satisfy your request, as a man +of honor, for explanation. + + With sentiments of profound respect, + + Your most obedient servant, + + VON JUNG. + + The Herr Johann Hermann + + Hermann commenced the perusal of this epistle with a scowl, which, +however, was converted into a smile of the most ludicrous +self-complacency as he came to the rigmarole about Injuriae per +applicationem, per constructionem, et per se. Having finished reading, +he begged me, with the blandest of all possible smiles, to be +seated, while he made reference to the treatise in question. Turning +to the passage specified, he read it with great care to himself, +then closed the book, and desired me, in my character of +confidential acquaintance, to express to the Baron von Jung his +exalted sense of his chivalrous behavior, and, in that of second, to +assure him that the explanation offered was of the fullest, the most +honorable, and the most unequivocally satisfactory nature. + + Somewhat amazed at all this, I made my retreat to the Baron. He +seemed to receive Hermann's amicable letter as a matter of course, and +after a few words of general conversation, went to an inner room and +brought out the everlasting treatise "Duelli Lex scripta, et non; +aliterque." He handed me the volume and asked me to look over some +portion of it. I did so, but to little purpose, not being able to +gather the least particle of meaning. He then took the book himself, +and read me a chapter aloud. To my surprise, what he read proved to be +a most horribly absurd account of a duel between two baboons. He now +explained the mystery; showing that the volume, as it appeared prima +facie, was written upon the plan of the nonsense verses of Du +Bartas; that is to say, the language was ingeniously framed so as to +present to the ear all the outward signs of intelligibility, and +even of profundity, while in fact not a shadow of meaning existed. The +key to the whole was found in leaving out every second and third +word alternately, when there appeared a series of ludicrous quizzes +upon a single combat as practised in modern times. + + The Baron afterwards informed me that he had purposely thrown the +treatise in Hermann's way two or three weeks before the adventure, and +that he was satisfied, from the general tenor of his conversation, +that he had studied it with the deepest attention, and firmly believed +it to be a work of unusual merit. Upon this hint he proceeded. Hermann +would have died a thousand deaths rather than acknowledge his +inability to understand anything and everything in the universe that +had ever been written about the duello. + + LITTLETON BARRY. + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-narrative-695.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-narrative-695.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..7db8c0df --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-narrative-695.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6523 @@ + 1850 + + THE NARRATIVE OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM OF NANTUCKET + + by Edgar Allan Poe +PREFACE + + PREFACE + + UPON my return to the United States a few months ago, after the +extraordinary series of adventure in the South Seas and elsewhere, +of which an account is given in the following pages, accident threw me +into the society of several gentlemen in Richmond, Va., who felt +deep interest in all matters relating to the regions I had visited, +and who were constantly urging it upon me, as a duty, to give my +narrative to the public. I had several reasons, however, for declining +to do so, some of which were of a nature altogether private, and +concern no person but myself, others not so much so. One consideration +which deterred me was, that, having kept no journal during a greater +portion of the time in which I was absent, I feared I should not be +able to write, from mere memory, a statement so minute and connected +as to have the appearance of that truth it would really possess, +barring only the natural and unavoidable exaggeration to which all +of us are prone when detailing events which have had powerful +influence in exciting the imaginative faculties. Another reason was, +that the incidents to be narrated were of a nature so positively +marvellous, that, unsupported as my assertions must necessarily be +(except by the evidence of a single individual, and he a half-breed +Indian), I could only hope for belief among my family, and those of my +friends who have had reason, through life, to put faith in my +veracity- the probability being that the public at large would regard +what I should put forth as merely an impudent and ingenious fiction. A +distrust in my own abilities as a writer was, nevertheless, one of the +principal causes which prevented me from complying with the suggestion +of my advisers. + + Among those gentlemen in Virginia who expressed the greatest +interest in my statement, more particularly in regard to that +portion of it which related to the Antarctic Ocean, was Mr. Poe, +lately editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, a monthly +magazine, published by Mr. Thomas W. White, in the city of Richmond. +He strongly advised me, among others, to prepare at once a full +account of what I had seen and undergone, and trust to the +shrewdness and common sense of the public- insisting, with great +plausibility, that however roughly, as regards mere authorship, my +book should be got up, its very uncouthness, if there were any, +would give it all the better chance of being received as truth. + + Notwithstanding this representation, I did not make up my mind +to do as he suggested. He afterward proposed (finding that I would not +stir in the matter) that I should allow him to draw up, in his own +words, a narrative of the earlier portion of my adventures, from facts +afforded by myself, publishing it in the Southern Messenger under +the garb of fiction. To this, perceiving no objection, I consented, +stipulating only that my real name should be retained. Two numbers +of the pretended fiction appeared, consequently, in the Messenger +for January and February, (1837), and, in order that it might +certainly be regarded as fiction, the name of Mr. Poe was affixed to +the articles in the table of contents of the magazine. + + The manner in which this ruse was received has induced me at +length to undertake a regular compilation and publication of the +adventures in question; for I found that, in spite of the air of fable +which had been so ingeniously thrown around that portion of my +statement which appeared in the Messenger (without altering or +distorting a single fact), the public were still not at all disposed +to receive it as fable, and several letters were sent to Mr. P.'s +address, distinctly expressing a conviction to the contrary. I +thence concluded that the facts of my narrative would prove of such +a nature as to carry with them sufficient evidence of their own +authenticity, and that I had consequently little to fear on the +score of popular incredulity. + + This expose being made, it will be seen at once how much of what +follows I claim to be my own writing; and it will also be understood +that no fact is misrepresented in the first few pages which were +written by Mr. Poe. Even to those readers who have not seen the +Messenger, it will be unnecessary to point out where his portion +ends and my own commences; the difference in point of style will be +readily perceived. + + A. G. PYM. +New-York, July, 1838. + + CHAPTER I + + MY name is Arthur Gordon Pym. My father was a respectable trader +in sea-stores at Nantucket, where I was born. My maternal +grandfather was an attorney in good practice. He was fortunate in +every thing, and had speculated very successfully in stocks of the +Edgarton New Bank, as it was formerly called. By these and other means +he had managed to lay by a tolerable sum of money. He was more +attached to myself, I believe, than to any other person in the +world, and I expected to inherit the most of his property at his +death. He sent me, at six years of age, to the school of old Mr. +Ricketts, a gentleman with only one arm and of eccentric manners- he +is well known to almost every person who has visited New Bedford. I +stayed at his school until I was sixteen, when I left him for Mr. E. +Ronald's academy on the hill. Here I became intimate with the son of +Mr. Barnard, a sea-captain, who generally sailed in the employ of +Lloyd and Vredenburgh- Mr. Barnard is also very well known in New +Bedford, and has many relations, I am certain, in Edgarton. His son +was named Augustus, and he was nearly two years older than myself. +He had been on a whaling voyage with his father in the John Donaldson, +and was always talking to me of his adventures in the South Pacific +Ocean. I used frequently to go home with him, and remain all day, +and sometimes all night. We occupied the same bed, and he would be +sure to keep me awake until almost light, telling me stories of the +natives of the Island of Tinian, and other places he had visited in +his travels. At last I could not help being interested in what he +said, and by degrees I felt the greatest desire to go to sea. I +owned a sailboat called the Ariel, and worth about seventy-five +dollars. She had a half-deck or cuddy, and was rigged +sloop-fashion- I forget her tonnage, but she would hold ten persons +without much crowding. In this boat we were in the habit of going on +some of the maddest freaks in the world; and, when I now think of +them, it appears to me a thousand wonders that I am alive to-day. + + I will relate one of these adventures by way of introduction to +a longer and more momentous narrative. One night there was a party +at Mr. Barnard's, and both Augustus and myself were not a little +intoxicated toward the close of it. As usual, in such cases, I took +part of his bed in preference to going home. He went to sleep, as I +thought, very quietly (it being near one when the party broke up), and +without saying a word on his favorite topic. It might have been half +an hour from the time of our getting in bed, and I was just about +falling into a doze, when he suddenly started up, and swore with a +terrible oath that he would not go to sleep for any Arthur Pym in +Christendom, when there was so glorious a breeze from the southwest. I +never was so astonished in my life, not knowing what he intended, and +thinking that the wines and liquors he had drunk had set him entirely +beside himself. He proceeded to talk very coolly, however, saying he +knew that I supposed him intoxicated, but that he was never more sober +in his life. He was only tired, he added, of lying in bed on such a +fine night like a dog, and was determined to get up and dress, and go +out on a frolic with the boat. I can hardly tell what possessed me, +but the words were no sooner out of his mouth than I felt a thrill of +the greatest excitement and pleasure, and thought his mad idea one of +the most delightful and most reasonable things in the world. It was +blowing almost a gale, and the weather was very cold- it being late +in October. I sprang out of bed, nevertheless, in a kind of ecstasy, +and told him I was quite as brave as himself, and quite as tired +as he was of lying in bed like a dog, and quite as ready for any fun +or frolic as any Augustus Barnard in Nantucket. + + We lost no time in getting on our clothes and hurrying down to the +boat. She was lying at the old decayed wharf by the lumber-yard of +Pankey & Co., and almost thumping her side out against the rough logs. +Augustus got into her and bailed her, for she was nearly half full +of water. This being done, we hoisted jib and mainsail, kept full, and +started boldly out to sea. + + The wind, as I before said, blew freshly from the southwest. The +night was very clear and cold. Augustus had taken the helm, and I +stationed myself by the mast, on the deck of the cuddy. We flew +along at a great rate- neither of us having said a word since casting +loose from the wharf. I now asked my companion what course he intended +to steer, and what time he thought it probable we should get back. +He whistled for a few minutes, and then said crustily: "I am going +to sea- you may go home if you think proper." Turning my eyes upon +him, I perceived at once that, in spite of his assumed nonchalance, +he was greatly agitated. I could see him distinctly by the light of +the moon- his face was paler than any marble, and his hand shook so +excessively that he could scarcely retain hold of the tiller. I +found that something had gone wrong, and became seriously alarmed. +At this period I knew little about the management of a boat, and was +now depending entirely upon the nautical skill of my friend. The wind, +too, had suddenly increased, as we were fast getting out of the lee of +the land- still I was ashamed to betray any trepidation, and for +almost half an hour maintained a resolute silence. I could stand it +no longer, however, and spoke to Augustus about the propriety of +turning back. As before, it was nearly a minute before he made answer, +or took any notice of my suggestion. "By-and-by," said he at +length- "time enough- home by-and-by." I had expected a similar reply, +but there was something in the tone of these words which filled me +with an indescribable feeling of dread. I again looked at the +speaker attentively. His lips were perfectly livid, and his knees +shook so violently together that he seemed scarcely able to stand. +"For God's sake, Augustus," I screamed, now heartily frightened, "what +ails you?- what is the matter?- what are you going to do?" "Matter!" +he stammered, in the greatest apparent surprise, letting go the tiller +at the same moment, and falling forward into the bottom of the +boat- "matter- why, nothing is the- matter- going home- d-d-don't you +see?" The whole truth now flashed upon me. I flew to him and raised +him up. He was drunk- beastly drunk- he could no longer either stand, +speak or see. His eyes were perfectly glazed; and as I let him go in +the extremity of my despair, he rolled like a mere log into the +bilge-water, from which I had lifted him. It was evident that, +during the evening, he had drunk far more than I suspected, and that +his conduct in bed had been the result of a highly-concentrated +state of intoxication- a state which, like madness, frequently +enables the victim to imitate the outward demeanour of one in +perfect possession of his senses. The coolness of the night air, +however, had had its usual effect- the mental energy began to yield +before its influence- and the confused perception which he no doubt +then had of his perilous situation had assisted in hastening the +catastrophe. He was now thoroughly insensible, and there was no +probability that he would be otherwise for many hours. + + It is hardly possible to conceive the extremity of my terror. The +fumes of the wine lately taken had evaporated, leaving me doubly timid +and irresolute. I knew that I was altogether incapable of managing the +boat, and that a fierce wind and strong ebb tide were hurrying us to +destruction. A storm was evidently gathering behind us; we had +neither compass nor provisions; and it was clear that, if we held our +present course, we should be out of sight of land before daybreak. +These thoughts, with a crowd of others equally fearful, flashed +through my mind with a bewildering rapidity, and for some moments +paralyzed me beyond the possibility of making any exertion. The boat +was going through the water at a terrible rate- full before the wind- +no reef in either jib or mainsail- running her bows completely under +the foam. It was a thousand wonders she did not broach to- Augustus +having let go the tiller, as I said before, and I being too much +agitated to think of taking it myself. By good luck, however, she +kept steady, and gradually I recovered some degree of presence of +mind. Still the wind was increasing fearfully, and whenever we rose +from a plunge forward, the sea behind fell combing over our counter, +and deluged us with water. I was so utterly benumbed, too, in every +limb, as to be nearly unconscious of sensation. At length I summoned +up the resolution of despair, and rushing to the mainsail let it go +by the run. As might have been expected, it flew over the bows, and, +getting drenched with water, carried away the mast short off by the +board. This latter accident alone saved me from instant destruction. +Under the jib only, I now boomed along before the wind, shipping heavy +seas occasionally over the counter, but relieved from the terror of +immediate death. I took the helm, and breathed with greater freedom +as I found that there yet remained to us a chance of ultimate escape. +Augustus still lay senseless in the bottom of the boat; and as there +was imminent danger of his drowning (the water being nearly a foot +deep just where he fell), I contrived to raise him partially up, and +keep him in a sitting position, by passing a rope round his waist, +and lashing it to a ringbolt in the deck of the cuddy. Having thus +arranged every thing as well as I could in my chilled and agitated +condition, I recommended myself to God, and made up my mind to bear +whatever might happen with all the fortitude in my power. + + Hardly had I come to this resolution, when, suddenly, a loud and +long scream or yell, as if from the throats of a thousand demons, +seemed to pervade the whole atmosphere around and above the boat. +Never while I live shall I forget the intense agony of terror I +experienced at that moment. My hair stood erect on my head- I felt +the blood congealing in my veins- my heart ceased utterly to beat, +and without having once raised my eyes to learn the source of my +alarm, I tumbled headlong and insensible upon the body of my fallen +companion. + + I found myself, upon reviving, in the cabin of a large +whaling-ship (the Penguin) bound to Nantucket. Several persons were +standing over me, and Augustus, paler than death, was busily +occupied in chafing my hands. Upon seeing me open my eyes, his +exclamations of gratitude and joy excited alternate laughter and tears +from the rough-looking personages who were present. The mystery of our +being in existence was now soon explained. We had been run down by the +whaling-ship, which was close-hauled, beating up to Nantucket with +every sail she could venture to set, and consequently running almost +at right angles to our own course. Several men were on the look-out +forward, but did not perceive our boat until it was an impossibility +to avoid coming in contact- their shouts of warning upon seeing us +were what so terribly alarmed me. The huge ship, I was told, rode +immediately over us with as much ease as our own little vessel would +have passed over a feather, and without the least perceptible +impediment to her progress. Not a scream arose from the deck of the +victim- there was a slight grating sound to be heard mingling with +the roar of wind and water, as the frail bark which was swallowed up +rubbed for a moment along the keel of her destroyer- but this was all. +Thinking our boat (which it will be remembered was dismasted) some +mere shell cut adrift as useless, the captain (Captain E. T. V. Block, +of New London) was for proceeding on his course without troubling +himself further about the matter. Luckily, there were two of the +look-out who swore positively to having seen some person at our +helm, and represented the possibility of yet saving him. A +discussion ensued, when Block grew angry, and, after a while, said +that "it was no business of his to be eternally watching for +egg-shells; that the ship should not put about for any such +nonsense; and if there was a man run down, it was nobody's fault but +Henderson, the first mate, now took the matter up, being justly +indignant, as well as the whole ship's crew, at a speech evincing so +base a degree of heartless atrocity. He spoke plainly, seeing +himself upheld by the men, told the captain he considered him a fit +subject for the gallows, and that he would disobey his orders if he +were hanged for it the moment he set his foot on shore. He strode aft, +jostling Block (who turned pale and made no answer) on one side, and +seizing the helm, gave the word, in a firm voice, Hard-a-lee! The +men flew to their posts, and the ship went cleverly about. All this +had occupied nearly five minutes, and it was supposed to be hardly +within the bounds of possibility that any individual could be +saved- allowing any to have been on board the boat. Yet, as the +reader has seen, both Augustus and myself were rescued; and our +deliverance seemed to have been brought about by two of those almost +inconceivable pieces of good fortune which are attributed by the +wise and pious to the special interference of Providence. + + While the ship was yet in stays, the mate lowered the jolly-boat +and jumped into her with the very two men, I believe, who spoke up +as having seen me at the helm. They had just left the lee of the +vessel (the moon still shining brightly) when she made a long and +heavy roll to windward, and Henderson, at the same moment, starting up +in his seat bawled out to his crew to back water. He would say nothing +else- repeating his cry impatiently, back water! black water! The men +put back as speedily as possible, but by this time the ship had gone +round, and gotten fully under headway, although all hands on board +were making great exertions to take in sail. In despite of the +danger of the attempt, the mate clung to the main-chains as soon as +they came within his reach. Another huge lurch now brought the +starboard side of the vessel out of water nearly as far as her keel, +when the cause of his anxiety was rendered obvious enough. The body of +a man was seen to be affixed in the most singular manner to the smooth +and shining bottom (the Penguin was coppered and copper-fastened), and +beating violently against it with every movement of the hull. After +several ineffectual efforts, made during the lurches of the ship, +and at the imminent risk of swamping the boat I was finally disengaged +from my perilous situation and taken on board- for the body proved +to be my own. It appeared that one of the timber-bolts having +started and broken a passage through the copper, it had arrested my +progress as I passed under the ship, and fastened me in so +extraordinary a manner to her bottom. The head of the bolt had made +its way through the collar of the green baize jacket I had on, and +through the back part of my neck, forcing itself out between two +sinews and just below the right ear. I was immediately put to +bed- although life seemed to be totally extinct. There was no surgeon +on board. The captain, however, treated me with every attention- to +make amends, I presume, in the eyes of his crew, for his atrocious +behaviour in the previous portion of the adventure. + + In the meantime, Henderson had again put off from the ship, +although the wind was now blowing almost a hurricane. He had not +been gone many minutes when he fell in with some fragments of our +boat, and shortly afterward one of the men with him asserted that he +could distinguish a cry for help at intervals amid the roaring of +the tempest. This induced the hardy seamen to persevere in their +search for more than half an hour, although repeated signals to return +were made them by Captain Block, and although every moment on the +water in so frail a boat was fraught to them with the most imminent +and deadly peril. Indeed, it is nearly impossible to conceive how +the small jolly they were in could have escaped destruction for a +single instant. She was built, however, for the whaling service, and +was fitted, as I have since had reason to believe, with air-boxes, +in the manner of some life-boats used on the coast of Wales. + + After searching in vain for about the period of time just +mentioned, it was determined to get back to the ship. They had +scarcely made this resolve when a feeble cry arose from a dark +object that floated rapidly by. They pursued and soon overtook it. +It proved to be the entire deck of the Ariel's cuddy. Augustus was +struggling near it, apparently in the last agonies. Upon getting +hold of him it was found that he was attached by a rope to the +floating timber. This rope, it will be remembered, I had myself tied +around his waist, and made fast to a ringbolt, for the purpose of +keeping him in an upright position, and my so doing, it appeared, +had been ultimately the means of preserving his life. The Ariel was +slightly put together, and in going down her frame naturally went to +pieces; the deck of the cuddy, as might have been expected, was +lifted, by the force of the water rushing in, entirely from the main +timbers, and floated (with other fragments, no doubt) to the +surface- Augustus was buoyed up with it, and thus escaped a terrible +death. + + It was more than an hour after being taken on board the Penguin +before he could give any account of himself, or be made to +comprehend the nature of the accident which had befallen our boat. +At length he became thoroughly aroused, and spoke much of his +sensations while in the water. Upon his first attaining any degree +of consciousness, he found himself beneath the surface, whirling round +and round with inconceivable rapidity, and with a rope wrapped in +three or four folds tightly about his neck. In an instant afterward he +felt himself going rapidly upward, when, his head striking violently +against a hard substance, he again relapsed into insensibility. Upon +once more reviving he was in fuller possession of his reason- this +was still, however, in the greatest degree clouded and confused. He +now knew that some accident had occurred, and that he was in the +water, although his mouth was above the surface, and he could +breathe with some freedom. Possibly, at this period the deck was +drifting rapidly before the wind, and drawing him after it, as he +floated upon his back. Of course, as long as he could have retained +this position, it would have been nearly impossible that he should +be drowned. Presently a surge threw him directly athwart the deck, and +this post he endeavored to maintain, screaming at intervals for +help. just before he was discovered by Mr. Henderson, he had been +obliged to relax his hold through exhaustion, and, falling into the +sea, had given himself up for lost. During the whole period of his +struggles he had not the faintest recollection of the Ariel, nor of +the matters in connexion with the source of his disaster. A vague +feeling of terror and despair had taken entire possession of his +faculties. When he was finally picked up, every power of his mind +had failed him; and, as before said, it was nearly an hour after +getting on board the Penguin before he became fully aware of his +condition. In regard to myself- I was resuscitated from a state +bordering very nearly upon death (and after every other means had been +tried in vain for three hours and a half) by vigorous friction with +flannels bathed in hot oil- a proceeding suggested by Augustus. The +wound in my neck, although of an ugly appearance, proved of little +real consequence, and I soon recovered from its effects. + + The Penguin got into port about nine o'clock in the morning, after +encountering one of the severest gales ever experienced off Nantucket. +Both Augustus and myself managed to appear at Mr. Barnard's in time +for breakfast- which, luckily, was somewhat late, owing to the party +over night. I suppose all at the table were too much fatigued +themselves to notice our jaded appearance- of course, it would not +have borne a very rigid scrutiny. Schoolboys, however, can accomplish +wonders in the way of deception, and I verily believe not one of our +friends in Nantucket had the slightest suspicion that the terrible +story told by some sailors in town of their having run down a vessel +at sea and drowned some thirty or forty poor devils, had reference +either to the Ariel, my companion, or myself. We two have since very +frequently talked the matter over- but never without a shudder. In +one of our conversations Augustus frankly confessed to me, that in his +whole life he had at no time experienced so excruciating a sense of +dismay, as when on board our little boat he first discovered the +extent of his intoxication, and felt himself sinking beneath its +influence. + + CHAPTER II + + In no affairs of mere prejudice, pro or con, do we deduce +inferences with entire certainty, even from the most simple data. It +might be supposed that a catastrophe such as I have just related would +have effectually cooled my incipient passion for the sea. On the +contrary, I never experienced a more ardent longing for the wild +adventures incident to the life of a navigator than within a week +after our miraculous deliverance. This short period proved amply +long enough to erase from my memory the shadows, and bring out in +vivid light all the pleasurably exciting points of color, all the +picturesqueness, of the late perilous accident. My conversations +with Augustus grew daily more frequent and more intensely full of +interest. He had a manner of relating his stories of the ocean (more +than one half of which I now suspect to have been sheer +fabrications) well adapted to have weight with one of my +enthusiastic temperament and somewhat gloomy although glowing +imagination. It is strange, too, that he most strongly enlisted my +feelings in behalf of the life of a seaman, when he depicted his +more terrible moments of suffering and despair. For the bright side of +the painting I had a limited sympathy. My visions were of shipwreck +and famine; of death or captivity among barbarian hordes; of a +lifetime dragged out in sorrow and tears, upon some gray and +desolate rock, in an ocean unapproachable and unknown. Such visions or +desires- for they amounted to desires- are common, I have since been +assured, to the whole numerous race of the melancholy among men- at +the time of which I speak I regarded them only as prophetic glimpses +of a destiny which I felt myself in a measure bound to fulfil. +Augustus thoroughly entered into my state of mind. It is probable, +indeed, that our intimate communion had resulted in a partial +interchange of character. + + About eighteen months after the period of the Ariel's disaster, +the firm of Lloyd and Vredenburgh (a house connected in some manner +with the Messieurs Enderby, I believe, of Liverpool) were engaged in +repairing and fitting out the brig Grampus for a whaling voyage. She +was an old hulk, and scarcely seaworthy when all was done to her +that could be done. I hardly know why she was chosen in preference +to other good vessels belonging to the same owners- but so it was. +Mr. Barnard was appointed to command her, and Augustus was going +with him. While the brig was getting ready, he frequently urged upon +me the excellency of the opportunity now offered for indulging my +desire of travel. He found me by no means an unwilling listener- yet +the matter could not be so easily arranged. My father made no direct +opposition; but my mother went into hysterics at the bare mention of +the design; and, more than all, my grandfather, from whom I expected +much, vowed to cut me off with a shilling if I should ever broach +the subject to him again. These difficulties, however, so far from +abating my desire, only added fuel to the flame. I determined to go at +all hazards; and, having made known my intentions to Augustus, we +set about arranging a plan by which it might be accomplished. In the +meantime I forbore speaking to any of my relations in regard to the +voyage, and, as I busied myself ostensibly with my usual studies, it +was supposed that I had abandoned the design. I have since +frequently examined my conduct on this occasion with sentiments of +displeasure as well as of surprise. The intense hypocrisy I made use +of for the furtherance of my project- an hypocrisy pervading every +word and action of my life for so long a period of time- could only +have been rendered tolerable to myself by the wild and burning +expectation with which I looked forward to the fulfilment of my +long-cherished visions of travel. + + In pursuance of my scheme of deception, I was necessarily +obliged to leave much to the management of Augustus, who was +employed for the greater part of every day on board the Grampus, +attending to some arrangements for his father in the cabin and cabin +hold. At night, however, we were sure to have a conference and talk +over our hopes. After nearly a month passed in this manner, without +our hitting upon any plan we thought likely to succeed, he told me +at last that he had determined upon everything necessary. I had a +relation living in New Bedford, a Mr. Ross, at whose house I was in +the habit of spending occasionally two or three weeks at a time. The +brig was to sail about the middle of June (June, 1827), and it was +agreed that, a day or two before her putting to sea, my father was +to receive a note, as usual, from Mr. Ross, asking me to come over and +spend a fortnight with Robert and Emmet (his sons). Augustus charged +himself with the inditing of this note and getting it delivered. +Having set out as supposed, for New Bedford, I was then to report +myself to my companion, who would contrive a hiding-place for me in +the Grampus. This hiding-place, he assured me, would be rendered +sufficiently comfortable for a residence of many days, during which +I was not to make my appearance. When the brig had proceeded so far on +her course as to make any turning back a matter out of question, I +should then, he said, be formally installed in all the comforts of the +cabin; and as to his father, he would only laugh heartily at the joke. +Vessels enough would be met with by which a letter might be sent +home explaining the adventure to my parents. + + The middle of June at length arrived, and every thing had been +matured. The note was written and delivered, and on a Monday morning I +left the house for the New Bedford packet, as supposed. I went, +however, straight to Augustus, who was waiting for me at the corner of +a street. It had been our original plan that I should keep out of +the way until dark, and then slip on board the brig; but, as there was +now a thick fog in our favor, it was agreed to lose no time in +secreting me. Augustus led the way to the wharf, and I followed at a +little distance, enveloped in a thick seaman's cloak, which he had +brought with him, so that my person might not be easily recognized. +just as we turned the second corner, after passing Mr. Edmund's +well, who should appear, standing right in front of me, and looking me +full in the face, but old Mr. Peterson, my grandfather. "Why, bless my +soul, Gordon," said he, after a long pause, "why, why,- whose dirty +cloak is that you have on?" "Sir!" I replied, assuming, as well as I +could, in the exigency of the moment, an air of offended surprise, and +talking in the gruffest of all imaginable tones- "sir! you are a +sum'mat mistaken- my name, in the first place, bee'nt nothing at all +like Goddin, and I'd want you for to know better, you blackguard, than +to call my new obercoat a darty one." For my life I could hardly +refrain from screaming with laughter at the odd manner in which the +old gentleman received this handsome rebuke. He started back two or +three steps, turned first pale and then excessively red, threw up +his spectacles, then, putting them down, ran full tilt at me, with his +umbrella uplifted. He stopped short, however, in his career, as if +struck with a sudden recollection; and presently, turning round, +hobbled off down the street, shaking all the while with rage, and +muttering between his teeth: "Won't do- new glasses- thought it was + + After this narrow escape we proceeded with greater caution, and +arrived at our point of destination in safety. There were only one +or two of the hands on board, and these were busy forward, doing +something to the forecastle combings. Captain Barnard, we knew very +well, was engaged at Lloyd and Vredenburgh's, and would remain there +until late in the evening, so we had little to apprehend on his +account. Augustus went first up the vessel's side, and in a short +while I followed him, without being noticed by the men at work. We +proceeded at once into the cabin, and found no person there. It was +fitted up in the most comfortable style- a thing somewhat unusual in +a whaling-vessel. There were four very excellent staterooms, with wide +and convenient berths. There was also a large stove, I took notice, +and a remarkably thick and valuable carpet covering the floor of +both the cabin and staterooms. The ceiling was full seven feet high, +and, in short, every thing appeared of a more roomy and agreeable +nature than I had anticipated. Augustus, however, would allow me but +little time for observation, insisting upon the necessity of my +concealing myself as soon as possible. He led the way into his own +stateroom, which was on the starboard side of the brig, and next to +the bulkheads. Upon entering, he closed the door and bolted it. I +thought I had never seen a nicer little room than the one in which I +now found myself. It was about ten feet long, and had only one +berth, which, as I said before, was wide and convenient. In that +portion of the closet nearest the bulkheads there was a space of +four feet square, containing a table, a chair, and a set of hanging +shelves full of books, chiefly books of voyages and travels. There +were many other little comforts in the room, among which I ought not +to forget a kind of safe or refrigerator, in which Augustus pointed +out to me a host of delicacies, both in the eating and drinking +department. + + He now pressed with his knuckles upon a certain spot of the carpet +in one corner of the space just mentioned, letting me know that a +portion of the flooring, about sixteen inches square, had been +neatly cut out and again adjusted. As he pressed, this portion rose up +at one end sufficiently to allow the passage of his finger beneath. In +this manner he raised the mouth of the trap (to which the carpet was +still fastened by tacks), and I found that it led into the after hold. +He next lit a small taper by means of a phosphorous match, and, +placing the light in a dark lantern, descended with it through the +opening, bidding me follow. I did so, and be then pulled the cover +upon the hole, by means of a nail driven into the under side- the +carpet, of course, resuming its original position on the floor of +the stateroom, and all traces of the aperture being concealed. + + The taper gave out so feeble a ray that it was with the greatest +difficulty I could grope my way through the confused mass of lumber +among which I now found myself. By degrees, however, my eyes became +accustomed to the gloom, and I proceeded with less trouble, holding on +to the skirts of my friend's coat. He brought me, at length, after +creeping and winding through innumerable narrow passages, to an +iron-bound box, such as is used sometimes for packing fine +earthenware. It was nearly four feet high, and full six long, but very +narrow. Two large empty oil-casks lay on the top of it, and above +these, again, a vast quantity of straw matting, piled up as high as +the floor of the cabin. In every other direction around was wedged +as closely as possible, even up to the ceiling, a complete chaos of +almost every species of ship-furniture, together with a +heterogeneous medley of crates, hampers, barrels, and bales, so that +it seemed a matter no less than miraculous that we had discovered +any passage at all to the box. I afterward found that Augustus had +purposely arranged the stowage in this hold with a view to affording +me a thorough concealment, having had only one assistant in the +labour, a man not going out in the brig. + + My companion now showed me that one of the ends of the box could +be removed at pleasure. He slipped it aside and displayed the +interior, at which I was excessively amused. A mattress from one of +the cabin berths covered the whole of its bottom, and it contained +almost every article of mere comfort which could be crowded into so +small a space, allowing me, at the same time, sufficient room for my +accommodation, either in a sitting position or lying at full length. +Among other things, there were some books, pen, ink, and paper, +three blankets, a large jug full of water, a keg of sea-biscuit, three +or four immense Bologna sausages, an enormous ham, a cold leg of roast +mutton, and half a dozen bottles of cordials and liqueurs. I proceeded +immediately to take possession of my little apartment, and this with +feelings of higher satisfaction, I am sure, than any monarch ever +experienced upon entering a new palace. Augustus now pointed out to me +the method of fastening the open end of the box, and then, holding the +taper close to the deck, showed me a piece of dark whipcord lying +along it. This, he said, extended from my hiding-place throughout an +the necessary windings among the lumber, to a nail which was driven +into the deck of the hold, immediately beneath the trap-door leading +into his stateroom. By means of this cord I should be enabled +readily to trace my way out without his guidance, provided any +unlooked-for accident should render such a step necessary. He now took +his departure, leaving with me the lantern, together with a copious +supply of tapers and phosphorous, and promising to pay me a visit as +often as he could contrive to do so without observation. This was on +the seventeenth of June. + + I remained three days and nights (as nearly as I could guess) in +my hiding-place without getting out of it at all, except twice for the +purpose of stretching my limbs by standing erect between two crates +just opposite the opening. During the whole period I saw nothing of +Augustus; but this occasioned me little uneasiness, as I knew the brig +was expected to put to sea every hour, and in the bustle he would +not easily find opportunities of coming down to me. At length I +heard the trap open and shut. and presently he called in a low +voice, asking if all was well, and if there was any thing I wanted. +"Nothing," I replied; "I am as comfortable as can be; when will the +brig sail?" "She will be under weigh in less than half an hour," he +answered. "I came to let you know, and for fear you should be uneasy +at my absence. I shall not have a chance of coming down again for some +time- perhaps for three or four days more. All is going on right +aboveboard. After I go up and close the trap, do you creep along by +the whipcord to where the nail is driven in. You will find my watch +there- it may be useful to you, as you have no daylight to keep time +by. I suppose you can't tell how long you have been buried- only +three days- this is the twentieth. I would bring the watch to your +box, but am afraid of being missed." With this he went up. + + In about an hour after he had gone I distinctly felt the brig in +motion, and congratulated myself upon having at length fairly +commenced a voyage. Satisfied with this idea, I determined to make +my mind as easy as possible, and await the course of events until I +should be permitted to exchange the box for the more roomy, although +hardly more comfortable, accommodations of the cabin. My first care +was to get the watch. Leaving the taper burning, I groped along in the +dark, following the cord through windings innumerable, in some of +which I discovered that, after toiling a long distance, I was +brought back within a foot or two of a former position. At length I +reached the nail, and securing the object of my journey, returned with +it in safety. I now looked over the books which had been so +thoughtfully provided, and selected the expedition of Lewis and Clarke +to the mouth of the Columbia. With this I amused myself for some time, +when, growing sleepy, I extinguished the light with great care, and +soon fell into a sound slumber. + + Upon awakening I felt strangely confused in mind, and some time +elapsed before I could bring to recollection all the various +circumstances of my situation. By degrees, however, I remembered +all. Striking a light, I looked at the watch; but it was run down, and +there were, consequently, no means of determining how long I slept. My +limbs were greatly cramped, and I was forced to relieve them by +standing between the crates. Presently feeling an almost ravenous +appetite, I bethought myself of the cold mutton, some of which I had +eaten just before going to sleep, and found excellent. What was my +astonishment in discovering it to be in a state of absolute +putrefaction! This circumstance occasioned me great disquietude; +for, connecting it with the disorder of mind I experienced upon +awakening, I began to suppose that I must have slept for an +inordinately long period of time. The close atmosphere of the hold +might have had something to do with this, and might, in the end, be +productive of the most serious results. My head ached excessively; I +fancied that I drew every breath with difficulty; and, in short, I was +oppressed with a multitude of gloomy feelings. Still I could not +venture to make any disturbance by opening the trap or otherwise, and, +having wound up the watch, contented myself as well as possible. + + Throughout the whole of the next tedious twenty-four hours no +person came to my relief, and I could not help accusing Augustus of +the grossest inattention. What alarmed me chiefly was, that the +water in my jug was reduced to about half a pint, and I was +suffering much from thirst, having eaten freely of the Bologna +sausages after the loss of my mutton. I became very uneasy, and +could no longer take any interest in my books. I was overpowered, too, +with a desire to sleep, yet trembled at the thought of indulging it, +lest there might exist some pernicious influence, like that of burning +charcoal, in the confined air of the hold. In the meantime the roll of +the brig told me that we were far in the main ocean, and a dull +humming sound, which reached my ears as if from an immense distance, +convinced me no ordinary gale was blowing. I could not imagine a +reason for the absence of Augustus. We were surely far enough advanced +on our voyage to allow of my going up. Some accident might have +happened to him- but I could think of none which would account for +his suffering me to remain so long a prisoner, except, indeed, his +having suddenly died or fallen overboard, and upon this idea I could +not dwell with any degree of patience. It was possible that we had +been baffled by head winds, and were still in the near vicinity of +Nantucket. This notion, however, I was forced to abandon; for such +being the case, the brig must have frequently gone about; and I was +entirely satisfied, from her continual inclination to the larboard, +that she had been sailing all along with a steady breeze on her +starboard quarter. Besides, granting that we were still in the +neighborhood of the island, why should not Augustus have visited me +and informed me of the circumstance? Pondering in this manner upon the +difficulties of my solitary and cheerless condition, I resolved to +wait yet another twenty-four hours, when, if no relief were obtained, +I would make my way to the trap, and endeavour either to hold a +parley with my friend, or get at least a little fresh air through the +opening, and a further supply of water from the stateroom. While +occupied with this thought, however, I fell in spite of every exertion +to the contrary, into a state of profound sleep, or rather stupor. +My dreams were of the most terrific description. Every species of +calamity and horror befell me. Among other miseries I was smothered to +death between huge pillows, by demons of the most ghastly and +ferocious aspect. Immense serpents held me in their embrace, and +looked earnestly in my face with their fearfully shining eyes. Then +deserts, limitless, and of the most forlorn and awe-inspiring +character, spread themselves out before me. Immensely tall trunks of +trees, gray and leafless, rose up in endless succession as far as +the eye could reach. Their roots were concealed in wide-spreading +morasses, whose dreary water lay intensely black, still, and +altogether terrible, beneath. And the strange trees seemed endowed +with a human vitality, and waving to and fro their skeleton arms, were +crying to the silent waters for mercy, in the shrill and piercing +accents of the most acute agony and despair. The scene changed; and +I stood, naked and alone, amidst the burning sand-plains of Sahara. At +my feet lay crouched a fierce lion of the tropics. Suddenly his wild +eyes opened and fell upon me. With a conculsive bound he sprang to his +feet, and laid bare his horrible teeth. In another instant there burst +from his red throat a roar like the thunder of the firmament, and I +fell impetuously to the earth. Stifling in a paroxysm of terror, I +at last found myself partially awake. My dream, then, was not all a +dream. Now, at least, I was in possession of my senses. The paws of +some huge and real monster were pressing heavily upon my bosom- his +hot breath was in my ear- and his white and ghastly fangs were +gleaming upon me through the gloom. + + Had a thousand lives hung upon the movement of a limb or the +utterance of a syllable, I could have neither stirred nor spoken. +The beast, whatever it was, retained his position without attempting +any immediate violence, while I lay in an utterly helpless, and, I +fancied, a dying condition beneath him. I felt that my powers of +body and mind were fast leaving me- in a word, that I was perishing, +and perishing of sheer fright. My brain swam- I grew deadly sick- my +vision failed- even the glaring eyeballs above me grew dim. Making a +last strong effort, I at length breathed a faint ejaculation to God, +and resigned myself to die. The sound of my voice seemed to arouse all +the latent fury of the animal. He precipitated himself at full +length upon my body; but what was my astonishment, when, with a long +and low whine, he commenced licking my face and hands with the +greatest eagerness, and with the most extravagant demonstration of +affection and joy! I was bewildered, utterly lost in amazement- but I +could not forget the peculiar whine of my Newfoundland dog Tiger, +and the odd manner of his caresses I well knew. It was he. I +experienced a sudden rush of blood to my temples- a giddy and +overpowering sense of deliverance and reanimation. I rose hurriedly +from the mattress upon which I had been lying, and, throwing myself +upon the neck of my faithful follower and friend, relieved the long +oppression of my bosom in a flood of the most passionate tears. + + As upon a former occasion my conceptions were in a state of the +greatest indistinctness and confusion after leaving the mattress. +For a long time I found it nearly impossible to connect any ideas; +but, by very slow degrees, my thinking faculties returned, and I again +called to memory the several incidents of my condition. For the +presence of Tiger I tried in vain to account; and after busying myself +with a thousand different conjectures respecting him, was forced to +content myself with rejoicing that he was with me to share my dreary +solitude, and render me comfort by his caresses. Most people love +their dogs, but for Tiger I had an affection far more ardent than +common; and never, certainly, did any creature more truly deserve +it. For seven years he had been my inseparable companion, and in a +multitude of instances had given evidence of all the noble qualities +for which we value the animal. I had rescued him, when a puppy, from +the clutches of a malignant little villain in Nantucket who was +leading him, with a rope around his neck, to the water; and the +grown dog repaid the obligation, about three years afterward, by +saving me from the bludgeon of a street robber. + + Getting now hold of the watch, I found, upon applying it to my +ear, that it had again run down; but at this I was not at all +surprised, being convinced, from the peculiar state of my feelings, +that I had slept, as before, for a very long period of time, how long, +it was of course impossible to say. I was burning up with fever, and +my thirst was almost intolerable. I felt about the box for my little +remaining supply of water, for I had no light, the taper having +burnt to the socket of the lantern, and the phosphorus-box not +coming readily to hand. Upon finding the jug, however, I discovered it +to be empty- Tiger, no doubt, having been tempted to drink it, as +well as to devour the remnant of mutton, the bone of which lay, well +picked, by the opening of the box. The spoiled meat I could well +spare, but my heart sank as I thought of the water. I was feeble in +the extreme- so much so that I shook all over, as with an ague, at +the slightest movement or exertion. To add to my troubles, the brig +was pitching and rolling with great violence, and the oil-casks +which lay upon my box were in momentary danger of falling down, so +as to block up the only way of ingress or egress. I felt, also, +terrible sufferings from sea-sickness. These considerations determined +me to make my way, at all hazards, to the trap, and obtain immediate +relief, before I should be incapacitated from doing so altogether. +Having come to this resolve, I again felt about for the phosphorus-box +and tapers. The former I found after some little trouble; but, not +discovering the tapers as soon as I had expected (for I remembered +very nearly the spot in which I had placed them), I gave up the search +for the present, and bidding Tiger lie quiet, began at once my journey +toward the trap. + + In this attempt my great feebleness became more than ever +apparent. It was with the utmost difficulty I could crawl along at +all, and very frequently my limbs sank suddenly from beneath me; when, +falling prostrate on my face, I would remain for some minutes in a +state bordering on insensibility. Still I struggled forward by slow +degrees, dreading every moment that I should swoon amid the narrow and +intricate windings of the lumber, in which event I had nothing but +death to expect as the result. At length, upon making a push forward +with all the energy I could command, I struck my forehead violently +against the sharp corner of an iron-bound crate. The accident only +stunned me for a few moments; but I found, to my inexpressible +grief, that the quick and violent roll of the vessel had thrown the +crate entirely across my path, so as effectually to block up the +passage. With my utmost exertions I could not move it a single inch +from its position, it being closely wedged in among the surrounding +boxes and ship-furniture. It became necessary, therefore, enfeebled as +I was, either to leave the guidance of the whipcord and seek out a new +passage, or to climb over the obstacle, and resume the path on the +other side. The former alternative presented too many difficulties and +dangers to be thought of without a shudder. In my present weak state +of both mind and body, I should infallibly lose my way if I +attempted it, and perish miserably amid the dismal and disgusting +labyrinths of the hold. I proceeded, therefore, without hesitation, to +summon up all my remaining strength and fortitude, and endeavour, as I +best might, to clamber over the crate. + + Upon standing erect, with this end in view, I found the +undertaking even a more serious task than my fears had led me to +imagine. On each side of the narrow passage arose a complete wall of +various heavy lumber, which the least blunder on my part might be +the means of bringing down upon my head; or, if this accident did +not occur, the path might be effectually blocked up against my +return by the descending mass, as it was in front by the obstacle +there. The crate itself was a long and unwieldy box, upon which no +foothold could be obtained. In vain I attempted, by every means in +my power, to reach the top, with the hope of being thus enabled to +draw myself up. Had I succeeded in reaching it, it is certain that +my strength would have proved utterly inadequate to the task of +getting over, and it was better in every respect that I failed. At +length, in a desperate effort to force the crate from its ground, I +felt a strong vibration in the side next me. I thrust my hand +eagerly to the edge of the planks, and found that a very large one was +loose. With my pocket-knife, which, luckily, I had with me, I +succeeded, after great labour, in prying it entirely off; and getting +it through the aperture, discovered, to my exceeding joy, that there +were no boards on the opposite side- in other words, that the top was +wanting, it being the bottom through which I had forced my way. +I now met with no important difficulty in proceeding along the line +until I finally reached the nail. With a beating heart I stood +erect, and with a gentle touch pressed against the cover of the +trap. It did not rise as soon as I had expected, and I pressed it with +somewhat more determination, still dreading lest some other person +than Augustus might be in his state-room. The door, however, to my +astonishment, remained steady, and I became somewhat uneasy, for I +knew that it had formerly required but little or no effort to remove +it. I pushed it strongly- it was nevertheless firm: with all my +strength- it still did not give way: with rage, with fury, with +despair- it set at defiance my utmost efforts; and it was evident, +from the unyielding nature of the resistance, that the hole had either +been discovered and effectually nailed up, or that some immense weight +had been placed upon it, which it was useless to think of removing. + + My sensations were those of extreme horror and dismay. In vain I +attempted to reason on the probable cause of my being thus entombed. I +could summon up no connected chain of reflection, and, sinking on +the floor, gave way, unresistingly, to the most gloomy imaginings, +in which the dreadful deaths of thirst, famine, suffocation, and +premature interment crowded upon me as the prominent disasters to be +encountered. At length there returned to me some portion of presence +of mind. I arose, and felt with my fingers for the seams or cracks +of the aperture. Having found them, I examined them closely to +ascertain if they emitted any light from the state-room; but none +was visible. I then forced the blade of my pen-knife through them, +until I met with some hard obstacle. Scraping against it, I discovered +it to be a solid mass of iron, which, from its peculiar wavy feel as I +passed the blade along it, I concluded to be a chain-cable. The only +course now left me was to retrace my way to the box, and there +either yield to my sad fate, or try so to tranquilize my mind as to +admit of my arranging some plan of escape. I immediately set about the +attempt, and succeeded, after innumerable difficulties, in getting +back. As I sank, utterly exhausted, upon the mattress, Tiger threw +himself at full length by my side, and seemed as if desirous, by his +caresses, of consoling me in my troubles, and urging me to bear them +with fortitude. + + The singularity of his behavior at length forcibly arrested my +attention. After licking my face and hands for some minutes, he +would suddenly cease doing so, and utter a low whine. Upon reaching +out my hand toward him, I then invariably found him lying on his back, +with his paws uplifted. This conduct, so frequently repeated, appeared +strange, and I could in no manner account for it. As the dog seemed +distressed, I concluded that he had received some injury; and, +taking his paws in my hands, I examined them one by one, but found +no sign of any hurt. I then supposed him hungry, and gave him a +large piece of ham, which he devoured with avidity- afterward, +however, resuming his extraordinary manoeuvres. I now imagined that +he was suffering, like myself, the torments of thirst, and was about +adopting this conclusion as the true one, when the idea occurred to +me that I had as yet only examined his paws, and that there might +possibly be a wound upon some portion of his body or head. The latter +I felt carefully over, but found nothing. On passing my hand, however, +along his back, I perceived a slight erection of the hair extending +completely across it. Probing this with my finger, I discovered a +string, and tracing it up, found that it encircled the whole body. +Upon a closer scrutiny, I came across a small slip of what had the +feeling of letter paper, through which the string had been fastened in +such a manner as to bring it immediately beneath the left shoulder +of the animal. + + CHAPTER III + + The thought instantly occurred to me that the paper was a note +from Augustus, and that some unaccountable accident having happened to +prevent his relieving me from my dungeon, he had devised this method +of acquainting me with the true state of affairs. Trembling with +eagerness, I now commenced another search for my phosphorus matches +and tapers. I had a confused recollection of having put them carefully +away just before falling asleep; and, indeed, previously to my last +journey to the trap, I had been able to remember the exact spot +where I had deposited them. But now I endeavored in vain to call it to +mind, and busied myself for a full hour in a fruitless and vexatious +search for the missing articles; never, surely, was there a more +tantalizing state of anxiety and suspense. At length, while groping +about, with my head close to the ballast, near the opening of the box, +and outside of it, I perceived a faint glimmering of light in the +direction of the steerage. Greatly surprised, I endeavored to make +my way toward it, as it appeared to be but a few feet from my +position. Scarcely had I moved with this intention, when I lost +sight of the glimmer entirely, and, before I could bring it into +view again, was obliged to feel along by the box until I had exactly +resumed my original situation. Now, moving my head with caution to and +fro, I found that, by proceeding slowly, with great care, in an +opposite direction to that in which I had at first started, I was +enabled to draw near the light, still keeping it in view. Presently +I came directly upon it (having squeezed my way through innumerable +narrow windings), and found that it proceeded from some fragments of +my matches lying in an empty barrel turned upon its side. I was +wondering how they came in such a place, when my hand fell upon two or +three pieces of taper wax, which had been evidently mumbled by the +dog. I concluded at once that he had devoured the whole of my supply +of candles, and I felt hopeless of being ever able to read the note of +Augustus. The small remnants of the wax were so mashed up among +other rubbish in the barrel, that I despaired of deriving any +service from them, and left them as they were. The phosphorus, of +which there was only a speck or two, I gathered up as well as I could, +and returned with it, after much difficulty, to my box, where Tiger +had all the while remained. + + What to do next I could not tell. The hold was so intensely dark +that I could not see my hand, however close I would hold it to my +face. The white slip of paper could barely be discerned, and not +even that when I looked at it directly; by turning the exterior +portions of the retina toward it- that is to say, by surveying it +slightly askance, I found that it became in some measure +perceptible. Thus the gloom of my prison may be imagined, and the note +of my friend, if indeed it were a note from him, seemed only likely to +throw me into further trouble, by disquieting to no purpose my already +enfeebled and agitated mind. In vain I revolved in my brain a +multitude of absurd expedients for procuring light- such expedients +precisely as a man in the perturbed sleep occasioned by opium would be +apt to fall upon for a similar purpose- each and all of which appear +by turns to the dreamer the most reasonable and the most +preposterous of conceptions, just as the reasoning or imaginative +faculties flicker, alternately, one above the other. At last an idea +occurred to me which seemed rational, and which gave me cause to +wonder, very justly, that I had not entertained it before. I placed +the slip of paper on the back of a book, and, collecting the fragments +of the phosphorus matches which I had brought from the barrel, laid +them together upon the paper. I then, with the palm of my hand, rubbed +the whole over quickly, yet steadily. A clear light diffused itself +immediately throughout the whole surface; and had there been any +writing upon it, I should not have experienced the least difficulty, I +am sure, in reading it. Not a syllable was there, however- nothing +but a dreary and unsatisfactory blank; the illumination died away in a +few seconds, and my heart died away within me as it went. + + I have before stated more than once that my intellect, for some +period prior to this, had been in a condition nearly bordering on +idiocy. There were, to be sure, momentary intervals of perfect sanity, +and, now and then, even of energy; but these were few. It must be +remembered that I had been, for many days certainly, inhaling the +almost pestilential atmosphere of a close hold in a whaling vessel, +and for a long portion of that time but scantily supplied with +water. For the last fourteen or fifteen hours I had none- nor had I +slept during that time. Salt provisions of the most exciting kind +had been my chief, and, indeed, since the loss of the mutton, my +only supply of food, with the exception of the sea-biscuit; and +these latter were utterly useless to me, as they were too dry and hard +to be swallowed in the swollen and parched condition of my throat. I +was now in a high state of fever, and in every respect exceedingly +ill. This will account for the fact that many miserable hours of +despondency elapsed after my last adventure with the phosphorus, +before the thought suggested itself that I had examined only one +side of the paper. I shall not attempt to describe my feelings of rage +(for I believe I was more angry than any thing else) when the +egregious oversight I had committed flashed suddenly upon my +perception. The blunder itself would have been unimportant, had not my +own folly and impetuosity rendered it otherwise- in my disappointment +at not finding some words upon the slip, I had childishly torn it in +pieces and thrown it away, it was impossible to say where. + + From the worst part of this dilemma I was relieved by the sagacity +of Tiger. Having got, after a long search, a small piece of the +note, I put it to the dog's nose, and endeavored to make him +understand that he must bring me the rest of it. To my astonishment, +(for I had taught him none of the usual tricks for which his breed are +famous,) he seemed to enter at once into my meaning, and, rummaging +about for a few moments, soon found another considerable portion. +Bringing me this, he paused awhile, and, rubbing his nose against my +hand, appeared to be waiting for my approval of what he had done. I +patted him on the head, when he immediately made off again. It was now +some minutes before he came back- but when he did come, he brought +with him a large slip, which proved to be all the paper missing- it +having been torn, it seems, only into three pieces. Luckily, I had no +trouble in finding what few fragments of the phosphorus were left- +being guided by the indistinct glow one or two of the particles still +emitted. My difficulties had taught me the necessity of caution, and +I now took time to reflect upon what I was about to do. It was very +probable, I considered, that some words were written upon that side of +the paper which had not been examined- but which side was that? +Fitting the pieces together gave me no clew in this respect, although +it assured me that the words (if there were any) would be found all +on one side, and connected in a proper manner, as written. There was +the greater necessity of ascertaining the point in question beyond a +doubt, as the phosphorus remaining would be altogether insufficient +for a third attempt, should I fail in the one I was now about to make. +I placed the paper on a book as before, and sat for some minutes +thoughtfully revolving the matter over in my mind. At last I thought +it barely possible that the written side might have some unevenness on +its surface, which a delicate sense of feeling might enable me to +detect. I determined to make the experiment and passed my finger +very carefully over the side which first presented itself. Nothing, +however, was perceptible, and I turned the paper, adjusting it on +the book. I now again carried my forefinger cautiously along, when I +was aware of an exceedingly slight, but still discernable glow, +which followed as it proceeded. This, I knew, must arise from some +very minute remaining particles of the phosphorus with which I had +covered the paper in my previous attempt. The other, or under side, +then, was that on which lay the writing, if writing there should +finally prove to be. Again I turned the note, and went to work as I +had previously done. Having rubbed in the phosphorus, a brilliancy +ensued as before- but this time several lines of MS. in a large hand, +and apparently in red ink, became distinctly visible. The glimmer, +although sufficiently bright, was but momentary. Still, had I not been +too greatly excited, there would have been ample time enough for me to +peruse the whole three sentences before me- for I saw there were +three. In my anxiety, however, to read all at once, I succeeded only +in reading the seven concluding words, which thus appeared- "blood- +your life depends upon lying close." + + Had I been able to ascertain the entire contents of the note-the +full meaning of the admonition which my friend had thus attempted to +convey, that admonition, even although it should have revealed a story +of disaster the most unspeakable, could not, I am firmly convinced, +have imbued my mind with one tithe of the harrowing and yet +indefinable horror with which I was inspired by the fragmentary +warning thus received. And "blood," too, that word of all words- so +rife at all times with mystery, and suffering, and terror- how trebly +full of import did it now appear- how chilly and heavily (disjointed, +as it thus was, from any foregoing words to qualify or render it +distinct) did its vague syllables fall, amid the deep gloom of my +prison, into the innermost recesses of my soul! + + Augustus had, undoubtedly, good reasons for wishing me to remain +concealed, and I formed a thousand surmises as to what they could +be- but I could think of nothing affording a satisfactory solution of +the mystery. just after returning from my last journey to the trap, +and before my attention had been otherwise directed by the singular +conduct of Tiger, I had come to the resolution of making myself +heard at all events by those on board, or, if I could not succeed in +this directly, of trying to cut my way through the orlop deck. The +half certainty which I felt of being able to accomplish one of these +two purposes in the last emergency, had given me courage (which I +should not otherwise have had) to endure the evils of my situation. +The few words I had been able to read, however, had cut me off from +these final resources, and I now, for the first time, felt all the +misery of my fate. In a paroxysm of despair I threw myself again +upon the mattress, where, for about the period of a day and night, I +lay in a kind of stupor, relieved only by momentary intervals of +reason and recollection. + + At length I once more arose, and busied myself in reflection +upon the horrors which encompassed me. For another twenty-four hours +it was barely possible that I might exist without water- for a longer +time I could not do so. During the first portion of my imprisonment +I had made free use of the cordials with which Augustus had supplied +me, but they only served to excite fever, without in the least +degree assuaging thirst. I had now only about a gill left, and this +was of a species of strong peach liqueur at which my stomach revolted. +The sausages were entirely consumed; of the ham nothing remained but a +small piece of the skin; and all the biscuit, except a few fragments +of one, had been eaten by Tiger. To add to my troubles, I found that +my headache was increasing momentarily, and with it the species of +delirium which had distressed me more or less since my first falling +asleep. For some hours past it had been with the greatest difficulty I +could breathe at all, and now each attempt at so doing was attended +with the most depressing spasmodic action of the chest. But there +was still another and very different source of disquietude, and one, +indeed, whose harassing terrors had been the chief means of arousing +me to exertion from my stupor on the mattress. It arose from the +demeanor of the dog. + + I first observed an alteration in his conduct while rubbing in the +phosphorus on the paper in my last attempt. As I rubbed, he ran his +nose against my hand with a slight snarl; but I was too greatly +excited at the time to pay much attention to the circumstance. Soon +afterward, it will be remembered, I threw myself on the mattress, +and fell into a species of lethargy. Presently I became aware of a +singular hissing sound close at my ears, and discovered it to +proceed from Tiger, who was panting and wheezing in a state of the +greatest apparent excitement, his eyeballs flashing fiercely through +the gloom. I spoke to him, when he replied with a low growl, and +then remained quiet. Presently I relapsed into my stupor, from which I +was again awakened in a similar manner. This was repeated three or +four times, until finally his behaviour inspired me with so great a +degree of fear, that I became fully aroused. He was now lying close by +the door of the box, snarling fearfully, although in a kind of +undertone, and grinding his teeth as if strongly convulsed. I had no +doubt whatever that the want of water or the confined atmosphere of +the hold had driven him mad, and I was at a loss what course to +pursue. I could not endure the thought of killing him, yet it seemed +absolutely necessary for my own safety. I could distinctly perceive +his eyes fastened upon me with an expression of the most deadly +animosity, and I expected every instant that he would attack me. At +last I could endure my terrible situation no longer, and determined to +make my way from the box at all hazards, and dispatch him, if his +opposition should render it necessary for me to do so. To get out, I +had to pass directly over his body, and he already seemed to +anticipate my design- missing himself upon his fore. legs (as I +perceived by the altered position of his eyes), and displayed the +whole of his white fangs, which were easily discernible. I took the +remains of the ham-skin, and the bottle containing the liqueur, and +secured them about my person, together with a large carving-knife +which Augustus had left me- then, folding my cloak around me as +closely as possible, I made a movement toward the mouth of the box. +No sooner did I do this, than the dog sprang with a loud growl toward +my throat. The whole weight of his body struck me on the right +shoulder, and I fell violently to the left, while the enraged animal +passed entirely over me. I had fallen upon my knees, with my head +buried among the blankets, and these protected me from a second +furious assault, during which I felt the sharp teeth pressing +vigorously upon the woollen which enveloped my neck- yet, luckily, +without being able to penetrate all the folds. I was now beneath the +dog, and a few moments would place me completely in his power. Despair +gave me strength, and I rose boldly up, shaking him from me by main +force, and dragging with me the blankets from the mattress. These I +now threw over him, and before he could extricate himself, I had got +through the door and closed it effectually against his pursuit. In +this struggle, however, I had been forced to drop the morsel of +ham-skin, and I now found my whole stock of provisions reduced to a +single gill of liqueur, As this reflection crossed my mind, I felt +myself actuated by one of those fits of perverseness which might be +supposed to influence a spoiled child in similar circumstances, and, +raising the bottle to my lips, I drained it to the last drop, and +dashed it furiously upon the floor. + + Scarcely had the echo of the crash died away, when I heard my name +pronounced in an eager but subdued voice, issuing from the direction +of the steerage. So unexpected was anything of the kind, and so +intense was the emotion excited within me by the sound, that I +endeavoured in vain to reply. My powers of speech totally failed, +and in an agony of terror lest my friend should conclude me dead, +and return without attempting to reach me, I stood up between the +crates near the door of the box, trembling convulsively, and gasping +and struggling for utterance. Had a thousand words depended upon a +syllable, I could not have spoken it. There was a slight movement +now audible among the lumber somewhere forward of my station. The +sound presently grew less distinct, then again less so, and still +less. Shall I ever forget my feelings at this moment? He was going- +my friend, my companion, from whom I had a right to expect so much- +he was going- he would abandon me- he was gone! He would leave me +to perish miserably, to expire in the most horrible and loathesome +of dungeons- and one word, one little syllable, would save me- yet +that single syllable I could not utter! I felt, I am sure, more than +ten thousand times the agonies of death itself. My brain reeled, and I +fell, deadly sick, against the end of the box. + + As I fell the carving-knife was shaken out from the waist-band +of my pantaloons, and dropped with a rattling sound to the floor. +Never did any strain of the richest melody come so sweetly to my ears! +With the intensest anxiety I listened to ascertain the effect of the +noise upon Augustus- for I knew that the person who called my name +could be no one but himself. All was silent for some moments. At +length I again heard the word "Arthur!" repeated in a low tone, and +one full of hesitation. Reviving hope loosened at once my powers of +speech, and I now screamed at the top of my voice, "Augustus! oh, +Augustus!" "Hush! for God's sake be silent!" he replied, in a voice +trembling with agitation; "I will be with you immediately- as soon as +I can make my way through the hold." For a long time I heard him +moving among the lumber, and every moment seemed to me an age. At +length I felt his hand upon my shoulder, and he placed, at the same +moment, a bottle of water to my lips. Those only who have been +suddenly redeemed from the jaws of the tomb, or who have known the +insufferable torments of thirst under circumstances as aggravated as +those which encompassed me in my dreary prison, can form any idea of +the unutterable transports which that one long draught of the +richest of all physical luxuries afforded. + + When I had in some degree satisfied my thirst, Augustus produced +from his pocket three or four boiled potatoes, which I devoured with +the greatest avidity. He had brought with him a light in a dark +lantern, and the grateful rays afforded me scarcely less comfort +than the food and drink. But I was impatient to learn the cause of his +protracted absence, and he proceeded to recount what had happened on +board during my incarceration. + + CHAPTER IV + + The brig put to sea, as I had supposed, in about an hour after +he had left the watch. This was on the twentieth of June. It will be +remembered that I had then been in the hold for three days; and, +during this period, there was so constant a bustle on board, and so +much running to and fro, especially in the cabin and staterooms, +that he had had no chance of visiting me without the risk of having +the secret of the trap discovered. When at length he did come, I had +assured him that I was doing as well as possible; and, therefore, +for the two next days be felt but little uneasiness on my +account- still, however, watching an opportunity of going down. It +was not until the fourth day that he found one. Several times during +this interval he had made up his mind to let his father know of the +adventure, and have me come up at once; but we were still within +reaching distance of Nantucket, and it was doubtful, from some +expressions which had escaped Captain Barnard, whether he would not +immediately put back if he discovered me to be on board. Besides, upon +thinking the matter over, Augustus, so he told me, could not imagine +that I was in immediate want, or that I would hesitate, in such +case, to make myself heard at the trap. When, therefore, he considered +everything he concluded to let me stay until he could meet with an +opportunity of visiting me unobserved. This, as I said before, did not +occur until the fourth day after his bringing me the watch, and the +seventh since I had first entered the hold. He then went down +without taking with him any water or provisions, intending in the +first place merely to call my attention, and get me to come from the +box to the trap,- when he would go up to the stateroom and thence +hand me down a sup. ply. When he descended for this purpose he found +that I was asleep, for it seems that I was snoring very loudly. From +all the calculations I can make on the subject, this must have been +the slumber into which I fell just after my return from the trap +with the watch, and which, consequently, must have lasted for more +than three entire days and nights at the very least. Latterly, I +have had reason both from my own experience and the assurance of +others, to be acquainted with the strong soporific effects of the +stench arising from old fish-oil when closely confined; and when I +think of the condition of the hold in which I was imprisoned, and +the long period during which the brig had been used as a whaling +vessel, I am more inclined to wonder that I awoke at all, after once +falling asleep, than that I should have slept uninterruptedly for +the period specified above. + + Augustus called to me at first in a low voice and without +closing the trap- but I made him no reply. He then shut the trap, and +spoke to me in a louder, and finally in a very loud tone- still I +continued to snore. He was now at a loss what to do. It would take him +some time to make his way through the lumber to my box, and in the +meanwhile his absence would be noticed by Captain Barnard, who had +occasion for his services every minute, in arranging and copying +papers connected with the business of the voyage. He determined, +therefore, upon reflection, to ascend, and await another opportunity +of visiting me. He was the more easily induced to this resolve, as +my slumber appeared to be of the most tranquil nature, and he could +not suppose that I had undergone any inconvenience from my +incarceration. He had just made up his mind on these points when his +attention was arrested by an unusual bustle, the sound of which +proceeded apparently from the cabin. He sprang through the trap as +quickly as possible, closed it, and threw open the door of his +stateroom. No sooner had he put his foot over the threshold than a +pistol flashed in his face, and he was knocked down, at the same +moment, by a blow from a handspike. + + A strong hand held him on the cabin floor, with a tight grasp upon +his throat; still he was able to see what was going on around him. His +father was tied hand and foot, and lying along the steps of the +companion-way, with his head down, and a deep wound in the forehead, +from which the blood was flowing in a continued stream. He spoke not a +word, and was apparently dying. Over him stood the first mate, +eyeing him with an expression of fiendish derision, and deliberately +searching his pockets, from which he presently drew forth a large +wallet and a chronometer. Seven of the crew (among whom was the +cook, a negro) were rummaging the staterooms on the larboard for arms, +where they soon equipped themselves with muskets and ammunition. +Besides Augustus and Captain Barnard, there were nine men altogether +in the cabin, and these among the most ruffianly of the brig's +company. The villains now went upon deck, taking my friend with them +after having secured his arms behind his back. They proceeded straight +to the forecastle, which was fastened down- two of the mutineers +standing by it with axes- two also at the main hatch. The mate called +out in a loud voice: "Do you hear there below? tumble up with you, one +by one- now, mark that- and no grumbling!" It was some minutes before +any one appeared:- at last an Englishman, who had shipped as a raw +hand, came up, weeping piteously, and entreating the mate, in the most +humble manner, to spare his life. The only reply was a blow on the +forehead from an axe. The poor fellow fell to the deck without a +groan, and the black cook lifted him up in his arms as he would a +child, and tossed him deliberately into the sea. Hearing the blow +and the plunge of the body, the men below could now be induced to +venture on deck neither by threats nor promises, until a proposition +was made to smoke them out. A general rush then ensued, and for a +moment it seemed possible that the brig might be retaken. The +mutineers, however, succeeded at last in closing the forecastle +effectually before more than six of their opponents could get up. +These six, finding themselves so greatly outnumbered and without arms, +submitted after a brief struggle. The mate gave them fair words- no +doubt with a view of inducing those below to yield, for they had no +difficulty in hearing all that was said on deck. The result proved his +sagacity, no less than his diabolical villainy. All in the +forecastle presently signified their intention of submitting, and, +ascending one by one, were pinioned and then thrown on their backs, +together with the first six- there being in all, of the crew who were +not concerned in the mutiny, twenty-seven. + + A scene of the most horrible butchery ensued. The bound seamen +were dragged to the gangway. Here the cook stood with an axe, striking +each victim on the head as he was forced over the side of the vessel +by the other mutineers. In this manner twenty-two perished, and +Augustus had given himself up for lost, expecting every moment his own +turn to come next. But it seemed that the villains were now either +weary, or in some measure disgusted with their bloody labour; for +the four remaining prisoners, together with my friend, who had been +thrown on the deck with the rest, were respited while the mate sent +below for rum, and the whole murderous party held a drunken carouse, +which lasted until sunset. They now fell to disputing in regard to the +fate of the survivors, who lay not more than four paces off, and could +distinguish every word said. Upon some of the mutineers the liquor +appeared to have a softening effect, for several voices were heard +in favor of releasing the captives altogether, on condition of joining +the mutiny and sharing the profits. The black cook, however (who in +all respects was a perfect demon, and who seemed to exert as much +influence, if not more, than the mate himself), would listen to no +proposition of the kind, and rose repeatedly for the purpose of +resuming his work at the gangway. Fortunately he was so far overcome +by intoxication as to be easily restrained by the less bloodthirsty of +the party, among whom was a line-manager, who went by the name of Dirk +Peters. This man was the son of an Indian squaw of the tribe of +Upsarokas, who live among the fastnesses of the Black Hills, near +the source of the Missouri. His father was a fur-trader, I believe, or +at least connected in some manner with the Indian trading-posts on +Lewis river. Peter himself was one of the most ferocious-looking men I +ever beheld. He was short in stature, not more than four feet eight +inches high, but his limbs were of Herculean mould. His hands, +especially, were so enormously thick and broad as hardly to retain a +human shape. His arms, as well as legs, were bowed in the most +singular manner, and appeared to possess no flexibility whatever. +His head was equally deformed, being of immense size, with an +indentation on the crown (like that on the head of most negroes), +and entirely bald. To conceal this latter deficiency, which did not +proceed from old age, he usually wore a wig formed of any hair-like +material which presented itself- occasionally the skin of a Spanish +dog or American grizzly bear. At the time spoken of, he had on a +portion of one of these bearskins; and it added no little to the +natural ferocity of his countenance, which betook of the Upsaroka +character. The mouth extended nearly from ear to ear, the lips were +thin, and seemed, like some other portions of his frame, to be devoid +of natural pliancy, so that the ruling expression never varied under +the influence of any emotion whatever. This ruling expression may be +conceived when it is considered that the teeth were exceedingly long +and protruding, and never even partially covered, in any instance, +by the lips. To pass this man with a casual glance, one might +imagine him to be convulsed with laughter, but a second look would +induce a shuddering acknowledgment, that if such an expression were +indicative of merriment, the merriment must be that of a demon. Of +this singular being many anecdotes were prevalent among the +seafaring men of Nantucket. These anecdotes went to prove his +prodigious strength when under excitement, and some of them had +given rise to a doubt of his sanity. But on board the Grampus, it +seems, he was regarded, at the time of the mutiny, with feelings +more of derision than of anything else. I have been thus particular in +speaking of Dirk Peters, because, ferocious as he appeared, he +proved the main instrument in preserving the life of Augustus, and +because I shall have frequent occasion to mention him hereafter in the +course of my narrative- a narrative, let me here say, which, in its +latter portions, will be found to include incidents of a nature so +entirely out of the range of human experience, and for this reason +so far beyond the limits of human credulity, that I proceed in utter +hopelessness of obtaining credence for all that I shall tell, yet +confidently trusting in time and progressing science to verify some of +the most important and most improbable of my statements. + + After much indecision and two or three violent quarrels, it was +determined at last that all the prisoners (with the exception of +Augustus, whom Peters insisted in a jocular manner upon keeping as his +clerk) should be set adrift in one of the smallest whaleboats. The +mate went down into the cabin to see if Captain Barnard was still +living- for, it will be remembered, he was left below when the +mutineers came up. Presently the two made their appearance, the +captain pale as death, but somewhat recovered from the effects of +his wound. He spoke to the men in a voice hardly articulate, entreated +them not to set him adrift, but to return to their duty, and promising +to land them wherever they chose, and to take no steps for bringing +them to justice. He might as well have spoken to the winds. Two of the +ruffians seized him by the arms and hurled him over the brig's side +into the boat, which had been lowered while the mate went below. The +four men who were lying on the deck were then untied and ordered to +follow, which they did without attempting any resistance- Augustus +being still left in his painful position, although he struggled and +prayed only for the poor satisfaction of being permitted to bid his +father farewell. A handful of sea-biscuit and a jug of water were +now handed down; but neither mast, sail, oar, nor compass. The boat +was towed astern for a few minutes, during which the mutineers held +another consultation- it was then finally cut adrift. By this time +night had come on- there were neither moon nor stars visible- and a +short and ugly sea was running, although there was no great deal of +wind. The boat was instantly out of sight, and little hope could be +entertained for the unfortunate sufferers who were in it. This event +happened, however, in latitude 35 degrees 30' north, longitude 61 +degrees 20' west, and consequently at no very great distance from the +Bermuda Islands. Augustus therefore endeavored to console himself with +the idea that the boat might either succeed in reaching the land, or +come sufficiently near to be fallen in with by vessels off the coast. + + All sail was now put upon the brig, and she continued her original +course to the southwest- the mutineers being bent upon some piratical +expedition, in which, from all that could be understood, a ship was to +be intercepted on her way from the Cape Verd Islands to Porto Rico. No +attention was paid to Augustus, who was untied and suffered to go +about anywhere forward of the cabin companion-way. Dirk Peters treated +him with some degree of kindness, and on one occasion saved him from +the brutality of the cook. His situation was still one of the most +precarious, as the men were continually intoxicated, and there was +no relying upon their continued good-humor or carelessness in regard +to himself. His anxiety on my account be represented, however, as +the most distressing result of his condition; and, indeed, I had never +reason to doubt the sincerity of his friendship. More than once he had +resolved to acquaint the mutineers with the secret of my being on +board, but was restrained from so doing, partly through recollection +of the atrocities he had already beheld, and partly through a hope +of being able soon to bring me relief. For the latter purpose he was +constantly on the watch; but, in spite of the most constant vigilance, +three days elapsed after the boat was cut adrift before any chance +occurred. At length, on the night of the third day, there came on a +heavy blow from the eastward, and all hands were called up to take +in sail. During the confusion which ensued, he made his way below +unobserved, and into the stateroom. What was his grief and horror in +discovering that the latter had been rendered a place of deposit for a +variety of sea-stores and ship-furniture, and that several fathoms +of old chain-cable, which had been stowed away beneath the +companion-ladder, had been dragged thence to make room for a chest, +and were now lying immediately upon the trap! To remove it without +discovery was impossible, and he returned on deck as quickly as he +could. As be came up, the mate seized him by the throat, and demanding +what he had been doing in the cabin, was about flinging him over the +larboard bulwark, when his life was again preserved through the +interference of Dirk Peters. Augustus was now put in handcuffs (of +which there were several pairs on board), and his feet lashed +tightly together. He was then taken into the steerage, and thrown into +a lower berth next to the forecastle bulkheads, with the assurance +that he should never put his foot on deck again "until the brig was no +longer a brig." This was the expression of the cook, who threw him +into the berth- it is hardly possible to say what precise meaning +intended by the phrase. The whole affair, however, proved the ultimate +means of my relief, as will presently appear. + + CHAPTER V + + For some minutes after the cook had left the forecastle, +Augustus abandoned himself to despair, never hoping to leave the berth +alive. He now came to the resolution of acquainting the first of the +men who should come down with my situation, thinking it better to +let me take my chance with the mutineers than perish of thirst in +the hold,- for it had been ten days since I was first imprisoned, and +my jug of water was not a plentiful supply even for four. As he was +thinking on this subject, the idea came all at once into his head that +it might be possible to communicate with me by the way of the main +hold. In any other circumstances, the difficulty and hazard of the +undertaking would have pre. vented him from attempting it; but now +he had, at all events, little prospect of life, and consequently +little to lose, he bent his whole mind, therefore, upon the task. + + His handcuffs were the first consideration. At first he saw no +method of removing them, and feared that he should thus be baffled +in the very outset; but upon a closer scrutiny he discovered that +the irons could be slipped off and on at pleasure, with very little +effort or inconvenience, merely by squeezing his hands through +them,- this species of manacle being altogether ineffectual in +confining young persons, in whom the smaller bones readily yield to +pressure. He now untied his feet, and, leaving the cord in such a +manner that it could easily be readjusted in the event of any person's +coming down, proceeded to examine the bulkhead where it joined the +berth. The partition here was of soft pine board, an inch thick, and +he saw that he should have little trouble in cutting his way +through. A voice was now heard at the forecastle companion-way, and he +had just time to put his right hand into its handcuff (the left had +not been removed) and to draw the rope in a slipknot around his ankle, +when Dirk Peters came below, followed by Tiger, who immediately leaped +into the berth and lay down. The dog had been brought on board by +Augustus, who knew my attachment to the animal, and thought it would +give me pleasure to have him with me during the voyage. He went up +to our house for him immediately after first taking me into the +hold, but did not think of mentioning the circumstance upon his +bringing the watch. Since the mutiny, Augustus had not seen him before +his appearance with Dirk Peters, and had given him up for lost, +supposing him to have been thrown overboard by some of the malignant +villains belonging to the mate's gang. It appeared afterward that he +had crawled into a hole beneath a whale-boat, from which, not having +room to turn round, he could not extricate himself. Peters at last let +him out, and, with a species of good feeling which my friend knew well +how to appreciate, had now brought him to him in the forecastle as a +companion, leaving at the same time some salt junk and potatoes, +with a can of water, he then went on deck, promising to come down with +something more to eat on the next day. + + When he had gone, Augustus freed both hands from the manacles +and unfastened his feet. He then turned down the head of the +mattress on which he had been lying, and with his penknife (for the +ruffians had not thought it worth while to search him) commenced +cutting vigorously across one of the partition planks, as closely as +possible to the floor of the berth. He chose to cut here, because, +if suddenly interrupted, he would be able to conceal what had been +done by letting the head of the mattress fall into its proper +position. For the remainder of the day, however, no disturbance +occurred, and by night he had completely divided the plank. It +should here be observed that none of the crew occupied the +forecastle as a sleeping-place, living altogether in the cabin since +the mutiny, drinking the wines and feasting on the sea-stores of +Captain Barnard, and giving no more heed than was absolutely necessary +to the navigation of the brig. These circumstances proved fortunate +both for myself and Augustus; for, had matters been otherwise, he +would have found it impossible to reach me. As it was, he proceeded +with confidence in his design. It was near daybreak, however, before +he completed the second division of the board (which was about a +foot above the first cut), thus making an aperture quite large +enough to admit his passage through with facility to the main orlop +deck. Having got here, he made his way with but little trouble to +the lower main hatch, although in so doing he had to scramble over +tiers of oil-casks piled nearly as high as the upper deck, there being +barely room enough left for his body. Upon reaching the hatch he found +that Tiger had followed him below, squeezing between two rows of the +casks. It was now too late, however, to attempt getting to me before +dawn, as the chief difficulty lay in passing through the close stowage +in the lower hold. He therefore resolved to return, and wait till +the next night. With this design, he proceeded to loosen the hatch, so +that he might have as little detention as possible when he should come +again. No sooner had he loosened it than Tiger sprang eagerly to the +small opening produced, snuffed for a moment, and then uttered a +long whine, scratching at the same time, as if anxious to remove the +covering with his paws. There could be no doubt, from his behaviour, +that he was aware of my being in the hold, and Augustus thought it +possible that he would be able to get to me if he put him down. He now +hit upon the expedient of sending the note, as it was especially +desirable that I should make no attempt at forcing my way out at least +under existing circumstances, and there could be no certainty of his +getting to me himself on the morrow as he intended. After-events +proved how fortunate it was that the idea occurred to him as it did; +for, had it not been for the receipt of the note, I should undoubtedly +have fallen upon some plan, however desperate, of alarming the crew, +and both our lives would most probably have been sacrificed in +consequence. + + Having concluded to write, the difficulty was now to procure the +mate. rials for so doing. An old toothpick was soon made into a pen; +and this by means of feeling altogether, for the between-decks was +as dark as pitch. Paper enough was obtained from the back of a +letter- a duplicate of the forged letter from Mr. Ross. This had been +the original draught; but the handwriting not being sufficiently +well imitated, Augustus had written another, thrusting the first, by +good fortune, into his coat-pocket, where it was now most +opportunely discovered. Ink alone was thus wanting, and a substitute +was immediately found for this by means of a slight incision with +the pen-knife on the back of a finger just above the nail- a copious +flow of blood ensuing, as usual, from wounds in that vicinity. The +note was now written, as well as it could be in the dark and under the +circumstances. It briefly explained that a mutiny had taken place; +that Captain Barnard was set adrift; and that I might expect immediate +relief as far as provisions were concerned, but must not venture +upon making any disturbance. It concluded with these words: "I have +scrawled this with blood- your life depends upon lying close." + + This slip of paper being tied upon the dog, he was now put down +the hatchway, and Augustus made the best of his way back to the +forecastle, where be found no reason to believe that any of the crew +had been in his absence. To conceal the hole in the partition, he +drove his knife in just above it, and hung up a pea-jacket which he +found in the berth. His handcuffs were then replaced, and also the +rope around his ankles. + + These arrangements were scarcely completed when Dirk Peters came +below, very drunk, but in excellent humour, and bringing with him my +friend's allowance of provision for the day. This consisted of a dozen +large Irish potatoes roasted, and a pitcher of water. He sat for +some time on a chest by the berth, and talked freely about the mate +and the general concerns of the brig. His demeanour was exceedingly +capricious, and even grotesque. At one time Augustus was much +alarmed by odd conduct. At last, however, he went on deck, muttering a +promise to bring his prisoner a good dinner on the morrow. During +the day two of the crew (harpooners) came down, accompanied by the +cook, all three in nearly the last stage of intoxication. Like Peters, +they made no scruple of talking unreservedly about their plans. It +appeared that they were much divided among themselves as to their +ultimate course, agreeing in no point, except the attack on the ship +from the Cape Verd Islands, with which they were in hourly expectation +of meeting. As far as could be ascertained, the mutiny had not been +brought about altogether for the sake of booty; a private pique of the +chief mate's against Captain Barnard having been the main instigation. +There now seemed to be two principal factions among the crew- one +headed by the mate, the other by the cook. The former party were for +seizing the first suitable vessel which should present itself, and +equipping it at some of the West India Islands for a piratical cruise. +The latter division, however, which was the stronger, and included +Dirk Peters among its partisans, were bent upon pursuing the course +originally laid out for the brig into the South Pacific; there +either to take whale, or act otherwise, as circumstances should +suggest. The representations of Peters, who had frequently visited +these regions, had great weight, apparently, with the mutineers, +wavering, as they were, between half-engendered notions of profit +and pleasure. He dwelt on the world of novelty and amusement to be +found among the innumerable islands of the Pacific, on the perfect +security and freedom from all restraint to be enjoyed, but, more +particularly, on the deliciousness of the climate, on the abundant +means of good living, and on the voluptuous beauty of the women. As +yet, nothing had been absolutely determined upon; but the pictures +of the hybrid line-manager were taking strong hold upon the ardent +imaginations of the seamen, and there was every possibility that his +intentions would be finally carried into effect. + + The three men went away in about an hour, and no one else +entered the forecastle all day. Augustus lay quiet until nearly night. +He then freed himself from the rope and irons, and prepared for his +attempt. A bottle was found in one of the berths, and this he filled +with water from the pitcher left by Peters, storing his pockets at the +same time with cold potatoes. To his great joy he also came across a +lantern, with a small piece of tallow candle in it. This he could +light at any moment, as be had in his possession a box of phosphorus +matches. When it was quite dark, he got through the hole in the +bulkhead, having taken the precaution to arrange the bedclothes in the +berth so as to convey the idea of a person covered up. When through, +he hung up the pea-jacket on his knife, as before, to conceal the +aperture- this manoeuvre being easily effected, as he did not +readjust the piece of plank taken out until afterward. He was now on +the main orlop deck, and proceeded to make his way, as before, between +the upper deck and the oil-casks to the main hatchway. Having +reached this, he lit the piece of candle, and descended, groping +with extreme difficulty among the compact stowage of the hold. In a +few moments he became alarmed at the insufferable stench and the +closeness of the atmosphere. He could not think it possible that I had +survived my confinement for so long a period breathing so oppressive +an air. He called my name repeatedly, but I made him no reply, and his +apprehensions seemed thus to be confirmed. The brig was rolling +violently, and there was so much noise in consequence, that it was +useless to listen for any weak sound, such as those of my breathing or +snoring. He threw open the lantern, and held it as high as possible, +whenever an opportunity occurred, in order that, by observing the +light, I might, if alive, be aware that succor was approaching. +Still nothing was heard from me, and the supposition of my death began +to assume the character of certainty. He determined, nevertheless, +to force a passage, if possible, to the box, and at least ascertain +beyond a doubt the truth of his surmises. He pushed on for some time +in a most pitiable state of anxiety, until, at length, he found the +pathway utterly blocked up, and that there was no possibility of +making any farther way by the course in which he had set out. Overcome +now by his feelings, he threw himself among the lumber in despair, and +wept like a child. It was at this period that he heard the crash +occasioned by the bottle which I had thrown down. Fortunate, indeed, +was it that the incident occurred- for, upon this incident, trivial +as it appears, the thread of my destiny depended. Many years +elapsed, however, before I was aware of this fact. A natural shame and +regret for his weakness and indecision prevented Augustus from +confiding to me at once what a more intimate and unreserved +communion afterward induced him to reveal. Upon finding his further +progress in the hold impeded by obstacles which he could not overcome, +he had resolved to abandon his attempt at reaching me, and return at +once to the forecastle. Before condemning him entirely on this head, +the harassing circumstances which embarrassed him should be taken into +consideration. The night was fast wearing away, and his absence from +the forecastle might be discovered; and indeed would necessarily be +so, if be should fail to get back to the berth by daybreak. His candle +was expiring in the socket, and there would be the greatest difficulty +in retracing his way to the hatchway in the dark. It must be +allowed, too, that he had every good reason to believe me dead; in +which event no benefit could result to me from his reaching the box, +and a world of danger would be encountered to no purpose by himself. +He had repeatedly called, and I had made him no answer. I had been now +eleven days and nights with no more water than that contained in the +jug which he had left with me- a supply which it was not at all +probable I had boarded in the beginning of my confinement, as I had +every cause to expect a speedy release. The atmosphere of the hold, +too, must have appeared to him, coming from the comparatively open air +of the steerage, of a nature absolutely poisonous, and by far more +intolerable than it had seemed to me upon my first taking up my +quarters in the box- the hatchways at that time having been +constantly open for many months previous. Add to these +considerations that of the scene of bloodshed and terror so lately +witnessed by my friend; his confinement, privations, and narrow +escapes from death, together with the frail and equivocal tenure by +which he still existed- circumstances all so well calculated to +prostrate every energy of mind- and the reader will be easily +brought, as I have been, to regard his apparent falling off in +friendship and in faith with sentiments rather of sorrow than of +anger. + + The crash of the bottle was distinctly heard, yet Augustus was not +sure that it proceeded from the hold. The doubt, however, was +sufficient inducement to persevere. He clambered up nearly to the +orlop deck by means of the stowage, and then, watching for a lull in +the pitchings of the vessel, he called out to me in as loud a tone +as he could command, regardless, for the moment, of being overheard by +the crew. It will be remembered that on this occasion the voice +reached me, but I was so entirely overcome by violent agitation as +to be incapable of reply. Confident, now, that his worst apprehensions +were well founded, be descended, with a view of getting back to the +forecastle without loss of time. In his haste some small boxes were +thrown down, the noise occasioned by which I heard, as will be +recollected. He had made considerable progress on his return when +the fall of the knife again caused him to hesitate. He retraced his +steps immediately, and, clambering up the stowage a second time, +called out my name, loudly as before, having watched for a lull. +This time I found voice to answer. Overjoyed at discovering me to be +still alive, he now resolved to brave every difficulty and danger in +reaching me. Having extricated himself as quickly as possible from the +labyrinth of lumber by which he was hemmed in, he at length struck +into an opening which promised better, and finally, after a series +of struggles, arrived at the box in a state of utter exhaustion. + + CHAPTER VI + + The leading particulars of this narration were all that Augustus +communicated to me while we remained near the box. It was not until +afterward that he entered fully into all the details. He was +apprehensive of being missed, and I was wild with impatience to +leave my detested place of confinement. We resolved to make our way at +once to the hole in the bulkhead, near which I was to remain for the +present, while he went through to reconnoiter. To leave Tiger in the +box was what neither of us could endure to think of, yet, how to act +otherwise was the question. He now seemed to be perfectly quiet, and +we could not even distinguish the sound of his breathing upon applying +our ears closely to the box. I was convinced that he was dead, and +determined to open the door. We found him lying at full length, +apparently in a deep stupor, yet still alive. No time was to be +lost, yet I could not bring myself to abandon an animal who had now +been twice instrumental in saving my life, without some attempt at +preserving him. We therefore dragged him along with us as well as we +could, although with the greatest difficulty and fatigue; Augustus, +during part of the time, being forced to clamber over the +impediments in our way with the huge dog in his arms- a feat to which +the feebleness of my frame rendered me totally inadequate. At length +we succeeded in reaching the hole, when Augustus got through, and +Tiger was pushed in afterward. All was found to be safe, and we did +not fail to return sincere thanks to God for our deliverance from +the imminent danger we had escaped. For the present, it was agreed +that I should remain near the opening, through which my companion +could readily supply me with a part of his daily provision, and +where I could have the advantages of breathing an atmosphere +comparatively pure. + + In explanation of some portions of this narrative, wherein I +have spoken of the stowage of the brig, and which may appear ambiguous +to some of my readers who may have seen a proper or regular stowage, I +must here state that the manner in which this most important duty +had been per formed on board the Grampus was a most shameful piece +of neglect on the part of Captain Barnard, who was by no means as +careful or as experienced a seaman as the hazardous nature of the +service on which he was employed would seem necessarily to demand. A +proper stowage cannot be accomplished in a careless manner, and many +most disastrous accidents, even within the limits of my own +experience, have arisen from neglect or ignorance in this +particular. Coasting vessels, in the frequent hurry and bustle +attendant upon taking in or discharging cargo, are the most liable +to mishap from the want of a proper attention to stowage. The great +point is to allow no possibility of the cargo or ballast shifting +position even in the most violent rollings of the vessel. With this +end, great attention must be paid, not only to the bulk taken in, +but to the nature of the bulk, and whether there be a full or only a +partial cargo. In most kinds of freight the stowage is accomplished by +means of a screw. Thus, in a load of tobacco or flour, the whole is +screwed so tightly into the hold of the vessel that the barrels or +hogsheads, upon discharging, are found to be completely flattened, and +take some time to regain their original shape. This screwing, however, +is resorted to principally with a view of obtaining more room in the +hold; for in a full load of any such commodities as flour or +tobacco, there can be no danger of any shifting whatever, at least +none from which inconvenience can result. There have been instances, +indeed, where this method of screwing has resulted in the most +lamentable consequences, arising from a cause altogether distinct from +the danger attendant upon a shifting of cargo. A load of cotton, for +example, tightly screwed while in certain conditions, has been +known, through the expansion of its bulk, to rend a vessel asunder +at sea. There can be no doubt either that the same result would +ensue in the case of tobacco, while undergoing its usual course of +fermentation, were it not for the interstices consequent upon the +rotundity of the hogsheads. + + It is when a partial cargo is received that danger is chiefly to +be apprehended from shifting, and that precautions should be always +taken to guard against such misfortune. Only those who have +encountered a violent gale of wind, or rather who have experienced the +rolling of a vessel in a sudden calm after the gale, can form an +idea of the tremendous force of the plunges, and of the consequent +terrible impetus given to all loose articles in the vessel. It is then +that the necessity of a cautious stowage, when there is a partial +cargo, becomes obvious. When lying-to (especially with a small bead +sail), a vessel which is not properly modelled in the bows is +frequently thrown upon her beam-ends; this occurring even every +fifteen or twenty minutes upon an average, yet without any serious +consequences resulting, provided there be a proper stowage. If this, +however, has not been strictly attended to, in the first of these +heavy lurches the whole of the cargo tumbles over to the side of the +vessel which lies upon the water, and, being thus prevented from +regaining her equilibrium, as she would otherwise necessarily do, +she is certain to fill in a few seconds and go down. It is not too +much to say that at least one-half of the instances in which vessels +have foundered in heavy gales at sea may be attributed to a shifting +of cargo or of ballast. + + When a partial cargo of any kind is taken on board, the whole, +after being first stowed as compactly as may be, should be covered +with a layer of stout shifting-boards, extending completely across the +vessel. Upon these boards strong temporary stanchions should be +erected, reaching to the timbers above, and thus securing every +thing in its place. In cargoes consisting of grain, or any similar +matter, additional precautions are requisite. A hold filled entirely +with grain upon leaving port will be found not more than three fourths +full upon reaching its destination- this, too, although the freight, +when measured bushel by bushel by the consignee, will overrun by a +vast deal (on account of the swelling of the grain) the quantity +consigned. This result is occasioned by settling during the voyage, +and is the more perceptible in proportion to the roughness of the +weather experienced. If grain loosely thrown in a vessel, then, is +ever so well secured by shifting-boards and stanchions, it will be +liable to shift in a long passage so greatly as to bring about the +most distressing calamities. To prevent these, every method should +be employed before leaving port to settle the cargo as much as +possible; and for this there are many contrivances, among which may be +mentioned the driving of wedges into the grain. Even after all this is +done, and unusual pains taken to secure the shifting-boards, no seaman +who knows what he is about will feel altogether secure in a gale of +any violence with a cargo of grain on board, and, least of all, with a +partial cargo. Yet there are hundreds of our coasting vessels, and, it +is likely, many more from the ports of Europe, which sail daily with +partial cargoes, even of the most dangerous species, and without any +precaution whatever. The wonder is that no more accidents occur than +do actually happen. A lamentable instance of this heedlessness +occurred to my knowledge in the case of Captain Joel Rice of the +schooner Firefly, which sailed from Richmond, Virginia, to Madeira, +with a cargo of corn, in the year 1825. The captain had gone many +voyages without serious accident, although he was in the habit of +paying no attention whatever to his stowage, more than to secure it in +the ordinary manner. He had never before sailed with a cargo of grain, +and on this occasion had the corn thrown on board loosely, when it did +not much more than half fill the vessel. For the first portion of +the voyage he met with nothing more than light breezes; but when +within a day's sail of Madeira there came on a strong gale from the +N. N. E. which forced him to lie-to. He brought the schooner to the +wind under a double-reefed foresail alone, when she rode as well as +any vessel could be expected to do, and shipped not a drop of water. +Toward night the gale somewhat abated, and she rolled with more +unsteadiness than before, but still did very well, until a heavy lurch +threw her upon her beam-ends to starboard. The corn was then heard +to shift bodily, the force of the movement bursting open the main +hatchway. The vessel went down like a shot. This happened within +hail of a small sloop from Madeira, which picked up one of the crew +(the only person saved), and which rode out the gale in perfect +security, as indeed a jolly boat might have done under proper +management. + + The stowage on board the Grampus was most clumsily done, if +stowage that could be called which was little better than a +promiscuous huddling together of oil-casks* and ship furniture. I have +already spoken of the condition of articles in the hold. On the +orlop deck there was space enough for my body (as I have stated) +between the oil-casks and the upper deck; a space was left open around +the main hatchway; and several other large spaces were left in the +stowage. Near the hole cut through the bulkhead by Augustus there +was room enough for an entire cask, and in this space I found myself +comfortably situated for the present. + + * Whaling vessels are usually fitted with iron oil-tanks- why the +Grampus was not I have never been able to ascertain. + + By the time my friend had got safely into the berth, and +readjusted his handcuffs and the rope, it was broad daylight. We had +made a narrow escape indeed; for scarcely had he arranged all matters, +when the mate came below, with Dirk Peters and the cook. They talked +for some time about the vessel from the Cape Verds, and seemed to be +excessively anxious for her appearance. At length the cook came to the +berth in which Augustus was lying, and seated himself in it near the +head. I could see and hear every thing from my hiding-place, for the +piece cut out had not been put back, and I was in momentary +expectation that the negro would fall against the pea-jacket, which +was hung up to conceal the aperture, in which case all would have been +discovered, and our lives would, no doubt, have been instantly +sacrificed. Our good fortune prevailed, however; and although he +frequently touched it as the vessel rolled, he never pressed against +it sufficiently to bring about a discovery. The bottom of the jacket +had been carefully fastened to the bulkhead, so that the hole might +not be seen by its swinging to one side. All this time Tiger was lying +in the foot of the berth, and appeared to have recovered in some +measure his faculties, for I could see him occasionally open his +eyes and draw a long breath. + + After a few minutes the mate and cook went above, leaving Dirk +Peters behind, who, as soon as they were gone, came and sat himself +down in the place just occupied by the mate. He began to talk very +sociably with Augustus, and we could now see that the greater part +of his apparent intoxication, while the two others were with him, +was a feint. He answered all my companion's questions with perfect +freedom; told him that he had no doubt of his father's having been +picked up, as there were no less than five sail in sight just before +sundown on the day he was cut adrift; and used other language of a +consolatory nature, which occasioned me no less surprise than +pleasure. Indeed, I began to entertain hopes, that through the +instrumentality of Peters we might be finally enabled to regain +possession of the brig, and this idea I mentioned to Augustus as +soon as I found an opportunity. He thought the matter possible, but +urged the necessity of the greatest caution in making the attempt, +as the conduct of the hybrid appeared to be instigated by the most +arbitrary caprice alone; and, indeed, it was difficult to say if be +was at any moment of sound mind. Peters went upon deck in about an +hour, and did not return again until noon, when he brought Augustus +a plentiful supply of junk beef and pudding. Of this, when we were +left alone, I partook heartily, without returning through the hole. No +one else came down into the forecastle during the day, and at night, I +got into Augustus' berth, where I slept soundly and sweetly until +nearly daybreak, when he awakened me upon hearing a stir upon deck, +and I regained my hiding-place as quickly as possible. When the day +was fully broke, we found that Tiger had recovered his strength +almost entirely, and gave no indications of hydrophobia, drinking a +little water that was offered him with great apparent eagerness. +During the day he regained all his former vigour and appetite. His +strange conduct had been brought on, no doubt, by the deleterious +quality of the air of the hold, and had no connexion with canine +madness. I could not sufficiently rejoice that I had persisted in +bringing him with me from the box. This day was the thirtieth of +June, and the thirteenth since the Grampus made sad from Nantucket. + + On the second of July the mate came below drunk as usual, and in +an excessively good-humor. He came to Augustus's berth, and, giving +him a slap on the back, asked him if he thought he could behave +himself if he let him loose, and whether he would promise not to be +going into the cabin again. To this, of course, my friend answered +in the affirmative, when the ruffian set him at liberty, after +making him drink from a flask of rum which he drew from his +coat-pocket. Both now went on deck, and I did not see Augustus for +about three hours. He then came below with the good news that he had +obtained permission to go about the brig as be pleased anywhere +forward of the mainmast, and that he had been ordered to sleep, as +usual, in the forecastle. He brought me, too, a good dinner, and a +plentiful supply of water. The brig was still cruising for the +vessel from the Cape Verds, and a sail was now in sight, which was +thought to be the one in question. As the events of the ensuing +eight days were of little importance, and had no direct bearing upon +the main incidents of my narrative, I will here throw them into the +form of a journal, as I do not wish to omit them altogether. + + July 3.- Augustus furnished me with three blankets, with which I +contrived a comfortable bed in my hiding-place. No one came below, +except my companion, during the day. Tiger took his station in the +berth just by the aperture, and slept heavily, as if not yet +entirely recovered from the effects of his sickness. Toward night a +flaw of wind struck the brig before sail could be taken in, and very +nearly capsized her. The puff died away immediately, however, and no +damage was done beyond the splitting of the foretopsail. Dirk Peters +treated Augustus all this day with great kindness and entered into a +long conversation with him respecting the Pacific Ocean, and the +islands he had visited in that region. He asked him whether be would +not like to go with the mutineers on a kind of exploring and +pleasure voyage in those quarters, and said that the men were +gradually coming over to the mate's views. To this Augustus thought it +best to reply that he would be glad to go on such an adventure, +since nothing better could be done, and that any thing was +preferable to a piratical life. + + July 4.- The vessel in sight proved to be a small brig from +Liverpool, and was allowed to pass unmolested. Augustus spent most +of his time on deck, with a view of obtaining all the information in +his power respecting the intentions of the mutineers. They had +frequent and violent quarrels among themselves, in one of which a +harpooner, Jim Bonner, was thrown overboard. The party of the mate was +gaining ground. Jim Bonner belonged to the cook's gang, of which +Peters was a partisan. + + July 5.- About daybreak there came on a stiff breeze from the +west, which at noon freshened into a gale, so that the brig could +carry nothing more than her trysail and foresail. In taking in the +foretopsail, Simms, one of the common hands, and belonging also to +the cook's gang, fell overboard, being very much in liquor, and was +drowned- no attempt being made to save him. The whole number of +persons on board was now thirteen, to wit: Dirk Peters; Seymour, the +of the cook's party; the mate, whose name I never learned; Absalom +party;- besides Augustus and myself. + + July 6.- The gale lasted all this day, blowing in heavy squalls, +accompanied with rain. The brig took in a good deal of water through +her seams, and one of the pumps was kept continually going, Augustus +being forced to take his turn. just at twilight a large ship passed +close by us, without having been discovered until within hail. The +ship was supposed to be the one for which the mutineers were on the +lookout. The mate hailed her, but the reply was drowned in the roaring +of the gale. At eleven, a sea was shipped amidships, which tore away a +great portion of the larboard bulwarks, and did some other slight +damage. Toward morning the weather moderated, and at sunrise there was +very little wind. + + July 7.- There was a heavy swell running all this day, during +which the brig, being light, rolled excessively, and many articles +broke loose in the hold, as I could hear distinctly from my +hiding-place. I suffered a great deal from sea-sickness. Peters had a +long conversation this day with Augustus, and told him that two of +his gang, Greely and Allen, had gone over to the mate, and were +resolved to turn pirates. He put several questions to Augustus which +he did not then exactly understand. During a part of this evening the +leak gained upon the vessel; and little could be done to remedy it, +as it was occasioned by the brigs straining, and taking in the water +through her seams. A sail was thrummed, and got under the bows, which +aided us in some measure, so that we began to gain upon the leak. + + July 8.- A light breeze sprang up at sunrise from the eastward, +when the mate headed the brig to the southwest, with the intention +of making some of the West India islands in pursuance of his piratical +designs. No opposition was made by Peters or the cook- at least none +in the hearing of Augustus. All idea of taking the vessel from the +Cape Verds was abandoned. The leak was now easily kept under by one +pump going every three quarters of an hour. The sail was drawn from +beneath the bows. Spoke two small schooners during the day. + + July 9.- Fine weather. All hands employed in repairing bulwarks. +Peters had again a long conversation with Augustus, and spoke more +plainly than he had done heretofore. He said nothing should induce him +to come into the mate's views, and even hinted his intention of taking +the brig out of his hands. He asked my friend if he could depend +upon his aid in such case, to which Augustus said, "Yes," without +hesitation. Peters then said he would sound the others of his party +upon the subject, and went away. During the remainder of the day +Augustus had no opportunity of speaking with him privately. + + CHAPTER VII + + July 10.- Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk. Weather hazy, +with a light baffling wind from the eastward. To-day Hartman Rogers +died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking +a glass of grog. This man was of the cook's party, and one upon whom +Peters placed his main reliance. He told Augustus that he believed the +mate had poisoned him, and that he expected, if he did not be on the +look-out, his own turn would come shortly. There were now only +himself, Jones, and the cook belonging to his own gang- on the other +side there were five. He had spoken to Jones about taking the +command from the mate; but the project having been coolly received, he +had been deterred from pressing the matter any further, or from saying +any thing to the cook. It was well, as it happened, that he was so +prudent, for in the afternoon the cook expressed his determination +of siding with the mate, and went over formally to that party; while +Jones took an opportunity of quarrelling with Peters, and hinted +that he would let the mate know of the plan in agitation. There was +now, evidently, no time to be lost, and Peters expressed his +determination of attempting to take the vessel at all hazards, +provided Augustus would lend him his aid. My friend at once assured +him of his willingness to enter into any plan for that purpose, and, +thinking the opportunity a favourable one, made known the fact of my +being on board. At this the hybrid was not more astonished than +delighted, as he had no reliance whatever upon Jones, whom he +already considered as belonging to the party of the mate. They went +below immediately, when Augustus called to me by name, and Peters +and myself were soon made acquainted. It was agreed that we should +attempt to retake the vessel upon the first good opportunity, +leaving Jones altogether out of our councils. In the event of success, +we were to run the brig into the first port that offered, and +deliver her up. The desertion of his party had frustrated Peters' +design of going into the Pacific- an adventure which could not be +accomplished without a crew, and he depended upon either getting +acquitted upon trial, on the score of insanity (which he solemnly +avowed had actuated him in lending his aid to the mutiny), or upon +obtaining a pardon, if found guilty, through the representations of +Augustus and myself. Our deliberations were interrupted for the +present by the cry of, "All hands take in sail," and Peters and +Augustus ran up on deck. + + As usual, the crew were nearly all drunk; and, before sail could +be properly taken in, a violent squall laid the brig on her beam-ends. +By keeping her away, however, she righted, having shipped a good +deal of water. Scarcely was everything secure, when another squall +took the vessel, and immediately afterward another- no damage being +done. There was every appearance of a gale of wind, which, indeed, +shortly came on, with great fury, from the northward and westward. All +was made as snug as possible, and we laid-to, as usual, under a +close-reefed foresail. As night drew on, the wind increased in +violence, with a remarkably heavy sea. Peters now came into the +forecastle with Augustus, and we resumed our deliberations. + + We agreed that no opportunity could be more favourable than the +present for carrying our designs into effect, as an attempt at such +a moment would never be anticipated. As the brig was snugly laid-to, +there would be no necessity of manoeuvring her until good weather, +when, if we succeeded in our attempt, we might liberate one, or +perhaps two of the men, to aid us in taking her into port. The main +difficulty was the great disproportion in our forces. There were +only three of us, and in the cabin there were nine. All the arms on +board, too, were in their possession, with the exception of a pair +of small pistols which Peters had concealed about his person, and +the large seaman's knife which he always wore in the waistband of +his pantaloons. From certain indications, too- such, for example, as +there being no such thing as an axe or a handspike lying in their +customary places- we began to fear that the mate had his suspicions, +at least in regard to Peters, and that he would let slip no +opportunity of getting rid of him. It was clear, indeed, that what we +should determine to do could not be done too soon. Still the odds +were too much against us to allow of our proceeding without the +greatest caution. + + Peters proposed that he should go up on deck, and enter into +conversation with the watch (Allen), when he would be able to throw +him into the sea without trouble, and without making any +disturbance, by seizing a good opportunity, that Augustus and myself +should then come up, and endeavour to provide ourselves with some kind +of weapons from the deck, and that we should then make a rush +together, and secure the companion-way before any opposition could +be offered. I objected to this, because I could not believe that the +mate (who was a cunning fellow in all matters which did not affect his +superstitious prejudices) would suffer himself to be so easily +entrapped. The very fact of there being a watch on deck at all was +sufficient proof that he was upon the alert,- it not being usual +except in vessels where discipline is most rigidly enforced, to +station a watch on deck when a vessel is lying-to in a gale of wind. +As I address myself principally, if not altogether, to persons who +have never been to sea, it may be as well to state the exact +condition of a vessel under such circumstances. Lying-to, or, in +sea-parlance, "laying-to," is a measure resorted to for various +purposes, and effected in various manners. In moderate weather it is +frequently done with a view of merely bringing the vessel to a +stand-still, to wait for another vessel or any similar object. If the +vessel which lies-to is under full sail, the manoeuvre is usually +accomplished by throwing round some portion of her sails, so as to let +the wind take them aback, when she becomes stationary. But we are now +speaking of lying-to in a gale of wind. This is done when the wind is +ahead, and too violent to admit of carrying sail without danger of +capsizing; and sometimes even when the wind is fair, but the sea too +heavy for the vessel to be put before it. If a vessel be suffered to +scud before the wind in a very heavy sea, much damage is usually done +her by the shipping of water over her stern, and sometimes by the +violent plunges she makes forward. This manoeuvre, then, is seldom +resorted to in such case, unless through necessity. When the vessel +is in a leaky condition she is often put before the wind even in the +heaviest seas; for, when lying-to, her seams are sure to be greatly +opened by her violent straining, and it is not so much the case when +scudding. Often, too, it becomes necessary to scud a vessel, either +when the blast is so exceedingly furious as to tear in pieces the sail +which is employed with a view of bringing her head to the wind, or +when, through the false modelling of the frame or other causes, this +main object cannot be effected. + + Vessels in a gale of wind are laid-to in different manners, +according to their peculiar construction. Some lie-to best under a +foresail, and this, I believe, is the sail most usually employed. +Large square-rigged vessels have sails for the express purpose, called +storm-staysails. But the jib is occasionally employed by itself,- +sometimes the jib and foresail, or a double-reefed foresail, and not +unfrequently the after-sails, are made use of. Foretopsails are very +often found to answer the purpose better than any other species of +sail. The Grampus was generally laid-to under a close-reefed +foresail. + + When a vessel is to be laid-to, her head is brought up to the wind +just so nearly as to fill the sail under which she lies when hauled +flat aft, that is, when brought diagonally across the vessel. This +being done, the bows point within a few degrees of the direction +from which the wind issues, and the windward bow of course receives +the shock of the waves. In this situation a good vessel will ride +out a very heavy gale of wind without shipping a drop of water, and +without any further attention being requisite on the part of the crew. +The helm is usually lashed down, but this is altogether unnecessary +(except on account of the noise it makes when loose), for the rudder +has no effect upon the vessel when lying-to. Indeed, the helm had +far better be left loose than lashed very fast, for the rudder is +apt to be torn off by heavy seas if there be no room for the helm to +play. As long as the sail holds, a well modelled vessel will +maintain her situation, and ride every sea, as if instinct with life +and reason. If the violence of the wind, however, should tear the sail +into pieces (a feat which it requires a perfect hurricane to +accomplish under ordinary circumstances), there is then imminent +danger. The vessel falls off from the wind, and, coming broadside to +the sea, is completely at its mercy: the only resource in this case is +to put her quietly before the wind, letting her scud until some +other sail can be set. Some vessels will lie-to under no sail +whatever, but such are not to be trusted at sea. + + But to return from this digression. It had never been customary +with the mate to have any watch on deck when lying-to in a gale of +wind, and the fact that he had now one, coupled with the +circumstance of the missing axes and handspikes, fully convinced us +that the crew were too well on the watch to be taken by surprise in +the manner Peters had suggested. Something, however, was to be done, +and that with as little delay as practicable, for there could be no +doubt that a suspicion having been once entertained against Peters, he +would be sacrificed upon the earliest occasion, and one would +certainly be either found or made upon the breaking of the gale. + + Augustus now suggested that if Peters could contrive to remove, +under any pretext, the piece of chain-cable which lay over the trap in +the stateroom, we might possibly be able to come upon them unawares by +means of the hold; but a little reflection convinced us that the +vessel rolled and pitched too violently for any attempt of that +nature. + + By good fortune I at length hit upon the idea of working upon +the superstitious terrors and guilty conscience of the mate. It will +be remembered that one of the crew, Hartman Rogers, had died during +the morning, having been attacked two days before with spasms after +drinking some spirits and water. Peters had expressed to us his +opinion that this man had been poisoned by the mate, and for this +belief he had reasons, so he said, which were incontrovertible, but +which he could not be pre. vailed upon to explain to us- this wayward +refusal being only in keeping with other points of his singular +character. But whether or not he had any better grounds for suspecting +the mate than we had ourselves, we were easily led to fall in with his +suspicion, and determined to act accordingly. + + Rogers had died about eleven in the forenoon, in violent +convulsions; and the corpse presented in a few minutes after death one +of the most horrid and loathsome spectacles I ever remember to have +seen. The stomach was swollen immensely, like that of a man who has +been drowned and lain under water for many weeks. The hands were in +the same condition, while the face was shrunken, shrivelled, and of +a chalky whiteness, except where relieved by two or three glaring +red blotches like those occasioned by the erysipelas: one of these +blotches extended diagonally across the face, completely covering up +an eye as if with a band of red velvet. In this disgusting condition +the body had been brought up from the cabin at noon to be thrown +overboard, when the mate getting a glimpse of it (for he now saw it +for the first time), and being either touched with remorse for his +crime or struck with terror at so horrible a sight, ordered the men to +sew the body up in its hammock, and allow it the usual rites of +sea-burial. Having given these directions, he went below, as if to +avoid any further sight of his victim. While preparations were +making to obey his orders, the gale came on with great fury, and the +design was abandoned for the present. The corpse, left to itself, was +washed into the larboard scuppers, where it still lay at the time of +which I speak, floundering about with the furious lurches of the brig. + + Having arranged our plan, we set about putting it in execution +as speedily as possible. Peters went upon deck, and, as he had +anticipated, was immediately accosted by Allen, who appeared to be +stationed more as a watch upon the forecastle than for any other +purpose. The fate of this villain, however, was speedily and +silently decided; for Peters, approaching him in a careless manner, as +if about to address him, seized him by the throat, and, before he +could utter a single cry, tossed him over the bulwarks. He then called +to us, and we came up. Our first precaution was to look about for +something with which to arm ourselves, and in doing this we had to +proceed with great care, for it was impossible to stand on deck an +instant without holding fast, and violent seas broke over the vessel +at every plunge forward. It was indispensable, too, that we should +be quick in our operations, for every minute we expected the mate to +be up to set the pumps going, as it was evident the brig must be +taking in water very fast. After searching about for some time, we +could find nothing more fit for our purpose than the two pump-handles, +one of which Augustus took, and I the other. Having secured these, +we stripped off the shirt of the corpse and dropped the body +overboard. Peters and myself then went below, leaving Augustus to +watch upon deck, where he took his station just where Allen had been +placed, and with his back to the cabin companionway, so that, if any +of the mates gang should come up, he might suppose it was the watch. + + As soon as I got below I commenced disguising myself so as to +represent the corpse of Rogers. The shirt which we had taken from the +body aided us very much, for it was of singular form and character, +and easily recognizable- a kind of smock, which the deceased +wore over his other clothing. It was a blue stockinett, with large +white stripes running across. Having put this on, I proceeded to equip +myself with a false stomach, in imitation of the horrible deformity of +the swollen corpse. This was soon effected by means of stuffing with +some bedclothes. I then gave the same appearance to my hands by +drawing on a pair of white woollen mittens, and filling them in with +any kind of rags that offered themselves. Peters then arranged my +face, first rubbing it well over with white chalk, and afterward +blotching it with blood, which he took from a cut in his finger. The +streak across the eye was not forgotten and presented a most +shocking appearance. + + CHAPTER VIII + + As I viewed myself in a fragment of looking-glass which hung up in +the cabin, and by the dim light of a kind of battle-lantern, I was +so impressed with a sense of vague awe at my appearance, and at the +recollection of the terrific reality which I was thus representing, +that I was seized with a violent tremour, and could scarcely summon +resolution to go on with my part. It was necessary, however, to act +with decision, and Peters and myself went upon deck. + + We there found everything safe, and, keeping close to the +bulwarks, the three of us crept to the cabin companion-way. It was +only partially closed, precautions having been taken to prevent its +being suddenly pushed to from without, by means of placing billets +of wood on the upper step so as to interfere with the shutting. We +found no difficulty in getting a full view of the interior of the +cabin through the cracks where the hinges were placed. It now proved +to have been very fortunate for us that we had not attempted to take +them by surprise, for they were evidently on the alert. Only one was +asleep, and he lying just at the foot of the companion-ladder, with +a musket by his side. The rest were seated on several mattresses, +which had been taken from the berths and thrown on the floor. They +were engaged in earnest conversation; and although they had been +carousing, as appeared from two empty jugs, with some tin tumblers +which lay about, they were not as much intoxicated as usual. All had +knives, one or two of them pistols, and a great many muskets were +lying in a berth close at hand. + + We listened to their conversation for some time before we could +make up our minds how to act, having as yet resolved on nothing +determinate, except that we would attempt to paralyze their exertions, +when we should attack them, by means of the apparition of Rogers. They +were discussing their piratical plans, in which all we could hear +distinctly was, that they would unite with the crew of a schooner +Hornet, and, if possible, get the schooner herself into their +possession preparatory to some attempt on a large scale, the +particulars of which could not be made out by either of us. + + One of the men spoke of Peters, when the mate replied to him in +a low voice which could not be distinguished, and afterward added more +loudly, that "he could not understand his being so much forward with +the captain's brat in the forecastle, and he thought the sooner both +of them were overboard the better." To this no answer was made, but we +could easily perceive that the hint was well received by the whole +party, and more particularly by Jones. At this period I was +excessively agitated, the more so as I could see that neither Augustus +nor Peters could determine how to act. I made up my mind, however, +to sell my life as dearly as possible, and not to suffer myself to +be overcome by any feelings of trepidation. + + The tremendous noise made by the roaring of the wind in the +rigging, and the washing of the sea over the deck, prevented us from +hearing what was said, except during momentary lulls. In one of these, +we all distinctly heard the mate tell one of the men to "go forward, +have an eye upon them, for he wanted no such secret doings on board +the brig." It was well for us that the pitching of the vessel at +this moment was so violent as to prevent this order from being carried +into instant execution. The cook got up from his mattress to go for +us, when a tremendous lurch, which I thought would carry away the +masts, threw him headlong against one of the larboard stateroom doors, +bursting it open, and creating a good deal of other confusion. +Luckily, neither of our party was thrown from his position, and we had +time to make a precipitate retreat to the forecastle, and arrange a +hurried plan of action before the messenger made his appearance, or +rather before he put his head out of the companion-hatch, for he did +not come on deck. From this station he could not notice the absence of +Allen, and he accordingly bawled out, as if to him, repeating the +orders of the mate. Peters cried out, "Ay, ay," in a disguised +voice, and the cook immediately went below, without entertaining a +suspicion that all was not right. + + My two companions now proceeded boldly aft and down into the +cabin, Peters closing the door after him in the same manner he had +found it. The mate received them with feigned cordiality, and told +Augustus that, since he had behaved himself so well of late, he +might take up his quarters in the cabin and be one of them for the +future. He then poured him out a tumbler half full of rum, and made +him drink it. All this I saw and heard, for I followed my friends to +the cabin as soon as the door was shut, and took up my old point of +observation. I had brought with me the two pump-handles, one of +which I secured near the companion-way, to be ready for use when +required. + + I now steadied myself as well as possible so as to have a good +view of all that was passing within, and endeavoured to nerve myself +to the task of descending among the mutineers when Peters should +make a signal to me, as agreed upon. Presently he contrived to turn +the conversation upon the bloody deeds of the mutiny, and by degrees +led the men to talk of the thousand superstitions which are so +universally current among seamen. I could not make out all that was +said, but I could plainly see the effects of the conversation in the +countenances of those present. The mate was evidently much agitated, +and presently, when some one mentioned the terrific appearance of +Rogers' corpse, I thought he was upon the point of swooning. Peters +now asked him if he did not think it would be better to have the +body thrown overboard at once as it was too horrible a sight to see it +floundering about in the scuppers. At this the villain absolutely +gasped for breath, and turned his head slowly round upon his +companions, as if imploring some one to go up and perform the task. No +one, however, stirred, and it was quite evident that the whole party +were wound up to the highest pitch of nervous excitement. Peters now +made me the signal. I immediately threw open the door of the +companion-way, and, descending, without uttering a syllable, stood +erect in the midst of the party. + + The intense effect produced by this sudden apparition is not at +all to be wondered at when the various circumstances are taken into +consideration. Usually, in cases of a similar nature, there is left in +the mind of the spectator some glimmering of doubt as to the reality +of the vision before his eyes; a degree of hope, however feeble, +that he is the victim of chicanery, and that the apparition is not +actually a visitant from the old world of shadows. It is not too +much to say that such remnants of doubt have been at the bottom of +almost every such visitation, and that the appalling horror which +has sometimes been brought about, is to be attributed, even in the +cases most in point, and where most suffering has been experienced, +more to a kind of anticipative horror, lest the apparition might +possibly be real, than to an unwavering belief in its reality. But, in +the present instance, it will be seen immediately, that in the minds +of the mutineers there was not even the shadow of a basis upon which +to rest a doubt that the apparition of Rogers was indeed a +revivification of his disgusting corpse, or at least its spiritual +image. The isolated situation of the brig, with its entire +inaccessibility on account of the gale, confined the apparently +possible means of deception within such narrow and definite limits, +that they must have thought themselves enabled to survey them all at +a glance. They had now been at sea twenty-four days, without holding +more than a speaking communication with any vessel whatever. The whole +of the crew, too- at least all whom they had the most remote reason +for suspecting to be on board- were assembled in the cabin, with the +exception of Allen, the watch; and his gigantic stature (be was six +feet six inches high) was too familiar in their eyes to permit the +notion that he was the apparition before them to enter their minds +even for an instant. Add to these considerations the awe-inspiring +nature of the tempest, and that of the conversation brought about by +Peters; the deep impression which the loathsomeness of the actual +corpse had made in the morning upon the imaginations of the men; the +excellence of the imitation in my person, and the uncertain and +wavering light in which they beheld me, as the glare of the cabin +lantern, swinging violently to and fro, fell dubiously and fitfully +upon my figure, and there will be no reason to wonder that the +deception had even more than the entire effect which we had +anticipated. The mate sprang up from the mattress on which he was +lying, and, without uttering a syllable, fell back, stone dead, upon +the cabin floor, and was hurled to the leeward like a log by a heavy +roll of the brig. Of the remaining seven, there were but three who had +at first any degree of presence of mind. The four others sat for +some time rooted apparently to the floor, the most pitiable objects of +horror and utter despair my eyes ever encountered. The only opposition +we experienced at all was from the cook, John Hunt, and Richard +Parker; but they made but a feeble and irresolute defence. The two +former were shot instantly by Peters, and I felled Parker with a blow +on the head from the pump-handle which I had brought with me. In the +meantime, Augustus seized one of the muskets lying on the floor +now but three remaining; but by this time they had become aroused from +their lethargy, and perhaps began to see that a deception had been +practised upon them, for they fought with great resolution and fury, +and, but for the immense muscular strength of Peters, might have +the floor, stabbed him in several places along the right arm, and +would no doubt have soon dispatched him (as neither Peters nor +myself could immediately get rid of our own antagonists) had it not +been for the timely aid of a friend, upon whose assistance we, surely, +had never depended. This friend was no other than Tiger. With a low +growl, he bounded into the cabin, at a most critical moment for +Augustus, and throwing himself upon Jones, pinned him to the floor +in an instant. My friend, however, was now too much injured to +render us any aid whatever, and I was so encumbered with my disguise +that I could do but little. The dog would not leave his hold upon +the throat of Jones- Peters, nevertheless, was far more than a match +for the two men who remained, and would, no doubt, have dispatched +them sooner, had it not been for the narrow space in which he had to +act, and the tremendous lurches of the vessel. Presently he was +enabled to get hold of a heavy stool, several of which lay about the +floor. With this he beat out the brains of Greely as he was in the act +of discharging a musket at me, and immediately afterward a roll of the +brig throwing him in contact with Hicks, he seized him by the +throat, and, by dint of sheer strength, strangled him instantaneously. +Thus, in far less time than I have taken to tell it, we found +ourselves masters of the brig. + + The only person of our opponents who was left alive was Richard +Parker. This man, it will be remembered, I had knocked down with a +blow from the pump-handle at the commencement of the attack. He now +lay motionless by the door of the shattered stateroom; but, upon +Peters touching him with his foot, he spoke, and entreated for +mercy. His head was only slightly cut, and otherwise he had received +no injury, having been merely stunned by the blow. He now got up, and, +for the present, we secured his hands behind his back. The dog was +still growling over Jones; but, upon examination, we found him +completely dead, the blood issuing in a stream from a deep wound in +the throat, inflicted, no doubt, by the sharp teeth of the animal. + + It was now about one o'clock in the morning, and the wind was +still blowing tremendously. The brig evidently laboured much more than +usual, and it became absolutely necessary that something should be +done with a view of easing her in some measure. At almost every roll +to leeward she shipped a sea, several of which came partially down +into the cabin during our scuffle, the hatchway having been left +open by myself when I descended. The entire range of bulwarks to +larboard had been swept away, as well as the caboose, together with +the jollyboat from the counter. The creaking and working of the +mainmast, too, gave indication that it was nearly sprung. To make room +for more stowage in the afterhold, the heel of this mast had been +stepped between decks (a very reprehensible practice, occasionally +resorted to by ignorant ship-builders), so that it was in imminent +danger of working from its step. But, to crown all our difficulties, +we plummed the well, and found no less than seven feet of water. + + Leaving the bodies of the crew lying in the cabin, we got to +work immediately at the pumps- Parker, of course, being set at +liberty to assist us in the labour. Augustus's arm was bound up as +well as we could effect it, and he did what he could, but that was not +much. However, we found that we could just manage to keep the leak +from gaining upon us by having one pump constantly going. As there +were only four of us, this was severe labour; but we endeavoured to +keep up our spirits, and looked anxiously for daybreak, when we +hoped to lighten the brig by cutting away the mainmast. + + In this manner we passed a night of terrible anxiety and +fatigue, and, when the day at length broke, the gale had neither +abated in the least, nor were there any signs of its abating. We now +dragged the bodies on deck and threw them overboard. Our next care was +to get rid of the mainmast. The necessary preparations having been +made, Peters cut away at the mast (having found axes in the cabin), +while the rest of us stood by the stays and lanyards. As the brig gave +a tremendous lee-lurch, the word was given to cut away the +weather-lanyards, which being done, the whole mass of wood and rigging +plunged into the sea, clear of the brig, and without doing any +material injury. We now found that the vessel did not labour quite +as much as before, but our situation was still exceedingly precarious, +and in spite of the utmost exertions, we could not gain upon the +leak without the aid of both pumps. The little assistance which +Augustus could render us was not really of any importance. To add to +our distress, a heavy sea, striking the brig to the windward, threw +her off several points from the wind, and, before she could regain her +position, another broke completely over her, and hurled her full +upon her beam-ends. The ballast now shifted in a mass to leeward +(the stowage had been knocking about perfectly at random for some +time), and for a few moments we thought nothing could save us from +capsizing. Presently, however, we partially righted; but the ballast +still retaining its place to larboard, we lay so much along that it +was useless to think of working the pumps, which indeed we could not +have done much longer in any case, as our hands were entirely raw with +the excessive labour we had undergone, and were bleeding in the most +horrible manner. + + Contrary to Parker's advice, we now proceeded to cut away the +foremast, and at length accomplished it after much difficulty, owing +to the position in which we lay. In going overboard the wreck took +with it the bowsprit, and left us a complete hulk. + + So far we had had reason to rejoice in the escape of our +longboat, which had received no damage from any of the huge seas which +had come on board. But we had not long to congratulate ourselves; +for the foremast having gone, and, of course, the foresail with it, by +which the brig had been steadied, every sea now made a complete breach +over us, and in five minutes our deck was swept from stern to stern, +the longboat and starboard bulwarks torn off, and even the windlass +shattered into fragments. It was, indeed, hardly possible for us to be +in a more pitiable condition. + + At noon there seemed to be some slight appearance of the gale's +abating, but in this we were sadly disappointed, for it only lulled +for a few minutes to blow with redoubled fury. About four in the +afternoon it was utterly impossible to stand up against the violence +of the blast; and, as the night closed in upon us, I had not a +shadow of hope that the vessel would hold together until morning. + + By midnight we had settled very deep in the water, which was now +up to the orlop deck. The rudder went soon afterward, the sea which +tore it away lifting the after portion of the brig entirely from the +water, against which she thumped in her descent with such a concussion +as would be occasioned by going ashore. We had all calculated that the +rudder would hold its own to the last, as it was unusually strong, +being rigged as I have never seen one rigged either before or since. +Down its main timber there ran a succession of stout iron hooks, and +others in the same manner down the stern-post. Through these hooks +there extended a very thick wrought-iron rod, the rudder being thus +held to the stern-post and swinging freely on the rod. The +tremendous force of the sea which tore it off may be estimated by +the fact, that the hooks in the stern-post, which ran entirely through +it, being clinched on the inside, were drawn every one of them +completely out of the solid wood. + + We had scarcely time to draw breath after the violence of this +shock, when one of the most tremendous waves I had then ever known +broke right on board of us, sweeping the companion-way clear off, +bursting in the hatchways, and firing every inch of the vessel with +water. + + CHAPTER IX + + Luckily, just before night, all four of us had lashed ourselves +firmly to the fragments of the windlass, lying in this manner as +flat upon the deck as possible. This precaution alone saved us from +destruction. As it was, we were all more or less stunned by the +immense weight of water which tumbled upon us, and which did not +roll from above us until we were nearly exhausted. As soon as I +could recover breath, I called aloud to my companions. Augustus +alone replied, saying: "It is all over with us, and may God have mercy +upon our souls!" By-and-by both the others were enabled to speak, when +they exhorted us to take courage, as there was still hope; it being +impossible, from the nature of the cargo, that the brig could go down, +and there being every chance that the gale would blow over by the +morning. These words inspired me with new life; for, strange as it may +seem, although it was obvious that a vessel with a cargo of empty +oil-casks would not sink, I had been hitherto so confused in mind as +to have overlooked this consideration altogether; and the danger which +I had for some time regarded as the most imminent was that of +foundering. As hope revived within me, I made use of every opportunity +to strengthen the lashings which held me to the remains of the +windlass, and in this occupation I soon discovered that my +companions were also busy. The night was as dark as it could +possibly be, and the horrible shrieking din and confusion which +surrounded us it is useless to attempt describing. Our deck lay +level with the sea, or rather we were encircled with a towering +ridge of foam, a portion of which swept over us even instant. It is +not too much to say that our heads were not fairly out of the water +more than one second in three. Although we lay close together, no +one of us could see the other, or, indeed, any portion of the brig +itself, upon which we were so tempestuously hurled about. At intervals +we called one to the other, thus endeavouring to keep alive hope, +and render consolation and encouragement to such of us as stood most +in need of it. The feeble condition of Augustus made him an object +of solicitude with us all; and as, from the lacerated condition of his +right arm, it must have been impossible for him to secure his lashings +with any degree of firmness, we were in momentary expectation of +finding that he had gone overboard- yet to render him aid was a thing +altogether out of the question. Fortunately, his station was more +secure than that of any of the rest of us; for the upper part of his +body lying just beneath a portion of the shattered windlass, the seas, +as they tumbled in upon him, were greatly broken in their violence. In +any other situation than this (into which he had been accidentally +thrown after having lashed himself in a very exposed spot) he must +inevitably have perished before morning. Owing to the brig's lying +so much along, we were all less liable to be washed off than otherwise +would have been the case. The heel, as I have before stated, was to +larboard, about one half of the deck being constantly under water. The +seas, therefore, which struck us to starboard were much broken, by the +vessel's side, only reaching us in fragments as we lay flat on our +faces; while those which came from larboard being what are called +back-water seas, and obtaining little hold upon us on account of our +posture, had not sufficient force to drag us from our fastenings. + + In this frightful situation we lay until the day broke so as to +show us more fully the horrors which surrounded us. The brig was a +mere log, rolling about at the mercy of every wave; the gale was +upon the increase, if any thing, blowing indeed a complete +hurricane, and there appeared to us no earthly prospect of +deliverance. For several hours we held on in silence, expecting +every moment that our lashings would either give way, that the remains +of the windlass would go by the board, or that some of the huge +seas, which roared in every direction around us and above us, would +drive the hulk so far beneath the water that we should be drowned +before it could regain the surface. By the mercy of God, however, we +were preserved from these imminent dangers, and about midday were +cheered by the light of the blessed sun. Shortly afterward we could +perceive a sensible diminution in the force of the wind, when, now for +the first time since the latter part of the evening before, Augustus +spoke, asking Peters, who lay closest to him, if he thought there +was any possibility of our being saved. As no reply was at first +made to this question, we all concluded that the hybrid had been +drowned where he lay; but presently, to our great joy, he spoke, +although very feebly, saying that he was in great pain, being so cut +by the tightness of his lashings across the stomach, that he must +either find means of loosening them or perish, as it was impossible +that he could endure his misery much longer. This occasioned us +great distress, as it was altogether useless to think of aiding him in +any manner while the sea continued washing over us as it did. We +exhorted him to bear his sufferings with fortitude, and promised to +seize the first opportunity which should offer itself to relieve +him. He replied that it would soon be too late; that it would be all +over with him before we could help him; and then, after moaning for +some minutes, lay silent, when we concluded that he had perished. + + As the evening drew on, the sea had fallen so much that scarcely +more than one wave broke over the hulk from windward in the course +of five minutes, and the wind had abated a great deal, although +still blowing a severe gale. I had not heard any of my companions +speak for hours, and now called to Augustus. He replied, although +very feebly, so that I could not distinguish what he said. I then +spoke to Peters and to Parker, neither of whom returned any answer. + + Shortly after this period I fell into a state of partial +insensibility, during which the most pleasing images floated in my +imagination; such as green trees, waving meadows of ripe grain, +processions of dancing girls, troops of cavalry, and other phantasies. +I now remember that, in all which passed before my mind's eye, +motion was a predominant idea. Thus, I never fancied any stationary +object, such as a house, a mountain, or any thing of that kind; but +windmills, ships, large birds, balloons, people on horseback, +carriages driving furiously, and similar moving objects, presented +themselves in endless succession. When I recovered from this state, +the sun was, as near as I could guess, an hour high. I had the +greatest difficulty in bringing to recollection the various +circumstances connected with my situation, and for some time +remained firmly convinced that I was still in the hold of the brig, +near the box, and that the body of Parker was that of Tiger. + + When I at length completely came to my senses, I found that the +wind blew no more than a moderate breeze, and that the sea was +comparatively calm; so much so that it only washed over the brig +amidships. My left arm had broken loose from its lashings, and was +much cut about the elbow; my right was entirely benumbed, and the hand +and wrist swollen prodigiously by the pressure of the rope, which +had worked from the shoulder downward. I was also in great pain from +another rope which went about my waist, and had been drawn to an +insufferable degree of tightness. Looking round upon my companions, +I saw that Peters still lived, although a thick line was pulled so +forcibly around his loins as to give him the appearance of being cut +nearly in two; as I stiffed, he made a feeble motion to me with his +hand, pointing to the rope. Augustus gave no indication of life +whatever, and was bent nearly double across a splinter of the +windlass. Parker spoke to me when he saw me moving, and asked me if +I had not sufficient strength to release him from his situation, +saying that if I would summon up what spirits I could, and contrive to +untie him, we might yet save our lives; but that otherwise we must all +perish. I told him to take courage, and I would endeavor to free +him. Feeling in my pantaloons' pocket, I got hold of my penknife, and, +after several ineffectual attempts, at length succeeded in opening it. +I then, with my left hand, managed to free my right from its +fastenings, and afterward cut the other ropes which held me. Upon +attempting, however, to move from my position, I found that my legs +failed me altogether, and that I could not get up; neither could I +move my right arm in any direction. Upon mentioning this to Parker, he +advised me to lie quiet for a few minutes, holding on to the +windlass with my left hand, so as to allow time for the blood to +circulate. Doing this, the numbness presently began to die away so +that I could move first one of my legs, and then the other, and, +shortly afterward I regained the partial use of my right arm. I now +crawled with great caution toward Parker, without getting on my +legs, and soon cut loose all the lashings about him, when, after a +short delay, he also recovered the partial use of his limbs. We now +lost no time in getting loose the rope from Peters. It had cut a +deep gash through the waistband of his woollen pantaloons, and through +two shirts, and made its way into his groin, from which the blood +flowed out copiously as we removed the cordage. No sooner had we +removed it, however, than he spoke, and seemed to experience instant +relief- being able to move with much greater ease than either Parker +or myself- this was no doubt owing to the discharge of blood. + + We had little hopes that Augustus would recover, as he evinced +no signs of life; but, upon getting to him, we discovered that he +had merely swooned from the loss of blood, the bandages we had +placed around his wounded arm having been torn off by the water; +none of the ropes which held him to the windlass were drawn +sufficiently tight to occasion his death. Having relieved him from the +fastenings, and got him clear of the broken wood about the windlass, +we secured him in a dry place to windward, with his head somewhat +lower than his body, and all three of us busied ourselves in chafing +his limbs. In about half an hour he came to himself, although it was +not until the next morning that he gave signs of recognizing any of +us, or had sufficient strength to speak. By the time we had thus got +clear of our lashings it was quite dark, and it began to cloud up, +so that we were again in the greatest agony lest it should come on +to blow hard, in which event nothing could have saved us from +perishing, exhausted as we were. By good fortune it continued very +moderate during the night, the sea subsiding every minute, which +gave us great hopes of ultimate preservation. A gentle breeze still +blew from the N. W., but the weather was not at all cold. Augustus was +lashed carefully to windward in such a manner as to prevent him from +slipping overboard with the rolls of the vessel, as he was still too +weak to hold on at all. For ourselves there was no such necessity. +We sat close together, supporting each other with the aid of the +broken ropes about the windlass, and devising methods of escape from +our frightful situation. We derived much comfort from taking off our +clothes and wringing the water from them. When we put them on after +this, they felt remarkably warm and pleasant, and served to invigorate +us in no little degree. We helped Augustus off with his, and wrung +them for him, when he experienced the same comfort. + + Our chief sufferings were now those of hunger and thirst, and when +we looked forward to the means of relief in this respect, our hearts +sunk within us, and we were induced to regret that we had escaped +the less dreadful perils of the sea. We endeavoured, however, to +console ourselves with the hope of being speedily picked up by some +vessel and encouraged each other to bear with fortitude the evils that +might happen. + + The morning of the fourteenth at length dawned, and the weather +still continued clear and pleasant, with a steady but very light +breeze from the N. W. The sea was now quite smooth, and as, from +some cause which we could not determine, the brig did not he so much +along as she had done before, the deck was comparatively dry, and we +could move about with freedom. We had now been better than three +entire days and nights without either food or drink, and it became +absolutely necessary that we should make an attempt to get up +something from below. As the brig was completely full of water, we +went to this work despondently, and with but little expectation of +being able to obtain anything. We made a kind of drag by driving +some nails which we broke out from the remains of the +companion-hatch into two pieces of wood. Tying these across each +other, and fastening them to the end of a rope, we threw them into the +cabin, and dragged them to and fro, in the faint hope of being thus +able to entangle some article which might be of use to us for food, or +which might at least render us assistance in getting it. We spent +the greater part of the morning in this labour without effect, fishing +up nothing more than a few bedclothes, which were readily caught by +the nails. Indeed, our contrivance was so very clumsy that any greater +success was hardly to be anticipated. + + We now tried the forecastle, but equally in vain, and were upon +the brink of despair, when Peters proposed that we should fasten a +rope to his body, and let him make an attempt to get up something by +diving into the cabin. This proposition we hailed with all the delight +which reviving hope could inspire. He proceeded immediately to strip +off his clothes with the exception of his pantaloons; and a strong +rope was then carefully fastened around his middle, being brought up +over his shoulders in such a manner that there was no possibility of +its slipping. The undertaking was one of great difficulty and +danger; for, as we could hardly expect to find much, if any, provision +in the cabin itself, it was necessary that the diver, after letting +himself down, should make a turn to the right, and proceed under water +a distance of ten or twelve feet, in a narrow passage, to the +storeroom, and return, without drawing breath. + + Everything being ready, Peters now descended in the cabin, going +down the companion-ladder until the water reached his chin. He then +plunged in, head first, turning to the right as he plunged, and +endeavouring to make his way to the storeroom. In this first +attempt, however, he was altogether unsuccessful. In less than half +a minute after his going down we felt the rope jerked violently (the +signal we had agreed upon when he desired to be drawn up). We +accordingly drew him up instantly, but so incautiously as to bruise +him badly against the ladder. He had brought nothing with him, and had +been unable to penetrate more than a very little way into the passage, +owing to the constant exertions he found it necessary to make in order +to keep himself from floating up against the deck. Upon getting out he +was very much exhausted, and had to rest full fifteen minutes before +he could again venture to descend. + + The second attempt met with even worse success; for he remained so +long under water without giving the signal, that, becoming alarmed for +his safety, we drew him out without it, and found that he was almost +at the last gasp, having, as he said, repeatedly jerked at the rope +without our feeling it. This was probably owing to a portion of it +having become entangled in the balustrade at the foot of the ladder. +This balustrade was, indeed, so much in the way, that we determined to +remove it, if possible, before proceeding with our design. As we had +no means of getting it away except by main force, we all descended +into the water as far as we could on the ladder, and giving a pull +against it with our united strength, succeeded in breaking it down. + + The third attempt was equally unsuccessful with the two first, and +it now became evident that nothing could be done in this manner +without the aid of some weight with which the diver might steady +himself, and keep to the floor of the cabin while making his search. +For a long time we looked about in vain for something which might +answer this purpose; but at length, to our great joy, we discovered +one of the weather-forechains so loose that we had not the least +difficulty in wrenching it off. Having fastened this securely to one +of his ankles, Peters now made his fourth descent into the cabin, +and this time succeeded in making his way to the door of the steward's +room. To his inexpressible grief, however, he found it locked, and was +obliged to return without effecting an entrance, as, with the greatest +exertion, he could remain under water not more, at the utmost +extent, than a single minute. Our affairs now looked gloomy indeed, +and neither Augustus nor myself could refrain from bursting into +tears, as we thought of the host of difficulties which encompassed us, +and the slight probability which existed of our finally making an +escape. But this weakness was not of long duration. Throwing ourselves +on our knees to God, we implored His aid in the many dangers which +beset us; and arose with renewed hope and vigor to think what could +yet be done by mortal means toward accomplishing our deliverance. + + CHAPTER X + + Shortly afterward an incident occurred which I am induced to +look upon as more intensely productive of emotion, as far more replete +with the extremes first of delight and then of horror, than even any +of the thousand chances which afterward befell me in nine long +years, crowded with events of the most startling and, in many cases, +of the most unconceived and unconceivable character. We were lying +on the deck near the companion-way, and debating the possibility of +yet making our way into the storeroom, when, looking toward +Augustus, who lay fronting myself, I perceived that he had become +all at once deadly pale, and that his lips were quivering in the +most singular and unaccountable manner. Greatly alarmed, I spoke to +him, but he made me no reply, and I was beginning to think that he was +suddenly taken ill, when I took notice of his eyes, which were glaring +apparently at some object behind me. I turned my head, and shall never +forget the ecstatic joy which thrilled through every particle of my +frame, when I perceived a large brig bearing down upon us, and not +more than a couple of miles off. I sprung to my feet as if a musket +bullet had suddenly struck me to the heart; and, stretching out my +arms in the direction of the vessel, stood in this manner, motionless, +and unable to articulate a syllable. Peters and Parker were equally +affected, although in different ways. The former danced about the deck +like a madman, uttering the most extravagant rhodomontades, +intermingled with howls and imprecations, while the latter burst +into tears, and continued for many minutes weeping like a child. + + The vessel in sight was a large hermaphrodite brig, of a Dutch +build, and painted black, with a tawdry gilt figure-head. She had +evidently seen a good deal of rough weather, and, we supposed, had +suffered much in the gale which had proved so disastrous to ourselves; +for her foretopmast was gone, and some of her starboard bulwarks. When +we first saw her, she was, as I have already said, about two miles off +and to windward, bearing down upon us. The breeze was very gentle, and +what astonished us chiefly was, that she had no other sails set than +her foremast and mainsail, with a flying jib- of course she came down +but slowly, and our impatience amounted nearly to phrensy. The awkward +manner in which she steered, too, was remarked by all of us, even +excited as we were. She yawed about so considerably, that once or +twice we thought it impossible she could see us, or imagined that, +having seen us, and discovered no person on board, she was about to +tack and make off in another direction. Upon each of these occasions +we screamed and shouted at the top of our voices, when the stranger +would appear to change for a moment her intention, and again hold on +toward us- this singular conduct being repeated two or three times, +so that at last we could think of no other manner of accounting for it +than by supposing the helmsman to be in liquor. + + No person was seen upon her decks until she arrived within about a +quarter of a mile of us. We then saw three seamen, whom by their dress +we took to be Hollanders. Two of these were lying on some old sails +near the forecastle, and the third, who appeared to be looking at us +with great curiosity, was leaning over the starboard bow near the +bowsprit. This last was a stout and tall man, with a very dark skin. +He seemed by his manner to be encouraging us to have patience, nodding +to us in a cheerful although rather odd way, and smiling constantly, +so as to display a set of the most brilliantly white teeth. As his +vessel drew nearer, we saw a red flannel cap which he had on fall from +his head into the water; but of this he took little or no notice, +continuing his odd smiles and gesticulations. I relate these things +and circumstances minutely, and I relate them, it must be +understood, precisely as they appeared to us. + + The brig came on slowly, and now more steadily than before, +and- I cannot speak calmly of this event-our hearts leaped up wildly +within us, and we poured out our whole souls in shouts and +thanksgiving to God for the complete, unexpected, and glorious +deliverance that was so palpably at hand. Of a sudden, and all at +once, there came wafted over the ocean from the strange vessel +(which was now close upon us) a smell, a stench, such as the whole +world has no name for- no conception of- hellish- utterly +suffocating- insufferable, inconceivable. I gasped for breath, and +turning to my companions, perceived that they were paler than +marble. But we had now no time left for question or surmise- the brig +was within fifty feet of us, and it seemed to be her intention to +run under our counter, that we might board her without putting out a +boat. We rushed aft, when, suddenly, a wide yaw threw her off full +five or six points from the course she had been running, and, as she +passed under our stern at the distance of about twenty feet, we had +a full view of her decks. Shall I ever forget the triple horror of +that spectacle? Twenty-five or thirty human bodies, among whom were +several females, lay scattered about between the counter and the +galley in the last and most loathsome state of putrefaction. We +plainly saw that not a soul lived in that fated vessel! Yet we could +not help shouting to the dead for help! Yes, long and loudly did we +beg, in the agony of the moment, that those silent and disgusting +images would stay for us, would not abandon us to become like them, +would receive us among their goodly company! We were raving with +horror and despair- thoroughly mad through the anguish of our +grievous disappointment. + + As our first loud yell of terror broke forth, it was replied to by +something, from near the bowsprit of the stranger, so closely +resembling the scream of a human voice that the nicest ear might +have been startled and deceived. At this instant another sudden yaw +brought the region of the forecastle for a moment into view, and we +beheld at once the origin of the sound. We saw the tall stout figure +still leaning on the bulwark, and still nodding his head to and fro, +but his face was now turned from us so that we could not behold it. +His arms were extended over the rail, and the palms of his hands +fell outward. His knees were lodged upon a stout rope, tightly +stretched, and reaching from the heel of the bowsprit to a cathead. On +his back, from which a portion of the shirt had been torn, leaving +it bare, there sat a huge sea-gull, busily gorging itself with the +horrible flesh, its bill and talons deep buried, and its white plumage +spattered all over with blood. As the brig moved farther round so as +to bring us close in view, the bird, with much apparent difficulty, +drew out its crimsoned head, and, after eyeing us for a moment as if +stupefied, arose lazily from the body upon which it had been feasting, +and, flying directly above our deck, hovered there a while with a +portion of clotted and liver-like substance in its beak. The horrid +morsel dropped at length with a sullen splash immediately at the +feet of Parker. May God forgive me, but now, for the first time, there +flashed through my mind a thought, a thought which I will not mention, +and I felt myself making a step toward the ensanguined spot. I +looked upward, and the eyes of Augustus met my own with a degree of +intense and eager meaning which immediately brought me to my senses. I +sprang forward quickly, and, with a deep shudder, threw the +frightful thing into the sea. + + The body from which it had been taken, resting as it did upon +the rope, had been easily swayed to and fro by the exertions of the +carnivorous bird, and it was this motion which had at first +impressed us with the belief of its being alive. As the gull +relieved it of its weight, it swung round and fell partially over, +so that the face was fully discovered. Never, surely, was any object +so terribly full of awe! The eyes were gone, and the whole flesh +around the mouth, leaving the teeth utterly naked. This, then, was the +smile which had cheered us on to hope! this the- but I forbear. The +brig, as I have already told, passed under our stern, and made its way +slowly but steadily to leeward. With her and with her terrible crew +went all our gay visions of deliverance and joy. Deliberately as she +went by, we might possibly have found means of boarding her, had not +our sudden disappointment and the appalling nature of the discovery +which accompanied it laid entirely prostrate every active faculty of +mind and body. We had seen and felt, but we could neither think nor +act, until, alas! too late. How much our intellects had been +weakened by this incident may be estimated by the fact, that when +the vessel had proceeded so far that we could perceive no more than +the half of her hull, the proposition was seriously entertained of +attempting to overtake her by swimming! + + I have, since this period, vainly endeavoured to obtain some +clew to the hideous uncertainty which enveloped the fate of the +stranger. Her build and general appearance, as I have before stated, +led us to the belief that she was a Dutch trader, and the dresses of +the crew also sustained this opinion. We might have easily seen the +name upon her stern, and, indeed, taken other observations, which +would have guided us in making out her character; but the intense +excitement of the moment blinded us to every thing of that nature. +From the saffron-like hue of such of the corpses as were not +entirely decayed, we concluded that the whole of her company had +perished by the yellow fever, or some other virulent disease of the +same fearful kind. If such were the case (and I know not what else +to imagine), death, to judge from the positions of the bodies, must +have come upon them in a manner awfully sudden and overwhelming, in +a way totally distinct from that which generally characterizes even +the most deadly pestilences with which mankind are acquainted. It is +possible, indeed, that poison, accidentally introduced into some of +their sea-stores, may have brought about the disaster, or that the +eating of some unknown venomous species of fish, or other marine +animal, or oceanic bird, might have induced it,- but it is utterly +useless to form conjectures where all is involved, and will, no doubt, +remain for ever involved, in the most appalling and unfathomable +mystery. + + CHAPTER XI + + We spent the remainder of the day in a condition of stupid +lethargy, gazing after the retreating vessel until the darkness, +hiding her from our sight, recalled us in some measure to our +senses. The pangs of hunger and thirst then returned, absorbing all +other cares and considerations. Nothing, however, could be done +until the morning, and, securing ourselves as well as possible, we +endeavoured to snatch a little repose. In this I succeeded beyond my +expectations, sleeping until my companions, who had not been so +fortunate, aroused me at daybreak to renew our attempts at getting +up provisions from the hull. + + It was now a dead calm, with the sea as smooth as I have ever +known it,- the weather warm and pleasant. The brig was out of sight. +We commenced our operations by wrenching off, with some trouble, +another of the forechains; and having fastened both to Peters' feet, +he again made an endeavour to reach the door of the storeroom, +thinking it possible that he might be able to force it open, +provided he could get at it in sufficient time; and this he hoped to +do, as the hulk lay much more steadily than before. + + He succeeded very quickly in reaching the door, when, loosening +one of the chains from his ankle, be made every exertion to force +the passage with it, but in vain, the framework of the room being +far stronger than was anticipated. He was quite exhausted with his +long stay under water, and it became absolutely necessary that some +other one of us should take his place. For this service Parker +immediately volunteered; but, after making three ineffectual +efforts, found that he could never even succeed in getting near the +door. The condition of Augustus's wounded arm rendered it useless +for him to attempt going down, as he would be unable to force the room +open should be reach it, and it accordingly now devolved upon me to +exert myself for our common deliverance. + + Peters had left one of the chains in the passage, and I found, +upon plunging in, that I had not sufficient balance to keep me +firmly down. I determined, therefore, to attempt no more, in my +first effort, than merely to recover the other chain. In groping along +the floor of the passage for this, I felt a hard substance, which I +immediately grasped, not having time to ascertain what it was, but +returning and ascending instantly to the surface. The prize proved +to be a bottle, and our joy may be conceived when I say that it was +found to be full of port wine. Giving thanks to God for this timely +and cheering assistance, we immediately drew the cork with my +penknife, and, each taking a moderate sup, felt the most indescribable +comfort from the warmth, strength, and spirits with which it +inspired us. We then carefully recorked the bottle, and, by means of a +handkerchief, swung it in such a manner that there was no +possibility of its getting broken. + + Having rested a while after this fortunate discovery, I again +descended, and now recovered the chain, with which I instantly came +up. I then fastened it on and went down for the third time, when I +became fully satisfied that no exertions whatever, in that +situation, would enable me to force open the door of the storeroom. +I therefore returned in despair. + + There seemed now to be no longer any room for hope, and I could +perceive in the countenances of my companions that they had made up +their minds to perish. The wine had evidently produced in them a +species of delirium, which, perhaps, I had been prevented from feeling +by the immersion I had undergone since drinking it. They talked +incoherently, and about matters unconnected with our condition, Peters +repeatedly asking me questions about Nantucket. Augustus, too, I +remember, approached me with a serious air, and requested me to lend +him a pocket-comb, as his hair was full of fish-scales, and he wished +to get them out before going on shore. Parker appeared somewhat less +affected, and urged me to dive at random into the cabin, and bring +up any article which might come to hand. To this I consented, and, +in the first attempt, after staying under a full minute, brought up +a small leather trunk belonging to Captain Barnard. This was +immediately opened in the faint hope that it might contain something +to eat or drink. We found nothing, however, except a box of razors and +two linen shirts. I now went down again, and returned without any +success. As my head came above water I heard a crash on deck, and, +upon getting up, saw that my companions had ungratefully taken +advantage of my absence to drink the remainder of the wine, having let +the bottle fall in the endeavour to replace it before I saw them. I +remonstrated with them on the heartlessness of their conduct, when +Augustus burst into tears. The other two endeavoured to laugh the +matter off as a joke, but I hope never again to behold laughter of +such a species: the distortion of countenance was absolutely +frightful. Indeed, it was apparent that the stimulus, in the empty +state of their stomachs, had taken instant and violent effect, and +that they were all exceedingly intoxicated. With great difficulty I +prevailed upon them to lie down, when they fell very soon into a heavy +slumber, accompanied with loud stertorous breathing. I now found +myself, as it were, alone in the brig, and my reflections, to be sure, +were of the most fearful and gloomy nature. No prospect offered itself +to my view but a lingering death by famine, or, at the best, by +being overwhelmed in the first gale which should spring up, for in our +present exhausted condition we could have no hope of living through +another. + + The gnawing hunger which I now experienced was nearly +insupportable, and I felt myself capable of going to any lengths in +order to appease it. With my knife I cut off a small portion of the +leather trunk, and endeavoured to eat it, but found it utterly +impossible to swallow a single morsel, although I fancied that some +little alleviation of my suffering was obtained by chewing small +pieces of it and spitting them out. Toward night my companions +awoke, one by one, each in an indescribable state of weakness and +horror, brought on by the wine, whose fumes had now evaporated. They +shook as if with a violent ague, and uttered the most lamentable cries +for water. Their condition affected me in the most lively degree, at +the same time causing me to rejoice in the fortunate train of +circumstances which had prevented me from indulging in the wine, and +consequently from sharing their melancholy and most distressing +sensations. Their conduct, however, gave me great uneasiness and +alarm; for it was evident that, unless some favourable change took +place, they could afford me no assistance in providing for our +common safety. I had not yet abandoned all idea being able to get up +something from below; but the attempt could not possibly be resumed +until some one of them was sufficiently master of himself to aid me by +holding the end of the rope while I went down. Parker appeared to be +somewhat more in possession of his senses than the others, and I +endeavoured, by every means in my power, to rouse him. Thinking that a +plunge in the sea-water might have a beneficial effect, I contrived to +fasten the end of a rope around his body, and then, leading him to the +companion-way (he remaining quite passive all the while), pushed him +in, and immediately drew him out. I had good reason to congratulate +myself upon having made this experiment; for he appeared much +revived and invigorated, and, upon getting out, asked me, in a +rational manner, why I had so served him. Having explained my +object, he expressed himself indebted to me, and said that he felt +greatly better from the immersion, afterward conversing sensibly +upon our situation. We then resolved to treat Augustus and Peters in +the same way, which we immediately did, when they both experienced +much benefit from the shock. This idea of sudden immersion had been +suggested to me by reading in some medical work the good effect of the +shower-bath in a case where the patient was suffering from mania a +potu. + + Finding that I could now trust my companions to hold the end of +the rope, I again made three or four plunges into the cabin, +although it was now quite dark, and a gentle but long swell from the +northward rendered the hulk somewhat unsteady. In the course of +these attempts I succeeded in bringing up two case-knives, a +three-gallon jug, empty, and a blanket, but nothing which could +serve us for food. I continued my efforts, after getting these +articles, until I was completely exhausted, but brought up nothing +else. During the night Parker and Peters occupied themselves by +turns in the same manner; but nothing coming to hand, we now gave up +this attempt in despair, concluding that we were exhausting +ourselves in vain. + + We passed the remainder of this night in a state of the most +intense mental and bodily anguish that can possibly be imagined. The +morning of the sixteenth at length dawned, and we looked eagerly +around the horizon for relief, but to no purpose. The sea was still +smooth, with only a long swell from the northward, as on yesterday. +This was the sixth day since we had tasted either food or drink, +with the exception of the bottle of port wine, and it was clear that +we could hold out but a very little while longer unless something +could be obtained. I never saw before, nor wish to see again, human +beings so utterly emaciated as Peters and Augustus. Had I met them +on shore in their present condition I should not have had the +slightest suspicion that I had ever beheld them. Their countenances +were totally changed in character, so that I could not bring myself to +believe them really the same individuals with whom I had been in +company but a few days before. Parker, although sadly reduced, and +so feeble that he could not raise his head from his bosom, was not +so far gone as the other two. He suffered with great patience, +making no complaint, and endeavouring to inspire us with hope in every +manner he could devise. For myself, although at the commencement of +the voyage I had been in bad health, and was at all times of a +delicate constitution, I suffered less than any of us, being much less +reduced in frame, and retaining my powers of mind in a surprising +degree, while the rest were completely prostrated in intellect, and +seemed to be brought to a species of second childhood, generally +simpering in their expressions, with idiotic smiles, and uttering +the most absurd platitudes. At intervals, however, they would appear +to revive suddenly, as if inspired all at once with a consciousness of +their condition, when they would spring upon their feet in a momentary +flash of vigour, and speak, for a short period, of their prospects, in +a manner altogether rational, although full of the most intense +despair. It is possible, however, that my companions may have +entertained the same opinion of their own condition as I did of +mine, and that I may have unwittingly been guilty of the same +extravagances and imbecilities as themselves- this is a matter which +cannot be determined. + + About noon Parker declared that he saw land off the larboard +quarter, and it was with the utmost difficulty I could restrain him +from plunging into the sea with the view of swimming toward it. Peters +and Augustus took little notice of what he said, being apparently +wrapped up in moody contemplation. Upon looking in the direction +pointed out, I could not perceive the faintest appearance of the +shore- indeed, I was too well aware that we were far from any land to +indulge in a hope of that nature. It was a long time, nevertheless, +before I could convince Parker of his mistake. He then burst into a +flood of tears, weeping like a child, with loud cries and sobs, for +two or three hours, when becoming exhausted, he fell asleep. + + Peters and Augustus now made several ineffectual efforts to +swallow portions of the leather. I advised them to chew it and spit it +out; but they were too excessively debilitated to be able to follow my +advice. I continued to chew pieces of it at intervals, and found +some relief from so doing; my chief distress was for water, and I +was only prevented from taking a draught from the sea by remembering +the horrible consequences which thus have resulted to others who +were similarly situated with ourselves. + + The day wore on in this manner, when I suddenly discovered a +sail to the eastward, and on our larboard bow. She appeared to be a +large ship, and was coming nearly athwart us, being probably twelve or +fifteen miles distant. None of my companions had as yet discovered +her, and I forbore to tell them of her for the present, lest we +might again be disappointed of relief. At length upon her getting +nearer, I saw distinctly that she was heading immediately for us, with +her light sails filled. I could now contain myself no longer, and +pointed her out to my fellow-sufferers. They immediately sprang to +their feet, again indulging in the most extravagant demonstrations +of joy, weeping, laughing in an idiotic manner, jumping, stamping upon +the deck, tearing their hair, and praying and cursing by turns. I +was so affected by their conduct, as well as by what I considered a +sure prospect of deliverance, that I could not refrain from joining in +with their madness, and gave way to the impulses of my gratitude and +ecstasy by lying and rolling on the deck, clapping my hands, shouting, +and other similar acts, until I was suddenly called to my +recollection, and once more to the extreme human misery and despair, +by perceiving the ship all at once with her stern fully presented +toward us, and steering in a direction nearly opposite to that in +which I had at first perceived her. + + It was some time before I could induce my poor companions to +believe that this sad reverse in our prospects had actually taken +place. They replied to all my assertions with a stare and a gesture +implying that they were not to be deceived by such misrepresentations. +The conduct of Augustus most sensibly affected me. In spite of all I +could say or do to the contrary, he persisted in saying that the +ship was rapidly nearing us, and in making preparations to go on board +of her. Some seaweed floating by the brig, he maintained that it was +the ship's boat, and endeavoured to throw himself upon it, howling and +shrieking in the most heartrending manner, when I forcibly +restrained him from thus casting himself into the sea. + + Having become in some degree pacified, we continued to watch the +ship until we finally lost sight of her, the weather becoming hazy, +with a light breeze springing up. As soon as she was entirely gone, +Parker turned suddenly toward me with an expression of countenance +which made me shudder. There was about him an air of self-possession +which I had not noticed in him until now, and before he opened his +lips my heart told me what he would say. He proposed, in a few +words, that one of us should die to preserve the existence of the +others. + + CHAPTER XII + + I had for some time past, dwelt upon the prospect of our being +reduced to this last horrible extremity, and had secretly made up my +mind to suffer death in any shape or under any circumstances rather +than resort to such a course. Nor was this resolution in any degree +weakened by the present intensity of hunger under which I laboured. +The proposition had not been heard by either Peters or Augustus. I +therefore took Parker aside; and mentally praying to God for power +to dissuade him from the horrible purpose he entertained, I +expostulated with him for a long time, and in the most supplicating +manner, begging him in the name of every thing which he held sacred, +and urging him by every species of argument which the extremity of the +case suggested, to abandon the idea, and not to mention it to either +of the other two. + + He heard all I said without attempting to controvert any of my +arguments, and I had begun to hope that he would be prevailed upon +to do as I desired. But when I had ceased speaking, he said that he +knew very well all I had said was true, and that to resort to such a +course was the most horrible alternative which could enter into the +mind of man; but that he had now held out as long as human nature +could be sustained; that it was unnecessary for all to perish, when, +by the death of one, it was possible, and even probable, that the rest +might be finally preserved; adding that I might save myself the +trouble of trying to turn him from his purpose, his mind having been +thoroughly made up on the subject even before the appearance of the +ship, and that only her heaving in sight had prevented him from +mentioning his intention at an earlier period. + + I now begged him, if he would not be prevailed upon to abandon his +design, at least to defer it for another day, when some vessel might +come to our relief; again reiterating every argument I could devise, +and which I thought likely to have influence with one of his rough +nature. He said, in reply, that he had not spoken until the very +last possible moment, that he could exist no longer without sustenance +of some kind, and that therefore in another day his suggestion would +be too late, as regarded himself at least. + + Finding that he was not to be moved by anything I could say in a +mild tone, I now assumed a different demeanor, and told him that he +must be aware I had suffered less than any of us from our +calamities; that my health and strength, consequently, were at that +moment far better than his own, or than that either of Peters or +Augustus; in short, that I was in a condition to have my own way by +force if I found it necessary; and that if he attempted in any +manner to acquaint the others with his bloody and cannibal designs, +I would not hesitate to throw him into the sea. Upon this he +immediately seized me by the throat, and drawing a knife, made several +ineffectual efforts to stab me in the stomach; an atrocity which his +excessive debility alone prevented him from accomplishing. In the +meantime, being roused to a high pitch of anger, I forced him to the +vessel's side, with the full intention of throwing him overboard. He +was saved from his fate, however, by the interference of Peters, who +now approached and separated us, asking the cause of the +disturbance. This Parker told before I could find means in any +manner to prevent him. + + The effect of his words was even more terrible than what I had +anticipated. Both Augustus and Peters, who, it seems, had long +secretly entertained the same fearful idea which Parker had been +merely the first to broach, joined with him in his design and insisted +upon its immediately being carried into effect. I had calculated +that one at least of the two former would be found still possessed +of sufficient strength of mind to side with myself in resisting any +attempt to execute so dreadful a purpose, and, with the aid of +either one of them, I had no fear of being able to prevent its +accomplishment. Being disappointed in this expectation, it became +absolutely necessary that I should attend to my own safety, as a +further resistance on my part might possibly be considered by men in +their frightful condition a sufficient excuse for refusing me fair +play in the tragedy that I knew would speedily be enacted. + + I now told them I was willing to submit to the proposal, merely +requesting a delay of about one hour, in order that the fog which +had gathered around us might have an opportunity of lifting, when it +was possible that the ship we had seen might be again in sight. +After great difficulty I obtained from them a promise to wait thus +long; and, as I had anticipated (a breeze rapidly coming in), the +fog lifted before the hour had expired, when, no vessel appearing in +sight, we prepared to draw lots. + + It is with extreme reluctance that I dwell upon the appalling +scene which ensued; a scene which, with its minutest details, no after +events have been able to efface in the slightest degree from my +memory, and whose stern recollection will embitter every future moment +of my existence. Let me run over this portion of my narrative with +as much haste as the nature of the events to be spoken of will permit. +The only method we could devise for the terrific lottery, in which +we were to take each a chance, was that of drawing straws. Small +splinters of wood were made to answer our purpose, and it was agreed +that I should be the holder. I retired to one end of the hulk, while +my poor companions silently took up their station in the other with +their backs turned toward me. The bitterest anxiety which I endured at +any period of this fearful drama was while I occupied myself in the +arrangement of the lots. There are few conditions into which man can +possibly fall where he will not feel a deep interest in the +preservation of his existence; an interest momentarily increasing with +the frailness of the tenure by which that existence may be held. But +now that the silent, definite, and stern nature of the business in +which I was engaged (so different from the tumultuous dangers of the +storm or the gradually approaching horrors of famine) allowed me to +reflect on the few chances I had of escaping the most appalling of +deaths- a death for the most appalling of purposes- every particle of +that energy which had so long buoyed me up departed like feathers +before the wind, leaving me a helpless prey to the most abject and +pitiable terror. I could not, at first, even summon up sufficient +strength to tear and fit together the small splinters of wood, my +fingers absolutely refusing their office, and my knees knocking +violently against each other. My mind ran over rapidly a thousand +absurd projects by which to avoid becoming a partner in the awful +speculation. I thought of falling on my knees to my companions, and +entreating them to let me escape this necessity; of suddenly rushing +upon them, and, by putting one of them to death, of rendering the +decision by lot useless- in short, of every thing but of going +through with the matter I had in hand. At last, after wasting a long +time in this imbecile conduct, I was recalled to my senses by the +voice of Parker, who urged me to relieve them at once from the +terrible anxiety they were enduring. Even then I could not bring +myself to arrange the splinters upon the spot, but thought over +every species of finesse by which I could trick some one of my +fellow-sufferers to draw the short straw, as it had been agreed that +whoever drew the shortest of four splinters from my hand was to die +for the preservation of the rest. Before any one condemn me for this +apparent heartlessness, let him be placed in a situation precisely +similar to my own. + + At length delay was no longer possible, and, with a heart almost +bursting from my bosom, I advanced to the region of the forecastle, +where my companions were awaiting me. I held out my hand with the +splinters, and Peters immediately drew. He was free- his, at least, +was not the shortest; and there was now another chance against my +escape. I summoned up all my strength, and passed the lots to +Augustus. He also drew immediately, and he also was free; and now, +whether I should live or die, the chances were no more than +precisely even. At this moment all the fierceness of the tiger +possessed my bosom, and I felt toward my poor fellow-creature, Parker, +the most intense, the most diabolical hatred. But the feeling did +not last; and, at length, with a convulsive shudder and closed eyes, +I held out the two remaining splinters toward him. It was fully five +minutes before he could summon resolution to draw, during which period +of heartrending suspense I never once opened my eyes. Presently one of +the two lots was quickly drawn from my hand. The decision was then +over, yet I knew not whether it was for me or against me. No one +spoke, and still I dared not satisfy myself by looking at the splinter +I held. Peters at length took me by the hand, and I forced myself to +look up, when I immediately saw by the countenance of Parker that I +was safe, and that he it was who had been doomed to suffer. Gasping +for breath, I fell senseless to the deck. + + I recovered from my swoon in time to behold the consummation of +the tragedy in the death of him who had been chiefly instrumental in +bringing it about. He made no resistance whatever, and was stabbed +in the back by Peters, when he fell instantly dead. I must not dwell +upon the fearful repast which immediately ensued. Such things may be +imagined, but words have no power to impress the mind with the +exquisite horror of their reality. Let it suffice to say that, +having in some measure appeased the raging thirst which consumed us by +the blood of the victim, and having by common consent taken off the +hands, feet, and head, throwing them together with the entrails, +into the sea, we devoured the rest of the body, piecemeal, during +the four ever memorable days of the seventeenth, eighteenth, +nineteenth, and twentieth of the month. + + On the nineteenth, there coming on a smart shower which lasted +fifteen or twenty minutes, we contrived to catch some water by means +of a sheet which had been fished up from the cabin by our drag just +after the gale. The quantity we took in all did not amount to more +than half a gallon; but even this scanty allowance supplied us with +comparative strength and hope. + + On the twenty-first we were again reduced to the last necessity. +The weather still remained warm and pleasant, with occasional fogs and +light breezes, most usually from N. to W. + + On the twenty-second, as we were sitting close huddled together, +gloomily revolving over our lamentable condition, there flashed +through my mind all at once an idea which inspired me with a bright +gleam of hope. I remembered that, when the foremast had been cut away, +Peters, being in the windward chains, passed one of the axes into my +hand, requesting me to put it, if possible, in a place of security, +and that a few minutes before the last heavy sea struck the brig and +filled her I had taken this axe into the forecastle and laid it in one +of the larboard berths. I now thought it possible that, by getting +at this axe, we might cut through the deck over the storeroom, and +thus readily supply ourselves with provisions. + + When I communicated this object to my companions, they uttered a +feeble shout of joy, and we all proceeded forthwith to the forecastle. +The difficulty of descending here was greater than that of going +down in the cabin, the opening being much smaller, for it will be +remembered that the whole framework about the cabin companion-hatch +had been carried away, whereas the forecastle-way, being a simple +hatch of only about three feet square, had remained uninjured. I did +not hesitate, however, to attempt the descent; and a rope being +fastened round my body as before, I plunged boldly in, feet +foremost, made my way quickly to the berth, and at the first attempt +brought up the axe. It was hailed with the most ecstatic joy and +triumph, and the ease with which it had been obtained was regarded +as an omen of our ultimate preservation. + + We now commenced cutting at the deck with all the energy of +rekindled hope, Peters and myself taking the axe by turns, +Augustus's wounded arm not permitting him to aid us in any degree. +As we were still so feeble as to be scarcely able to stand +unsupported, and could consequently work but a minute or two without +resting, it soon became evident that many long hours would be +necessary to accomplish our task- that is, to cut an opening +sufficiently large to admit of a free access to the storeroom. This +consideration, however, did not discourage us; and, working all +night by the light of the moon, we succeeded in effecting our +purpose by daybreak on the morning of the twenty-third. + + Peters now volunteered to go down; and, having made all +arrangements as before, he descended, and soon returned bringing up +with him a small jar, which, to our great joy, proved to be full of +olives. Having shared these among us, and devoured them with the +greatest avidity, we proceeded to let him down again. This time he +succeeded beyond our utmost expectations, returning instantly with a +large ham and a bottle of Madeira wine. Of the latter we each took a +moderate sup, having learned by experience the pernicious consequences +of indulging too freely. The ham, except about two pounds near the +bone, was not in a condition to be eaten, having been entirely spoiled +by the salt water. The sound part was divided among us. Peters and +Augustus, not being able to restrain their appetite, swallowed +theirs upon the instant; but I was more cautious, and ate but a +small portion of mine, dreading the thirst which I knew would ensue. +We now rested a while from our labors, which had been intolerably +severe. + + By noon, feeling somewhat strengthened and refreshed, we again +renewed our attempt at getting up provisions, Peters and myself +going down alternately, and always with more or less success, until +sundown. During this interval we had the good fortune to bring up, +altogether, four more small jars of olives, another ham, a carboy +containing nearly three gallons of excellent Cape Madeira wine, and, +what gave us still more delight, a small tortoise of the Gallipago +breed, several of which had been taken on board by Captain Barnard, +as the Grampus was leaving port, from the schooner Mary Pitts, just +returned from a sealing voyage in the Pacific. + + In a subsequent portion of this narrative I shall have frequent +occasion to mention this species of tortoise. It is found principally, +as most of my readers may know, in the group of islands called the +Gallipagos, which, indeed, derive their name from the animal- the +Spanish word Gallipago meaning a fresh-water terrapin. From the +peculiarity of their shape and action they have been sometimes +called the elephant tortoise. They are frequently found of an enormous +size. I have myself seen several which would weigh from twelve to +fifteen hundred pounds, although I do not remember that any +navigator speaks of having seen them weighing more than eight hundred. +Their appearance is singular, and even disgusting. Their steps are +very slow, measured, and heavy, their bodies being carried about a +foot from the ground. Their neck is long, and exceedingly slender, +from eighteen inches to two feet is a very common length, and I killed +one, where the distance from the shoulder to the extremity of the head +was no less than three feet ten inches. The head has a striking +resemblance to that of a serpent. They can exist without food for an +almost incredible length of time, instances having been known where +they have been thrown into the hold of a vessel and lain two years +without nourishment of any kind- being as fat, and, in every respect, +in as good order at the expiration of the time as when they were first +put in. In one particular these extraordinary animals bear a +resemblance to the dromedary, or camel of the desert. In a bag at +the root of the neck they carry with them a constant supply of +water. In some instances, upon killing them after a full year's +deprivation of all nourishment, as much as three gallons of +perfectly sweet and fresh water have been found in their bags. Their +food is chiefly wild parsley and celery, with purslain, sea-kelp, +and prickly pears, upon which latter vegetable they thrive +wonderfully, a great quantity of it being usually found on the +hillsides near the shore wherever the animal itself is discovered. +They are excellent and highly nutritious food, and have, no doubt, +been the means of preserving the lives of thousands of seamen employed +in the whale-fishery and other pursuits in the Pacific. + + The one which we had the good fortune to bring up from the +storeroom was not of a large size, weighing probably sixty-five or +seventy pounds. It was a female, and in excellent condition, being +exceedingly fat, and having more than a quart of limpid and sweet +water in its bag. This was indeed a treasure; and, falling on our +knees with one accord, we returned fervent thanks to God for so +seasonable a relief. + + We had great difficulty in getting the animal up through the +opening, as its struggles were fierce and its strength prodigious. +It was upon the point of making its escape from Peter's grasp, and +slipping back into the water, when Augustus, throwing a rope with a +slipknot around its throat, held it up in this manner until I jumped +into the hole by the side of Peters, and assisted him in lifting it +out. + + The water we drew carefully from the bag into the jug; which, it +will be remembered, had been brought up before from the cabin. +Having done this, we broke off the neck of a bottle so as to form, +with the cork, a kind of glass, holding not quite half a gill. We then +each drank one of these measures full, and resolved to limit ourselves +to this quantity per day as long as it should hold out. + + During the last two or three days, the weather having been dry and +pleasant, the bedding we had obtained from the cabin, as well as our +clothing, had become thoroughly dry, so that we passed this night +(that of the twenty-third) in comparative comfort, enjoying a tranquil +repose, after having supped plentifully on olives and ham, with a +small allowance of the wine. Being afraid of losing some of our stores +overboard during the night, in the event of a breeze springing up, +we secured them as well as possible with cordage to the fragments of +the windlass. Our tortoise, which we were anxious to preserve alive as +long as we could, we threw on its back, and otherwise carefully +fastened. + + CHAPTER XIII + + July 24.- This morning saw us wonderfully recruited in spirits +and strength. Notwithstanding the perilous situation in which we +were still placed, ignorant of our position, although certainly at a +great distance from land, without more food than would last us for a +fortnight even with great care, almost entirely without water, and +floating about at the mercy of every wind and wave on the merest wreck +in the world, still the infinitely more terrible distresses and +dangers from which we had so lately and so providentially been +delivered caused us to regard what we now endured as but little more +than an ordinary evil- so strictly comparative is either good or ill. + + At sunrise we were preparing to renew our attempts at getting up +something from the storeroom, when, a smart shower coming on, with +some lightning, we turn our attention to the catching of water by +means of the sheet we had used before for this purpose. We had no +other means of collecting the rain than by holding the sheet spread +out with one of the forechain-plates in the middle of it. The water, +thus conducted to the centre, was drained through into our jug. We had +nearly filled it in this manner, when, a heavy squall coming on from +the northward, obliged us to desist, as the hulk began once more to +roll so violently that we could no longer keep our feet. We now went +forward, and, lashing ourselves securely to the remnant of the +windlass as before, awaited the event with far more calmness than +could have been anticipated or would have been imagined possible under +the circumstances. At noon the wind had freshened into a two-reef +breeze, and by night into a stiff gale, accompanied with a +tremendously heavy swell. Experience having taught us, however, the +best method of arranging our lashings, we weathered this dreary +night in tolerable security, although thoroughly drenched at almost +every instant by the sea, and in momentary dread of being washed +off. Fortunately, the weather was so warm as to render the water +rather grateful than otherwise. + + July 25.- This morning the gale had diminished to a mere ten-knot +breeze, and the sea had gone down with it so considerably that we were +able to keep ourselves dry upon the deck. To our great grief, however, +we found that two jars of our olives, as well as the whole of our ham, +had been washed overboard, in spite of the careful manner in which +they had been fastened. We determined not to kill the tortoise as yet, +and contented ourselves for the present with a breakfast on a few of +the olives, and a measure of water each, which latter we mixed half +and half, with wine, finding great relief and strength from the +mixture, without the distressing intoxication which had ensued upon +drinking the port. The sea was still far too rough for the renewal +of our efforts at getting up provision from the storeroom. Several +articles, of no importance to us in our present situation, floated +up through the opening during the day, and were immediately washed +overboard. We also now observed that the hulk lay more along than +ever, so that we could not stand an instant without lashing ourselves. +On this account we passed a gloomy and uncomfortable day. At noon +the sun appeared to be nearly vertical, and we had no doubt that we +had been driven down by the long succession of northward and +northwesterly winds into the near vicinity of the equator. Toward +evening saw several sharks, and were somewhat alarmed by the audacious +manner in which an enormously large one approached us. At one time, +a lurch throwing the deck very far beneath the water, the monster +actually swam in upon us, floundering for some moments just over the +companion-hatch, and striking Peters violently with his tail. A +heavy sea at length hurled him overboard, much to our relief. In +moderate weather we might have easily captured him. + + July 26.- This morning, the wind having greatly abated, and the +sea not being very rough, we determined to renew our exertions in the +storeroom. After a great deal of hard labor during the whole day, we +found that nothing further was to be expected from this quarter, the +partitions of the room having been stove during the night, and its +contents swept into the hold. This discovery, as may be supposed, +filled us with despair. + + July 27.- The sea nearly smooth, with a light wind, and still +from the northward and westward. The sun coming out hotly in the +afternoon, we occupied ourselves in drying our clothes. Found great +relief from thirst, and much comfort otherwise, by bathing in the sea; +in this, however, we were forced to use great caution, being afraid of +sharks, several of which were seen swimming around the brig during the +day. + + July 28.- Good weather still. The brig now began to lie along so +alarmingly that we feared she would eventually roll bottom up. +Prepared ourselves as well as we could for this emergency, lashing +our tortoise, waterjug, and two remaining jars of olives as far as +possible over to the windward, placing them outside the hull below +the main-chains. The sea very smooth all day, with little or no +wind. + + July 29.- A continuance of the same weather. Augustus's wounded +arm began to evince symptoms of mortification. He complained of +drowsiness and excessive thirst, but no acute pain. Nothing could be +done for his relief beyond rubbing his wounds with a little of the +vinegar from the olives, and from this no benefit seemed to be +experienced. We did every thing in our power for his comfort, and +trebled his allowance of water. + + July 30.- An excessively hot day, with no wind. An enormous shark +kept close by the hulk during the whole of the forenoon. We made +several unsuccessful attempts to capture him by means of a noose. +Augustus much worse, and evidently sinking as much from want of proper +nourishment as from the effect of his wounds. He constantly prayed +to be relieved from his sufferings, wishing for nothing but death. +This evening we ate the last of our olives, and found the water in our +jug so putrid that we could not swallow it at all without the addition +of wine. Determined to kill our tortoise in the morning. + + July 31.- After a night of excessive anxiety and fatigue, owing +to the position of the hulk, we set about killing and cutting up our +tortoise. He proved to be much smaller than we had supposed, +although in good condition,- the whole meat about him not amounting +to more than ten pounds. With a view of preserving a portion of this +as long as possible, we cut it into fine pieces, and filled with +them our three remaining olive jars and the wine-bottle (all of +which had been kept), pouring in afterward the vinegar from the +olives. In this manner we put away about three pounds of the tortoise, +intending not to touch it until we had consumed the rest. We concluded +to restrict ourselves to about four ounces of the meat per day; the +whole would thus last us thirteen days. A brisk shower, with severe +thunder and lightning, came on about dusk, but lasted so short a +time that we only succeeded in catching about half a pint of water. +The whole of this, by common consent, was given to Augustus, who now +appeared to be in the last extremity. He drank the water from the +sheet as we caught it (we holding it above him as he lay so as to +let it run into his mouth), for we had now nothing left capable of +holding water, unless we had chosen to empty out our wine from the +carboy, or the stale water from the jug. Either of these expedients +would have been resorted to had the shower lasted. + + The sufferer seemed to derive but little benefit from the draught. +His arm was completely black from the wrist to the shoulder, and his +feet were like ice. We expected every moment to see him breathe his +last. He was frightfully emaciated; so much so that, although he +weighed a hundred and twenty-seven pounds upon his leaving +Nantucket, he now did not weigh more than forty or fifty at the +farthest. His eyes were sunk far in his head, being scarcely +perceptible, and the skin of his cheeks hung so loosely as to +prevent his masticating any food, or even swallowing any liquid, +without great difficulty. + + August 1.- A continuance of the same calm weather, with an +oppressively hot sun. Suffered exceedingly from thirst, the water in +the jug being absolutely putrid and swarming with vermin. We +contrived, nevertheless, to swallow a portion of it by mixing it +with wine; our thirst, however, was but little abated. We found more +relief by bathing in the sea, but could not avail ourselves of this +expedient except at long intervals, on account of the continual +presence of sharks. We now saw clearly that Augustus could not be +saved; that he was evidently dying. We could do nothing to relieve his +sufferings, which appeared to be great. About twelve o'clock he +expired in strong convulsions, and without having spoken for several +days. His death filled us with the most gloomy forebodings, and had so +great an effect upon our spirits that we sat motionless by the +corpse during the whole day, and never addressed each other except +in a whisper. It was not until some time after dark that we took +courage to get up and throw the body overboard. It was then +loathsome beyond expression, and so far decayed that, as Peters +attempted to lift it, an entire leg came off in his grasp. As the mass +of putrefaction slipped over the vessel's side into the water, the +glare of phosphoric light with which it was surrounded plainly +discovered to us seven or eight large sharks, the clashing of whose +horrible teeth, as their prey was torn to pieces among them, might +have been heard at the distance of a mile. We shrunk within +ourselves in the extremity of horror at the sound. + + August 2.- The same fearfully calm and hot weather. The dawn +found us in a state of pitiable dejection as well as bodily +exhaustion. The water in the jug was now absolutely useless, being a +thick gelatinous mass; nothing but frightful-looking worms mingled +with slime. We threw it out, and washed the jug well in the sea, +afterward pouring a little vinegar in it from our bottles of pickled +tortoise. Our thirst could now scarcely be endured, and we tried in +vain to relieve it by wine, which seemed only to add fuel to the +flame, and excited us to a high degree of intoxication. We afterward +endeavoured to relieve our sufferings by mixing the wine with +seawater; but this instantly brought about the most violent retchings, +so that we never again attempted it. During the whole day we anxiously +sought an opportunity of bathing, but to no purpose; for the hulk +was now entirely besieged on all sides with sharks- no doubt the +identical monsters who had devoured our poor companion on the +evening before, and who were in momentary expectation of another +similar feast. This circumstance occasioned us the most bitter +regret and filled us with the most depressing and melancholy +forebodings. We had experienced indescribable relief in bathing, and +to have this resource cut off in so frightful a manner was more than +we could bear. Nor, indeed, were we altogether free from the +apprehension of immediate danger, for the least slip or false movement +would have thrown us at once within reach of those voracious fish, who +frequently thrust themselves directly upon us, swimming up to leeward. +No shouts or exertions on our part seemed to alarm them. Even when one +of the largest was struck with an axe by Peters and much wounded, he +persisted in his attempts to push in where we were. A cloud came up at +dusk, but, to our extreme anguish, passed over without discharging +itself. It is quite impossible to conceive our sufferings from +thirst at this period. We passed a sleepless night, both on this +account and through dread of the sharks. + + August 3.- No prospect of relief, and the brig lying still more +and more along, so that now we could not maintain a footing upon deck +at all. Busied ourselves in securing our wine and tortoise-meat, so +that we might not lose them in the event of our rolling over. Got +out two stout spikes from the forechains, and, by means of the axe, +drove them into the hull to windward within a couple of feet of the +water, this not being very far from the keel, as we were nearly upon +our beam-ends. To these spikes we now lashed our provisions, as +being more secure than their former position beneath the chains. +Suffered great agony from thirst during the whole day- no chance of +bathing on account of the sharks, which never left us for a moment. +Found it impossible to sleep. + + August 4.- A little before daybreak we perceived that the hulk +was heeling over, and aroused ourselves to prevent being thrown off by +the movement. At first the roll was slow and gradual, and we contrived +to clamber over to windward very well, having taken the precaution +to leave ropes hanging from the spikes we had driven in for the +provision. But we had not calculated sufficiently upon the +acceleration of the impetus; for, presently the heel became too +violent to allow of our keeping pace with it; and, before either of us +knew what was to happen, we found ourselves hurled furiously into +the sea, and struggling several fathoms beneath the surface, with +the huge hull immediately above us. + + In going under the water I had been obliged to let go my hold upon +the rope; and finding that I was completely beneath the vessel, and my +strength nearly exhausted, I scarcely made a struggle for life, and +resigned myself, in a few seconds, to die. But here again I was +deceived, not having taken into consideration the natural rebound of +the hull to windward. The whirl of the water upward, which the +vessel occasioned in Tolling partially back, brought me to the surface +still more violently than I had been plunged beneath. Upon coming up I +found myself about twenty yards from the hulk, as near as I could +judge. She was lying keel up, rocking furiously from side to side, and +the sea in all directions around was much agitated, and full of strong +whirlpools. I could see nothing of Peters. An oil-cask was floating +within a few feet of me, and various other articles from the brig were +scattered about. + + My principal terror was now on account of the sharks, which I knew +to be in my vicinity. In order to deter these, if possible, from +approaching me, I splashed the water vigorously with both hands and +feet as I swam towards the hulk, creating a body of foam. I have no +doubt that to this expedient, simple as it was, I was indebted for +my preservation; for the sea all round the brig, just before her +rolling over, was so crowded with these monsters, that I must have +been, and really was, in actual contact with some of them during my +progress. By great good fortune, however, I reached the side of the +vessel in safety, although so utterly weakened by the violent exertion +I had used that I should never have been able to get upon it but for +the timely assistance of Peters, who, now, to my great joy, made his +appearance (having scrambled up to the keel from the opposite side +of the hull), and threw me the end of a rope- one of those which had +been attached to the spikes. + + Having barely escaped this danger, our attention was now +directed to the dreadful imminency of another- that of absolute +starvation. Our whole stock of provision had been swept overboard in +spite of all our care in securing it; and seeing no longer the +remotest possibility of obtaining more, we gave way both of us to +despair, weeping aloud like children, and neither of us attempting +to offer consolation to the other. Such weakness can scarcely be +conceived, and to those who have never been similarly situated will, +no doubt, appear unnatural; but it must be remembered that our +intellects were so entirely disordered by the long course of privation +and terror to which we had been subjected, that we could not justly be +considered, at that period, in the light of rational beings. In +subsequent perils, nearly as great, if not greater, I bore up with +fortitude against all the evils of my situation, and Peters, it will +be seen, evinced a stoical philosophy nearly as incredible as his +present childlike supineness and imbecility- the mental condition +made the difference. + + The overturning of the brig, even with the consequent loss of +the wine and turtle, would not, in fact, have rendered our situation +more deplorable than before, except for the disappearance of the +bedclothes by which we had been hitherto enabled to catch rainwater, +and of the jug in which we had kept it when caught; for we found the +whole bottom, from within two or three feet of the bends as far as the +keel, together with the keel itself, thickly covered with large +barnacles, which proved to be excellent and highly nutritious food. +Thus, in two important respects, the accident we had so greatly +dreaded proved to be a benefit rather than an injury; it had opened to +us a supply of provisions which we could not have exhausted, using +it moderately, in a month; and it had greatly contributed to our +comfort as regards position, we being much more at ease, and in +infinitely less danger, than before. + + The difficulty, however, of now obtaining water blinded us to +all the benefits of the change in our condition. That we might be +ready to avail ourselves, as far as possible, of any shower which +might fall we took off our shirts, to make use of them as we had of +the sheets- not hoping, of course, to get more in this way, even +under the most favorable circumstances, than half a gill at a time. No +signs of a cloud appeared during the day, and the agonies of our +thirst were nearly intolerable. At night, Peters obtained about an +hour's disturbed sleep, but my intense sufferings would not permit +me to close my eyes for a single moment. + + August 5.- To-day, a gentle breeze springing up carried us +through a vast quantity of seaweed, among which we were so fortunate +as to find eleven small crabs, which afforded us several delicious +meals. Their shells being quite soft, we ate them entire, and found +that they irritated our thirst far less than the barnacles. Seeing +no trace of sharks among the seaweed, we also ventured to bathe, and +remained in the water for four or five hours, during which we +experienced a very sensible diminution of our thirst. Were greatly +refreshed, and spent the night somewhat more comfortably than +before, both of us snatching a little sleep. + + August 6.- This day we were blessed by a brisk and continual rain, +lasting from about noon until after dark. Bitterly did we now regret +the loss of our jug and carboy; for, in spite of the little means we +had of catching the water, we might have filled one, if not both of +them. As it was, we contrived to satisfy the cravings of thirst by +suffering the shirts to become saturated, and then wringing them so as +to let the grateful fluid trickle into our mouths. In this +occupation we passed the entire day. + + August 7.- Just at daybreak we both at the same instant descried +a sail to the eastward, and evidently coming towards us! We hailed the +glorious sight with a long, although feeble shout of rapture; and +began instantly to make every signal in our power, by flaring the +shirts in the air, leaping as high as our weak condition would permit, +and even by hallooing with all the strength of our lungs, although the +vessel could not have been less than fifteen miles distant. However, +she still continued to near our hulk, and we felt that, if she but +held her present course, she must eventually come so close as to +perceive us. In about an hour after we first discovered her, we +could clearly see the people on her decks. She was a long, low, and +rakish-looking topsail schooner, with a black ball in her foretopsail, +and had, apparently, a full crew. We now became alarmed, for we +could hardly imagine it possible that she did not observe us, and were +apprehensive that she meant to leave us to perish as we were- an act +of fiendish barbarity, which, however incredible it may appear, has +been repeatedly perpetuated at sea, under circumstances very nearly +similar, and by beings who were regarded as belonging to the human +species.* In this instance, however, by the mercy of God, we were +destined to be most happily deceived; for, presently we were aware +of a sudden commotion on the deck of the stranger, who immediately +afterward ran up a British flag, and, hauling her wind, bore up +directly upon us. In half an hour more we found ourselves in her +cabin. She proved to be the Jane Guy, of Liverpool, Captain Guy, bound +on a sealing and trading voyage to the South Seas and Pacific. + + * The case of the brig Polly, of Boston, is one so much in point, +and her fate, in many respects, so remarkably similar to our own, that +I cannot forbear alluding to it here. This vessel, of one hundred and +thirty tons burden, sailed from Boston, with a cargo of lumber and +provisions, for Santa Croix, on the twelfth of December, 1811, under +the command of Captain Casneau. There were eight souls on board +besides the captain- the mate, four seamen, and the cook, together +with a Mr. Hunt, and a negro girl belonging to him. On the fifteenth, +having cleared the shoal of Georges, she sprung a leak in a gale of +wind from the southeast, and was finally capsized; but, the masts +going by the board, she afterward righted. They remained in this +situation, without fire, and with very little provision, for the +period of one hundred and ninety-one days (from December the fifteenth +to June the twentieth), when Captain Casneau and Samuel Badger, the +only survivors, were taken off the wreck by the Fame, of Hull, Captain +Featherstone, bound home from Rio Janeiro. When picked up, they were +in latitude 28 degrees N., longitude 13 degrees W., having drifted +above two thousand miles! On the ninth of July the Fame fell in with +the brig Dromero, Captain Perkins, who landed the two sufferers in +Kennebeck. The narrative from which we gather these details ends in +the following words: + + "It is natural to inquire how they could float such a vast +distance, upon the most frequented part of the Atlantic, and not be +discovered all this time. They were passed by more than a dozen +sail, one of which came so nigh them that they could distinctly see +the people on deck and on the rigging looking at them; but, to the +inexpressible disappointment of the starving and freezing men, they +stifled the dictates of compassion, hoisted sail, and cruelly +abandoned them to their fate." + + CHAPTER XIV + + The Jane Guy was a fine-looking topsail schooner of a hundred +and eighty tons burden. She was unusually sharp in the bows, and on +a wind, in moderate weather, the fastest sailer I have ever seen. +Her qualities, however, as a rough sea-boat, were not so good, and her +draught of water was by far too great for the trade to which she was +destined. For this peculiar service, a larger vessel, and one of a +light proportionate draught, is desirable- say a vessel of from three +hundred to three hundred and fifty tons. She should be bark-rigged, +and in other respects of a different construction from the usual South +Sea ships. It is absolutely necessary that she should be well armed. +She should have, say ten or twelve twelve-pound carronades, and two +or three long twelves, with brass blunderbusses, and water-tight +arm-chests for each top. Her anchors and cables should be of far +greater strength than is required for any other species of trade, and, +above all, her crew should be numerous and efficient- not less, for +such a vessel as I have described, than fifty or sixty able-bodied +men. The Jane Guy had a crew of thirty-five, all able seamen, +besides the captain and mate, but she was not altogether as well armed +or otherwise equipped, as a navigator acquainted with the difficulties +and dangers of the trade could have desired. + + Captain Guy was a gentleman of great urbanity of manner, and of +considerable experience in the southern traffic, to which he had +devoted a great portion of his life. He was deficient, however, in +energy, and, consequently, in that spirit of enterprise which is +here so absolutely requisite. He was part owner of the vessel in which +he sailed, and was invested with discretionary powers to cruise in the +South Seas for any cargo which might come most readily to hand. He had +on board, as usual in such voyages, beads, looking-glasses, +tinder-works, axes, hatchets, saws, adzes, planes, chisels, gouges, +gimlets, files, spokeshaves, rasps, hammers, nails, knives, +scissors, razors, needles, thread, crockery-ware, calico, trinkets, +and other similar articles. + + The schooner sailed from Liverpool on the tenth of July, crossed +the Tropic of Cancer on the twenty-fifth, in longitude twenty +degrees west, and reached Sal, one of the Cape Verd islands, on the +twenty-ninth, where she took in salt and other necessaries for the +voyage. On the third of August, she left the Cape Verds and steered +southwest, stretching over toward the coast of Brazil, so as to +cross the equator between the meridians of twenty-eight and thirty +degrees west longitude. This is the course usually taken by vessels +bound from Europe to the Cape of Good Hope, or by that route to the +East Indies. By proceeding thus they avoid the calms and strong +contrary currents which continually prevail on the coast of Guinea, +while, in the end, it is found to be the shortest track, as westerly +winds are never wanting afterward by which to reach the Cape. It was +Captain Guy's intention to make his first stoppage at Kerguelen's +Land- I hardly know for what reason. On the day we were picked up the +schooner was off Cape St. Roque, in longitude thirty-one degrees west; +so that, when found, we had drifted probably, from north to south, not +less than five-and-twenty degrees! + + On board the Jane Guy we were treated with all the kindness our +distressed situation demanded. In about a fortnight, during which time +we continued steering to the southeast, with gentle breezes and fine +weather, both Peters and myself recovered entirely from the effects of +our late privation and dreadful sufferings, and we began to remember +what had passed rather as a frightful dream from which we had been +happily awakened, than as events which had taken place in sober and +naked reality. I have since found that this species of partial +oblivion is usually brought about by sudden transition, whether from +joy to sorrow or from sorrow to joy- the degree of forgetfulness +being proportioned to the degree of difference in the exchange. +Thus, in my own case, I now feel it impossible to realize the full +extent of the misery which I endured during the days spent upon the +hulk. The incidents are remembered, but not the feelings which the +incidents elicited at the time of their occurrence. I only know, +that when they did occur, I then thought human nature could sustain +nothing more of agony. + + We continued our voyage for some weeks without any incidents of +greater moment than the occasional meeting with whaling-ships, and +more frequently with the black or right whale, so called in +contradistinction to the spermaceti. These, however, were chiefly +found south of the twenty-fifth parallel. On the sixteenth of +September, being in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, the +schooner encountered her first gale of any violence since leaving +Liverpool. In this neighborhood, but more frequently to the south +and east of the promontory (we were to the westward), navigators +have often to contend with storms from the northward, which rage +with great fury. They always bring with them a heavy sea, and one of +their most dangerous features is the instantaneous chopping round of +the wind, an occurrence almost certain to take place during the +greatest force of the gale. A perfect hurricane will be blowing at one +moment from the northward or northeast, and in the next not a breath +of wind will be felt in that direction, while from the southwest it +will come out all at once with a violence almost inconceivable. A +bright spot to the southward is the sure forerunner of the change, and +vessels are thus enabled to take the proper precautions. + + It was about six in the morning when the blow came on with a white +squall, and, as usual, from the northward. By eight it had increased +very much, and brought down upon us one of the most tremendous seas +I had then ever beheld. Every thing had been made as snug as possible, +but the schooner laboured excessively, and gave evidence of her bad +qualities as a seaboat, pitching her forecastle under at every +plunge and with the greatest difficulty struggling up from one wave +before she was buried in another. just before sunset the bright spot +for which we had been on the look-out made its appearance in the +southwest, and in an hour afterward we perceived the little headsail +we carried flapping listlessly against the mast. In two minutes +more, in spite of every preparation, we were hurled on our +beam-ends, as if by magic, and a perfect wilderness of foam made a +clear breach over us as we lay. The blow from the southwest, +however, luckily proved to be nothing more than a squall, and we had +the good fortune to right the vessel without the loss of a spar. A +heavy cross sea gave us great trouble for a few hours after this, +but toward morning we found ourselves in nearly as good condition as +before the gale. Captain Guy considered that he had made an escape +little less than miraculous. + + On the thirteenth of October we came in sight of Prince Edward's +Island, in latitude 46 degrees 53' S., longitude 37 degrees 46' E. +Two days afterward we found ourselves near Possession Island, and +presently passed the islands of Crozet, in latitude 42 degrees 59' +S., longitude 48 degrees E. On the eighteenth we made Kerguelen's or +Desolation Island, in the Southern Indian Ocean, and came to anchor in +Christmas Harbour, having four fathoms of water. + + This island, or rather group of islands, bears southeast from +the Cape of Good Hope, and is distant therefrom nearly eight hundred +leagues. It was first discovered in 1772, by the Baron de Kergulen, or +Kerguelen, a Frenchman, who, thinking the land to form a portion of an +extensive southern continent carried home information to that +effect, which produced much excitement at the time. The government, +taking the matter up, sent the baron back in the following year for +the purpose of giving his new discovery a critical examination, when +the mistake was discovered. In 1777, Captain Cook fell in with the +same group, and gave to the principal one the name of Desolation +Island, a title which it certainly well deserves. Upon approaching +the land, however, the navigator might be induced to suppose +otherwise, as the sides of most of the hills, from September to +March, are clothed with very brilliant verdure. This deceitful +appearance is caused by a small plant resembling saxifrage, which is +abundant, growing in large patches on a species of crumbling moss. +Besides this plant there is scarcely a sign of vegetation on the +island, if we except some coarse rank grass near the harbor, some +lichen, and a shrub which bears resemblance to a cabbage shooting into +seed, and which has a bitter and acrid taste. + + The face of the country is hilly, although none of the hills can +be called lofty. Their tops are perpetually covered with snow. There +are several harbors, of which Christmas Harbour is the most +convenient. It is the first to be met with on the northeast side of +the island after passing Cape Francois, which forms the northern +shore, and, by its peculiar shape, serves to distinguish the +harbour. Its projecting point terminates in a high rock, through which +is a large hole, forming a natural arch. The entrance is in latitude +48 degrees 40' S., longitude 69 degrees 6' E. Passing in here, good +anchorage may be found under the shelter of several small islands, +which form a sufficient protection from all easterly winds. Proceeding +on eastwardly from this anchorage you come to Wasp Bay, at the head of +the harbour. This is a small basin, completely landlocked, into +which you can go with four fathoms, and find anchorage in from ten +to three, hard clay bottom. A ship might lie here with her best +bower ahead all the year round without risk. To the westward, at the +head of Wasp Bay, is a small stream of excellent water, easily +procured. + + Some seal of the fur and hair species are still to be found on +Kerguelen's Island, and sea elephants abound. The feathered tribes +are discovered in great numbers. Penguins are very plenty, and of +these there are four different kinds. The royal penguin, so called +from its size and beautiful plumage, is the largest. The upper part of +the body is usually gray, sometimes of a lilac tint; the under portion +of the purest white imaginable. The head is of a glossy and most +brilliant black, the feet also. The chief beauty of plumage, +however, consists in two broad stripes of a gold color, which pass +along from the head to the breast. The bill is long, and either pink +or bright scarlet. These birds walk erect; with a stately carriage. +They carry their heads high with their wings drooping like two arms, +and, as their tails project from their body in a line with the legs, +the resemblance to a human figure is very striking, and would be apt +to deceive the spectator at a casual glance or in the gloom of the +evening. The royal penguins which we met with on Kerguelen's Land were +rather larger than a goose. The other kinds are the macaroni, the +jackass, and the rookery penguin. These are much smaller, less +beautiful in plumage, and different in other respects. + + Besides the penguin many other birds are here to be found, among +which may be mentioned sea-hens, blue peterels, teal, ducks, Port +Egmont hens, shags, Cape pigeons, the nelly, sea swallows, terns, +sea gulls, Mother Carey's chickens, Mother Carey's geese, or the great +peterel, and, lastly, the albatross. + + The great peterel is as large as the common albatross, and is +carnivorous. It is frequently called the break-bones, or osprey +peterel. They are not at all shy, and, when properly cooked, are +palatable food. In flying they sometimes sail very close to the +surface of the water, with the wings expanded, without appearing to +move them in the least degree, or make any exertion with them +whatever. + + The albatross is one of the largest and fiercest of the South +Sea birds. It is of the gull species, and takes its prey on the +wing, never coming on land except for the purpose of breeding. Between +this bird and the penguin the most singular friendship exists. Their +nests are constructed with great uniformity upon a plan concerted +between the two species- that of the albatross being placed in the +centre of a little square formed by the nests of four penguins. +Navigators have agreed in calling an assemblage of such encampments +a rookery. These rookeries have been often described, but as my +readers may not all have seen these descriptions, and as I shall +have occasion hereafter to speak of the penguin and albatross, it will +not be amiss to say something here of their mode of building and +living. + + When the season for incubation arrives, the birds assemble in vast +numbers, and for some days appear to be deliberating upon the proper +course to be pursued. At length they proceed to action. A level +piece of ground is selected, of suitable extent, usually comprising +three or four acres, and situated as near the sea as possible, being +still beyond its reach. The spot is chosen with reference to its +evenness of surface, and that is preferred which is the least +encumbered with stones. This matter being arranged, the birds proceed, +with one accord, and actuated apparently by one mind, to trace out, +with mathematical accuracy, either a square or other parallelogram, as +may best suit the nature of the ground, and of just sufficient size to +accommodate easily all the birds assembled, and no more- in this +particular seeming determined upon preventing the access of future +stragglers who have not participated in the labor of the encampment. +One side of the place thus marked out runs parallel with the water's +edge, and is left open for ingress or egress. + + Having defined the limits of the rookery, the colony now begin +to clear it of every species of rubbish, picking up stone by stone, +and carrying them outside of the lines, and close by them, so as to +form a wall on the three inland sides. Just within this wall a +perfectly level and smooth walk is formed, from six to eight feet +wide, and extending around the encampment- thus serving the purpose +of a general promenade. + + The next process is to partition out the whole area into small +squares exactly equal in size. This is done by forming narrow paths, +very smooth, and crossing each other at right angles throughout the +entire extent of the rookery. At each intersection of these paths +the nest of an albatross is constructed, and a penguin's nest in the +centre of each square- thus every penguin is surrounded by four +albatrosses, and each albatross by a like number of penguins. The +penguin's nest consists of a hole in the earth, very shallow, being +only just of sufficient depth to keep her single egg from rolling. The +albatross is somewhat less simple in her arrangements, erecting a +hillock about a foot high and two in diameter. This is made of +earth, seaweed, and shells. On its summit she builds her nest. + + The birds take especial care never to leave their nests unoccupied +for an instant during the period of incubation, or, indeed, until +the young progeny are sufficiently strong to take care of +themselves. While the male is absent at sea in search of food, the +female remains on duty, and it is only upon the return of her +partner that she ventures abroad. The eggs are never left uncovered at +all- while one bird leaves the nest the other nestling in by its +side. This precaution is rendered necessary by the thieving +propensities prevalent in the rookery, the inhabitants making no +scruple to purloin each other's eggs at every good opportunity. + + Although there are some rookeries in which the penguin and +albatross are the sole population, yet in most of them a variety of +oceanic birds are to be met with, enjoying all the privileges of +citizenship, and scattering their nests here and there, wherever +they can find room, never interfering, however, with the stations of +the larger species. The appearance of such encampments, when seen from +a distance, is exceedingly singular. The whole atmosphere just above +the settlement is darkened with the immense number of the albatross +(mingled with the smaller tribes) which are continually hovering +over it, either going to the ocean or returning home. At the same time +a crowd of penguins are to be observed, some passing to and fro in the +narrow alleys, and some marching with the military strut so peculiar +to them, around the general promenade ground which encircles the +rookery. In short, survey it as we will, nothing can be more +astonishing than the spirit of reflection evinced by these feathered +beings, and nothing surely can be better calculated to elicit +reflection in every well-regulated human intellect. + + On the morning after our arrival in Christmas Harbour the chief +mate, Mr. Patterson, took the boats, and (although it was somewhat +early in the season) went in search of seal, leaving the captain and a +young relation of his on a point of barren land to the westward, +they having some business, whose nature I could not ascertain, to +transact in the interior of the island. Captain Guy took with him a +bottle, in which was a sealed letter, and made his way from the +point on which he was set on shore toward one of the highest peaks +in the place. It is probable that his design was to leave the letter +on that height for some vessel which he expected to come after him. As +soon as we lost sight of him we proceeded (Peters and myself being +in the mate's boat) on our cruise around the coast, looking for +seal. In this business we were occupied about three weeks, examining +with great care every nook and corner, not only of Kerguelen's Land, +but of the several small islands in the vicinity. Our labours, +however, were not crowned with any important success. We saw a great +many fur seal, but they were exceedingly shy, and with the greatest +exertions, we could only procure three hundred and fifty skins in all. +Sea elephants were abundant, especially on the western coast of the +mainland, but of these we killed only twenty, and this with great +difficulty. On the smaller islands we discovered a good many of the +hair seal, but did not molest them. We returned to the schooner: on +the eleventh, where we found Captain Guy and his nephew, who gave a +very bad account of the interior, representing it as one of the most +dreary and utterly barren countries in the world. They had remained +two nights on the island, owing to some misunderstanding, on the +part of the second mate, in regard to the sending a jollyboat from the +schooner to take them off. + + CHAPTER XV + + On the twelfth we made sail from Christmas Harbour retracing our +way to the westward, and leaving Marion's Island, one of Crozet's +group, on the larboard. We afterward passed Prince Edward's Island, +leaving it also on our left, then, steering more to the northward, +made, in fifteen days, the islands of Tristan d'Acunha, in latitude 37 +degrees 8' S, longitude 12 degrees 8' W. + + This group, now so well known, and which consists of three +circular islands, was first discovered by the Portuguese, and was +visited afterward by the Dutch in 1643, and by the French in 1767. The +three islands together form a triangle, and are distant from each +other about ten miles, there being fine open passages between. The +land in all of them is very high, especially in Tristan d'Acunha, +properly so called. This is the largest of the group, being fifteen +miles in circumference, and so elevated that it can be seen in clear +weather at the distance of eighty or ninety miles. A part of the +land toward the north rises more than a thousand feet +perpendicularly from the sea. A tableland at this height extends back +nearly to the centre of the island, and from this tableland arises +a lofty cone like that of Teneriffe. The lower half of this cone is +clothed with trees of good size, but the upper region is barren rock, +usually hidden among the clouds, and covered with snow during the +greater part of the year. There are no shoals or other dangers about +the island, the shores being remarkably bold and the water deep. On +the northwestern coast is a bay, with a beach of black sand where a +landing with boats can be easily effected, provided there be a +southerly wind. Plenty of excellent water may here be readily +procured; also cod and other fish may be taken with hook and line. + + The next island in point of size, and the most westwardly of the +group, is that called the Inaccessible. Its precise situation is 37 +degrees 17' S. latitude, longitude 12 degrees 24' W. It is seven or +eight miles in circumference, and on all sides presents a forbidding +and precipitous aspect. Its top is perfectly flat, and the whole +region is sterile, nothing growing upon it except a few stunted +shrubs. + + Nightingale Island, the smallest and most southerly, is in +latitude 37 degrees 26' S., longitude 12 degrees 12' W. Off its +southern extremity is a high ledge of rocky islets; a few also of a +similar appearance are seen to the northeast. The ground is irregular +and sterile, and a deep valley partially separates it. + + The shores of these islands abound, in the proper season, with sea +lions, sea elephants, the hair and fur seal, together with a great +variety of oceanic birds. Whales are also plenty in their vicinity. +Owing to the ease with which these various animals were here +formerly taken, the group has been much visited since its discovery. +The Dutch and French frequented it at a very early period. In 1790, +Captain Patten, of the ship Industry, of Philadelphia, made Tristan +d'Acunha, where he remained seven months (from August, 1790, to April, +1791) for the purpose of collecting sealskins. In this time he +gathered no less than five thousand six hundred, and says that he +would have had no difficulty in loading a large ship with oil in three +weeks. Upon his arrival he found no quadrupeds, with the exception +of a few wild goats; the island now abounds with all our most valuable +domestic animals, which have been introduced by subsequent navigators. + + I believe it was not long after Captain Patten's visit that +Captain Colquhoun, of the American brig Betsey, touched at the largest +of the islands for the purpose of refreshment. He planted onions, +potatoes, cabbages, and a great many other vegetables, an abundance of +all which is now to be met with. + + In 1811, a Captain Haywood, in the Nereus, visited Tristan. He +found there three Americans, who were residing upon the island to +prepare sealskins and oil. One of these men was named Jonathan +Lambert, and he called himself the sovereign of the country. He had +cleared and cultivated about sixty acres of land, and turned his +attention to raising the coffee-plant and sugar-cane, with which he +had been furnished by the American Minister at Rio Janeiro. This +settlement, however, was finally abandoned, and in 1817 the islands +were taken possession of by the British Government, who sent a +detachment for that purpose from the Cape of Good Hope. They did +not, however, retain them long; but, upon the evacuation of the +country as a British possession, two or three English families took up +their residence there independently of the Government. On the +twenty-fifth of March, 1824, the Berwick, Captain Jeffrey, from London +to Van Diemen's Land, arrived at the place, where they found an +Englishman of the name of Glass, formerly a corporal in the British +artillery. He claimed to be supreme governor of the islands, and had +under his control twenty-one men and three women. He gave a very +favourable account of the salubrity of the climate and of the +productiveness of the soil. The population occupied themselves chiefly +in collecting sealskins and sea elephant oil, with which they traded +to the Cape of Good Hope, Glass owning a small schooner. At the period +of our arrival the governor was still a resident, but his little +community had multiplied, there being fifty-six persons upon +Tristan, besides a smaller settlement of seven on Nightingale +Island. We had no difficulty in procuring almost every kind of +refreshment which we required- sheep, hogs, bullocks, rabbits, +poultry, goats, fish in great variety, and vegetables were abundant. +Having come to anchor close in with the large island, in eighteen +fathoms, we took all we wanted on board very conveniently. Captain Guy +also purchased of Glass five hundred sealskins and some ivory. We +remained here a week, during which the prevailing winds were from +the northward and westward, and the weather somewhat hazy. On the +fifth of November we made sail to the southward and westward, with the +intention of having a thorough search for a group of islands called +the Auroras, respecting whose existence a great diversity of opinion +has existed. + + These islands are said to have been discovered as early as 1762, +by the commander of the ship Aurora. In 1790, Captain Manuel de +Oyarvido,, in the ship Princess, belonging to the Royal Philippine +Company, sailed, as he asserts, directly among them. In 1794, the +Spanish corvette Atrevida went with the determination of +ascertaining their precise situation, and, in a paper published by the +Royal Hydrographical Society of Madrid in the year 1809, the following +language is used respecting this expedition: "The corvette Atrevida +practised, in their immediate vicinity, from the twenty-first to the +twenty-seventh of January, all the necessary observations, and +measured by chronometers the difference of longitude between these +islands and the port of Soledad in the Manillas. The islands are +three, they are very nearly in the same meridian; the centre one is +rather low, and the other two may be seen at nine leagues' +distance." The observations made on board the Atrevida give the +following results as the precise situation of each island. The most +northern is in latitude 52 degrees 37' 24" S., longitude 47 degrees, +43' 15" W.; the middle one in latitude 53 degrees 2' 40" S., +longitude 47 degrees 55' 15" W.; and the most southern in latitude +53 degrees 15' 22" S., longitude 47 degrees 57' 15" W. + + On the twenty-seventh of January, 1820, Captain James Weddel, of +the British navy, sailed from Staten Land also in search of the +Auroras. He reports that, having made the most diligent search and +passed not only immediately over the spots indicated by the +commander of the Atrevida, but in every direction throughout the +vicinity of these spots, he could discover no indication of land. +These conflicting statements have induced other navigators to look out +for the islands; and, strange to say, while some have sailed through +every inch of sea where they are supposed to lie without finding them, +there have been not a few who declare positively that they have seen +them; and even been close in with their shores. It was Captain Guy's +intention to make every exertion within his power to settle the +question so oddly in dispute.* + + * Among the vessels which at various times have professed to meet +with the Auroras may be mentioned the ship San Miguel, in 1769; the +ship Aurora, in 1774; the brig Pearl, in 1779; and the ship Dolores, +in 1790. They all agree in giving the mean latitude fifty-three +degrees south. + + We kept on our course, between the south and west, with variable +weather, until the twentieth of the month, when we found ourselves +on the debated ground, being in latitude 53 degrees 15' S., longitude +47 degrees 58' W.- that is to say, very nearly upon the spot indicated +as the situation of the most southern of the group. Not perceiving any +sip of land, we continued to the westward of the parallel of +fifty-three degrees south, as far as the meridian of fifty degrees +west. We then stood to the north as far as the parallel of fifty-two +degrees south, when we turned to the eastward, and kept our parallel +by double altitudes, morning and evening, and meridian altitudes of +the planets and moon. Having thus gone eastwardly to the meridian of +the western coast of Georgia, we kept that meridian until we were in +the latitude from which we set out. We then took diagonal courses +throughout the entire extent of sea circumscribed, keeping a lookout +constantly at the masthead, and repeating our examination with the +greatest care for a period of three weeks, during which the weather +was remarkably pleasant and fair, with no haze whatsoever. Of course +we were thoroughly satisfied that, whatever islands might have existed +in this vicinity at any former period, no vestige of them remained +at the present day. Since my return home I find that the same ground +was traced over, with equal care, in 1822, by Captain Johnson, of +the American schooner Henry, and by Captain Morrell in the American +schooner Wasp- in both cases with the same result as in our own. + + CHAPTER XVI + + It had been Captain Guy's original intention, after satisfying +himself about the Auroras, to proceed through the Strait of Magellan, +and up along the western coast of Patagonia; but information +received at Tristan d'Acunha induced him to steer to the southward, in +the hope of falling in with some small islands said to lie about the +parallel of 60 degrees S., longitude 41 degrees 20' W. In the event of +his not discovering these lands, he designed, should the season prove +favourable, to push on toward the pole. Accordingly, on the twelfth of +December, we made sail in that direction. On the eighteenth we found +ourselves about the station indicated by Glass, and cruised for +three days in that neighborhood without finding any traces of the +islands he had mentioned. On the twenty-first, the weather being +unusually pleasant, we again made sail to the southward, with the +resolution of penetrating in that course as far as possible. Before +entering upon this portion of my narrative, it may be as well, for the +information of those readers who have paid little attention to the +progress of discovery in these regions, to give some brief account +of the very few attempts at reaching the southern pole which have +hitherto been made. + + That of Captain Cook was the first of which we have any distinct +account. In 1772 he sailed to the south in the Resolution, accompanied +by Lieutenant Furneaux in the Adventure. In December he found himself +as far as the fifty-eighth parallel of south latitude, and in +longitude 26 degrees 57' E. Here he met with narrow fields of ice, +about eight or ten inches thick, and running northwest and +southeast. This ice was in large cakes, and usually it was packed so +closely that the vessel had great difficulty in forcing a passage. +At this period Captain Cook supposed, from the vast number of birds to +be seen, and from other indications, that he was in the near +vicinity of land. He kept on to the southward, the weather being +exceedingly cold, until he reached the sixty-fourth parallel, in +longitude 38 degrees 14' W.. Here he had mild weather, with gentle +breezes, for five days, the thermometer being at thirty-six. In +January, 1773, the vessels crossed the Antarctic circle, but did not +succeed in penetrating much farther; for upon reaching latitude 67 +degrees 15' they found all farther progress impeded by an immense +body of ice, extending all along the southern horizon as far as the +eye could reach. This ice was of every variety- and some large floes +of it, miles in extent, formed a compact mass, rising eighteen or +twenty feet above the water. It being late in the season, and no +hope entertained of rounding these obstructions, Captain Cook now +reluctantly turned to the northward. + + In the November following he renewed his search in the +Antarctic. In latitude 59 degrees 40' he met with a strong current +setting to the southward. In December, when the vessels were in +latitude 67 degrees 31', longitude 142 degrees 54' W., the cold was +excessive, with heavy gales and fog. Here also birds were abundant; +the albatross, the penguin, and the peterel especially. In latitude +70 degrees 23' some large islands of ice were encountered, and +shortly afterward the clouds to the southward were observed to be of +a snowy whiteness, indicating the vicinity of field ice. In latitude +71 degrees 10', longitude 106 degrees 54' W., the navigators were +stopped, as before, by an immense frozen expanse, which filled the +whole area of the southern horizon. The northern edge of this expanse +was ragged and broken, so firmly wedged together as to be utterly +impassible, and extending about a mile to the southward. Behind it the +frozen surface was comparatively smooth for some distance, until +terminated in the extreme background by gigantic ranges of ice +mountains, the one towering above the other. Captain Cook concluded +that this vast field reached the southern pole or was joined to a +continent. Mr. J. N. Reynolds, whose great exertions and perseverance +have at length succeeded in getting set on foot a national expedition, +partly for the purpose of exploring these regions, thus speaks of the +attempt of the Resolution. "We are not surprised that Captain Cook was +unable to go beyond 71 degrees 10', but we are astonished that he did +attain that point on the meridian of 106 degrees 54' west longitude. +Palmer's Land lies south of the Shetland, latitude sixty-four degrees, +and tends to the southward and westward farther than any navigator has +yet penetrated. Cook was standing for this land when his progress was +arrested by the ice; which, we apprehend, must always be the case in +that point, and so early in the season as the sixth of January- and +we should not be surprised if a portion of the icy mountains described +was attached to the main body of Palmer's Land, or to some other +portions of land lying farther to the southward and westward." + + In 1803, Captains Kreutzenstern and Lisiausky were dispatched by +Alexander of Russia for the purpose of circumnavigating the globe. +In endeavouring to get south, they made no farther than 59 degrees +58', in longitude 70 degrees 15' W. They here met with strong currents +setting eastwardly. Whales were abundant, but they saw no ice. In +regard to this voyage, Mr. Reynolds observes that, if Kreutzenstern +had arrived where he did earlier in the season, he must have +encountered ice- it was March when he reached the latitude specified. +The winds, prevailing, as they do, from the southward and westward, +had carried the floes, aided by currents, into that icy region bounded +on the north by Georgia, east by Sandwich Land and the South Orkneys, +and west by the South Shetland islands. + + In 1822, Captain James Weddell, of the British navy, with two very +small vessels, penetrated farther to the south than any previous +navigator, and this, too, without encountering extraordinary +difficulties. He states that although he was frequently hemmed in by +ice before reaching the seventy-second parallel, yet, upon attaining +it, not a particle was to be discovered, and that, upon arriving at +the latitude of 74 degrees 15', no fields, and only three islands of +ice were visible. It is somewhat remarkable that, although vast flocks +of birds were seen, and other usual indications of land, and although, +south of the Shetlands, unknown coasts were observed from the masthead +tending southwardly, Weddell discourages the idea of land existing +in the polar regions of the south. + + On the 11th of January, 1823, Captain Benjamin Morrell, of the +American schooner Wasp, sailed from Kerguelen's Land with a view of +penetrating as far south as possible. On the first of February he +found himself in latitude 64 degrees 52' S., longitude 118 degrees +27' E. The following passage is extracted from his journal of that +date. "The wind soon freshened to an eleven-knot breeze, and we +embraced this opportunity of making to the west,; being however +convinced that the farther we went south beyond latitude sixty-four +degrees, the less ice was to be apprehended, we steered a little to +the southward, until we crossed the Antarctic circle, and were in +latitude 69 degrees 15' E. In this latitude there was no field ice, +and very few ice islands in sight. + + Under the date of March fourteenth I find also this entry. The sea +was now entirely free of field ice, and there were not more than a +dozen ice islands in sight. At the same time the temperature of the +air and water was at least thirteen degrees higher (more mild) than we +had ever found it between the parallels of sixty and sixty-two +south. We were now in latitude 70 degrees 14' S., and the temperature +of the air was forty-seven, and that of the water forty-four. In +this situation I found the variation to be 14 degrees 27' easterly, +per azimuth.... I have several times passed within the Antarctic +circle, on different meridians, and have uniformly found the +temperature, both of the air and the water, to become more and more +mild the farther I advanced beyond the sixty-fifth degree of south +latitude, and that the variation decreases in the same proportion. +While north of this latitude, say between sixty and sixty-five south, +we frequently had great difficulty in finding a passage for the vessel +between the immense and almost innumerable ice islands, some of which +were from one to two miles in circumference, and more than five hundred +feet above the surface of the water." + + Being nearly destitute of fuel and water, and without proper +instruments, it being also late in the season, Captain Morrell was now +obliged to put back, without attempting any further progress to the +westward, although an entirely open, sea lay before him. He +expresses the opinion that, had not these overruling considerations +obliged him to retreat, he could have penetrated, if not to the pole +itself, at least to the eighty-fifth parallel. I have given his +ideas respecting these matters somewhat at length, that the reader may +have an opportunity of seeing how far they were borne out by my own +subsequent experience. + + In 1831, Captain Briscoe, in the employ of the Messieurs +Enderby, whale-ship owners of London, sailed in the brig Lively for +the South Seas, accompanied by the cutter Tula. On the twenty-eighth +of February, being in latitude 66 degrees 30' S., longitude 47 degrees +31' E., he descried land, and "clearly discovered through the snow the +black peaks of a range of mountains running E. S. E." He remained in +this neighbourhood during the whole of the following month, but was +unable to approach the coast nearer than within ten leagues, owing +to the boisterous state of the weather. Finding it impossible to +make further discovery during this season, he returned northward to +winter in Van Diemen's Land. + + In the beginning of 1832 he again proceeded southwardly, and on +the fourth of February was seen to the southeast in latitude 67 degrees +15' longitude 69 degrees 29' W. This was soon found to be an island +near the headland of the country he had first discovered. On the +twenty-first of the month he succeeded in landing on the latter, and +took possession of it in the name of William IV, calling it Adelaide's +Island, in honour of the English queen. These particulars being made +known to the Royal Geographical Society of London, the conclusion +was drawn by that body "that there is a continuous tract of land +extending from 47 degrees 30' E. to 69 degrees 29' W. longitude, +running the parallel of from sixty-six to sixty-seven degrees south +latitude." In respect to this conclusion Mr. Reynolds observes: "In +the correctness of it we by no means concur; nor do the discoveries of +Briscoe warrant any such indifference. It was within these limits that +Weddel proceeded south on a meridian to the east of Georgia, +Sandwich Land, and the South Orkney and Shetland islands." My own +experience will be found to testify most directly to the falsity of +the conclusion arrived at by the society. + + These are the principal attempts which have been made at +penetrating to a high southern latitude, and it will now be seen +that there remained, previous to the voyage of the Jane, nearly +three hundred degrees of longitude in which the Antarctic circle had +not been crossed at all. Of course a wide field lay before us for +discovery, and it was with feelings of most intense interest that I +heard Captain Guy express his resolution of pushing boldly to the +southward. + + CHAPTER XVII + + We kept our course southwardly for four days after giving up the +search for Glass's islands, without meeting with any ice at all. On +the twenty-sixth, at noon, we were in latitude 63 degrees 23' S., +longitude 41 degrees 25' W. We now saw several large ice islands, and +a floe of field ice, not, however, of any great extent. The winds +generally blew from the southeast, or the northeast, but were very +light. Whenever we had a westerly wind, which was seldom, it was +invariably attended with a rain squall. Every day we had more or less +snow. The thermometer, on the twenty-seventh stood at thirty-five. + + January 1, 1828.- This day we found ourselves completely hemmed +in by the ice, and our prospects looked cheerless indeed. A strong +gale blew, during the whole forenoon, from the northeast, and drove +large cakes of the drift against the rudder and counter with such +violence that we all trembled for the consequences. Toward evening, +the gale still blowing with fury, a large field in front separated, +and we were enabled, by carrying a press of sail to force a passage +through the smaller flakes into some open water beyond. As we +approached this space we took in sail by degrees, and having at length +got clear, lay-to under a single. reefed foresail. + + January 2.- We had now tolerably pleasant weather. At noon we +found ourselves in latitude 69 degrees 10' S, longitude 42 degrees +20' W, having crossed the Antarctic circle. Very little ice was to be +seen to the southward, although large fields of it lay behind us. +This day we rigged some sounding gear, using a large iron pot capable +of holding twenty gallons, and a line of two hundred fathoms. We +found the current setting to the north, about a quarter of a mile per +hour. The temperature of the air was now about thirty-three. Here we +found the variation to be 14 degrees 28' easterly, per azimuth. + + January 5.- We had still held on to the southward without any +very great impediments. On this morning, however, being in latitude +73 degrees 15' E., longitude 42 degrees 10' W, we were again brought +to a stand by an immense expanse of firm ice. We saw, nevertheless, +much open water to the southward, and felt no doubt of being able to +reach it eventually. Standing to the eastward along the edge of the +floe, we at length came to a passage of about a mile in width, through +which we warped our way by sundown. The sea in which we now were was +thickly covered with ice islands, but had no field ice, and we +pushed on boldly as before. The cold did not seem to increase, +although we had snow very frequently, and now and then hail squalls of +great violence. Immense flocks of the albatross flew over the +schooner this day, going from southeast to northwest. + + January 7.- The sea still remained pretty well open, so that we +had no difficulty in holding on our course. To the westward we saw +some icebergs of incredible size, and in the afternoon passed very +near one whose summit could not have been less than four hundred +fathoms from the surface of the ocean. Its girth was probably, at the +base, three-quarters of a league, and several streams of water were +running from crevices in its sides. We remained in sight of this +island two days, and then only lost it in a fog. + + January 10.- Early this morning we had the misfortune to lose a +man overboard. He was an American named Peter Vredenburgh, a native of +New York, and was one of the most valuable hands on board the +schooner. In going over the bows his foot slipped, and he fell between +two cakes of ice, never rising again. At noon of this day we were in +latitude 78 degrees 30', longitude 40 degrees 15' W. The cold was now +excessive, and we had hail squalls continually from the northward and +eastward. In this direction also we saw several more immense icebergs, +and the whole horizon to the eastward appeared to be blocked up with +field ice, rising in tiers, one mass above the other. Some driftwood +floated by during the evening, and a great quantity of birds flew +over, among which were nellies, peterels, albatrosses, and a large +bird of a brilliant blue plumage. The variation here, per azimuth, was +less than it had been previously to our passing the Antarctic circle. + + January 12.-Our passage to the south again looked doubtful, as +nothing was to be seen in the direction of the pole but one apparently +limitless floe, backed by absolute mountains of ragged ice, one +precipice of which arose frowningly above the other. We stood to the +westward until the fourteenth, in the hope of finding an entrance. + + January 14.-This morning we reached the western extremity of the +field which had impeded us, and, weathering it, came to an open sea, +without a particle of ice. Upon sounding with two hundred fathoms, +we here found a current setting southwardly at the rate of half a mile +per hour. The temperature of the air was forty-seven, that of the +water thirtyfour. We now sailed to the southward without meeting any +interruption of moment until the sixteenth, when, at noon, we were +in latitude 81 degrees 21', longitude 42 degrees W. We here again +sounded, and found a current setting still southwardly, and at the +rate of three quarters of a mile per hour. The variation per azimuth +had diminished, and the temperature of the air was mild and pleasant, +the thermometer being as high as fifty-one. At this period not a +particle of ice was to be discovered. All hands on board now felt +certain of attaining the pole. + + January 17.- This day was full of incident. Innumerable flights +of birds flew over us from the southward, and several were shot from +the deck, one of them, a species of pelican, proved to be excellent +eating. About midday a small floe of ice was seen from the masthead +off the larboard bow, and upon it there appeared to be some large +animal. As the weather was good and nearly calm, Captain Guy ordered +out two of the boats to see what it was. Dirk Peters and myself +accompanied the mate in the larger boat. Upon coming up with the floe, +we perceived that it was in the possession of a gigantic creature of +the race of the Arctic bear, but far exceeding in size the largest +of these animals. Being well armed, we made no scruple of attacking it +at once. Several shots were fired in quick succession, the most of +which took effect, apparently, in the head and body. Nothing +discouraged, however, the monster threw himself from the ice, and swam +with open jaws, to the boat in which were Peters and myself. Owing +to the confusion which ensued among us at this unexpected turn of +the adventure, no person was ready immediately with a second shot, and +the bear had actually succeeded in getting half his vast bulk across +our gunwale, and seizing one of the men by the small of his back, +before any efficient means were taken to repel him. In this +extremity nothing but the promptness and agility of Peters saved us +from destruction. Leaping upon the back of the huge beast, he +plunged the blade of a knife behind the neck, reaching the spinal +marrow at a blow. The brute tumbled into the sea lifeless, and without +a struggle, rolling over Peters as he fell. The latter soon +recovered himself, and a rope being thrown him, returned in triumph to +the schooner, towing our trophy behind us. This bear, upon +admeasurement, proved to be full fifteen feet in his greatest +length. His wool was perfectly white, and very coarse, curling +tightly. The eyes were of a blood red, and larger than those of the +Arctic bear, the snout also more rounded, rather resembling the +snout of the bulldog. The meat was tender, but excessively rank and +fishy, although the men devoured it with avidity, and declared it +excellent eating. + + Scarcely had we got our prize alongside, when the man at the +masthead gave the joyful shout of "land on the starboard bow!" All +hands were now upon the alert, and, a breeze springing up very +opportunely from the northward and eastward, we were soon close in +with the coast. It proved to be a low rocky islet, of about a league +in circumference, and altogether destitute of vegetation, if we except +a species of prickly pear. In approaching it from the northward, a +singular ledge of rock is seen projecting into the sea, and bearing +a strong resemblance to corded bales of cotton. Around this ledge to +the westward is a small bay, at the bottom of which our boats effected +a convenient landing. + + It did not take us long to explore every portion of the island, +but, with one exception, we found nothing worthy of our observation. +In the southern extremity, we picked up near the shore, half buried in +a pile of loose stones, a piece of wood, which seemed to have formed +the prow of a canoe. There had been evidently some attempt at +carving upon it, and Captain Guy fancied that he made out the figure +of a tortoise, but the resemblance did not strike me very forcibly. +Besides this prow, if such it were, we found no other token that any +living creature had ever been here before. Around the coast we +discovered occasional small floes of ice- but these were very few. +The exact situation of the islet (to which Captain Guy gave the name +of Bennet's Islet, in honour of his partner in the ownership of the +schooner) is 82 degrees 50' S. latitude, 42 degrees 20' W. longitude. + + We had now advanced to the southward more than eight degrees +farther than any previous navigators, and the sea still lay +perfectly open before us. We found, too, that the variation +uniformly decreased as we proceeded, and, what was still more +surprising, that the temperature of the air, and latterly of the +water, became milder. The weather might even be called pleasant, and +we had a steady but very gentle breeze always from some northern point +of the compass. The sky was usually clear, with now and then a slight +appearance of thin vapour in the southern horizon- this, however, was +invariably of brief duration. Two difficulties alone presented +themselves to our view; we were getting short of fuel, and symptoms of +scurvy had occurred among several of the crew. These considerations +began to impress upon Captain Guy the necessity of returning, and he +spoke of it frequently. For my own part, confident as I was of soon +arriving at land of some description upon the course we were pursuing, +and having every reason to believe, from present appearances, that +we should not find it the sterile soil met with in the higher Arctic +latitudes, I warmly pressed upon him the expediency of persevering, at +least for a few days longer, in the direction we were now holding. +So tempting an opportunity of solving the great problem in regard to +an Antarctic continent had never yet been afforded to man, and I +confess that I felt myself bursting with indignation at the timid +and ill-timed suggestions of our commander. I believe, indeed, that +what I could not refrain from saying to him on this head had the +effect of inducing him to push on. While, therefore, I cannot but +lament the most unfortunate and bloody events which immediately +arose from my advice, I must still be allowed to feel some degree of +gratification at having been instrumental, however remotely, in +opening to the eye of science one of the most intensely exciting +secrets which has ever engrossed its attention. + + CHAPTER XVIII + + January 18.- This morning* we continued to the southward, with +the same pleasant weather as before. The sea was entirely smooth, +the air tolerably warm and from the northeast, the temperature of +the water fifty-three. We now again got our sounding-gear in order, +and, with a hundred and fifty fathoms of line, found the current +setting toward the pole at the rate of a mile an hour. This constant +tendency to the southward, both in the wind and current, caused some +degree of speculation, and even of alarm, in different quarters of the +schooner, and I saw distinctly that no little impression had been made +upon the mind of Captain Guy. He was exceedingly sensitive to +ridicule, however, and I finally succeeded in laughing him out of +his apprehensions. The variation was now very trivial. In the course +of the day we saw several large whales of the right species, and +innumerable flights of the albatross passed over the vessel. We also +picked up a bush, full of red berries, like those of the hawthorn, and +the carcass of a singular-looking land-animal. It was three feet in +length, and but six inches in height, with four very short legs, the +feet armed with long claws of a brilliant scarlet, and resembling +coral in substance. The body was covered with a straight silky hair, +perfectly white. The tail was peaked like that of a rat, and about a +foot and a half long. The head resembled a cat's, with the exception +of the ears- these were flopped like the ears of a dog. The teeth +were of the same brilliant scarlet as the claws. + + * The terms morning and evening, which I have made use of to avoid +confusion in my narrative, as far as possible, must not, of course, +be taken in their ordinary sense. For a long time past we had had no +night at all, the daylight being continual. The dates throughout are +according to nautical time, and the bearing must be understood as per +compass. I would also remark, in this place, that I cannot, in the +first portion of what is here written, pretend to strict accuracy in +respect to dates, or latitudes and longitudes, having kept no +regular journal until after the period of which this first portion +treats. In many instances I have relied altogether upon memory. + + January 19.- To-day, being in latitude 83 degrees 20', longitude +43 degrees 5' W. (the sea being of an extraordinarily dark colour), we +again saw land from the masthead, and, upon a closer scrutiny, found +it to be one of a group of very large islands. The shore was +precipitous, and the interior seemed to be well wooded, a circumstance +which occasioned us great joy. In about four hours from our first +discovering the land we came to anchor in ten fathoms, sandy bottom, a +league from the coast, as a high surf, with strong ripples here and +there, rendered a nearer approach of doubtful expediency. The two +largest boats were now ordered out, and a party, well armed (among +whom were Peters and myself), proceeded to look for an opening in +the reef which appeared to encircle the island. After searching +about for some time, we discovered an inlet, which we were entering, +when we saw four large canoes put off from the shore, filled with +men who seemed to be well armed. We waited for them to come up, and, +as they moved with great rapidity, they were soon within hail. Captain +Guy now held up a white handkerchief on the blade of an oar, when +the strangers made a full stop, and commenced a loud jabbering all +at once, intermingled with occasional shouts, in which we could +distinguish the words Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama! They continued this +for at least half an hour, during which we had a good opportunity of +observing their appearance. + + In the four canoes, which might have been fifty feet long and five +broad, there were a hundred and ten savages in all. They were about +the ordinary stature of Europeans, but of a more muscular and brawny +frame. Their complexion a jet black, with thick and long woolly +hair. They were clothed in skins of an unknown black animal, shaggy +and silky, and made to fit the body with some degree of skill, the +hair being inside, except where turned out about the neck, wrists, and +ankles. Their arms consisted principally of clubs, of a dark, and +apparently very heavy wood. Some spears, however, were observed +among them, headed with flint, and a few slings. The bottoms of the +canoes were full of black stones about the size of a large egg. + + When they had concluded their harangue (for it was clear they +intended their jabbering for such), one of them who seemed to be the +chief stood up in the prow of his canoe, and made signs for us to +bring our boats alongside of him. This hint we pretended not to +understand, thinking it the wiser plan to maintain, if possible, the +interval between us, as their number more than quadrupled our own. +Finding this to be the case, the chief ordered the three other +canoes to hold back, while he advanced toward us with his own. As soon +as he came up with us he leaped on board the largest of our boats, and +seated himself by the side of Captain Guy, pointing at the same time +to the schooner, and repeating the word Anamoo-moo! and Lama-Lama! +We now put back to the vessel, the four canoes following at a little +distance. + + Upon getting alongside, the chief evinced symptoms of extreme +surprise and delight, clapping his hands, slapping his thighs and +breast, and laughing obstreperously. His followers behind joined in +his merriment, and for some minutes the din was so excessive as to +be absolutely deafening. Quiet being at length restored, Captain Guy +ordered the boats to be hoisted up, as a necessary precaution, and +gave the chief (whose name we soon found to be Too-wit) to +understand that we could admit no more than twenty of his men on +deck at one time. With this arrangement he appeared perfectly +satisfied, and gave some directions to the canoes, when one of them +approached, the rest remaining about fifty yards off. Twenty of the +savages now got on board, and proceeded to ramble over every part of +the deck, and scramble about among the rigging, making themselves much +at home, and examining every article with great inquisitiveness. + + It was quite evident that they had never before seen any of the +white race- from whose complexion, indeed, they appeared to recoil. +They believed the Jane to be a living creature, and seemed to be +afraid of hurting it with the points of their spears, carefully +turning them up. Our crew were much amused with the conduct of Too-wit +in one instance. The cook was splitting some wood near the galley, +and, by accident, struck his axe into the deck, making a gash of +considerable depth. The chief immediately ran up, and pushing the cook +on one side rather roughly, commenced a half whine, half howl, +strongly indicative of sympathy in what he considered the sufferings +of the schooner, patting and smoothing the gash with his hand, and +washing it from a bucket of seawater which stood by. This was a degree +of ignorance for which we were not prepared, and for my part I could +not help thinking some of it affected. + + When the visitors had satisfied, as well as they could, their +curiosity in regard to our upper works, they were admitted below, when +their amazement exceeded all bounds. Their astonishment now appeared +to be far too deep for words, for they roamed about in silence, broken +only by low ejaculations. The arms afforded them much food for +speculation, and they were suffered to handle and examine them at +leisure. I do not believe that they had the least suspicion of their +actual use, but rather took them for idols, seeing the care we had +of them, and the attention with which we watched their movements while +handling them. At the great guns their wonder was redoubled. They +approached them with every mark of the profoundest reverence and +awe, but forbore to examine them minutely. There were two large +mirrors in the cabin, and here was the acme of their amazement. +Too-wit was the first to approach them, and he had got in the middle +of the cabin, with his face to one and his back to the other, before +he fairly perceived them. Upon raising his eyes and seeing his +reflected self in the glass, I thought the savage would go mad; but, +upon turning short round to make a retreat, and beholding himself a +second time in the opposite direction, I was afraid he would expire +upon the spot. No persuasion could prevail upon him to take another +look; throwing himself upon the floor, with his face buried in his +hands, he remained thus until we were obliged to drag him upon deck. + + The whole of the savages were admitted on board in this manner, +twenty at a time, Too-wit being suffered to remain during the entire +period. We saw no disposition to thievery among them, nor did we +miss a single article after their departure. Throughout the whole of +their visit they evinced the most friendly manner. There were, +however, some points in their demeanour which we found it impossible +to understand; for example, we could not get them to approach +several very harmless objects- such as the schooner's sails, an egg, +an open book, or a pan of flour. We endeavoured to ascertain if they +had among them any articles which might be turned to account in the +way of traffic, but found great difficulty in being comprehended. We +made out, nevertheless, what greatly astonished us, that the islands +abounded in the large tortoise of the Gallipagos, one of which we +saw in the canoe of Too-wit. We saw also some biche de mer in the +hands of one of the savages, who was greedily devouring it in its +natural state. These anomalies- for they were such when considered in +regard to the latitude- induced Captain Guy to wish for a thorough +investigation of the country, in the hope of making a profitable +speculation in his discovery. For my own part, anxious as I was to +know something more of these islands, I was still more earnestly +bent on prosecuting the voyage to the southward without delay. We +had now fine weather, but there was no telling how long it would last; +and being already in the eighty-fourth parallel, with an open sea +before us, a current setting strongly to the southward, and the wind +fair, I could not listen with any patience to a proposition of +stopping longer than was absolutely necessary for the health of the +crew and the taking on board a proper supply of fuel and fresh +provisions. I represented to the captain that we might easily make +this group on our return, and winter here in the event of being +blocked up by the ice. He at length came into my views (for in some +way, hardly known to myself, I had acquired much influence over +him), and it was finally resolved that, even in the event of our +finding biche de mer, we should only stay here a week to recruit, +and then push on to the southward while we might. Accordingly we +made every necessary preparation, and, under the guidance of +Too-wit, got the Jane through the reef in safety, coming to anchor +about a mile from the shore, in an excellent bay, completely +landlocked, on the southeastern coast of the main island, and in ten +fathoms of water, black sandy bottom. At the head of this bay there +were three fine springs (we were told) of good water, and we saw +abundance of wood in the vicinity. The four canoes followed us in, +keeping, however, at a respectful distance. Too-wit himself remained +on board, and, upon our dropping anchor, invited us to accompany him +on shore, and visit his village in the interior. To this Captain Guy +consented; and ten savages being left on board as hostages, a party of +us, twelve in all, got in readiness to attend the chief. We took +care to be well armed, yet without evincing any distrust. The schooner +had her guns run out, her boarding-nettings up, and every other proper +precaution was taken to guard against surprise. Directions were left +with the chief mate to admit no person on board during our absence, +and, in the event of our not appearing in twelve hours, to send the +cutter, with a swivel, around the island in search of us. + + At every step we took inland the conviction forced itself upon +us that we were in a country differing essentially from any hitherto +visited by civilized men. We saw nothing with which we had been +formerly conversant. The trees resembled no growth of either the +torrid, the temperate, of the northern frigid zones, and were +altogether unlike those of the lower southern latitudes we had already +traversed. The very rocks were novel in their mass, their color, and +their stratification; and the streams themselves, utterly incredible +as it may appear, had so little in common with those of other +climates, that we were scrupulous of tasting them, and, indeed, had +difficulty in bringing ourselves to believe that their qualities +were purely those of nature. At a small brook which crossed our path +(the first we had reached) Too-wit and his attendants halted to drink. +On account of the singular character of the water, we refused to taste +it, supposing it to be polluted; and it was not until some time +afterward we came to understand that such was the appearance of the +streams throughout the whole group. I am at a loss to give a +distinct idea of the nature of this liquid, and cannot do so without +many words. Although it flowed with rapidity in all declivities +where common water would do so, yet never, except when falling in a +cascade, had it the customary appearance of limpidity. It was, +nevertheless, in point of fact, as perfectly limpid as any limestone +water in existence, the difference being only in appearance. At +first sight, and especially in cases where little declivity was found, +it bore re. semblance, as regards consistency, to a thick infusion +of gum arabic in common water. But this was only the least +remarkable of its extraordinary qualities. It was not colourless, +nor was it of any one uniform colour- presenting to the eye, as it +flowed, every possible shade of purple; like the hues of a +changeable silk. This variation in shade was produced in a manner +which excited as profound astonishment in the minds of our party as +the mirror had done in the case of Too-wit. Upon collecting a +basinful, and allowing it to settle thoroughly, we perceived that +the whole mass of liquid was made up of a number of distinct veins, +each of a distinct hue; that these veins did not commingle; and that +their cohesion was perfect in regard to their own particles among +themselves, and imperfect in regard to neighbouring veins. Upon +passing the blade of a knife athwart the veins, the water closed +over it immediately, as with us, and also, in withdrawing it, all +traces of the passage of the knife were instantly obliterated. If, +however, the blade was passed down accurately between the two veins, a +perfect separation was effected, which the power of cohesion did not +immediately rectify. The phenomena of this water formed the first +definite link in that vast chain of apparent miracles with which I was +destined to be at length encircled. + + CHAPTER XIX + + We were nearly three hours in reaching the village, it being +more than nine miles in the interior, and the path lying through a +rugged country. As we passed along, the party of Too-wit (the whole +hundred and ten savages of the canoes) was momentarily strengthened by +smaller detachments, of from two to six or seven, which joined us, +as if by accident, at different turns of the road. There appeared so +much of system in this that I could not help feeling distrust, and I +spoke to Captain Guy of my apprehensions. It was now too late, +however, to recede, and we concluded that our best security lay in +evincing a perfect confidence in the good faith of Too-wit. We +accordingly went on, keeping a wary eye upon the manoeuvres of the +savages, and not permitting them to divide our numbers by pushing in +between. In this way, passing through a precipitous ravine, we at +length reached what we were told was the only collection of +habitations upon the island. As we came in sight of them, the chief +set up a shout, and frequently repeated the word Klock-klock, which we +sup. posed to be the name of the village, or perhaps the generic +name for villages. + + The dwellings were of the most miserable description imaginable, +and, unlike those of even the lowest of the savage races with which +mankind are acquainted, were of no uniform plan. Some of them (and +these we found belonged to the Wampoos or Yampoos, the great men of +the land) consisted of a tree cut down at about four feet from the +root, with a large black skin thrown over it, and hanging in loose +folds upon the ground. Under this the savage nestled. Others were +formed by means of rough limbs of trees, with the withered foliage +upon them, made to recline, at an angle of forty-five degrees, against +a bank of clay, heaped up, without regular form, to the height of five +or six feet. Others, again, were mere holes dug in the earth +perpendicularly, and covered over with similar branches, these being +removed when the tenant was about to enter, and pulled on again when +he had entered. A few were built among the forked limbs of trees as +they stood, the upper limbs being partially cut through, so as to bend +over upon the lower, thus forming thicker shelter from the weather. +The greater number, however, consisted of small shallow caverns, +apparently scratched in the face of a precipitous ledge of dark stone, +resembling fuller's earth, with which three sides of the village +were bounded. At the door of each of these primitive caverns was a +small rock, which the tenant carefully placed before the entrance upon +leaving his residence, for what purpose I could not ascertain, as +the stone itself was never of sufficient size to close up more than +a third of the opening. + + This village, if it were worthy of the name, lay in a valley of +some depth, and could only be approached from the southward, the +precipitous ledge of which I have already spoken cutting off all +access in other directions. Through the middle of the valley ran a +brawling stream of the same magical-looking water which has been +described. We saw several strange animals about the dwellings, all +appearing to be thoroughly domesticated. The largest of these +creatures resembled our common hog in the structure of the body and +snout; the tail, however, was bushy, and the legs slender as those +of the antelope. Its motion was exceedingly awkward and indecisive, +and we never saw it attempt to run. We noticed also several animals +very similar in appearance, but of a greater length of body, and +covered with a black wool. There were a great variety of tame fowls +running about, and these seemed to constitute the chief food of the +natives. To our astonishment we saw black albatross among these +birds in a state of entire domestication, going to sea periodically +for food, but always returning to the village as a home, and using the +southern shore in the vicinity as a place of incubation. There they +were joined by their friends the pelicans as usual, but these latter +never followed them to the dwellings of the savages. Among the other +kinds of tame fowls were ducks, differing very little from the +canvass-back of our own country, black gannets, and a large bird not +unlike the buzzard in appearance, but not carnivorous. Of fish there +seemed to be a great abundance. We saw, during our visit, a quantity +of dried salmon, rock cod, blue dolphins, mackerel, blackfish, +skate, conger eels, elephantfish, mullets, soles, parrotfish, +leather-jackets, gurnards, hake, flounders, paracutas, and innumerable +other varieties. We noticed, too, that most of them were similar to +the fish about the group of Lord Auckland Islands, in a latitude as +low as fifty-one degrees south. The Gallipago tortoise was also very +plentiful. We saw but few wild animals, and none of a large size, or +of a species with which we were familiar. One or two serpents of a +formidable aspect crossed our path, but the natives paid them little +attention, and we concluded that they were not venomous. + + As we approached the village with Too-wit and his party, a vast +crowd of the people rushed out to meet us, with loud shouts, among +which we could only distinguish the everlasting Anamoo-moo! and +Lama-Lama! We were much surprised at perceiving that, with one or +two exceptions, these new comers were entirely naked, and skins +being used only by the men of the canoes. All the weapons of the +country seemed also to be in the possession of the latter, for there +was no appearance of any among the villagers. There were a great +many women and children, the former not altogether wanting in what +might be termed personal beauty. They were straight, tall, and well +formed, with a grace and freedom of carriage not to be found in +civilized society. Their lips, however, like those of the men, were +thick and clumsy, so that, even when laughing, the teeth were never +disclosed. Their hair was of a finer texture than that of the males. +Among these naked villagers there might have been ten or twelve who +were clothed, like the party of Too-wit, in dresses of black skin, and +armed with lances and heavy clubs. These appeared to have great +influence among the rest, and were always addressed by the title +Wampoo. These, too, were the tenants of the black skin palaces. That +of Too-wit was situated in the centre of the village, and was much +larger and somewhat better constructed than others of its kind. The +tree which formed its support was cut off at a distance of twelve feet +or thereabouts from the root, and there were several branches left +just below the cut, these serving to extend the covering, and in +this way prevent its flapping about the trunk. The covering, too, +which consisted of four very large skins fastened together with wooden +skewers, was secured at the bottom with pegs driven through it and +into the ground. The floor was strewed with a quantity of dry leaves +by way of carpet. + + To this hut we were conducted with great solemnity, and as many of +the natives crowded in after us as possible. Too-wit seated himself on +the leaves, and made signs that we should follow his example. This +we did, and presently found ourselves in a situation peculiarly +uncomfortable, if not indeed critical. We were on the ground, twelve +in number, with the savages, as many as forty, sitting on their hams +so closely around us that, if any disturbance had arisen, we should +have found it impossible to make use of our arms, or indeed to have +risen to our feet. The pressure was not only inside the tent, but +outside, where probably was every individual on the whole island, +the crowd being prevented from trampling us to death only by the +incessant exertions and vociferations of Too-wit. Our chief security +lay, however, in the presence of Too-wit himself among us, and we +resolved to stick by him closely, as the best chance of extricating +ourselves from the dilemma, sacrificing him immediately upon the first +appearance of hostile design. + + After some trouble a certain degree of quiet was restored, when +the chief addressed us in a speech of great length, and very nearly +resembling the one delivered in the canoes, with the exception that +the Anamoo-moos! were now somewhat more strenuously insisted upon +than the Lama-Lamas! We listened in profound silence until the +conclusion of this harangue, when Captain Guy replied by assuring +the chief of his eternal friendship and goodwill, concluding what he +had to say be a present of several strings of blue beads and a +knife. At the former the monarch, much to our surprise, turned up +his nose with some expression of contempt, but the knife gave him +the most unlimited satisfaction, and he immediately ordered dinner. +This was handed into the tent over the heads of the attendants, and +consisted of the palpitating entrails of a specials of unknown animal, +probably one of the slim-legged hogs which we had observed in our +approach to the village. Seeing us at a loss how to proceed, he began, +by way of setting us an example, to devour yard after yard of the +enticing food, until we could positively stand it no longer, and +evinced such manifest symptoms of rebellion of stomach as inspired his +majesty with a degree of astonishment only inferior to that brought +about by the looking-glasses. We declined, however, partaking of the +delicacies before us, and endeavoured to make him understand that we +had no appetite whatever, having just finished a hearty dejeuner. + + When the monarch had made an end of his meal, we commenced a +series of cross-questioning in every ingenious manner we could devise, +with a view of discovering what were the chief productions of the +country, and whether any of them might be turned to profit. At +length he seemed to have some idea of our meaning, and offered to +accompany us to a part of coast where he assured us the biche de mer +(pointing to a specimen of that animal) was to be found in great +abundance. We were glad of this early opportunity of escaping from the +oppression of the crowd, and signified our eagerness to proceed. We +now left the tent, and, accompanied by the whole population of the +village, followed the chief to the southeastern extremity of the +island, nor far from the bay where our vessel lay at anchor. We waited +here for about an hour, until the four canoes were brought around by +some of the savages to our station. the whole of our party then +getting into one of them, we were paddled along the edge of the reef +before mentioned, and of another still farther out, where we saw a far +greater quantity of biche de mer than the oldest seamen among us had +ever seen in those groups of the lower latitudes most celebrated for +this article of commerce. We stayed near these reefs only long +enough to satisfy ourselves that we could easily load a dozen +vessels with the animal if necessary, when we were taken alongside the +schooner, and parted with Too-wit, after obtaining from him a +promise that he would bring us, in the course of twenty-four hours, as +many of the canvass-back ducks and Gallipago tortoises as his canoes +would hold. In the whole of this adventure we saw nothing in the +demeanour of the natives calculated to create suspicion, with the +single exception of the systematic manner in which their party was +strengthened during our route from the schooner to the village. + + CHAPTER XX + + The chief was as good as his word, and we were soon plentifully +sup. plied with fresh provisions. We found the tortoises as fine as we +had ever seen, and the ducks surpassed our best species of wild +fowl, being exceedingly tender, juicy, and well-flavoured. Besides +these, the savages brought us, upon our making them comprehend our +wishes, a vast quantity of brown celery and scurvy grass, with a +canoe-load of fresh fish and some dried. The celery was a treat +indeed, and the scurvy grass proved of incalculable benefit in +restoring those of our men who had shown symptoms of disease. In a +very short time we had not a single person on the sick-list. We had +also plenty of other kinds of fresh provisions, among which may be +mentioned a species of shellfish resembling the mussel in shape, but +with the taste of an oyster. Shrimps, too, and prawns were abundant, +and albatross and other birds' eggs with dark shells. We took in, too, +a plentiful stock of the flesh of the hog which I have mentioned +before. Most of the men found it a palpatable food, but I thought it +fishy and otherwise disagreeable. In return for these good things we +presented the natives with blue beads, brass trinkets, nails, +knives, and pieces of red cloth, they being fully delighted in the +exchange. We established a regular market on shore, just under the +guns of the schooner, where our barterings were carried on with +every appearance of good faith, and a degree of order which their +conduct at the village of Klock-klock had not led us to expect from +the savages. + + Matters went on thus very amicably for several days, during +which parties of the natives were frequently on board the schooner, +and parties of our men frequently on shore, making long excursions +into the interior, and receiving no molestation whatever. Finding +the ease with which the vessel might be loaded with biche de mer, +owing to the friendly disposition of the islanders, and the +readiness with which they would render us assistance in collecting it, +Captain Guy resolved to enter into negotiations with Too-wit for the +erection of suitable houses in which to cure the article, and for +the services of himself and tribe in gathering as much as possible, +while he himself took advantage of the fine weather to prosecute his +voyage to the southward. Upon mentioning this project to the chief +he seemed very willing to enter into an agreement. A bargain was +accordingly struck, perfectly satisfactory to both parties, by which +it was arranged that, after making the necessary preparations, such as +laying off the proper grounds, erecting a portion of the buildings, +and doing some other work in which the whole of our crew would be +required, the schooner should proceed on her route, leaving three of +her men on the island to superintend the fulfilment of the project, +and instruct the natives in drying the biche de mer. In regard to +terms, these were made to depend upon the exertions of the savages +in our absence. They were to receive a stipulated quantity of blue +beads, knives, red cloth, and so forth, for every certain number of +piculs of the biche de mer which should be ready on our return. + + A description of the nature of this important article of commerce, +and the method of preparing it, may prove of some interest to my +readers, and I can find no more suitable place than this for +introducing an account of it. The following comprehensive notice of +the substance is taken from a modern history of a voyage to the +South Seas. + + "It is that mollusca from the Indian Seas which is known to +commerce by the French name bouche de mer (a nice morsel from the +sea). If I am not much mistaken, the celebrated Cuvier calls it +gasteropeda pulmonifera. It is abundantly gathered in the coasts of +the Pacific islands, and gathered especially for the Chinese market, +where it commands a great price, perhaps as much as their +much-talked-of edible birds' nests, which are properly made up of +the gelatinous matter picked up by a species of swallow from the +body of these molluscae. They have no shell, no legs, nor any +prominent part, except an absorbing and an excretory, opposite organs; +but, by their elastic wings, like caterpillars or worms, they creep in +shallow waters, in which, when low, they can be seen by a kind of +swallow, the sharp bill of which, inserted in the soft animal, draws a +gummy and filamentous substance, which, by drying, can be wrought into +the solid walls of their nest. Hence the name of gasteropeda +pulmonifera. + + "This mollusca is oblong, and of different sizes, from three to +eighteen inches in length; and I have seen a few that were not less +than two feet long. They were nearly round, a little flattish on one +side, which lies next to the bottom of the sea; and they are from +one to eight inches thick. They crawl up into shallow water at +particular seasons of the year, probably for the purpose of gendering, +as we often find them in pairs. It is when the sun has the most +power on the water, rendering it tepid, that they approach the +shore; and they often go up into places so shallow that, on the tide's +receding, they are left dry, exposed to the beat of the sun. But +they do not bring forth their young in shallow water, as we never +see any of their progeny, and full-grown ones are always observed +coming in from deep water. They feed principally on that class of +zoophytes which produce the coral. + + "The biche de mer is generally taken in three or four feet of +water; after which they are brought on shore, and split at one end +with a knife, the incision being one inch or more, according to the +size of the mollusca. Through this opening the entrails are forced out +by pressure, and they are much like those of any other small tenant of +the deep. The article is then washed, and afterward boiled to a +certain degree, which must not be too much or too little. They are +then buried in the ground for four hours, then boiled again for a +short time, after which they are dried, either by the fire or the sun. +Those cured by the sun are worth the most; but where one picul +(133 1/3 lbs.) can be cured that way, I can cure thirty piculs by the +fire. When once properly cured, they can be kept in a dry place for +two or three years without any risk; but they should be examined +once in every few months, say four times a year, to see if any +dampness is likely to affect them. + + "The Chinese, as before stated, consider biche de mer a very great +luxury, believing that it wonderfully strengthens and nourishes the +system, and renews the exhausted system of the immoderate +voluptuary. The first quality commands a high price in Canton, being +worth ninety dollars a picul; the second quality, seventy-five +dollars; the third, fifty dollars; the fourth, thirty dollars; the +fifth, twenty dollars; the sixth, twelve dollars; the seventh, eight +dollars; and the eighth, four dollars; small cargoes, however, will +often bring more in Manilla, Singapore, and Batavia." + + An agreement having been thus entered into, we proceeded +immediately to land everything necessary for preparing the buildings +and clearing the ground. A large flat space near the eastern shore +of the bay was selected, where there was plenty of both wood and +water, and within a convenient distance of the principal reefs on +which the biche de mer was to be procured. We now all set to work in +good earnest, and soon, to the great astonishment of the savages, +had felled a sufficient number of trees for our purpose, getting +them quickly in order for the framework of the houses, which in two or +three days were so far under way that we could safely trust the rest +of the work to the three men whom we intended to leave behind. These +I believe), who volunteered their services in this respect. + + By the last of the month we had everything in readiness for +departure. We had agreed, however, to pay a formal visit of +leave-taking to the village, and Too-wit insisted so pertinaciously +upon our keeping the promise that we did not think it advisable to run +the risk of offending him by a final refusal. I believe that not one +of us had at this time the slightest suspicion of the good faith of +the savages. They had uniformly behaved with the greatest decorum, +aiding us with alacrity in our work, offering us their commodities, +frequently without price, and never, in any instance, pilfering a +single article, although the high value they set upon the goods we had +with us was evident by the extravagant demonstrations of joy always +manifested upon our making them a present. The women especially were +most obliging in every respect, and, upon the whole, we should have +been the most suspicious of human beings had we entertained a single +thought of perfidy on the part of a people who treated us so well. A +very short while sufficed to prove that this apparent kindness of +disposition was only the result of a deeply laid plan for our +destruction, and that the islanders for whom we entertained such +inordinate feelings of esteem, were among the most barbarous, +subtle, and bloodthirsty wretches that ever contaminated the face of +the globe. + + It was on the first of February that we went on shore for the +purpose of visiting the village. Although, as said before, we +entertained not the slightest suspicion, still no proper precaution +was neglected. Six men were left in the schooner, with instructions to +permit none of the savages to approach the vessel during our +absence, under any pretence whatever, and to remain constantly on +deck. The boarding-nettings were up, the guns double-shotted with +grape and canister, and the swivels loaded with canisters of +musket-balls. She lay, with her anchor apeak, about a mile from the +shore, and no canoe could approach her in any direction without +being distinctly seen and exposed to the full fire of our swivels +immediately. + + The six men being left on board, our shore-party consisted of +thirty. two persons in all. We were armed to the teeth, having with us +muskets, pistols, and cutlasses; besides, each had a long kind of +seaman's knife, somewhat resembling the bowie knife now so much used +throughout our western and southern country. A hundred of the black +skin warriors met us at the landing for the purpose of accompanying us +on our way. We noticed, however, with some surprise, that they were +now entirely without arms; and, upon questioning Too-wit in relation +to this circumstance, he merely answered that Mattee non we pa pa +si- meaning that there was no need of arms where all were brothers. +We took this in good part, and proceeded. + + We had passed the spring and rivulet of which I before spoke, +and were now entering upon a narrow gorge leading through the chain of +soapstone hills among which the village was situated. This gorge was +very rocky and uneven, so much so that it was with no little +difficulty we scrambled through it on our first visit to +Klock-klock. The whole length of the ravine might have been a mile and +a half, or probably two miles. It wound in every possible direction +through the hills (having apparently formed, at some remote period, +the bed of a torrent), in no instance proceeding more than twenty +yards without an abrupt turn. The sides of this dell would have +averaged, I am sure, seventy or eighty feet in perpendicular +altitude throughout the whole of their extent, and in some portions +they arose to an astonishing height, overshadowing the pass so +completely that but little of the light of day could penetrate. The +general width was about forty feet, and occasionally it diminished +so as not to allow the passage of more than five or six persons +abreast. In short, there could be no place in the world better adapted +for the consummation of an ambuscade, and it was no more than +natural that we should look carefully to our arms as we entered upon +it. When I now think of our egregious folly, the chief subject of +astonishment seems to be, that we should have ever ventured, under any +circumstances, so completely into the power of unknown savages as to +permit them to march both before and behind us in our progress through +this ravine. Yet such was the order we blindly took up, trusting +foolishly to the force of our party, the unarmed condition of +Too-wit and his men, the certain efficacy of our firearms (whose +effect was yet a secret to the natives), and, more than all, to the +long-sustained pretension of friendship kept up by these infamous +wretches. Five or six of them went on before, as if to lead the way, +ostentatiously busying themselves in removing the larger stones and +rubbish from the path. Next came our own party. We walked closely +together, taking care only to prevent separation. Behind followed +the main body of the savages, observing unusual order and decorum. + + Dirk Peters, a man named Wilson Allen, and myself were on the +right of our companions, examining, as we went along, the singular +stratification of the precipice which overhung us. A fissure in the +soft rock attracted our attention. It was about wide enough for one +person to enter without squeezing, and extended back into the hill +some eighteen or twenty feet in a straight course, sloping afterward +to the left. The height of the opening, is far as we could see into it +from the main gorge, was perhaps sixty or seventy feet. There were one +or two stunted shrubs growing from the crevices, bearing a species +of filbert which I felt some curiosity to examine, and pushed in +briskly for that purpose, gathering five or six of the nuts at a +grasp, and then hastily retreating. As I turned, I found that Peters +and Allen had followed me. I desired them to go back, as there was not +room for two persons to pass, saying they should have some of my nuts. +They accordingly turned, and were scrambling back, Allen being close +to the mouth of the fissure, when I was suddenly aware of a concussion +resembling nothing I had ever before experienced, and which +impressed me with a vague conception, if indeed I then thought of +anything, that the whole foundations of the solid globe were +suddenly rent asunder, and that the day of universal dissolution was +at hand. + + CHAPTER XXI + + As soon as I could collect my scattered senses, I found myself +nearly suffocated, and grovelling in utter darkness among a quantity +of loose earth, which was also falling upon me heavily in every +direction, threatening to bury me entirely. Horribly alarmed at this +idea, I struggled to gain my feet, and at last succeeded. I then +remained motionless for some moments, endeavouring to conceive what +had happened to me, and where I was. Presently I heard a deep groan +just at my ear, and afterward the smothered voice of Peters calling to +me for aid in the name of God. I scrambled one or two paces forward, +when I fell directly over the head and shoulders of my companion, who, +I soon discovered, was buried in a loose mass of earth as far as his +middle, and struggling desperately to free himself from the +pressure. I tore the dirt from around him with all the energy I +could command, and at length succeeded in getting him out. + + As soon as we sufficiently recovered from our fright and +surprise to be capable of conversing rationally, we both came to the +conclusion that the walls of the fissure in which we had ventured had, +by some convulsion of nature, or probably from their own weight, caved +in overhead, and that we were consequently lost for ever, being thus +entombed alive. For a long time we gave up supinely to the most +intense agony and despair, such as cannot be adequately imagined by +those who have never been in a similar position. I firmly believed +that no incident ever occurring in the course of human events is +more adapted to inspire the supremeness of mental and bodily +distress than a case like our own, of living inhumation. The blackness +of darkness which envelops the victim, the terrific oppression of +lungs, the stifling fumes from the damp earth, unite with the +ghastly considerations that we are beyond the remotest confines of +hope, and that such is the allotted portion of the dead, to carry into +the human heart a degree of appalling awe and horror not to be +tolerated- never to be conceived. + + At length Peters proposed that we should endeavour to ascertain +precisely the extent of our calamity, and grope about our prison; it +being barely possible, he observed, that some opening might yet be +left us for escape. I caught eagerly at this hope, and, arousing +myself to exertion, attempted to force my way through the loose earth. +Hardly had I advanced a single step before a glimmer of light became +perceptible, enough to convince me that, at all events, we should +not immediately perish for want of air. We now took some degree of +heart, and encouraged each other to hope for the best. Having +scrambled over a bank of rubbish which impeded our farther progress in +the direction of the light, we found less difficulty in advancing +and also experienced some relief from the excessive oppression of +lungs which had tormented us. Presently we were enabled to obtain a +glimpse of the objects around, and discovered that we were near the +extremity of the straight portion of the fissure, where it made a turn +to the left. A few struggles more, and we reached the bend, when to +our inexpressible joy, there appeared a long seam or crack extending +upward a vast distance, generally at an angle of about forty-five +degrees, although sometimes much more precipitous. We could not see +through the whole extent of this opening; but, as a good deal of light +came down it, we had little doubt of finding at the top of it (if we +could by any means reach the top) a clear passage into the open air. + + I now called to mind that three of us had entered the fissure from +the main gorge, and that our companion, Allen, was still missing; we +determined at once to retrace our steps and look for him. After a long +search, and much danger from the farther caving in of the earth +above us, Peters at length cried out to me that he had hold of our +companion's foot, and that his whole body was deeply buried beneath +the rubbish beyond the possibility of extricating him. I soon found +that what he said was too true, and that, of course, life had been +long extinct. With sorrowful hearts, therefore, we left the corpse +to its fate, and again made our way to the bend. + + The breadth of the seam was barely sufficient to admit us, and, +after one or two ineffectual efforts at getting up, we began once more +to despair. I have before said that the chain of hills through which +ran the main gorge was composed of a species of soft rock resembling +soap. stone. The sides of the cleft we were now attempting to ascend +were of the same material, and so excessively slippery, being wet, +that we could get but little foothold upon them even in their least +precipitous parts; in some places, where the ascent was nearly +perpendicular, the difficulty was, of course, much aggravated; and, +indeed, for some time we thought insurmountable. We took courage, +however, from despair, and what, by dint of cutting steps in the +soft stone with our bowie knives, and swinging at the risk of our +lives, to small projecting points of a harder species of slaty rock +which now and then protruded from the general mass, we at length +reached a natural platform, from which was perceptible a patch of blue +sky, at the extremity of a thickly-wooded ravine. Looking back now, +with somewhat more leisure, at the passage through which we had thus +far proceeded, we clearly saw from the appearance of its sides, that +it was of late formation, and we concluded that the concussion, +whatever it was, which had so unexpectedly overwhelmed us, had also, +at the same moment, laid open this path for escape. Being quite +exhausted with exertion, and indeed, so weak that we were scarcely +able to stand or articulate, Peters now proposed that we should +endeavour to bring our companions to the rescue by firing the +pistols which still remained in our girdles- the muskets as well as +cutlasses had been lost among the loose earth at the bottom of the +chasm. Subsequent events proved that, had we fired, we should have +sorely repented it, but luckily a half suspicion of foul play had by +this time arisen in my mind, and we forbore to let the savages know of +our whereabouts. + + After having reposed for about an hour, we pushed on slowly up the +ravine, and had gone no great way before we heard a succession of +tremendous yells. At length we reached what might be called the +surface of the ground; for our path hitherto, since leaving the +platform, had lain beneath an archway of high rock and foliage, at a +vast distance overhead. With great caution we stole to a narrow +opening, through which we had a clear sight of the surrounding +country, when the whole dreadful secret of the concussion broke upon +us in one moment and at one view. + + The spot from which we looked was not far from the summit of the +highest peak in the range of the soapstone hills. The gorge in which +our party of thirty-two had entered ran within fifty feet to the +left of us. But, for at least one hundred yards, the channel or bed of +this gorge was entirely filled up with the chaotic ruins of more +than a million tons of earth and stone that had been artificially +tumbled within it. The means by which the vast mass had been +precipitated were not more simple than evident, for sure traces of the +murderous work were yet remaining. In several spots along the top of +the eastern side of the gorge (we were now on the western) might be +seen stakes of wood driven into the earth. In these spots the earth +had not given way, but throughout the whole extent of the face of +the precipice from which the mass had fallen, it was clear, from marks +left in the soil resembling those made by the drill of the rock +blaster, that stakes similar to those we saw standing had been +inserted, at not more than a yard apart, for the length of perhaps +three hundred feet, and ranging at about ten feet back from the edge +of the gulf. Strong cords of grape vine were attached to the stakes +still remaining on the hill, and it was evident that such cords had +also been attached to each of the other stakes. I have already +spoken of the singular stratification of these soapstone hills; and +the description just given of the narrow and deep fissure through +which we effected our escape from inhumation will afford a further +conception of its nature. This was such that almost every natural +convulsion would be sure to split the soil into perpendicular layers +or ridges running parallel with one another, and a very moderate +exertion of art would be sufficient for effecting the same purpose. Of +this stratification the savages had availed themselves to accomplish +their treacherous ends. There can be no doubt that, by the +continuous line of stakes, a partial rupture of the soil had been +brought about probably to the depth of one or two feet, when by +means of a savage pulling at the end of each of the cords (these cords +being attached to the tops of the stakes, and extending back from +the edge of the cliff), a vast leverage power was obtained, capable of +hurling the whole face of the hill, upon a given signal, into the +bosom of the abyss below. The fate of our poor companions was no +longer a matter of uncertainty. We alone had escaped from the +tempest of that overwhelming destruction. We were the only living +white men upon the island. + + CHAPTER XXII + + Our situation, as it now appeared, was scarcely less dreadful than +when we had conceived ourselves entombed forever. We saw before us +no prospect but that of being put to death by the savages, or of +dragging out a miserable existence in captivity among them. We +might, to be sure, conceal ourselves for a time from their observation +among the fastnesses of the hills, and, as a final resort, in the +chasm from which we had just issued; but we must either perish in +the long polar winter through cold and famine, or be ultimately +discovered in our efforts to obtain relief. + + The whole country around us seemed to be swarming with savages, +crowds of whom, we now perceived, had come over from the islands to +the southward on flat rafts, doubtless with a view of lending their +aid in the capture and plunder of the Jane. The vessel still lay +calmly at anchor in the bay, those on board being apparently quite +unconscious of any danger awaiting them. How we longed at that +moment to be with them! either to aid in effecting their escape, or to +perish with them in attempting a defence. We saw no chance even of +warning them of their danger without bringing immediate destruction +upon our own heads, with but a remote hope of benefit to them. A +pistol fired might suffice to apprise them that something wrong had +occurred; but the report could not possibly inform them that their +only prospect of safety lay in getting out of the harbour +forthwith- nor tell them no principles of honour now bound them to +remain, that their companions were no longer among the living. Upon +hearing the discharge they could not be more thoroughly prepared to +meet the foe, who were now getting ready to attack, than they +already were, and always had been. No good, therefore, and infinite +harm, would result from our firing, and after mature deliberation, +we forbore. + + Our next thought was to attempt to rush toward the vessel, to +seize one of the four canoes which lay at the head of the bay, and +endeavour to force a passage on board. But the utter impossibility +of succeeding in this desperate task soon became evident. The country, +as I said before, was literally swarming with the natives, skulking +among the bushes and recesses of the hills, so as not to be observed +from the schooner. In our immediate vicinity especially, and +blockading the sole path by which we could hope to attain the shore at +the proper point were stationed the whole party of the black skin +warriors, with Too-wit at their head, and apparently only waiting +for some re-enforcement to commence his onset upon the Jane. The +canoes, too, which lay at the head of the bay, were manned with +savages, unarmed, it is true, but who undoubtedly had arms within +reach. We were forced, therefore, however unwillingly, to remain in +our place of concealment, mere spectators of the conflict which +presently ensued. + + In about half an hour we saw some sixty or seventy rafts, or +flatboats, with outriggers, filled with savages, and coming round +the southern bight of the harbor. They appeared to have no arms except +short clubs, and stones which lay in the bottom of the rafts. +Immediately afterward another detachment, still larger, appeared in an +opposite direction, and with similar weapons. The four canoes, too, +were now quickly filled with natives, starting up from the bushes at +the head of the bay, and put off swiftly to join the other parties. +Thus, in less time than I have taken to tell it, and as if by magic, +the Jane saw herself surrounded by an immense multitude of desperadoes +evidently bent upon capturing her at all hazards. + + That they would succeed in so doing could not be doubted for an +instant. The six men left in the vessel, however resolutely they might +engage in her defence, were altogether unequal to the proper +management of the guns, or in any manner to sustain a contest at +such odds. I could hardly imagine that they would make resistance at +all, but in this was deceived; for presently I saw them get springs +upon the cable, and bring the vessel's starboard broadside to bear +upon the canoes, which by this time were within pistol range, the +rafts being nearly a quarter of a mile to windward. Owing to some +cause unknown, but most probably to the agitation of our poor +friends at seeing themselves in so hopeless a situation, the discharge +was an entire failure. Not a canoe was hit or a single savage injured, +the shots striking short and ricocheting over their heads. The only +effect produced upon them was astonishment at the unexpected report +and smoke, which was so excessive that for some moments I almost +thought they would abandon their design entirely, and return to the +shore. And this they would most likely have done had our men +followed up their broadside by a discharge of small arms, in which, as +the canoes were now so near at hand, they could not have failed in +doing some execution, sufficient, at least, to deter this party from a +farther advance, until they could have given the rafts also a +broadside. But, in place of this, they left the canoe party to recover +from their panic, and, by looking about them, to see that no injury +had been sustained, while they flew to the larboard to get ready for +the rafts. + + The discharge to larboard produced the most terrible effect. The +star and double-headed shot of the large guns cut seven or eight of +the rafts completely asunder, and killed, perhaps, thirty or forty +of the savages outright, while a hundred of them, at least, were +thrown into the water, the most of them dreadfully wounded. The +remainder, frightened out of their senses, commenced at once a +precipitate retreat, not even waiting to pick up their maimed +companions, who were swimming about in every direction, screaming +and yelling for aid. This great success, however, came too late for +the salvation of our devoted people. The canoe party were already on +board the schooner to the number of more than a hundred and fifty, the +most of them having succeeded in scrambling up the chains and over the +boarding-netting even before the matches had been applied to the +larboard guns. Nothing now could withstand their brute rage. Our men +were borne down at once, overwhelmed, trodden under foot, and +absolutely torn to pieces in an instant. + + Seeing this, the savages on the rafts got the better of their +fears, and came up in shoals to the plunder. In five minutes the +Jane was a pitiable scene indeed of havoc and tumultuous outrage. +The decks were split open and ripped up; the cordage, sails, and +everything movable on deck demolished as if by magic, while, by dint +of pushing at the stern, towing with the canoes, and hauling at the +sides, as they swam in thousands around the vessel, the wretches +finally forced her on shore (the cable having been slipped), and +delivered her over to the good offices of Too-wit, who, during the +whole of the engagement, had maintained, like a skilful general, his +post of security and reconnaissance among the hills, but, now that the +victory was completed to his satisfaction, condescended to scamper +down with his warriors of the black skin, and become a partaker in the +spoils. + + Too-wit's descent left us at liberty to quit our hiding place +and reconnoitre the hill in the vicinity of the chasm. At about +fifty yards from the mouth of it we saw a small spring of water, at +which we slaked the burning thirst that now consumed us. Not far +from the spring we discovered several of the filbert-bushes which I +mentioned before. Upon tasting the nuts we found them palatable, and +very nearly resembling in flavour the common English filbert. We +collected our hats full immediately, deposited them within the ravine, +and returned for more. While we were busily employed in gathering +these, a rustling in the bushes alarmed us, and we were upon the point +of stealing back to our covert, when a large black bird of the bittern +species strugglingly and slowly arose above the shrubs. I was so +much startled that I could do nothing, but Peters had sufficient +presence of mind to run up to it before it could make its escape, +and seize it by the neck. Its struggles and screams were tremendous, +and we had thoughts of letting it go, lest the noise should alarm some +of the savages who might be still lurking in the neighbourhood. A stab +with a bowie knife, however, at length brought it to the ground, and +we dragged it into the ravine, congratulating ourselves that, at all +events, we had thus obtained a supply of food enough to last us for +a week. + + We now went out again to look about us, and ventured a +considerable distance down the southern declivity of the hill, but met +with nothing else which could serve us for food. We therefore +collected a quantity of dry wood and returned, seeing one or two large +parties of the natives on their way to the village, laden with the +plunder of the vessel, and who, we were apprehensive, might discover +us in passing beneath the hill. + + Our next care was to render our place of concealment as secure +as possible, and with this object, we arranged some brushwood over the +aperture which I have before spoken of as the one through which we saw +the patch of blue sky, on reaching the platform from the interior of +the chasm. We left only a very small opening just wide enough to admit +of our seeing the, bay, without the risk of being discovered from +below. Having done this, we congratulated ourselves upon the +security of the position; for we were now completely excluded from +observation, as long as we chose to remain within the ravine itself, +and not venture out upon the hill, We could perceive no traces of +the savages having ever been within this hollow; but, indeed, when +we came to reflect upon the probability that the fissure through which +we attained it had been only just now created by the fall of the cliff +opposite, and that no other way of attaining it could be perceived, we +were not so much rejoiced at the thought of being secure from +molestation as fearful lest there should be absolutely no means left +us for descent. We resolved to explore the summit of the hill +thoroughly, when a good opportunity should offer. In the meantime we +watched the motions of the savages through our loophole. + + They had already made a complete wreck of the vessel, and were now +preparing to set her on fire. In a little while we saw the smoke +ascending in huge volumes from her main hatchway, and, shortly +afterward, a dense mass of flame burst up from the forecastle. The +rigging, masts and what remained of the sails caught immediately, +and the fire spread rapidly along the decks. Still a great many of the +savages retained their stations about her, hammering with large +stones, axes, and cannon balls at the bolts and other iron and +copper work. On the beach, and in canoes and rafts, there were not +less, altogether, in the immediate vicinity of the schooner, than +ten thousand natives, besides the shoals of them who, laden with +booty, were making their way inland and over to the neighbouring +islands. We now anticipated a catastrophe, and were not +disappointed. First of all there came a smart shock (which we felt +as distinctly where we were as if we had been slightly galvanized), +but unattended with any visible signs of an explosion. The savages +were evidently startled, and paused for an instant from their +labours and yellings. They were upon the point of recommencing, when +suddenly a mass of smoke puffed up from the decks, resembling a +black and heavy thundercloud- then, as if from its bowels, arose a +tall stream of vivid fire to the height, apparently, of a quarter of a +mile- then there came a sudden circular expansion of the flame- then +the whole atmosphere was magically crowded, in a single instant, with +a wild chaos of wood, and metal, and human limbs-and, lastly, came the +concussion in its fullest fury, which hurled us impetuously from our +feet, while the hills echoed and re-echoed the tumult, and a dense +shower of the minutest fragments of the ruins tumbled headlong in +every direction around us. + + The havoc among the savages far exceeded our utmost expectation, +and they had now, indeed, reaped the full and perfect fruits of +their treachery. Perhaps a thousand perished by the explosion, while +at least an equal number were desperately mangled. The whole surface +of the bay was literally strewn with the struggling and drowning +wretches, and on shore matters were even worse. They seemed utterly +appalled by the suddenness and completeness of their discomfiture, and +made no efforts at assisting one another. At length we observed a +total change in their demeanour. From absolute stupor, they appeared +to be, all at once, aroused to the highest pitch of excitement, and +rushed wildly about, going to and from a certain point on the beach, +with the strangest expressions of mingled horror, rage, and intense +curiosity depicted on their countenances, and shouting, at the top +of their voices, "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!" + + Presently we saw a large body go off into the hills, whence they +returned in a short time, carrying stakes of wood. These they +brought to the station where the crowd was the thickest, which now +separated so as to afford us a view of the object of all this +excitement. We perceived something white lying upon the ground, but +could not immediately make out what it was. At length we saw that it +was the carcass of the strange animal with the scarlet teeth and claws +which the schooner had picked up at sea on the eighteenth of +January. Captain Guy had had the body preserved for the purpose of +stuffing the skin and taking it to England. I remember he had given +some directions about it just before our making the island, and it had +been brought into the cabin and stowed away in one of the lockers. +It had now been thrown on shore by the explosion; but why it had +occasioned so much concern among the savages was more than we could +comprehend. Although they crowded around the carcass at a little +distance, none of them seemed willing to approach it closely. +By-and-by the men with the stakes drove them in a circle around it, +and no sooner was this arrangement completed, than the whole of the +vast assemblage rushed into the interior of the island, with loud +screams of "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!" + + CHAPTER XXIII + + During the six or seven days immediately following we remained +in our hiding-place upon the hill, going out only occasionally, and +then with the greatest precaution, for water and filberts. We had made +a kind of penthouse on the platform, furnishing it with a bed of dry +leaves, and placing in it three large flat stones, which served us for +both fireplace and table. We kindled a fire without difficulty by +rubbing two pieces of dry wood together, the one soft, the other hard. +The bird we had taken in such good season proved excellent eating, +although somewhat tough. It was not an oceanic fowl, but a species +of bittern, with jet black and grizzly plumage, and diminutive wings +in proportion to its bulk. We afterward saw three of the same kind +in the vicinity of the ravine, apparently seeking for the one we had +captured; but, as they never alighted, we had no opportunity of +catching them. + + As long as this fowl lasted we suffered nothing from our +situation, but it was now entirely consumed, and it became +absolutely necessary that we should look out for provision. The +filberts would not satisfy the cravings of hunger, afflicting us, too, +with severe gripings of the bowels, and, if freely indulged in, with +violent headache. We had seen several large tortoises near the +seashore to the eastward of the hill, and perceived they might be +easily taken, if we could get at them without the observation of the +natives. It was resolved, therefore, to make an attempt at descending. + + We commenced by going down the southern declivity, which seemed to +offer the fewest difficulties, but had not proceeded a hundred yards +before (as we had anticipated from appearances on the hilltop) our +progress was entirely arrested by a branch of the gorge in which our +companions had perished. We now passed along the edge of this for +about a quarter of a mile, when we were again stopped by a precipice +of immense depth, and, not being able to make our way along the +brink of it, we were forced to retrace our steps by the main ravine. + + We now pushed over to the eastward, but with precisely similar +fortune. After an hour's scramble, at the risk of breaking our +necks, we discovered that we had merely descended into a vast pit of +black granite, with fine dust at the bottom, and whence the only +egress was by the rugged path in which we had come down. Toiling again +up this path, we now tried the northern edge of the hill. Here we were +obliged to use the greatest possible caution in our manoeuvres, as the +least indiscretion would expose us to the full view of the savages +in the village. We crawled along, therefore, on our hands and knees, +and, occasionally, were even forced to throw ourselves at full length, +dragging our bodies along by means of the shrubbery. In this careful +manner we had proceeded but a little way, when we arrived at a chasm +far deeper than any we had yet seen, and leading directly into the +main gorge. Thus our fears were fully confirmed, and we found +ourselves cut off entirely from access to the world below. +Thoroughly exhausted by our exertions, we made the best of our way +back to the platform, and throwing ourselves upon the bed of leaves, +slept sweetly and soundly for some hours. + + For several days after this fruitless search we were occupied in +exploring every part of the summit of the hill, in order to inform +ourselves of its actual resources. We found that it would afford us no +food, with the exception of the unwholesome filberts, and a rank +species of scurvy grass, which grew in a little patch of not more than +four rods square, and would be soon exhausted. On the fifteenth of +February, as near as I can remember, there was not a blade of this +left, and the nuts were growing scarce; our situation, therefore, +could hardly be more lamentable.* On the sixteenth we again went round +the walls of our prison, in hope of finding some avenue of escape; but +to no purpose. We also descended the chasm in which we had been +overwhelmed, with the faint expectation of discovering, through this +channel, some opening to the main ravine. Here, too, we were +disappointed, although we found and brought up with us a musket. + + * This day was rendered remarkable by our observing in the south +several huge wreaths of the grayish vapour I have spoken of. + + On the seventeenth we set out with the determination of +examining more thoroughly the chasm of black granite into which we had +made our way in the first search. We remembered that one of the +fissures in the sides of this pit had been but partially looked +into, and we were anxious to explore it, although with no +expectation of discovering here any opening. + + We found no great difficulty in reaching the bottom of the +hollow as before, and were now sufficiently calm to survey it with +some attention. It was, indeed, one of the most singular-looking +places imaginable, and we could scarcely bring ourselves to believe it +altogether the work of nature. The pit, from its eastern to its +western extremity, was about five hundred yards in length, when all +its windings were threaded; the distance from east to west in a +straight line not being more (I should suppose, having no means of +accurate examination) than forty or fifty yards. Upon first descending +into the chasm, that is to say, for a hundred feet downward from the +summit of the hill, the sides of the abyss bore little resemblance +to each other, and, apparently, had at no time been connected, the one +surface being of the soapstone, and the other of marl, granulated with +some metallic matter. The average breadth or interval between the +two cliffs was probably here sixty feet, but there seemed to be no +regularity of formation. Passing down, however, beyond the limit +spoken of, the interval rapidly contracted, and the sides began to run +parallel, although, for some distance farther, they were still +dissimilar in their material and form of surface. Upon arriving within +fifty feet of the bottom, a perfect regularity commenced. The sides +were now entirely uniform in substance, in colour, and in lateral +direction, the material being a very black and shining granite, and +the distance between the two sides, at all points facing each other, +exactly twenty yards. The precise formation of the chasm will be +best understood by means of a delineation taken upon the spot; for I +had luckily with me a pocketbook and pencil, which I preserved with +great care through a long series of subsequent adventure, and to which +I am indebted for memoranda of many subjects which would otherwise +have been crowded from my remembrance. + + This figure (see fig. 1) gives the general outlines of the +chasm, without the minor cavities in the sides, of which there were +several, each cavity having a corresponding protuberance opposite. The +bottom of the gulf was covered to the depth of three or four inches +with a powder almost impalpable, beneath which we found a continuation +of the black granite. To the right, at the lower extremity, will be +noticed the appearance of a small opening; this is the fissure alluded +to above, and to examine which more minutely than before was the +object of our second visit. We now pushed into it with vigor, +cutting away a quantity of brambles which impeded us, and removing a +vast heap of sharp flints somewhat resembling arrowheads in shape. +We were encouraged to persevere, however, by perceiving some little +light proceeding from the farther end. We at length squeezed our way +for about thirty feet, and found that the aperture was a low and +regularly formed arch, having a bottom of the same impalpable powder +as that in the main chasm. A strong light now broke upon us, and, +turning a short bend, we found ourselves in another lofty chamber, +similar to the one we had left in every respect but longitudinal form. +Its general figure is here given. (See fig. 2.) + + The total length of this chasm, commencing at the opening a and +proceeding round the curve b to the extremity d, is five hundred and +fifty yards. At c we discovered a small aperture similar to the one +through which we had issued from the other chasm, and this was +choked up in the same manner with brambles and a quantity of the white +arrowhead flints. We forced our way through it, finding it about forty +feet long, and emerged into a third chasm. This, too, was precisely +like the first, except in its longitudinal shape, which was thus. (See +fig. 3.) + + We found the entire length of the third chasm three hundred and +twenty yards. At the point a was an opening about six feet wide, and +extending fifteen feet into the rock, where it terminated in a bed +of marl, there being no other chasm beyond, as we had expected. We +were about leaving this fissure, into which very little light was +admitted, when Peters called my attention to a range of +singular-looking indentures in the surface of the marl forming the +termination of the cul-de-sac. With a very slight exertion of the +imagination, the left, or most northern of these indentures might have +been taken for the intentional, although rude, representation of a +human figure standing erect, with outstretched arm. The rest of them +bore also some little resemblance to alphabetical characters, and +Peters was willing, at all events, to adopt the idle opinion that they +were really such. I convinced him of his error, finally, by +directing his attention to the floor of the fissure, where, among +the powder, we picked up, piece by piece, several large flakes of +the marl, which had evidently been broken off by some convulsion +from the surface where the indentures were found, and which had +projecting points exactly fitting the indentures; thus proving them to +have been the work of nature. Fig. 4 presents an accurate copy of +the whole. + + After satisfying ourselves that these singular caverns afforded us +no means of escape from our prison, we made our way back, dejected and +dispirited, to the summit of the hill. Nothing worth mentioning +occurred during the next twenty-four hours, except that, in +examining the ground to the eastward of the third chasm, we found +two triangular holes of great depth, and also with black granite +sides. Into these holes we did not think it worth while to attempt +descending, as they had the appearance of mere natural wells, +without outlet. They were each about twenty yards in circumference, +and their shape, as well as relative position in regard to the third +chasm, is shown in figure 5. + + CHAPTER XXIV + + On the twentieth of the month, finding it altogether impossible to +subsist any longer upon the filberts, the use of which occasioned us +the most excruciating torment, we resolved to make a desperate attempt +at descending the southern declivity of the hill. The face of the +precipice was here of the softest species of soapstone, although +nearly perpendicular throughout its whole extent (a depth of a hundred +and fifty feet at the least), and in many places even overarching. +After long search we discovered a narrow ledge about twenty feet below +the brink of the gulf; upon this Peters contrived to leap, with what +assistance I could render him by means of our pocket-handkerchiefs +tied together. With somewhat more difficulty I also got down; and we +then saw the possibility of descending the whole way by the process in +which we had clambered up from the chasm when we had been buried by +the fall of the hill- that is, by cutting steps in the face of the +soapstone with our knives. The extreme hazard of the attempt can +scarcely be conceived; but, as there was no other resource, we +determined to undertake it. + + Upon the ledge where we stood there grew some filbert bushes; +and to one of these we made fast an end of our rope of +handkerchiefs. The other end being tied round Peters' waist, I lowered +him down over the edge of the precipice until the handkerchiefs were +stretched tight. He now proceeded to dig a deep hole in the +soapstone (as far in as eight or ten inches), sloping away the rock +above to the height of a foot, or thereabout, so as to allow of his +driving, with the butt of a pistol, a tolerably strong peg into the +levelled surface. I then drew him up for about four feet when he +made a hole similar to the one below, driving in a peg as before and +having thus a resting place for both feet and hands. I now +unfastened the handkerchiefs from the bush, throwing him the end, +which he tied to the peg in the uppermost hole, letting himself down +gently to a station about three feet lower than he had yet been- that +is, to the full extent of the handkerchiefs. Here he dug another hole, +and drove another peg. He then drew himself up, so as to rest his feet +in the hole just cut, taking hold with his hands upon the peg in the +one above. It was now necessary to untie the handkerchiefs from the +topmost peg, with the view of fastening them to the second; and here +he found that an error had been committed in cutting the holes at so +great a distance apart. However, after one or two unsuccessful and +dangerous attempts at reaching the knot (having to hold on with his +left hand while he laboured to undo the fastening with his right), +he at length cut the string, leaving six inches of it affixed to the +peg. Tying the handkerchiefs now to the second peg, he descended to +a station below the third, taking care not to go too far down. By +these means (means which I should never have conceived of myself, +and for which we were indebted altogether to Peters' ingenuity and +resolution) my companion finally succeeded, with the occasional aid of +projections in the cliff, in reaching the bottom without accident. + + It was some time before I could summon sufficient resolution to +follow him; but I did at length attempt it. Peters had taken off his +shirt before descending, and this, with my own, formed the rope +necessary for the adventure. After throwing down the musket found in +the chasm, I fastened this rope to the bushes, and let myself down +rapidly, striving, by the vigour of my movements, to banish the +trepidation which I could overcome in no other manner. This answered +sufficiently well for the first four or five steps; but presently I +found my imagination growing terribly excited by thoughts of the +vast depths yet to be descended, and the precarious nature of the pegs +and soapstone holes which were my only support. It was in vain I +endeavoured to banish these reflections, and to keep my eyes +steadily bent upon the flat surface of the cliff before me. The more +earnestly I struggled not to think, the more intensely vivid became my +conceptions, and the more horribly distinct. At length arrived that +crisis of fancy, so fearful in all similar cases, the crisis in +which we begin to anticipate the feelings with which we shall fall- +to picture to ourselves the sickness, and dizziness, and the last +struggle, and the half swoon, and the final bitterness of the +rushing and headlong descent. And now I found these fancies creating +their own realities, and all imagined horrors crowding upon me in +fact. I felt my knees strike violently together, while my fingers were +gradually but certainly relaxing their grasp. There was a ringing in +my ears, and I said, "This is my knell of death!" And now I was +consumed with the irrepressible desire of looking below. I could +not, I would not, confine my glances to the cliff; and, with a wild, +indefinable emotion, half of horror, half of a relieved oppression, +I threw my vision far down into the abyss. For one moment my fingers +clutched convulsively upon their hold, while, with the movement, the +faintest possible idea of ultimate escape wandered, like a shadow, +through my mind- in the next my whole soul was pervaded with a longing +to fall; a desire, a yearning, a passion utterly uncontrollable. I let +go at once my grasp upon the and, turning half round from the +precipice, remained tottering for an instant against its naked face. +But now there came a spinning of the brain; a shrill-sounding and +phantom voice screamed within my ears; a dusky, fiendish, and filmy +figure stood immediately beneath me; and, sighing, I sunk down with +a bursting heart, and plunged within its arms. + + I had swooned, and Peters had caught me as I fell. He had observed +my proceedings from his station at the bottom of the cliff; and +perceiving my imminent danger, had endeavoured to inspire me with +courage by every suggestion he could devise; although my confusion +of mind had been so great as to prevent my hearing what he said, or +being conscious that he had even spoken to me at all. At length, +seeing me totter, he hastened to ascend to my rescue, and arrived just +in time for my preservation. Had I fallen with my full weight, the +rope of linen would inevitably have snapped, and I should have been +precipitated into the abyss; as it was, he contrived to let me down +gently, so as to remain suspended without danger until animation +returned. This was in about fifteen minutes. On recovery, my +trepidation had entirely vanished; I felt a new being, and, with +some little further aid from my companion, reached the bottom also +in safety. + + We now found ourselves not far from the ravine which had proved +the tomb of our friends, and to the southward of the spot where the +hill had fallen. The place was one of singular wildness, and its +aspect brought to my mind the descriptions given by travellers of +those dreary regions marking the site of degraded Babylon. Not to +speak of the ruins of the disrupted cliff, which formed a chaotic +barrier in the vista to the northward, the surface of the ground in +every other direction was strewn with huge tumuli, apparently the +wreck of some gigantic structures of art; although, in detail, no +semblance of art could be detected. Scoria were abundant, and large +shapeless blocks of the black granite, intermingled with others of +marl,* and both granulated with metal. Of vegetation there were no +traces whatsoever throughout the whole of the desolate area within +sight. Several immense scorpions were seen, and various reptiles not +elsewhere to be found in the high latitudes. + + * The marl was also black; indeed, we noticed no light-coloured +substances of any kind upon the island. + + As food was our most immediate object, we resolved to make our way +to the seacoast, distant not more than half a mile, with a view of +catching turtle, several of which we had observed from our place of +concealment on the hill. We had proceeded some hundred yards, +threading our route cautiously between the huge rocks and tumuli, +when, upon turning a corner, five savages sprung upon us from a +small cavern, felling Peters to the ground with a blow from a club. As +he fell the whole party rushed upon him to secure their victim, +leaving me time to recover from my astonishment. I still had the +musket, but the barrel had received so much injury in being thrown +from the precipice that I cast it aside as useless, preferring to +trust my pistols, which had been carefully preserved in order. With +these I advanced upon the assailants, firing one after the other in +quick succession. Two savages fell, and one, who was in the act of +thrusting a spear into Peters, sprung to his feet without +accomplishing his purpose. My companion being thus released, we had no +further difficulty. He had his pistols also, but prudently declined +using them, confiding in his great personal strength, which far +exceeded that of any person I have ever known. Seizing a club from one +of the savages who had fallen, he dashed out the brains of the three +who remained, killing each instantaneously with a single blow of the +weapon, and leaving us completely masters of the field. + + So rapidly had these events passed, that we could scarcely believe +in their reality, and were standing over the bodies of the dead in a +species of stupid contemplation, when we were brought to +recollection by the sound of shouts in the distance. It was clear that +the savages had been alarmed by the firing, and that we had little +chance of avoiding discovery. To regain the cliff, it would be +necessary to proceed in the direction of the shouts; and even should +we succeed in arriving at its base, we should never be able to +ascend it without being seen. Our situation was one of the greatest +peril, and we were hesitating in which path to commence a flight, when +one of the savages whom I had shot, and supposed dead, sprang +briskly to his feet, and attempted to make his escape. We overtook +him, however, before he had advanced many paces, and were about to put +him to death, when Peters suggested that we might derive some +benefit from forcing him to accompany us in our attempt to escape. +We therefore dragged him with us, making him understand that we +would shoot him if he offered resistance. In a few minutes he was +perfectly submissive, and ran by our sides as we pushed in among the +rocks, making for the seashore. + + So far, the irregularities of the ground we had been traversing +hid the sea, except at intervals, from our sight, and, when we first +had it fairly in view, it was perhaps, two hundred yards distant. As +we emerged into the open beach we saw, to our great dismay, an immense +crowd of the natives pouring from the village, and from all visible +quarters of the island, making toward us with gesticulations of +extreme fury, and howling like wild beasts. We were upon the point +of turning upon our steps, and trying to secure a retreat among the +fastnesses of the rougher ground, when I discovered the bows of two +canoes projecting from behind a large rock which ran out into the +water. Toward these we now ran with all speed, and, reaching them, +found them unguarded, and without any other freight than three of +the large Gallipago turtles and the usual supply of paddles for +sixty rowers. We instantly took possession of one of them, and, +forcing our captive on board, pushed out to sea with an the strength +we could command. + + We had not made, however, more than fifty yards from the shore +before we became sufficiently calm to perceive the great oversight +of which we had been guilty in leaving the other canoe in the power of +the savages, who, by this time, were not more than twice as far from +the beach as ourselves, and were rapidly advancing to the pursuit. +No time was now to be lost. Our hope was, at best, a forlorn one, +but we had none other. It was very doubtful whether, with the utmost +exertion, we could get back in time to anticipate them in taking +possession of the canoe; but yet there was a chance that we could. +We might save ourselves if we succeeded, while not to make the attempt +was to resign ourselves to inevitable butchery. + + The canoe was modelled with the bow and stern alike, and, in place +of turning it round, we merely changed our position in paddling. As +soon as the savages perceived this they redoubled their yells, as well +as their speed, and approached with inconceivable rapidity. We pulled, +however, with all the energy of desperation, and arrived at the +contested point before more than one of the natives had attained it. +This man paid dearly for his superior agility, Peters shooting him +through the head with a pistol as he approached the shore. The +foremost among the rest of his party were probably some twenty or +thirty paces distant as we seized upon the canoe. We at first +endeavoured to pull her into the deep water, beyond the reach of the +savages, but, finding her too firmly aground, and there being no +time to spare, Peters, with one or two heavy strokes from the butt +of the musket, succeeded in dashing out a large portion of the bow and +of one side. We then pushed off. Two of the natives by this time had +got hold of our boat, obstinately refusing to let go, until we were +forced to despatch them with our knives. We were now clear off, and +making great way out to sea. The main body of the savages, upon +reaching the broken canoe, set up the most tremendous yell of rage and +disappointment conceivable. In truth, from every thing I could see +of these wretches, they appeared to be the most wicked, +hypocritical, vindictive, bloodthirsty, and altogether fiendish race +of men upon the face of the globe. It is clear we should have had no +mercy had we fallen into their hands. They made a mad attempt at +following us in the fractured canoe, but, finding it useless, again +vented their rage in a series of hideous vociferations, and rushed +up into the hills. + + We were thus relieved from immediate danger, but our situation was +still sufficiently gloomy. We knew that four canoes of the kind we had +were at one time in the possession of the savages, and were not +aware of the fact (afterward ascertained from our captive) that two of +these had been blown to pieces in the explosion of the Jane Guy. We +calculated, therefore, upon being yet pursued, as soon as our +enemies could get round to the bay (distant about three miles) where +the boats were usually laid up. Fearing this, we made every exertion +to leave the island behind us, and went rapidly through the water, +forcing the prisoner to take a paddle. In about half an hour, when +we had gained, probably, five or six miles to the southward, a large +fleet of the flat-bottomed canoes or rafts were seen to emerge from +the bay evidently with the design of pursuit. Presently they put back, +despairing to overtake us. + + CHAPTER XXV + + We now found ourselves in the wide and desolate Antarctic Ocean, +in a latitude exceeding eighty-four degrees, in a frail canoe, and +with no provision but the three turtles. The long polar winter, too, +could not be considered as far distant, and it became necessary that +we should deliberate well upon the course to be pursued. There were +six or seven islands in sight belonging to the same group, and distant +from each other about five or six leagues; but upon neither of these +had we any intention to venture. In coming from the northward in the +Jane Guy we had been gradually leaving behind us the severest +regions of ice- this, however little it may be in accordance with the +generally received notions respecting the Antarctic, was a fact +experience would not permit us to deny. To attempt, therefore, getting +back would be folly- especially at so late a period of the season. +Only one course seemed to be left open for hope. We resolved to steer +boldly to the southward, where there was at least a probability of +discovering lands, and more than a probability of finding a still +milder climate. + + So far we had found the Antarctic, like the Arctic Ocean, +peculiarly free from violent storms or immoderately rough water, but +our canoe was, at best, of frail structure, although large, and we set +busily to work with a view of rendering her as safe as the limited +means in our possession would admit. The body of the boat was of no +better material than bark- the bark of a tree unknown. The ribs +were of a tough osier, well adapted to the purpose for which it was +used. We had fifty feet room from stern to stern, from four to six +in breadth, and in depth throughout four feet and a half- the boats +thus differing vastly in shape from those of any other inhabitants +of the Southern Ocean with whom civilized nations are acquainted. We +never did believe them the workmanship of the ignorant islanders who +owned them; and some days after this period discovered, by questioning +our captive, that they were in fact made by the natives of a group +to the southwest of the country where we found them, having fallen +accidentally into the hands of our barbarians. What we could do for +the security of our boat was very little indeed. Several wide rents +were discovered near both ends, and these we contrived to patch up +with pieces of woollen jacket. With the help of the superfluous +paddles, of which there were a great many, we erected a kind of +framework about the bow, so as to break the force of any seas which +might threaten to fill us in that quarter. We also set up two paddle +blades for masts, placing them opposite each other, one by each +gunwale, thus saving the necessity of a yard. To these masts we +attached a sail made of our shirts- doing this with some difficulty, +as here we could get no assistance from our prisoner whatever, +although he had been willing enough to labour in all the other +operations. The sight of the linen seemed to affect him in a very +singular manner. He could not be prevailed upon to touch it or go near +it, shuddering when we attempted to force him, and shrieking out, +"Tekeli-li!" + + Having completed our arrangements in regard to the security of the +canoe, we now set sail to the south southeast for the present, with +the view of weathering the most southerly of the group in sight. +This being done, we turned the bow full to the southward. The +weather could by no means be considered disagreeable. We had a +prevailing and very gentle wind from the northward, a smooth sea, +and continual daylight. No ice whatever was to be seen; nor did I ever +see one particle of this after leaving the parallel of Bennet's Islet. +Indeed, the temperature of the water was here far too warm for its +existence in any quantity. Having killed the largest of our tortoises, +and obtained from him not only food but a copious supply of water, +we continued on our course, without any incident of moment, for +perhaps seven or eight days, during which period we must have +proceeded a vast distance to the southward, as the wind blew +constantly with us, and a very strong current set continually in the +direction we were pursuing. + + March 1.*- Many unusual phenomena now indicated that we were +entering upon a region of novelty and wonder. A high range of light +gray vapour appeared constantly in the southern horizon, flaring up +occasionally in lofty streaks, now darting from east to west, now from +west to east, and again presenting a level and uniform summit- in +short, having all the wild variations of the Aurora Borealis. The +average height of this vapour, as apparent from our station, was about +twenty-five degrees. The temperature of the sea seemed to be +increasing momentarily, and there was a very perceptible alteration in +its colour. + + * For obvious reasons I cannot pretend to strict accuracy in these +dates. They are given principally with a view to perspicuity of +narration, and as set down in my pencil memorandum. + + March 2.- To-day by repeated questioning of our captive, we came +to the knowledge of many particulars in regard to the island of the +massacre, its inhabitants, and customs- but with these how can I now +detain the reader? I may say, however, that we learned there were +eight islands in the group- that they were governed by a common king, +named Tsalemon or Psalemoun, who resided in one of the smallest of the +islands; that the black skins forming the dress of the warriors came +from an animal of huge size to be found only in a valley near the +court of the king- that the inhabitants of the group fabricated no +other boats than the flat-bottomed rafts; the four canoes being all +of the kind in their possession, and these having been obtained, by +mere accident, from some large island in the southwest- that his own +name was Nu-Nu- that he had no knowledge of Bennet's Islet- and that +the appellation of the island he had left was Tsalal. The commencement +of the words Tsalemon and Tsalal was given with a prolonged hissing +sound, which we found it impossible to imitate, even after repeated +endeavours, and which was precisely the same with the note of the +black bittern we had eaten up on the summit of the hill. + + March 3.- The heat of the water was now truly remarkable, and in +colour was undergoing a rapid change, being no longer transparent, but +of a milky consistency and hue. In our immediate vicinity it was +usually smooth, never so rough as to endanger the canoe- but we were +frequently surprised at perceiving, to our right and left, at +different distances, sudden and extensive agitations of the +surface- these, we at length noticed, were always preceded by wild +flickerings in the region of vapour to the southward. + + March 4.- To-day, with the view of widening our sail, the breeze +from the northward dying away perceptibly, I took from my +coat-pocket a white handkerchief. Nu-Nu was seated at my elbow, and +the linen accidentally flaring in his face, he became violently +affected with convulsions. These were succeeded by drowsiness and +stupor, and low murmurings of "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!" + + March 5.- The wind had entirely ceased, but it was evident that +we were still hurrying on to the southward, under the influence of a +powerful current. And now, indeed, it would seem reasonable that we +should experience some alarm at the turn events were taking- but we +felt none. The countenance of Peters indicated nothing of this nature, +although it wore at times an expression I could not fathom. The +polar winter appeared to be coming on- but coming without its +terrors. I felt a numbness of body and mind- a dreaminess of +sensation- but this was all. + + March 6.- The gray vapour had now arisen many more degrees above +the horizon, and was gradually losing its grayness of tint. The heat +of the water was extreme, even unpleasant to the touch, and its milky +hue was more evident than ever. To-day a violent agitation of the +water occurred very close to the canoe. It was attended, as usual, +with a wild flaring up of the vapour at its summit, and a momentary +division at its base. A fine white powder, resembling ashes- but +certainly not such- fell over the canoe and over a large surface of +the water, as the flickering died away among the vapour and the +commotion subsided in the sea. Nu-Nu now threw himself on his face in +the bottom of the boat, and no persuasions could induce him to arise. + + March 7.- This day we questioned Nu-Nu concerning the motives of +his countrymen in destroying our companions; but he appeared to be too +utterly overcome by terror to afford us any rational reply. He still +obstinately lay in the bottom of the boat; and, upon reiterating the +questions as to the motive, made use only of idiotic gesticulations, +such as raising with his forefinger the upper lip, and displaying +the teeth which lay beneath it. These were black. We had never +before seen the teeth of an inhabitant of Tsalal. + + March 8.- To-day there floated by us one of the white animals whose +appearance upon the beach at Tsalal had occasioned so wild a commotion +among the savages. I would have picked it up, but there came over me a +sudden listlessness, and I forbore. The heat of the water still +increased, and the hand could no longer be endured within it. Peters +spoke little, and I knew not what to think of his apathy. Nu-Nu +breathed, and no more. + + March 9.- The whole ashy material fell now continually around us, +and in vast quantities. The range of vapour to the southward had +arisen prodigiously in the horizon, and began to assume more +distinctness of form. I can liken it to nothing but a limitless +cataract, rolling silently into the sea from some immense and +far-distant rampart in the heaven, The gigantic curtain ranged along +the whole extent of the southern horizon. It emitted no sound. + + March 21.- A sullen darkness now hovered above us- but from out +the milky depths of the ocean a luminous glare arose, and stole up +along the bulwarks of the boat. We were nearly overwhelmed by the +white ashy shower which settled upon us and upon the canoe, but melted +into the water as it fell. The summit of the cataract was utterly lost +in the dimness and the distance. Yet we were evidently approaching +it with a hideous velocity. At intervals there were visible in it +wide, yawning, but momentary rents, and from out these rents, within +which was a chaos of flitting and indistinct images, there came +rushing and mighty, but soundless winds, tearing up the enkindled +ocean in their course. + + March 22.- The darkness had materially increased, relieved only +by the glare of the water thrown back from the white curtain before +us. Many gigantic and pallidly white birds flew continuously now +from beyond the veil, and their scream was the eternal Tekeli-li! as +they retreated from our vision. Hereupon Nu-Nu stirred in the bottom +of the boat; but upon touching him, we found his spirit departed. +And now we rushed into the embraces of the cataract, where a chasm +threw itself open to receive us. But there arose in our pathway a +shrouded human figure, very far larger in its proportions than any +dweller among men. And the hue of the skin of the figure was of the +perfect whiteness of the snow. +NOTE + + NOTE + + The circumstances connected with the late sudden and distressing +death of Mr. Pym are already well known to the public through the +medium of the daily press. It is feared that the few remaining +chapters which were to have completed his narrative, and which were +retained by him, while the above were in type, for the purpose of +revision, have been irrecoverably lost through the accident by which +he perished himself. This, however, may prove not to be the case, +and the papers, if ultimately found, will be given to the public. + + No means have been left untried to remedy the deficiency. The +gentleman whose name is mentioned in the preface, and who, from the +statement there made, might be supposed able to fill the vacuum, has +declined the task- this for satisfactory reasons connected with the +general inaccuracy of the details afforded him, and his disbelief in +the entire truth of the latter portions of the narration. Peters, from +whom some information might be expected, is still alive, and a +resident of Illinois, but cannot be met with at present. He may +hereafter be found, and will, no doubt, afford material for a +conclusion of Mr. Pym's account. + + The loss of the two or three final chapters (for there were but +two or three) is the more deeply to be regretted, as, it cannot be +doubted, they contained matter relative to the Pole itself, or at +least to regions in its very near proximity; and as, too, the +statements of the author in relation to these regions may shortly be +verified or contradicted by means of the governmental expedition now +preparing for the Southern Ocean. + + On one point in the Narrative some remarks may be well offered; +and it would afford the writer of this appendix much pleasure if +what he may here observe should have a tendency to throw credit, in +any degree, upon the very singular pages now published. We allude to +the chasms found in the island of Tsalal, and to the whole of the +figures presented in Chapter XXIII. + + Mr. Pym has given the figures of the chasm without comment, and +speaks decidedly of the indentures found at the extremity of the +most easterly of these chasms as having but a fanciful resemblance +to alphabetical characters, and, in short, as being positively not +such. This assertion is made in a manner so simple, and sustained by a +species of demonstration so conclusive (viz., the fitting of the +projections of the fragments found among the dust into the +indentures upon the wall), that we are forced to believe the writer in +earnest; and no reasonable reader should suppose otherwise. But as the +facts in relation to all the figures are most singular (especially +when taken in connexion with statements made in the body of the +narrative), it may be as well to say a word or two concerning them +all- this, too, the more especially as the facts in question have, +beyond doubt, escaped the attention of Mr. Poe. + + Figure 1, then figure 2, figure 3, and figure 5, when conjoined +with one another in the precise order which the chasms themselves +presented, and when deprived of the small lateral branches or arches +(which, it will be remembered, served only as means of communication +between the main chambers, and were of totally distinct character), +constitute an Ethiopian verbal root- the root (SEE ILLUSTRATION) +"To be shady"- whence all the inflections of shadow or darkness. + + In regard to the "left or most northwardly" of the indentures in +figure 4, it is more than probable that the opinion of Peters was +correct, and that the hieroglyphical appearance was really the work of +art, and intended as the representation of a human form. The +delineation is before the reader, and he may, or may not, perceive the +resemblance suggested; but the rest of the indentures afford strong +confirmation of Peters' idea. The upper range is evidently the +Arabic verbal root (SEE ILLUSTRATION) "To be white," whence all the +inflections of brilliancy and whiteness. The lower range is not so +immediately perspicuous. The characters are somewhat broken and +disjointed; nevertheless, it cannot be doubted that, in their perfect +state, they formed the full Egyptian word (SEE ILLUSTRATION), +"The region of the south." It should be observed that these +interpretations confirm the opinion of Peters in regard to the "most +northwardly" of the figures. The arm is outstretched towards the +south. + + Conclusions such as these open a wide field for speculation and +exciting conjecture. They should be regarded, perhaps, in connexion +with some of the most faintly-detailed incidents of the narrative; +although in no visible manner is this chain of connexion complete. +Tekeli-li! was the cry of the affrighted natives of Tsalal upon +discovering the carcass of the white animal picked up at sea. This +also was the shuddering exclamation of the captive Tsalalian upon +encountering the white materials in possession of Mr. Pym. This also +was the shriek of the swift-flying, white, and gigantic birds which +issued from the vapoury white curtain of the South. Nothing white +was to be found at Tsalal, and nothing otherwise in the subsequent +voyage to the region beyond. It is not impossible that "Tsalal," the +appellation of the island of the chasms, may be found, upon minute +philological scrutiny, to betray either some alliance with the +chasms themselves, or some reference to the Ethiopian characters so +mysteriously written in their windings. + + "I have graven it within the hills, and my vengeance upon the dust +within the rock." + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-never-562.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-never-562.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..ef0ec44e --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-never-562.txt @@ -0,0 +1,373 @@ + 1850 + + NEVER BET THE DEVIL YOUR HEAD + + A Tale With a Moral + + by Edgar Allan Poe + + CON tal que las costumbres de un autor," says Don Thomas de las +Torres, in the preface to his "Amatory Poems" "sean puras y castas, +importo muy poco que no sean igualmente severas sus obras"- meaning, +in plain English, that, provided the morals of an author are pure +personally, it signifies nothing what are the morals of his books. +We presume that Don Thomas is now in Purgatory for the assertion. It +would be a clever thing, too, in the way of poetical justice, to +keep him there until his "Amatory Poems" get out of print, or are laid +definitely upon the shelf through lack of readers. Every fiction +should have a moral; and, what is more to the purpose, the critics +have discovered that every fiction has. Philip Melanchthon, some +time ago, wrote a commentary upon the "Batrachomyomachia," and +proved that the poet's object was to excite a distaste for sedition. +Pierre la Seine, going a step farther, shows that the intention was to +recommend to young men temperance in eating and drinking. Just so, +too, Jacobus Hugo has satisfied himself that, by Euenis, Homer meant +to insinuate John Calvin; by Antinous, Martin Luther; by the +Lotophagi, Protestants in general; and, by the Harpies, the Dutch. Our +more modern Scholiasts are equally acute. These fellows demonstrate +a hidden meaning in "The Antediluvians," a parable in Powhatan," new +views in "Cock Robin," and transcendentalism in "Hop O' My Thumb." +In short, it has been shown that no man can sit down to write +without a very profound design. Thus to authors in general much +trouble is spared. A novelist, for example, need have no care of his +moral. It is there- that is to say, it is somewhere- and the moral and +the critics can take care of themselves. When the proper time arrives, +all that the gentleman intended, and all that he did not intend, +will be brought to light, in the "Dial," or the "Down-Easter," +together with all that he ought to have intended, and the rest that he +clearly meant to intend:- so that it will all come very straight in +the end. + + There is no just ground, therefore, for the charge brought against +me by certain ignoramuses- that I have never written a moral tale, or, +in more precise words, a tale with a moral. They are not the critics +predestined to bring me out, and develop my morals:- that is the +secret. By and by the "North American Quarterly Humdrum" will make +them ashamed of their stupidity. In the meantime, by way of staying +execution- by way of mitigating the accusations against me- I offer +the sad history appended,- a history about whose obvious moral there +can be no question whatever, since he who runs may read it in the +large capitals which form the title of the tale. I should have +credit for this arrangement- a far wiser one than that of La +Fontaine and others, who reserve the impression to be conveyed until +the last moment, and thus sneak it in at the fag end of their fables. + + Defuncti injuria ne afficiantur was a law of the twelve tables, +and De mortuis nil nisi bonum is an excellent injunction- even if +the dead in question be nothing but dead small beer. It is not my +design, therefore, to vituperate my deceased friend, Toby Dammit. He +was a sad dog, it is true, and a dog's death it was that he died; +but he himself was not to blame for his vices. They grew out of a +personal defect in his mother. She did her best in the way of flogging +him while an infant- for duties to her well- regulated mind were +always pleasures, and babies, like tough steaks, or the modern Greek +olive trees, are invariably the better for beating- but, poor woman! +she had the misfortune to be left-handed, and a child flogged +left-handedly had better be left unflogged. The world revolves from +right to left. It will not do to whip a baby from left to right. If +each blow in the proper direction drives an evil propensity out, it +follows that every thump in an opposite one knocks its quota of +wickedness in. I was often present at Toby's chastisements, and, +even by the way in which he kicked, I could perceive that he was +getting worse and worse every day. At last I saw, through the tears in +my eyes, that there was no hope of the villain at all, and one day +when he had been cuffed until he grew so black in the face that one +might have mistaken him for a little African, and no effect had been +produced beyond that of making him wriggle himself into a fit, I could +stand it no longer, but went down upon my knees forthwith, and, +uplifting my voice, made prophecy of his ruin. + + The fact is that his precocity in vice was awful. At five months +of age he used to get into such passions that he was unable to +articulate. At six months, I caught him gnawing a pack of cards. At +seven months he was in the constant habit of catching and kissing +the female babies. At eight months he peremptorily refused to put +his signature to the Temperance pledge. Thus he went on increasing +in iniquity, month after month, until, at the close of the first year, +he not only insisted upon wearing moustaches, but had contracted a +propensity for cursing and swearing, and for backing his assertions by +bets. + + Through this latter most ungentlemanly practice, the ruin which I +had predicted to Toby Dammit overtook him at last. The fashion had +"grown with his growth and strengthened with his strength," so that, +when he came to be a man, he could scarcely utter a sentence without +interlarding it with a proposition to gamble. Not that he actually +laid wagers- no. I will do my friend the justice to say that he +would as soon have laid eggs. With him the thing was a mere formula- +nothing more. His expressions on this head had no meaning attached +to them whatever. They were simple if not altogether innocent +expletives- imaginative phrases wherewith to round off a sentence. +When he said "I'll bet you so and so," nobody ever thought of taking +him up; but still I could not help thinking it my duty to put him +down. The habit was an immoral one, and so I told him. It was a vulgar +one- this I begged him to believe. It was discountenanced by +society- here I said nothing but the truth. It was forbidden by act of +Congress- here I had not the slightest intention of telling a lie. I +remonstrated- but to no purpose. I demonstrated- in vain. I entreated- +he smiled. I implored- he laughed. I preached- he sneered. I +threatened- he swore. I kicked him- he called for the police. I pulled +his nose- he blew it, and offered to bet the Devil his head that I +would not venture to try that experiment again. + + Poverty was another vice which the peculiar physical deficiency of +Dammit's mother had entailed upon her son. He was detestably poor, and +this was the reason, no doubt, that his expletive expressions about +betting, seldom took a pecuniary turn. I will not be bound to say that +I ever heard him make use of such a figure of speech as "I'll bet +you a dollar." It was usually "I'll bet you what you please," or "I'll +bet you what you dare," or "I'll bet you a trifle," or else, more +significantly still, "I'll bet the Devil my head." + + This latter form seemed to please him best;- perhaps because it +involved the least risk; for Dammit had become excessively +parsimonious. Had any one taken him up, his head was small, and thus +his loss would have been small too. But these are my own reflections +and I am by no means sure that I am right in attributing them to +him. At all events the phrase in question grew daily in favor, +notwithstanding the gross impropriety of a man betting his brains like +bank-notes:- but this was a point which my friend's perversity of +disposition would not permit him to comprehend. In the end, he +abandoned all other forms of wager, and gave himself up to "I'll bet +the Devil my head," with a pertinacity and exclusiveness of devotion +that displeased not less than it surprised me. I am always +displeased by circumstances for which I cannot account. Mysteries +force a man to think, and so injure his health. The truth is, there +was something in the air with which Mr. Dammit was wont to give +utterance to his offensive expression- something in his manner of +enunciation- which at first interested, and afterwards made me very +uneasy- something which, for want of a more definite term at +present, I must be permitted to call queer; but which Mr. Coleridge +would have called mystical, Mr. Kant pantheistical, Mr. Carlyle +twistical, and Mr. Emerson hyperquizzitistical. I began not to like it +at all. Mr. Dammits soul was in a perilous state. I resolved to +bring all my eloquence into play to save it. I vowed to serve him as +St. Patrick, in the Irish chronicle, is said to have served the toad,- +that is to say, "awaken him to a sense of his situation." I +addressed myself to the task forthwith. Once more I betook myself to +remonstrance. Again I collected my energies for a final attempt at +expostulation. + + When I had made an end of my lecture, Mr. Dammit indulged himself in +some very equivocal behavior. For some moments he remained silent, +merely looking me inquisitively in the face. But presently he threw +his head to one side, and elevated his eyebrows to a great extent. +Then he spread out the palms of his hands and shrugged up his +shoulders. Then he winked with the right eye. Then he repeated the +operation with the left. Then he shut them both up very tight. Then he +opened them both so very wide that I became seriously alarmed for +the consequences. Then, applying his thumb to his nose, he thought +proper to make an indescribable movement with the rest of his fingers. +Finally, setting his arms a-kimbo, he condescended to reply. + + I can call to mind only the beads of his discourse. He would be +obliged to me if I would hold my tongue. He wished none of my +advice. He despised all my insinuations. He was old enough to take +care of himself. Did I still think him baby Dammit? Did I mean to +say any thing against his character? Did I intend to insult him? Was I +a fool? Was my maternal parent aware, in a word, of my absence from +the domiciliary residence? He would put this latter question to me +as to a man of veracity, and he would bind himself to abide by my +reply. Once more he would demand explicitly if my mother knew that I +was out. My confusion, he said, betrayed me, and he would be willing +to bet the Devil his head that she did not. + + Mr. Dammit did not pause for my rejoinder. Turning upon his heel, he +left my presence with undignified precipitation. It was well for him +that he did so. My feelings had been wounded. Even my anger had been +aroused. For once I would have taken him up upon his insulting +wager. I would have won for the Arch-Enemy Mr. Dammit's little head- +for the fact is, my mamma was very well aware of my merely temporary +absence from home. + + But Khoda shefa midehed- Heaven gives relief- as the Mussulmans +say when you tread upon their toes. It was in pursuance of my duty +that I had been insulted, and I bore the insult like a man. It now +seemed to me, however, that I had done all that could be required of +me, in the case of this miserable individual, and I resolved to +trouble him no longer with my counsel, but to leave him to his +conscience and himself. But although I forebore to intrude with my +advice, I could not bring myself to give up his society altogether. +I even went so far as to humor some of his less reprehensible +propensities; and there were times when I found myself lauding his +wicked jokes, as epicures do mustard, with tears in my eyes:- so +profoundly did it grieve me to hear his evil talk. + + One fine day, having strolled out together, arm in arm, our route +led us in the direction of a river. There was a bridge, and we +resolved to cross it. It was roofed over, by way of protection from +the weather, and the archway, having but few windows, was thus very +uncomfortably dark. As we entered the passage, the contrast between +the external glare and the interior gloom struck heavily upon my +spirits. Not so upon those of the unhappy Dammit, who offered to bet +the Devil his head that I was hipped. He seemed to be in an unusual +good humor. He was excessively lively- so much so that I entertained I +know not what of uneasy suspicion. It is not impossible that he was +affected with the transcendentals. I am not well enough versed, +however, in the diagnosis of this disease to speak with decision +upon the point; and unhappily there were none of my friends of the +"Dial" present. I suggest the idea, nevertheless, because of a certain +species of austere Merry-Andrewism which seemed to beset my poor +friend, and caused him to make quite a Tom-Fool of himself. Nothing +would serve him but wriggling and skipping about under and over +every thing that came in his way; now shouting out, and now lisping +out, all manner of odd little and big words, yet preserving the +gravest face in the world all the time. I really could not make up +my mind whether to kick or to pity him. At length, having passed +nearly across the bridge, we approached the termination of the +footway, when our progress was impeded by a turnstile of some +height. Through this I made my way quietly, pushing it around as +usual. But this turn would not serve the turn of Mr. Dammit. He +insisted upon leaping the stile, and said he could cut a pigeon-wing +over it in the air. Now this, conscientiously speaking, I did not +think he could do. The best pigeon-winger over all kinds of style +was my friend Mr. Carlyle, and as I knew he could not do it, I would +not believe that it could be done by Toby Dammit. I therefore told +him, in so many words, that he was a braggadocio, and could not do +what he said. For this I had reason to be sorry afterward;- for he +straightway offered to bet the Devil his head that he could. + + I was about to reply, notwithstanding my previous resolutions, +with some remonstrance against his impiety, when I heard, close at +my elbow, a slight cough, which sounded very much like the ejaculation +"ahem!" I started, and looked about me in surprise. My glance at +length fell into a nook of the frame- work of the bridge, and upon the +figure of a little lame old gentleman of venerable aspect. Nothing +could be more reverend than his whole appearance; for he not only +had on a full suit of black, but his shirt was perfectly clean and the +collar turned very neatly down over a white cravat, while his hair was +parted in front like a girl's. His hands were clasped pensively +together over his stomach, and his two eyes were carefully rolled up +into the top of his head. + + Upon observing him more closely, I perceived that he wore a black +silk apron over his small-clothes; and this was a thing which I +thought very odd. Before I had time to make any remark, however, +upon so singular a circumstance, he interrupted me with a second +"ahem!" + + To this observation I was not immediately prepared to reply. The +fact is, remarks of this laconic nature are nearly unanswerable. I +have known a Quarterly Review non-plussed by the word "Fudge!" I am +not ashamed to say, therefore, that I turned to Mr. Dammit for +assistance. + + "Dammit," said I, "what are you about? don't you hear?- the +gentleman says 'ahem!'" I looked sternly at my friend while I thus +addressed him; for, to say the truth, I felt particularly puzzled, and +when a man is particularly puzzled he must knit his brows and look +savage, or else he is pretty sure to look like a fool. + + "Dammit," observed I- although this sounded very much like an +oath, than which nothing was further from my thoughts- "Dammit," I +suggested- "the gentleman says 'ahem!'" + + I do not attempt to defend my remark on the score of profundity; I +did not think it profound myself; but I have noticed that the effect +of our speeches is not always proportionate with their importance in +our own eyes; and if I had shot Mr. D. through and through with a +Paixhan bomb, or knocked him in the head with the "Poets and Poetry of +America," he could hardly have been more discomfited than when I +addressed him with those simple words: "Dammit, what are you about?- +don't you hear?- the gentleman says 'ahem!'" + + "You don't say so?" gasped he at length, after turning more colors +than a pirate runs up, one after the other, when chased by a +man-of-war. "Are you quite sure he said that? Well, at all events I am +in for it now, and may as well put a bold face upon the matter. Here +goes, then- ahem!" + + At this the little old gentleman seemed pleased- God only knows why. +He left his station at the nook of the bridge, limped forward with a +gracious air, took Dammit by the hand and shook it cordially, +looking all the while straight up in his face with an air of the +most unadulterated benignity which it is possible for the mind of +man to imagine. + + "I am quite sure you will win it, Dammit," said he, with the +frankest of all smiles, "but we are obliged to have a trial, you know, +for the sake of mere form." + + "Ahem!" replied my friend, taking off his coat, with a deep sigh, +tying a pocket-handkerchief around his waist, and producing an +unaccountable alteration in his countenance by twisting up his eyes +and bringing down the corners of his mouth- "ahem!" And "ahem!" said +he again, after a pause; and not another word more than "ahem!" did +I ever know him to say after that. "Aha!" thought I, without +expressing myself aloud- "this is quite a remarkable silence on the +part of Toby Dammit, and is no doubt a consequence of his verbosity +upon a previous occasion. One extreme induces another. I wonder if +he has forgotten the many unanswerable questions which he propounded +to me so fluently on the day when I gave him my last lecture? At all +events, he is cured of the transcendentals." + + "Ahem!" here replied Toby, just as if he had been reading my +thoughts, and looking like a very old sheep in a revery. + + The old gentleman now took him by the arm, and led him more into the +shade of the bridge- a few paces back from the turnstile. "My good +fellow," said he, "I make it a point of conscience to allow you this +much run. Wait here, till I take my place by the stile, so that I +may see whether you go over it handsomely, and transcendentally, and +don't omit any flourishes of the pigeon-wing. A mere form, you know. I +will say 'one, two, three, and away.' Mind you, start at the word +'away'" Here he took his position by the stile, paused a moment as +if in profound reflection, then looked up and, I thought, smiled +very slightly, then tightened the strings of his apron, then took a +long look at Dammit, and finally gave the word as agreed upon- + + One- two- three- and- away! + + Punctually at the word "away," my poor friend set off in a strong +gallop. The stile was not very high, like Mr. Lord's- nor yet very +low, like that of Mr. Lord's reviewers, but upon the whole I made sure +that he would clear it. And then what if he did not?- ah, that was the +question- what if he did not? "What right," said I, "had the old +gentleman to make any other gentleman jump? The little old +dot-and-carry-one! who is he? If he asks me to jump, I won't do it, +that's flat, and I don't care who the devil he is." The bridge, as I +say, was arched and covered in, in a very ridiculous manner, and there +was a most uncomfortable echo about it at all times- an echo which I +never before so particularly observed as when I uttered the four +last words of my remark. + + But what I said, or what I thought, or what I heard, occupied only +an instant. In less than five seconds from his starting, my poor +Toby had taken the leap. I saw him run nimbly, and spring grandly from +the floor of the bridge, cutting the most awful flourishes with his +legs as he went up. I saw him high in the air, pigeon-winging it to +admiration just over the top of the stile; and of course I thought +it an unusually singular thing that he did not continue to go over. +But the whole leap was the affair of a moment, and, before I had a +chance to make any profound reflections, down came Mr. Dammit on the +flat of his back, on the same side of the stile from which he had +started. At the same instant I saw the old gentleman limping off at +the top of his speed, having caught and wrapt up in his apron +something that fell heavily into it from the darkness of the arch just +over the turnstile. At all this I was much astonished; but I had no +leisure to think, for Dammit lay particularly still, and I concluded +that his feelings had been hurt, and that he stood in need of my +assistance. I hurried up to him and found that he had received what +might be termed a serious injury. The truth is, he had been deprived +of his head, which after a close search I could not find anywhere; +so I determined to take him home and send for the homoeopathists. In +the meantime a thought struck me, and I threw open an adjacent +window of the bridge, when the sad truth flashed upon me at once. +About five feet just above the top of the turnstile, and crossing +the arch of the foot-path so as to constitute a brace, there +extended a flat iron bar, lying with its breadth horizontally, and +forming one of a series that served to strengthen the structure +throughout its extent. With the edge of this brace it appeared evident +that the neck of my unfortunate friend had come precisely in contact. + + He did not long survive his terrible loss. The homoeopathists did +not give him little enough physic, and what little they did give him +he hesitated to take. So in the end he grew worse, and at length died, +a lesson to all riotous livers. I bedewed his grave with my tears, +worked a bar sinister on his family escutcheon, and, for the general +expenses of his funeral, sent in my very moderate bill to the +transcendentalists. The scoundrels refused to pay it, so I had Mr. +Dammit dug up at once, and sold him for dog's meat. + + THE END +. diff --git a/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-oblong-696.txt b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-oblong-696.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..83a406ea --- /dev/null +++ b/textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/POE/poe-oblong-696.txt @@ -0,0 +1,457 @@ + 1850 + + THE OBLONG BOX + + by Edgar Allan Poe + + SOME YEARS ago, I engaged passage from Charleston, S. C, to the city +of New York, in the fine packet-ship "Independence," Captain Hardy. We +were to sail on the fifteenth of the month (June), weather permitting; +and on the fourteenth, I went on board to arrange some matters in my +state-room. + + I found that we were to have a great many passengers, including a +more than usual number of ladies. On the list were several of my +acquaintances, and among other names, I was rejoiced to see that of +Mr. Cornelius Wyatt, a young artist, for whom I entertained feelings +of warm friendship. He had been with me a fellow-student at C- +University, where we were very much together. He had the ordinary +temperament of genius, and was a compound of misanthropy, sensibility, +and enthusiasm. To these qualities he united the warmest and truest +heart which ever beat in a human bosom. + + I observed that his name was carded upon three state-rooms; and, +upon again referring to the list of passengers, I found that he had +engaged passage for himself, wife, and two sisters- his own. The +state-rooms were sufficiently roomy, and each had two berths, one +above the other. These berths, to be sure, were so exceedingly +narrow as to be insufficient for more than one person; still, I +could not comprehend why there were three state-rooms for these four +persons. I was, just at that epoch, in one of those moody frames of +mind which make a man abnormally inquisitive about trifles: and I +confess, with shame, that I busied myself in a variety of ill-bred and +preposterous conjectures about this matter of the supernumerary +state-room. It was no business of mine, to be sure, but with none +the less pertinacity did I occupy myself in attempts to resolve the +enigma. At last I reached a conclusion which wrought in me great +wonder why I had not arrived at it before. "It is a servant of +course," I said; "what a fool I am, not sooner to have thought of so +obvious a solution!" And then I again repaired to the list- but here I +saw distinctly that no servant was to come with the party, although, +in fact, it had been the original design to bring one- for the words +"and servant" had been first written and then overscored. "Oh, extra +baggage, to be sure," I now said to myself- "something he wishes not +to be put in the hold- something to be kept under his own eye- ah, I +have it- a painting or so- and this is what he has been bargaining +about with Nicolino, the Italian Jew." This idea satisfied me, and I +dismissed my curiosity for the nonce. + + Wyatt's two sisters I knew very well, and most amiable and clever +girls they were. His wife he had newly married, and I had never yet +seen her. He had often talked about her in my presence, however, and +in his usual style of enthusiasm. He described her as of surpassing +beauty, wit, and accomplishment. I was, therefore, quite anxious to +make her acquaintance. + + On the day in which I visited the ship (the fourteenth), Wyatt and +party were also to visit it- so the captain informed me- and I +waited on board an hour longer than I had designed, in hope of being +presented to the bride, but then an apology came. "Mrs. W. was a +little indisposed, and would decline coming on board until +to-morrow, at the hour of sailing." + + The morrow having arrived, I was going from my hotel to the wharf, +when Captain Hardy met me and said that, "owing to circumstances" (a +stupid but convenient phrase), "he rather thought the 'Independence' +would not sail for a day or two, and that when all was ready, he would +send up and let me know." This I thought strange, for there was a +stiff southerly breeze; but as "the circumstances" were not +forthcoming, although I pumped for them with much perseverance, I +had nothing to do but to return home and digest my impatience at +leisure. + + I did not receive the expected message from the captain for nearly a +week. It came at length, however, and I immediately went on board. The +ship was crowded with passengers, and every thing was in the bustle +attendant upon making sail. Wyatt's party arrived in about ten minutes +after myself. There were the two sisters, the bride, and the artist- +the latter in one of his customary fits of moody misanthropy. I was +too well used to these, however, to pay them any special attention. He +did not even introduce me to his wife- this courtesy devolving, per +force, upon his sister Marian- a very sweet and intelligent girl, who, +in a few hurried words, made us acquainted. + + Mrs. Wyatt had been closely veiled; and when she raised her veil, in +acknowledging my bow, I confess that I was very profoundly astonished. +I should have been much more so, however, had not long experience +advised me not to trust, with too implicit a reliance, the +enthusiastic descriptions of my friend, the artist, when indulging +in comments upon the loveliness of woman. When beauty was the theme, I +well knew with what facility he soared into the regions of the +purely ideal. + + The truth is, I could not help regarding Mrs. Wyatt as a decidedly +plain-looking woman. If not positively ugly, she was not, I think, +very far from it. She was dressed, however, in exquisite taste- and +then I had no doubt that she had captivated my friend's heart by the +more enduring graces of the intellect and soul. She said very few +words, and passed at once into her state-room with Mr. W. + + My old inquisitiveness now returned. There was no servant- that +was a settled point. I looked, therefore, for the extra baggage. After +some delay, a cart arrived at the wharf, with an oblong pine box, +which was every thing that seemed to be expected. Immediately upon its +arrival we made sail, and in a short time were safely over the bar and +standing out to sea. + + The box in question was, as I say, oblong. It was about six feet +in length by two and a half in breadth; I observed it attentively, and +like to be precise. Now this shape was peculiar; and no sooner had I +seen it, than I took credit to myself for the accuracy of my guessing. +I had reached the conclusion, it will be remembered, that the extra +baggage of my friend, the artist, would prove to be pictures, or at +least a picture; for I knew he had been for several weeks in +conference with Nicolino:- and now here was a box, which, from its +shape, could possibly contain nothing in the world but a copy of +Leonardo's "Last Supper;" and a copy of this very "Last Supper," +done by Rubini the younger, at Florence, I had known, for some time, +to be in the possession of Nicolino. This point, therefore, I +considered as sufficiently settled. I chuckled excessively when I +thought of my acumen. It was the first time I had ever known Wyatt +to keep from me any of his artistical secrets; but here he evidently +intended to steal a march upon me, and smuggle a fine picture to New +York, under my very nose; expecting me to know nothing of the +matter. I resolved to quiz him well, now and hereafter. + + One thing, however, annoyed me not a little. The box did not go into +the extra state-room. It was deposited in Wyatt's own; and there, too, +it remained, occupying very nearly the whole of the floor- no doubt to +the exceeding discomfort of the artist and his wife;- this the more +especially as the tar or paint with which it was lettered in sprawling +capitals, emitted a strong, disagreeable, and, to my fancy, a +peculiarly disgusting odor. On the lid were painted the words- "Mrs. +Adelaide Curtis, Albany, New York. Charge of Cornelius Wyatt, Esq. +This side up. To be handled with care." + + Now, I was aware that Mrs. Adelaide Curtis, of Albany, was the +artist's wife's mother,- but then I looked upon the whole address as a +mystification, intended especially for myself. I made up my mind, of +course, that the box and contents would never get farther north than +the studio of my misanthropic friend, in Chambers Street, New York. + + For the first three or four days we had fine weather, although the +wind was dead ahead; having chopped round to the northward, +immediately upon our losing sight of the coast. The passengers were, +consequently, in high spirits and disposed to be social. I must +except, however, Wyatt and his sisters, who behaved stiffly, and, I +could not help thinking, uncourteously to the rest of the party. +Wyatt's conduct I did not so much regard. He was gloomy, even beyond +his usual habit- in fact he was morose- but in him I was prepared +for eccentricity. For the sisters, however, I could make no excuse. +They secluded themselves in their staterooms during the greater part +of the passage, and absolutely refused, although I repeatedly urged +them, to hold communication with any person on board. + + Mrs. Wyatt herself was far more agreeable. That is to say, she was +chatty; and to be chatty is no slight recommendation at sea. She +became excessively intimate with most of the ladies; and, to my +profound astonishment, evinced no equivocal disposition to coquet with +the men. She amused us all very much. I say "amused"- and scarcely +know how to explain myself. The truth is, I soon found that Mrs. W. +was far oftener laughed at than with. The gentlemen said little +about her; but the ladies, in a little while, pronounced her "a +good-hearted thing, rather indifferent looking, totally uneducated, +and decidedly vulgar." The great wonder was, how Wyatt had been +entrapped into such a match. Wealth was the general solution- but this +I knew to be no solution at all; for Wyatt had told me that she +neither brought him a dollar nor had any expectations from any +source whatever. "He had married," he said, "for love, and for love +only; and his bride was far more than worthy of his love." When I +thought of these expressions, on the part of my friend, I confess that +I felt indescribably puzzled. Could it be possible that he was +taking leave of his senses? What else could I think? He, so refined, +so intellectual, so fastidious, with so exquisite a perception of +the faulty, and so keen an appreciation of the beautiful! To be +sure, the lady seemed especially fond of him- particularly so in his +absence- when she made herself ridiculous by frequent quotations of +what had been said by her "beloved husband, Mr. Wyatt." The word +"husband" seemed forever- to use one of her own delicate +expressions- forever "on the tip of her tongue." In the meantime, it +was observed by all on board, that he avoided her in the most +pointed manner, and, for the most part, shut himself up alone in his +state-room, where, in fact, he might have been said to live +altogether, leaving his wife at full liberty to amuse herself as she +thought best, in the public society of the main cabin. + + My conclusion, from what I saw and heard, was, that, the artist, +by some unaccountable freak of fate, or perhaps in some fit of +enthusiastic and fanciful passion, had been induced to unite himself +with a person altogether beneath him, and that the natural result, +entire and speedy disgust, had ensued. I pitied him from the bottom of +my heart- but could not, for that reason, quite forgive his +incommunicativeness in the matter of the "Last Supper." For this I +resolved to have my revenge. + + One day he came upon deck, and, taking his arm as had been my +wont, I sauntered with him backward and forward. His gloom, however +(which I considered quite natural under the circumstances), seemed +entirely unabated. He said little, and that moodily, and with +evident effort. I ventured a jest or two, and he made a sickening +attempt at a smile. Poor fellow!- as I thought of his wife, I wondered +that he could have heart to put on even the semblance of mirth. I +determined to commence a series of covert insinuations, or innuendoes, +about the oblong box- just to let him perceive, gradually, that I +was not altogether the butt, or victim, of his little bit of +pleasant mystification. My first observation was by way of opening a +masked battery. I said something about the "peculiar shape of that +box-," and, as I spoke the words, I smiled knowingly, winked, and +touched him gently with my forefinger in the ribs. + + The manner in which Wyatt received this harmless pleasantry +convinced me, at once, that he was mad. At first he stared at me as if +he found it impossible to comprehend the witticism of my remark; but +as its point seemed slowly to make its way into his brain, his eyes, +in the same proportion, seemed protruding from their sockets. Then +he grew very red- then hideously pale- then, as if highly amused +with what I had insinuated, he began a loud and boisterous laugh, +which, to my astonishment, he kept up, with gradually increasing +vigor, for ten minutes or more. In conclusion, he fell flat and +heavily upon the deck. When I ran to uplift him, to all appearance +he was dead. + + I called assistance, and, with much difficulty, we brought him to +himself. Upon reviving he spoke incoherently for some time. At +length we bled him and put him to bed. The next morning he was quite +recovered, so far as regarded his mere bodily health. Of his mind I +say nothing, of course. I avoided him during the rest of the +passage, by advice of the captain, who seemed to coincide with me +altogether in my views of his insanity, but cautioned me to say +nothing on this head to any person on board. + + Several circumstances occurred immediately after this fit of Wyatt +which contributed to heighten the curiosity with which I was already +possessed. Among other things, this: I had been nervous- drank too +much strong green tea, and slept ill at night- in fact, for two nights +I could not be properly said to sleep at all. Now, my state-room +opened into the main cabin, or dining-room, as did those of all the +single men on board. Wyatt's three rooms were in the after-cabin, +which was separated from the main one by a slight sliding door, +never locked even at night. As we were almost constantly on a wind, +and the breeze was not a little stiff, the ship heeled to leeward very +considerably; and whenever her starboard side was to leeward, the +sliding door between the cabins slid open, and so remained, nobody +taking the trouble to get up and shut it. But my berth was in such a +position, that when my own state-room door was open, as well as the +sliding door in question (and my own door was always open on account +of the heat,) I could see into the after-cabin quite distinctly, and +just at that portion of it, too, where were situated the state-rooms +of Mr. Wyatt. Well, during two nights (not consecutive) while I lay +awake, I clearly saw Mrs. W., about eleven o'clock upon each night, +steal cautiously from the state-room of Mr. W., and enter the extra +room, where she remained until daybreak, when she was called by her +husband and went back. That they were virtually separated was clear. +They had separate apartments- no doubt in contemplation of a more +permanent divorce; and here, after all I thought was the mystery of +the extra state-room. + + There was another circumstance, too, which interested me much. +During the two wakeful nights in question, and immediately after the +disappearance of Mrs. Wyatt into the extra state-room, I was attracted +by certain singular cautious, subdued noises in that of her husband. +After listening to them for some time, with thoughtful attention, I at +length succeeded perfectly in translating their import. They were +sounds occasioned by the artist in prying open the oblong box, by +means of a chisel and mallet- the latter being apparently muffled, +or deadened, by some soft woollen or cotton substance in which its +head was enveloped. + + In this manner I fancied I could distinguish the precise moment when +he fairly disengaged the lid- also, that I could determine when he +removed it altogether, and when he deposited it upon the lower berth +in his room; this latter point I knew, for example, by certain +slight taps which the lid made in striking against the wooden edges of +the berth, as he endeavored to lay it down very gently- there being no +room for it on the floor. After this there was a dead stillness, and I +heard nothing more, upon either occasion, until nearly daybreak; +unless, perhaps, I may mention a low sobbing, or murmuring sound, so +very much suppressed as to be nearly inaudible- if, indeed, the +whole of this latter noise were not rather produced by my own +imagination. I say it seemed to resemble sobbing or sighing- but, of +course, it could not have been either. I rather think it was a ringing +in my own ears. Mr. Wyatt, no doubt, according to custom, was merely +giving the rein to one of his hobbies- indulging in one of his fits of +artistic enthusiasm. He had opened his oblong box, in order to feast +his eyes on the pictorial treasure within. There was nothing in +this, however, to make him sob. I repeat, therefore, that it must have +been simply a freak of my own fancy, distempered by good Captain +Hardy's green tea. just before dawn, on each of the two nights of +which I speak, I distinctly heard Mr. Wyatt replace the lid upon the +oblong box, and force the nails into their old places by means of +the muffled mallet. Having done this, he issued from his state-room, +fully dressed, and proceeded to call Mrs. W. from hers. + + We had been at sea seven days, and were now off Cape Hatteras, +when there came a tremendously heavy blow from the southwest. We were, +in a measure, prepared for it, however, as the weather had been +holding out threats for some time. Every thing was made snug, alow and +aloft; and as the wind steadily freshened, we lay to, at length, under +spanker and foretopsail, both double-reefed. + + In this trim we rode safely enough for forty-eight hours- the ship +proving herself an excellent sea-boat in many respects, and shipping +no water of any consequence. At the end of this period, however, the +gale had freshened into a hurricane, and our after- sail split into +ribbons, bringing us so much in the trough of the water that we +shipped several prodigious seas, one immediately after the other. By +this accident we lost three men overboard with the caboose, and nearly +the whole of the larboard bulwarks. Scarcely had we recovered our +senses, before the foretopsail went into shreds, when we got up a +storm stay- sail and with this did pretty well for some hours, the +ship heading the sea much more steadily than before. + + The gale still held on, however, and we saw no signs of its abating. +The rigging was found to be ill-fitted, and greatly strained; and on +the third day of the blow, about five in the afternoon, our +mizzen-mast, in a heavy lurch to windward, went by the board. For an +hour or more, we tried in vain to get rid of it, on account of the +prodigious rolling of the ship; and, before we had succeeded, the +carpenter came aft and announced four feet of water in the hold. To +add to our dilemma, we found the pumps choked and nearly useless. + + All was now confusion and despair- but an effort was made to lighten +the ship by throwing overboard as much of her cargo as could be +reached, and by cutting away the two masts that remained. This we at +last accomplished- but we were still unable to do any thing at the +pumps; and, in the meantime, the leak gained on us very fast. + + At sundown, the gale had sensibly diminished in violence, and as the +sea went down with it, we still entertained faint hopes of saving +ourselves in the boats. At eight P. M., the clouds broke away to +windward, and we had the advantage of a full moon- a piece of good +fortune which served wonderfully to cheer our drooping spirits. + + After incredible labor we succeeded, at length, in getting the +longboat over the side without material accident, and into this we +crowded the whole of the crew and most of the passengers. This party +made off immediately, and, after undergoing much suffering, finally +arrived, in safety, at Ocracoke Inlet, on the third day after the +wreck. + + Fourteen passengers, with the captain, remained on board, +resolving to trust their fortunes to the jolly-boat at the stern. We +lowered it without difficulty, although it was only by a miracle +that we prevented it from swamping as it touched the water. It +contained, when afloat, the captain and his wife, Mr. Wyatt and party, +a Mexican officer, wife, four children, and myself, with a negro +valet. + + We had no room, of course, for any thing except a few positively +necessary instruments, some provisions, and the clothes upon our +backs. No one had thought of even attempting to save any thing more. +What must have been the astonishment of all, then, when having +proceeded a few fathoms from the ship, Mr. Wyatt stood up in the +stern-sheets, and coolly demanded of Captain Hardy that the boat +should be put back for the purpose of taking in his oblong box! + + "Sit down, Mr. Wyatt," replied the captain, somewhat sternly, "you +will capsize us if you do not sit quite still. Our gunwhale is +almost in the water now." + + "The box!" vociferated Mr. Wyatt, still standing- "the box, I say! +Captain Hardy, you cannot, you will not refuse me. Its weight will +be but a trifle- it is nothing- mere nothing. By the mother who bore +you- for the love of Heaven- by your hope of salvation, I implore +you to put back for the box!" + + The captain, for a moment, seemed touched by the earnest appeal of +the artist, but he regained his stern composure, and merely said: + + "Mr. Wyatt, you are mad. I cannot listen to you. Sit down, I say, or +you will swamp the boat. Stay- hold him- seize him!- he is about to +spring overboard! There- I knew it- he is over!" + + As the captain said this, Mr. Wyatt, in fact, sprang from the +boat, and, as we were yet in the lee of the wreck, succeeded, by +almost superhuman exertion, in getting hold of a rope which hung +from the fore-chains. In another moment he was on board, and rushing +frantically down into the cabin. + + In the meantime, we had been swept astern of the ship, and being +quite out of her lee, were at the mercy of the tremendous sea which +was still running. We made a determined effort to put back, but our +little boat was like a feather in the breath of the tempest. We saw at +a glance that the doom of the unfortunate artist was sealed. + + As our distance from the wreck rapidly increased, the madman (for as +such only could we regard him) was seen to emerge from the +companion- way, up which by dint of strength that appeared gigantic, +he dragged, bodily, the oblong box. While we gazed in the extremity of +astonishment, he passed, rapidly, several turns of a three-inch +rope, first around the box and then around his body. In another +instant both body and box were in the sea- disappearing suddenly, at +once and forever. + + We lingered awhile sadly upon our oars, with our eyes riveted upon +the spot. At length we pulled away. The silence remained unbroken +for an hour. Finally, I hazarded a remark. + + "Did you observe, captain, how suddenly they sank? Was not that an +exceedingly singular thing? I confess that I entertained some feeble +hope of his final deliverance, when I saw him lash himself to the box, +and commit himself to the sea." + + "They sank as a matter of course," replied the captain, "and that +like a shot. They will soon rise again, however- but not till the salt +melts." + + "The salt!" I ejaculated. + + "Hush!" said the captain, pointing to the wife and sisters of the +deceased. "We must talk of these things at some more appropriate +time." + + We suffered much, and made a narrow escape, but fortune befriended +us, as well as our mates in the long-boat. We landed, in fine, more +dead than alive, after four days of intense distress, upon the beach +opposite Roanoke Island. We remained here a week, were not ill-treated +by the wreckers, and at length obtained a passage to New York. + + About a month after the loss of the "Independence," I happened to +meet Captain Hardy in Broadway. Our conversation turned, naturally, +upon the disaster, and especially upon the sad fate of poor Wyatt. I +thus learned the following particulars. + + The artist had engaged passage for himself, wife, two sisters and +a servant. His wife was, indeed, as she had been represented, a most +lovely, and most accomplished woman. On the morning of the +fourteenth of June (the day in which I first visited the ship), the +lady suddenly sickened and died. The young husband was frantic with +grief- but circumstances imperatively forbade the deferring his voyage +to New York. It was necessary to take to her mother the corpse of +his adored wife, and, on the other hand, the universal prejudice which +would prevent his doing so openly was well known. Nine-tenths of the +passengers would have abandoned the ship rather than take passage with +a dead body. + + In this dilemma, Captain Hardy arranged that the corpse, being first +partially embalmed, and packed, with a large quantity of salt, in a +box of suitable dimensions, should be conveyed on board as +merchandise. Nothing was to be said of the lady's decease; and, as +it was well understood that Mr. Wyatt had engaged passage for his +wife, it became necessary that some person should personate her during +the voyage. This the deceased lady's-maid was easily prevailed on to +do. The extra state-room, originally engaged for this girl during +her mistress' life, was now merely retained. In this state-room the +pseudo-wife, slept, of course, every night. In the daytime she +performed, to the best of her ability, the part of her mistress- whose +person, it had been carefully ascertained, was unknown to any of the +passengers on board. + + My own mistake arose, naturally enough, through too careless, too +inquisitive, and too impulsive a temperament. But of late, it is a +rare thing that I sleep soundly at night. There is a countenance which +haunts me, turn as I will. There is an hysterical laugh which will +forever ring within my ears. + + THE END +.