A Strange Discovery by Charles Romyn Dake
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Charles Romyn Dake >> A Strange Discovery
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"I will digress for a moment longer from the relation of those
occurrences which developed out of Pym's love affair, to say a word
concerning some of the physical effects of this artificial light, and to
explain certain facts related by Poe in his narrative of the earlier
adventures of our younger hero--I say of our younger hero, because I
cannot determine in my own mind which of the two, Pym or Peters,
deserves to be called the hero of their strange adventures.
"On the island of Hili-li the mean summer temperature was about 12 deg. or
13 deg. Fahrenheit higher than that of winter. The almost steady temperature
of the island in winter was 93 deg. F.--occasionally dropping two or three
degrees, and, very rarely, rising one or two degrees. The extremes in
temperature during the year were caused by the sun's relative
position--constant sunlight in summer, and its complete absence in
winter. Each year, by December--the south-polar midsummer
month--vegetation has become colored; and its delicacy yet brilliancy of
tintage is then very beautiful, and varied beyond that of perhaps any
other spot in the world. Peters has travelled over much of the tropics
and subtropics, and he says that only in Florida has he seen anything to
compare with the beauty of Hili-li vegetation in October and November. I
should imagine from what he says that the coloring of vegetation is in
great part the merest tintage, the large admixture of white giving to it
a startling luminosity, and permitting the fullest effect of those
neutral tints which are capable of combinations at once so restful and
so pleasing to the refined eye. In the vegetation of Florida there is
luminosity; but chromatic depth, as in most tropical coloring, is the
chief characteristic of its visual effect. To hear Peters talk of the
flowers of Hili-li, almost half a century after he himself viewed them,
is a sympathetic treat to my sense of color. But for strangeness--and it
was not without its element of beauty, too--the vegetable growth of July
and August in that peculiar land must exceed anything else of the kind
known to man. Think for a moment of the effect on vegetable growth of
warmth and moisture, a rich soil, and the complete absence of sunlight!
From the middle of their winter to its close, though vegetation is
luxuriant, it is colorless; that is to say, it is apparently of a pure
white, though, on comparison, the faintest shades of hue are
discernible--a very light gray and a cream color prevailing. The
peculiar grass of Hili-li, probably not indigenous yet certainly
different in form from any other grass, is very tender and very
luxuriant, but, even in their summer months, has a pale, almost hueless
though luminous green; whilst in winter it is almost white. Many flowers
bloom in the winter, but they differ one from another only in form and
in odor--they are all quite hueless. And this effect of artificial heat
in connection with absence of sunlight has a similar effect on animal
life, the plumage of the birds being a pure white. But in the appearance
of animals the summer sun does not produce much change--in that of
birds, none whatever.
"This brings me to the point in Peters' story at which I may most
naturally explain certain of Poe's statements--or, rather, of A. Gordon
Pym's statements--which have caused more comment than any other part of
the narrative. Hand me your Poe, please.--Here now: Poe says, quoting
from Pym's diary:
"'On the seventeenth [of February, 1828], 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' (this, you will
recall, was on the last island upon which they set foot before being
driven by winds and ocean currents farther south. They were then in
hiding from the barbarians of that island, and were only a few hundred
miles from the South Pole). 'We remembered that one of the fissures in
the sides of this pit had been 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.' He proceeds to explain that the sides of
the abyss had apparently never been connected, one surface being of
soapstone, the other of black marl. The average breadth between the two
cliffs was sixty feet. Here are Pym's own words again: 'Upon arriving
within fifty feet of the bottom [of the abyss], a perfect regularity
commenced. The sides were now entirely uniform in substance, in color
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 diary goes on to state that they
explored three chasms, and that in a fissure of the third of these
Peters discovered some 'singular-looking indentures in the surface of
the black marl forming the termination of the cul-de-sac.' It is
surmised by Pym and Peters that the first of these indentures is
possibly the intentional representation of a human figure standing
erect, with outstretched arm; and that the rest of them bore a
resemblance to alphabetical characters--such, at least, it seems from
Pym's diary, was the 'idle opinion' of Peters.
[Footnote: See Narrative of A. Gordon Pym, in any complete edition of
Poe's Works.]
"Pym later had a clew to the meaning of these characters, and no doubt
recorded the facts in a later diary, many of the pages of which Poe
never saw. But if Pym and Peters had analyzed more closely the
indentures, they might have gained at least the shadow of an idea of the
meaning of these representations. Pym made a copy of them, as you know,
and Poe here gives us a fac-simile of that copy in his Narrative. Peters
now knows in a general way of what these indentures were significant,
and I will in a moment explain to you their general meaning; but first
look at this fac-simile."
I drew up my chair to the side of Doctor Bainbridge, and together we
looked at the representation of these indentures which Poe has furnished
us. Bainbridge continued:
"Now look at this first figure, which Pym says 'might have been taken
for the intentional, though rude, representation of a human figure
standing erect, with outstretched arm.' The arm, observe, is here--the
arm and forearm, to my mind, separated; and directly above and parallel
with the arm is an arrow; and if we trace out the points of the compass
as described in the diary, we find that the arm is pointing to the
south, the arrow is pointing to the north; or in other words, the arm
points to Hili-li; the arrow, by inference, back to the island on which
the indentures exist. Now among most savages the arrow, as a symbol,
represents war--a fight--individual or even tribal death.
"Many centuries preceding the time at which Pym and Peters stood
examining the indentures in the black marl, and at least five centuries
after the foundation of Hili-li, the natives of that zone of islands
almost surrounding the South Pole at a distance of from three hundred to
seven hundred miles, were affected by one of those waves of feeling
which perhaps once in a thousand or several thousand years sweeps aside
all the common inclinations of a people, and for some reason which lies
buried in unfathomable mystery moves them to a concerted action not only
unknown in the past of those who participate in it, but, so far as can
be conceived, also unknown to the ancestors of the actors. Such a wave
of impulse, when it comes, seems to affect all the individuals of every
division of a race. In the example to which I am alluding, the impulse
seemed spontaneously to move the inhabitants of islands far apart, and
apparently not in communication--certainly not in direct communication.
With the singleness of purpose and uniformity of action seen in an army
under command of a leader, the natives of a hundred antarctic islands
swarmed into ten thousand fragile boats, and directed their course
toward the south. Why toward the south? Did instinct tell them that by
such a course the various bands would converge to a union? They knew
not. The first few boats arrived at Hili-li. Nine of every ten of those
that began the journey were lost--but still, boats continued to arrive
at the islands of the Hili-li group. Then, and after five hundred years
of peace, the Hili-lites saw that they were to be overrun by barbarians,
as their history told them their ancestors had once, in distant lands,
been overrun. The Hili-lites did not have formidable weapons; but
fortunately those of the invaders were scarcely more efficient. The
conflict came to a hand to hand engagement. The invaders could not
return, even had they so desired; so they must fight and win, or die.
The Hili-lites had no place of retreat, even had they been willing to
flee; and they too must fight and win, or die. The invaders numbered
more than a hundred thousand men; the Hili-lites, about forty thousand
that were able to fight in such a battle. The latter armed themselves
with clubs about four feet long, one inch in diameter at the handle, two
inches in diameter at the farther extremity, and made of a wood similar
to the dense tropical lignum-vitae (almost an inconceivable growth in
that comparatively sunless region); and, for additional weapons, behind
natural and artificial barriers they heaped piles of lava-blocks, sharp,
jagged, and weighing each from one to five pounds. The invaders had a
few very flimsy bows, scarcely six arrows to each bow--and nothing else
in the way of weapons. From all sides, on came the invaders in their
frail boats, in one mad rush upon the main island of Hili-li, where the
Hili-lites had, including their women, children, and aged men, gathered.
"The invaders were ill-fed, tired out by a sea-voyage exhausting almost
past comprehension, ignorant, almost weaponless, and making a charge in
small boats; whilst for them the favorable elements in the coming battle
were that they possessed five men for each two of the defenders, and
were impelled by a mad, instinctive impulse to advance, similar to that
of a swarm of migratory locusts, which advances even through fire, and
though it require the charred bodies of ninety-nine thousand of their
number over which the remaining thousand may cross. The Hili-lites were
well-fed, not fatigued, intelligent, comparatively well-armed, and were
on land, prepared for the battle; whilst they possessed also the
inherited Roman spirit, once lost by their ancestors, but by the
descendants recovered amid new and pure surroundings.
"Before a landing could be made, half the invaders, in the confusion
incident to a bombardment with lava-blocks, were thrown from their boats
and drowned, or knocked on the head as they swam ashore. Of the other
half, a third were killed as they attempted to land, and another third
within five minutes after they reached the shore. Then the remaining
fifteen thousand or more rushed back to their boats, only to find them
sunk in the shallow water near the shore--it having been quite easy for
eight or ten Hili-lites to sink each boat, by bearing in unison their
weight on one gunwale--a thousand or two young Hili-lites having been
assigned to that duty. Then the poor wretches who remained threw down
their flimsy bows, and fell face-downward on the ground, at the feet of
the victors. Under the circumstances, what could so noble a people as
were the Hili-lites do? They could not slaughter in cold blood nearly
twenty thousand trembling human creatures. So it was finally decided to
build a thousand large-sized row-boats, and it being the best time of
the year for that purpose, take them back to their own islands. This was
done. But in punishment for their offence, and as a constant reminder of
the existence of the Hili-lites--(who, as these savages knew, had
destroyed more than eighty thousand of their number, with a loss of only
twelve of their own killed, and thirty-seven seriously wounded--which
fact, by the bye, Peters says is inscribed on a monument in the City of
Hili-li, as well as recorded in the official history of the
Hili-lites)--as a constant reminder, I say, of a people so powerful,
they were ordered never, on any island in their group, to display any
object of a white color--the national color of the Hili-lites. So strict
and inclusive was this command, that the natives were ordered to take
each of their descendants as soon as his teeth appeared, and color them
with an indelible, metallic blue-black dye, repeating the operation
every year up to ten, and thereafter once in five years. The command
closed with the statement that the natives would be allowed to retain
the whites of their eyes, but only for the reason that, as they looked
at each other they would there, and only there, see the national color
of Hili-li, and so have always in mind the promise of the victors, that
if another descent on Hili-li were ever attempted, no single
native--man, woman, or child--would be allowed to live. In addition to
this, the Hili-lites engraved on a number of suitable rocks on each
island an inscription, briefly recording a reminder of the terrible
results of this attempt at conquest, heading each inscription with the
rude representation of a man with arm extended to the south, over which
and parallel with which was placed an arrow pointing to the
north--meaning, 'There is the direction in which a certain foolish
people may go to find quick death: from there comes war and
extermination!'
"So effective were the means employed by the Hili-lites to prevent
future raids, that, though the inhabitants of these islands had again
increased, probably to a million or more, no second invasion had ever
been attempted by even the strongest and bravest of their savage
chiefs."
"Well," I said, as Bainbridge paused, and seemed to be thinking just
what to say next, "what of the beautiful Lilama and the infatuated
Ahpilus? I hope poor Pym is not to have so charming a love-feast broken
into by any untoward event. I must say, Bainbridge, those Hili-lites
were wonderfully careless of their loveliest women--of a beautiful girl
of sixteen, and so close to royalty itself."
"Well, my cold-blooded friend, what will you say when I tell you that
Lilama was an orphan, and had inherited from her father the only island
in the archipelago upon which precious stones were found, and that even
in that strange land she was wealthier than the king? Had she been able
to get the products of her islands into the markets of the world, she
would have been wealthier than Croesus, the Count of Monte Cristo and
the Rothschilds, all combined. However, in Hili-li, wealth was
not--well, not an all-powerful factor; important, but not having the
power which in the remainder of the civilized world it possesses. To
have power, money must be able to purchase human labor or its products,
as only by human power is all other force utilized. In Hili-li, a
citizen possessed everything that he required for his ordinary wants,
and it was almost impossible to purchase the leisure time of any man. It
was possible on certain conditions to procure human labor, but it was
extremely difficult to do so. Then, for seven or eight hundred years
slavery had been prohibited in the land, all existing slaves having been
emancipated--after which, in the course of a few generations, Hili-lian
history says, the slaves and the slave-spirit were lost in the mass of
the population.
"In thinking over the position of Lilama and Pym, you must consider that
the older members of the family would probably not soon hear of such a
thing as love between these two, and, even when they did hear of it,
would have little doubt of being able to 'control the situation' as they
should please. Then, with the ideas possessed by the Hili-lites, there
would not arise any very serious objection to a union by marriage of
Lilama and young Pym. The Hili-lites believed the feelings to be a guide
to true happiness; and whilst they would certainly have controlled the
circumstances leading up to the seemingly unwise marriage of a girl of
sixteen--for they believed also in a proper education of the
feelings--they would not have prevented even a seemingly unwise
marriage, provided the feelings of those concerned loudly demanded such
a union--I mean that if in _reason_ such a marriage should seem
unwise--But enough. The hour is late, and I shall not before to-morrow
evening at eight o'clock begin a description of the exciting scenes
through which the beautiful Lilama was so soon to pass, and the
adventures of Pym and Peters--adventures so terrible that for centuries
to come they will descend, a thrilling romance, from generation to
generation, in those usually quiet and peaceful islands."
And then, against my protest, he took his departure.
The THIRTEENTH Chapter
The following morning, after leaving the hotel on some trifling errand,
I returned to find Arthur awaiting me. He stood by my table, and
occupied himself in turning the leaves of one of my books. He was
looking with much interest at a picture in a work on paleontology, a
book which by some chance had accompanied a few selected works that I
had brought with me from England. The picture that so interested him, I
saw as I drew nearer, represented the skeleton of a prehistoric mammoth
with a man standing by its side, the latter figure placed in the
picture, no doubt, for the purpose of showing relations of size. As I
stepped up close to Arthur's side, he turned a page in the book and
disclosed a still more startling representation, that of a reconstructed
mammoth, wool, long coarse hair, enormous tusks, and the rest. Arthur,
with his usual curiosity, wanted to be told "all about it," and I with
my usual desire to teach the searcher after knowledge even of little
things--though a mammoth is scarcely a "little thing"--briefly gave him
some insight of the subject, running over the differences between the
mastodontine and the elephantine mammoth; and then remarked to him,
incidentally, that an American _mastodon giganteus_, found not far from
where we stood, over in Missouri, a third of a century before, was now
in our British Museum, where I had seen it. Of course Arthur had many
questions to ask concerning the "gigantic-cus" which I had actually
seen. I gave him, from memory, the best description possible, telling
him that it was more than twenty feet in length, about ten feet high,
and so on. He seemed very thoughtful for several moments, whilst I sat
down to look at my morning paper. After somewhat of a pause, he asked
permission to speak--for with all Arthur's lack of cultivation he was
not wanting in a sense of propriety, which he usually displayed in his
relations with those whom he liked. I gave the desired permission, when
he said,
"I just wanted to say, sir, that I wish't you'd let me come up of an
evenin' and sit off in the corner there on that chair, and hear Doctor
Bainbridge tell about Pym and Peters. I know you've been mighty good to
tell me the most of it so far, but to-night he'll tell how that
beautiful female loves Pym, like you said early this morning he was
goin' to; and I'm awful anxious to hear soon. Something big's goin' to
happen, and I pity the natives if they rouse up that orang-outang
Peters. You said I would disturb the flowin' of Doctor Bainbridge's
retorick by goin' out and in. But I won't go out. I just won't go out;
if the Boss don't like it he can lump it--I can quit. Right down the
street I can rent a little shop-room, and a feller and me has been
talking of startin' a ice-cream saloon for the summer--yes, I can quit
if the Boss don't like it. I work all day, and half the night; I can't
keep up my system with a single drink without there's a kick a-coming;
and now if I can't have a little literature when it's right in the
house, it's a pity. No: I'll not interrup' the retorick."
Well, the end of it was, I gave my consent; and Arthur went off
delighted. I mention these facts in explanation of my position. It has
been said by one who ought to know, and the statement has been often
enough quoted to evidence some general belief in its truth, that
consistency is a jewel. I had said, that, during Doctor Bainbridge's
recitations of Dirk Peters' story, Arthur should not be present; and now
that he will be seen in a corner of my room evening after evening, I
desire that the reader shall know all the circumstances.
That afternoon I accompanied Bainbridge on his visit to the aged sailor.
I was pleased to see the old _lusus naturae_ sitting in a chair, and
seemingly quite strong. Bainbridge made himself agreeable, delivered to
Peters some small gifts of edibles, and then proceeded to ask a number
of questions--I presume, from their nature, concerning _minutiae_
relating to the adventures under consideration. Then we returned to
town, and separated.
Promptly at eight o'clock Bainbridge entered, and, as he took his
customary seat, cast a glance at Arthur, who sat on a chair in the
corner of the room.
"Well," began Bainbridge, after a moment's thought, "we were remarking
that within our own knowledge and experience, true love has been
exceedingly likely to meet with obstructions to its complete
fruition:--and Lilama and Pym met with a similar experience in far-away
Hili-li. Peters took a great interest in Pym's love affair; in fact, he
had grown almost to worship the young fellow whose life he had many
times preserved, and who in less than a year had, under his eye, grown
from a careless boy to a thoughtful man. Pym returned the liking of his
old companion and benefactor; but Peters' sentiment was one of
infatuation, such as only those persons who are 'close to nature' seem
capable of feeling in its fullest development. When the feeling of which
I speak exists in its most intense form, it includes a devotion equal to
that of the dog for its master: it is wholly instinctive, and not even
the certainty that death stalks in the path between can keep it from its
object.
"One morning early, there was excitement in the ducal palace. Lilama was
missing. Search was diligently made. Pym was wild with excitement; and
as the morning wore on Peters grew almost mad. (I shall speak of
morning, afternoon, evening, and night. The degree of light in Hili-li
did not now vary in the twenty-four hours; but it is necessary that I
should in some manner divide the day, and our usual method seems the
best.) The Duke himself arrived at about ten o'clock, by which time the
search had ceased, and what to do next had become the question. The Duke
appeared surprised at something, and spoke a few words to his son, a
young man of twenty-two or twenty-three, by name Diregus, who thereupon
looked slightly foolish, as one does who has made some puerile mistake.
The Duke appeared to feel a real touch of pity for Pym, who sat
dejected, a picture of intense anguish, now and then casting a
beseeching look at the Duke--the only person who, to his mind, might be
able to assist him to regain his sweetheart. The Duke again spoke to his
son, who, turning to Pym, motioned him to accompany them. Then, followed
by Peters, they walked down to the shore, and entered a boat.
"From the moment of starting, every movement of the Hili-lites seemed as
if prearranged. It was a peculiarity of this people that a number of
them acting together talked very little, each of the party appearing to
know the wishes and intentions of the others, without a word spoken. And
so was it on this occasion. Scarcely a word was uttered, and each seemed
to comprehend the wishes of the others, mainly by glances and by
semi-involuntary movements. In the present instance, father and son did
not once glance at each other, yet the son was evidently aware of each
wish of the father. They finally came to a landing, across the bay, in
the suburbs of the city most distant from the locality in which stood
the ducal palace. There, some four hundred feet from the shore, amid
giant trees, in spacious and seemingly neglected grounds, stood a very
large residence, evidently many centuries old, and of a style of
architecture not seen by the Americans elsewhere in Hili-li. The
building had an eerie look, and as the party drew near to it Peters
observed that but one of its wings was inhabited, the remainder of the
mansion being in a state of almost complete decay. They all entered by a
side doorway into the inhabited wing. Pym and Peters were motioned to
seats in the hallway, the Duke remarking, in hushed tones, 'The home of
Masusaelili,' as he and Diregus passed through a broken and decaying
doorway into apartments beyond. Soon Diregus returned, and, escorting
Pym and Peters through several disordered rooms, finally paused before a
large curtained doorway. Then Diregus spoke, but in a hushed voice, and
with an awed solemnity that chilled his hearers through and through.
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