The sea serpent. Attack and capture one of the species, thus putting the question of its existence forever at rest.
Itwas in my tenth year of captivity that the following adventure occurred to me, which is of such importance to the scientific world, and settles forever such a disputed question, that I cannot forbear to relate it here in the interest of science, and to set at rest all doubts upon this subject forever.
I had started upon one of my trips to the pearl oyster reef in the submarine boat, to obtain some of those bivalves, to convey to the shore for examination. The day was beautiful, and the sky clear and almost without a cloud, with a light air moving from the northwest. I was standing out toward the reef from Perseverance Bay with the manhole open, and all goat power on, when all at once, as I was gazing about the horizon, I saw to leeward of me and off the eastern end of the island, a strange commotion in the regular waves of the ocean. Some animal or fish was evidently splashing the water about into the air in huge quantities. At one time it looked as if the disturbance was caused by porpoises disporting themselves in their native element, and following their leader, in a long string; but I soon saw this was not the case. At anothermoment it seemed as if a whole fleet of empty barrels had been suddenly left bobbing about in mid-ocean, and then again as if detached quantities of dry seaweed had been floated seaward by the tide, and showed itself as it rose and fell upon the summits of different waves. Whilst the object was taking all these different shapes to my gazing eyes, I was steadily approaching it, having changed the course of the boat, and as I advanced I found that it also was coming towards me, and when within perhaps one half mile, the creature (for it proved to be an animal), suddenly raised its head at least twenty feet above the waves of the ocean, and looked about him in every direction. At once the truth flashed upon me. Here was in verity the sea serpent of which so much has been written and so much doubted. There was no deception; all was too plain before me to deceive a child: but, to prove the matter beyond doubt, I stopped the boat and waited for his near approach. He happened to be heading so that he would naturally pass very near to me, and I got ready to clap down the manhole and descend into the ocean if he made any attack upon me. Just as he was coming along finely towards me, he suddenly plunged beneath the surface and was lost to view. Here was a pretty ending to all my desires to observe him. He had not as yet come near enough for me to describe him, so as to be believed. What should I do? I hated to lose him in this manner, and I felt confident that he had sounded, not on account of perceiving my boat,which he could have scarcely noticed, but, because he was at that moment in the humor or was feeding. Whilst I was uttering useless regrets at having lost him, and making up my mind whether or not to descend myself and try to find him, I was disturbed by a loud splash astern of where I was looking, and, facing about, I looked into the eyes of the horrible creature, not forty yards distant from me.
He did not, however, seem to notice me in the least, but to clap down the manhole cover and descend was with me the work of a moment, for I knew too little of his habits to trust him. I have perhaps before in this narrative stated that, when beneath the surface of the water, all fishes and animals seemed not to take the slightest notice of me; either taking my boat for a submarine rock, or else for a creature like themselves; why it was so, I, of course, cannot say, but that such was the fact I can aver. I had often put my hand down into the water upon the back of quite large fish, when beneath the surface, and it was not till they were touched that they seemed to know that anything out of the ordinary was happening. I had been fully as near the sea serpent as I desired, and descended for safety; his horrible eyes and face haunting me as I fell slowly towards the bottom. Having arrived to within ten or twelve feet, I checked the boat, intending to wait a reasonable time for his lordship to depart, and then to rise to the surface and go on my way rejoicing that he had not injured me; butI had not remained more than five minutes in my position before I saw a sight that frightened me more than meeting this creature on the surface; for, glancing about towards the bottom, my eyes fell upon the serpent making his descent from above, and moving along slowly on the bottom, evidently seeking for his prey. His horrible head passed within at least ten feet of the boat, of which he seemed to take not the slightest notice. As it passed from my view it was followed by the body, at least one hundred feet in length, and as large around as a common-sized flour barrel. I was too startled to move, but kept the boat quietly in position till the whole body passed slowly out of sight. As the tail went by me, my first impulse was to get out of the way, and ascend to the surface, and start for home; my next was to remain where I was and see what would happen. Sitting down, I thought the whole matter over. My solitary existence had given me an inordinate appetite for excitement. I wanted something to stir my stagnant blood, something to call into action all my physical and mental powers. You who have never been cut off from the rest of mankind cannot credit this thirst for something new, something moving, something strange. The daily conversation, the crowded streets, the incidents of life, feed this desire and keep it satisfied; but when there is nothing of this kind, the mind and body both ache to fill the void produced. Add to this such a temperament as mine, and it can be understood that, just saved from an attack fromthis unknown monster, I determined to attack him, and, if possible, capture him. I don't know why I should have brought myself to this conclusion, or why I should risk my life, but such is man. From a state of fear I entered into one of fierce excitement, and made every preparation to attack the danger I had just escaped.
I had always with me in the boat, two strong, sharp harpoons with long, seasoned, wooden staffs, in complete order, and also a lance and knife. To the harpoons was attached a raw-hide rope, some fifty fathoms in length, and with this I made up my mind to strike the serpent if I could get the chance. To the end of the raw-hide rope, I attached a wooden buoy, and, thus armed, I started the goats, and headed the boat in the direction the monster had taken but a few moments before, and in such a leisurely manner. I had not gone far before I saw the end of his tail coming in view, as he lay stretched upon the sandy bottom. I lowered the boat till I floated about eight feet above the hidden form, and, plucking up my courage, steered forward over him, with his huge body for a guide. As I arrived near his head I stopped the goats, and let the boat drift, the tide luckily being in the direction that I desired to go, that is, what there was of it, which was very little. As the head came slowly into view, I saw that the monster was engaged in quietly crunching in his horrible jaws a fish of some size, that he had evidently just caught, and, upon which his attention seemed to be fixed. The moment was propitious, and, asthe boat slowly drifted, not eight feet over the head of the terrible creature, I stood with the harpoon in my hand, and deliberately drove it downward with all my might through his head, just abaft the eyes.
I did not stop to see the effect of my blow, but immediately tumbled into the water, as fast as possible, several of the large stones that I used on the shelves for ballast, so as to ascend at once towards the surface, casting overboard at the same time the line attached to the harpoon, with the buoy at the end. Relieved of the ballast, the boat commenced to ascend instantly and rapidly, but none too soon, for, as it was rushing towards the surface, just below me came the sweep of the creature's terrible tail in its death agony. If I had been struck with it, it would inevitably have capsized my boat, and perhaps have killed me, or, at least, left me to swim ashore to the island, distant some miles, or else be drowned; but, luckily, the blow missed me; the ascent of the boat was so rapid, the very moment I kicked and threw over some of the ballast. Having risen as near the surface as possible, I rigged my pump and ascended still further, and then, setting up my tripod and shipping my air-boat, I soon had air enough to rise completely above the surface, and to open the manhole and look about me. Of course, my first glance was to discover my buoy. Yes; there it lay, not fifty yards from me, without any motion, except what it received from the waves upon which it floated. I could hardly credit that at the other end laythe sea monster, transfixed through the brain with my trusty harpoon; but such, I felt sure, was the case. The mark had been too near and quiet for me to fail, and I had with my own eyes seen the iron driven in up to the staff through the centre of its head. I longed to find out the state of affairs, but did not dare to descend for fear of being caught in the folds of the dying monster. I steered for the floating buoy, and, getting hold of it, by means of a boat-hook thrust out of the manhole, I pulled it towards me, and gathered in all the slack line, till I could feel that I was pulling direct upon the harpoon. No vibration came to me through it, and I could slightly raise the weight evidently attached to the other end, but I was afraid of possibly drawing out the harpoon, so I did not attempt much in this direction; but, being assured that the creature was dead, I finally mustered up courage to descend and look at him. As I came near the bottom, I stopped the boat and advanced in the direction that the line from the buoy trended in. Yes, there he was, dead as a door-nail; but his whole body, that had so lately been stretched along the bottom, was coiled up and around the staff of the harpoon, which had pinned the head to the ocean's bed. I came near enough to see that the creature was really dead, and then, rising to the surface, I made all haste for Stillwater Cove. Arriving, I got up steam on the yacht, and made all haste back to the buoy, towing the submarine boat behind me. When I got upon the ground, I descended in the submarineboat, and, by means of ropes, and pulling and hauling in each direction, I got the body of the serpent somewhat straightened out and the head clear. Around the neck I fastened a good, strong, rawhide rope and attached the buoy rope to it. I then, at a distance of some thirty or forty feet from the head, lashed to the back of the creature my air-boat, to sustain that part somewhat, so that it would not drag upon the bottom. I then arose to the surface and went on board of the yacht, and took the buoy rope to the balance-wheel in the engine-room, and hove the head of the monster nearly to the surface; the water sustaining it, so that it was not very heavy. I trusted to my air-boat to help sustain the remainder of the body, and, thus accoutred, with the submarine boat towing far astern out of the way, I headed slowly for Stillwater Cove, towing my prey behind me. When I arrived at the opening of the cove I drew the carcase as far as possible, by means of the steam yacht, on to the sandy seashore, where the tide would leave it out of water when it receded. I then liberated my goats, and moored the boat in the harbor near by, and, taking my pets on board, after anchoring the serpent safely, steamed towards the Hermitage, where I landed them, and took on board some empty barrels and knives, hatchets, and saws, to dissect my sea monster. When I arrived back the sea had already fallen so as to leave the head and at least twenty feet of the body high and dry. After the tide had wholly gone down, I measured the monster, and these were thedimensions. Taking my measure of a fathom as a standard, the creature was twenty-two and one-half fathoms long, and, at its largest girth—about two fathoms below the neck—over one fathom and a quarter in circumference. It is difficult to describe the monster, but I will try. The head was at least eight feet long, and the extent to which the mouth could be opened over six feet; the gullet was small; the teeth numerous, but small; the nostrils large and prominent; the eyes fully six inches in diameter, and with an expression that, even now that the creature was dead, I could not stand when I looked into them. In the stomach I found only small pieces of different kind of fishes, and, by the smallness of the teeth and gullet, I am inclined to believe that the creature is naturally quite harmless, like most of the mighty animals of the earth,—as the sperm whale, elephant, etc., which never attack anyone unless disturbed. Beyond the head, and, for a distance of some ten feet, grew a sort of mane, formed of pendant tissues of flesh some five or six feet in length, exactly like those to be found on the sides of the mouth of the Mississippi cat-fish or smaller horn-pout. Towards the tail, and some distance from it, was an adipose fin, that was at least a foot high and fifteen feet long. The skin of the creature was of a mottled greenish hue, rough, and discolored, something the color of the shell of a very young crab, and at least a good quarter of an inch in thickness. Having taken all the dimensions of the monster, I went to work and cut off his head, and leftit purposely where the fishes, lobsters, etc., would feed upon it at high water, so as to in time preserve its skeleton when all the bones were completely articulated. The remainder of the body I skinned in sections, at different times, and was glad to roll the rest of the body into the current of Stillwater Cove, to be carried out to sea.
THE SEA SERPENT.--Page 347
THE SEA SERPENT.—Page 347.
I have enough on hand, at the time of writing this, to prove to any one that I have both seen and captured the veritable sea serpent; for, as I sit in the Hermitage, the whole skull, with jaws, teeth, and part of the vertebræ attached, is hung up near me, and below it a circular piece, nearly four feet long, of the hide of the animal at its greatest girth. The frontal bone of the skull, which is not very thick, is broken where the harpoon iron entered and caused immediate death. With this exception the whole specimen is in complete order; and I have also a sketch of the animal drawn upon parchment, from actual life, taken by myself before he was at all mutilated or cut up.
I hope that this truthful, consistent, and convincing recital will close forever this mooted question; for there is a sea serpent, and I have been able to capture and preserve one of his species.
Make a Balloon and Flying Machine, in which I make a Successful Ascension.
Mythoughts turned wholly now upon means of defending my vast treasures in case of invasion, and devising ways of escape from the island. As to the former, I overhauled all my artillery at the different points, increased my stock of gunpowder, and had each cannon well supplied with ammunition. I also perfected my battery at Stillwater Cove, and kept the armament on the walls of the Hermitage in excellent order. Not content with this, I went to work in the foundry and turned out several cylinders, similar to the one I had exploded the sunken wreck with, which I fitted with flint and steel, ready to be filled with powder; in short, a species of torpedo, which I had fully determined to take into the submarine boat and explode beneath the bottom of any hostile vessel that should dare to attack me, so much had the acquisition of vast riches changed my disposition. I felt that any vessel approaching and anchoring would be at my mercy; for in the night-time I could approach her, wherever she might be anchored, unknown to anyone, and, attaching one of my infernal machines, send her to the bottom with all on board. I do not say that I should have done this, but I was preparedfor all emergencies, and determined to defend my treasure to the last. For means of escape I turned my attention to ballooning,—a subject which I had thought much about, but heretofore had done nothing in that direction. For several years I had been quietly gathering in all the dried pods of milkweed, floss, or silk that I could find,—and large spaces of the island were covered with it,—determined at some time to weave me some kind of cloth or silk from its fibre. I now commenced seriously upon this work, and took hold of it in earnest. It would take too long to relate how many changes I had to make in my loom, which I built of cast-iron, to be moved by water-power, before I could get it to work at all; but I had the theory all correct, and it was only practice that I needed to make cloth. The machine for spinning the floss into threads took me the longest time, but I finally accomplished it. After a while, and with many failures, I commenced to turn out from my loom a sort of cloth, about a yard wide, which was very strong, flexible, and light, but of an uneven surface, on account of the irregularity in the size of my threads, and fuzzy, like coarse flannel; but for strength and practical use I found the material all that could be desired; and, having tested it, I set carding and spinning wheels to work daily to procure thread for my loom. After making some hundred yards of this cloth, I stopped all the operations to experiment in another direction. In my boyhood I had seen balloon-ascensionsmade by filling the bag with a gas, created by pouring sulphuric acid upon iron or steel filings in this manner: Several old hogsheads were brought upon the field where the ascension was to take place, and into each of them was poured a quantity of iron filings, scraps, etc., and upon this was poured sulphuric acid; the casks were then headed up, and through a small orifice the gas engendered was led by a pipe from each to the balloon, which was thus inflated. If I could make this gas and successfully inflate a small balloon, it would then be time enough for me to advance with my clothmaking for a large one. I easily ascertained from my book how to make sulphuric acid. And this is how I did it: I got together a quantity of sulphur or brimstone, and setting fire to it in a closed vessel, with just enough draught for it to burn, I led the fumes into a closed vessel of water through a short funnel, where, combining with the water, I had at once sulphuric acid. To test this I tackled my friends the dog-sharks, in Stillwater Cove, and obtained several bladders, very thin and light, just suited for my purpose, which I blew up with atmospheric air, and allowed to dry perfectly in the sun. When they were in proper condition I placed in one of my porcelain jars a few handfuls of iron and steel filings, and poured upon it some of the sulphuric acid that I had made, and then lashed the neck of the bladder to the orifice of the jar. I watched my experiment with subdued excitement. I felt sure that I was right intheory; would the thing work in practice? I had yet to see. After leaving the bladder on for a considerable time, I drew a string around it perfectly tight so that no gas could escape and released it from the jar. With fear and trepidation I loosed my hold upon it, and in one moment it shot up into the sky like a rocket till it was nearly beyond my sight, when it disappeared in a northeasterly direction before a strong wind that was blowing. I was as pleased as a boy with his first toy-balloon, and, like a child, I let off several of these bladders as fast as filled with gas, perfectly fascinated to see them ascend and then disappear in the blue ether.
Here was a means at once of sending up daily messengers to all parts of the world, stating the latitude and longitude of the island, and asking for rescue. Aye, but there was the rub; without my treasure how gladly would I have seized upon this method of letting my captivity be known, but with it I had become a coward. I wanted to escape, and did not dare to ask anyone to aid me. The knowledge that I could ask was, of course, a satisfaction, but as yet I did not dare to risk it, and put the matter on one side for further meditation at some future day. Finding that my theory about the gas was correct, I went to work again upon my clothmaking, and worked hard at it nearly six months, when I had sufficient quantity for my purpose, which was to make a balloon of large enough size to make an ascension in myself. I did not have any foolhardy idea of leaving the island in a balloon and landingI knew not where, but I was determined to make a series of experiments in several directions, that had been running through my head for years before, and to see what they were worth. In the first place I went to work and made a balloon, in the shape of an immense cigar, of the cloth that I had manufactured, which was some thirty feet long, and ten feet in diameter. My theory was this. In all balloon ascensions navigators heretofore had only been able to fill a sack with gas, and to ascend into the air, and descend by allowing the same to escape, in other words, to have but little control of the machine except to ascend and descend, and this in a limited degree. I had often noticed that, in the severest storms, seabirds would remain poised in the air without moving a wing, facing the wind, and yet not recede before it, but by a slight motion of the wings, not up and down or a stroke, but a sort of elevation of the body, dart dead to windward against it. I had also noticed that, if a tin plate was thrown into the air against a strong wind, it would often, if at the right angle, increase its speed greatly after leaving the hand, and dart into the wind's eye with extreme velocity. Hence I thought that a balloon could be made to tack in the air exactly as a boat tacks in the water, except that the motion of tacking should be perpendicular instead of horizontal. Suppose that a balloon, cigar-shaped like mine, was poised in air at an altitude of one thousand feet, and that at each end of the car was arranged a light but large horizontal flatsurface, exactly like a barn door laid upon the ground, with its hinges attached to the car. To advance against the wind why not elevate the one in front and depress the one in rear to the right angle, or till they were filled as we should say of sails, and then advance into the wind's eye, increasing at the same time the elevation, as the tin plate is forced forward; and, having made a tack upward and forward, why not elevate the rear screen and depress the front one, and descend towards the earth at an angle, still eating our way to windward, and when near the surface reverse the action and mount again heavenward, but still to windward. Besides this, why should not my balloon be filled with gas till it would lift myself, the screens, the car, and all its apparatuswithin one or two pounds. That is to say, to have just enough gas in the balloon, not to raise the apparatus, but to so nearly raise it that another person, if present, could lift the whole in his hand; practically to reduce the weight of my body to that of a good sized duck; then with small wings, not immense cumbersome ones, the same size that would raise a duck, I ought to be able to raise myself, and sail in the air. Could it be done?
After I had made my balloon bag I covered all the cloth and the seams with a fine varnish that I made from the resinous trees of the island. This part of my task caused me little trouble. Having finished it I went to work upon my car and its appurtenances, which I made almost wholly of small cane, very strong but very light.I made also two immense screens or fans, which I fastened to either end, so that they could be elevated or depressed, and covered the light framework with cloth. Underneath the centre of my car was hung vertically a propeller, also made of cane, and the blades covered with cloth, and on each side a fan wheel some six feet in circumference and two wide. The shaft of these fan wheels and propeller was brought into the car, and, by a series of bevelled gear made of the lightest iron possible, was connected with a treadmill for one of my goats, motion upon which would give over five hundred revolutions per minute to the fan wheels and propeller. In this car I also fixed a jar of iron filings and a bottle of sulphuric acid to make gas, if necessary, to replace that which would in time leak out of the balloon if long inflated. I also provided the machine with sand ballast in case I should need it to keep up the equilibrium in case the gas should escape faster than I expected, when I could keep my elevation by discharging it. After this was all arranged, the next thing was to make the experiment.
I have always thought that great advancement has been made in all the arts of navigating the ocean on account of the ease and safety with which experiments can be made, but to experiment in the air one must go into the air, and if the theory does not work in practice, down he comes, perhaps a corpse, on to the hard earth, whilst a capsize in the ocean in experimenting is nothing. Now I had made up my mind to go up in this machine, if possible,but I had also made up my mind that I would go over the water and not over the land, so that if anything did not work, I should only take a cold bath and nothing more; besides, by my theory, I need not go high, and could keep a few feet above the surface of the sea, and if disaster occurred I could swim ashore. I put my goat daily upon his treadmill and worked my machine theoretically till I was satisfied with it. I then made myself a nice life preserver of fish bladders, and put into the car some few provisions and water. The next task was to launch myself properly into space without any disaster. To enable me to do this I went to the mouth of Stillwater Cove and erected a sort of wharf from the shore out into the water at nearly high tide, about four feet wide, upon which I could rest my car with the fan wheels hanging over each side and the propeller clear underneath, the wharf not being planked, but consisting of a few uprights and cross pieces only.
I carried here all my utensils for making gas and had everything prepared for a start. I needed in the first place a day with but little wind, but what there was to be from the southward so as to blow me off into Perseverance Bay when I should start. After some waiting, such a day came and I hastened to take advantage of it. In the first place I took the canoe in tow of the yacht, and anchored it nearly a mile from shore in the direction that the wind blew, so as to be able, perhaps, to reach it if I should find myself too far from land in case of disaster. I then returnedand went to work filling my balloon with gas. This I did on shore, till I had sufficient in the balloon to make it steady, when I conveyed it over the car upon the wharf, where I attached it by its numerous cords, and then connected it again with the orifice of the pipe that was supplying the gas. I had before in a rude balance ascertained my own weight in sand-bags, and these I had in the car to represent myself. I put the goat on the treadmill, all harnessed in, ready to start at a moment's notice, and in fact I did start him before the balloon was very buoyant, to see if everything was working right. I walked about the car, lifting it once in a while to see how buoyant it was. I should have said that the propeller had been changed from my first idea, as had the paddles. The former was so arranged as to work vertically, and motion from it ought to force me into the air, whilst the latter were arranged in the form of two lateral propellers, I having bethought myself in season that a revolving wheel in the air would not force me in any direction, whilst a propeller would. The time finally came when the car and all its appurtenances weighed only a few ounces in my hand, in fact nearly ready to take flight of itself. I then cut off the gas and placed myself in the car and commenced quietly emptying over the side the sand bags that represented my own weight; and these being exhausted, I boldly threw over at once two bags weighing nearly or fully twenty-five pounds each, as I was determined to start clear and rapidly from my resting place, knowingthat I could easily descend by letting out a very little gas. The effect was instantaneous, and I arose rapidly and commenced floating slowly out over Perseverance Bay; but I had no desire to go high, and I opened the throttle valve at the very moment the balloon started, and at the height of about one hundred feet it was already commencing to slowly descend, which I allowed it to do, till it was about twenty-five feet above the water, when I threw out of gear the lateral propellers and started the goat; the effect was instantaneous in checking the descent, and the vertical propeller was forcing me upward with magnificent speed, in fact I found myself quite too high for comfort before I bethought myself of stopping the goat, which being done I commenced again to descend, but quite leisurely, being very evenly balanced in the air. When I came near the water, I set the vertical propeller again to work and arose heavenward. All this time I was drifting slowly out seaward over Perseverance Bay, and I thought it time to try my lateral propellers; so, setting the gear at once by a handset, I put on all goat power, being at a distance of some fifty feet above the water, as near as I could judge. Everything worked admirably, and I saw that I was rapidly increasing my speed seaward. When I descended too near the ocean I put on the vertical propeller, but I noticed that the lateral ones sustained me as well as forced me forward. I soon ran past the place where the "Fairy" was anchored, and I had now to try my last experiment. By this time I hadbecome at ease in my car, and began to feel as safe and secure as in the submarine boat. By stopping one of the lateral propellers I soon had my balloon turned round and facing the wind, which was at this elevation and out to sea, rather more than I had reckoned upon. As the point of the cigar-shaped balloon came to the wind, I put on the vertical propeller and ascended higher than I had ever yet been, and then, depressing the forward screen and elevating the rear one, I made a dive in a slanting direction towards the ocean; and here I had like to have been shipwrecked, for my car commenced descending with such rapidity that I had scarcely time to reverse the action before I was in the ocean, but happily, by starting the vertical propeller I saved myself, and found the car going just as rapidly upwards.
I had solved the problem.I was tacking to windward in the air.I was utilizing the action that causes a boomerang to take the seemingly erratic course it does through space. Having tacked a few times I stopped in mid-air, and, as I had evidently lost some little gas, threw over a small amount of sand, till I sailed again almost in equilibrio. I then put on all the speed of my lateral propellers, and found that I could stem the wind, and that I was approaching the shore. By the action of either one propeller or the other I could change the direction of the car at will, and was enabled to hover over the very wharf whence I started, and to land upon it with a shock no greater than sitting down upon a hardchair.
I then let the gas escape from the balloon, and released my little goat, who had been my mainstay through all this perilous adventure. I had made a more successful ascension than had ever before been made in the world, and if I could replace my goat-power by some other—such as a caloric engine, or some method of compressed air—I should have a vehicle worthy of the nineteenth century. Of course it would not do to have an engine, however small, fed with coal, or I should inevitably have an explosion. At the present I felt that the goat power must do me; and, even if he should fail, my weight was also so nearly that of a few ounces or pounds that I could not fall hard, or with much velocity, even if he should from some reason refuse to work, or some of my machinery give way. The only thing that I feared was the tacking business; this I considered dangerous, with the crude appliances that I had, and I made up my mind not to be tipped out into the ocean, and therefore took them off the car, making up my mind that I would not make an ascension when there was more wind than I could head against with the lateral propellors, and, furthermore, now I had tested the machine, there was no need of my going off the island, over the sea, but I was free to sail all over the land, and if a storm of wind should arise, in which my crude car would be unmanageable, I had only to descend, and walk home.
I may as well say here, that I often afterwards enjoyed myself in the air, floating over my own island, and that I never met with the slightest accident, of any kind; but I could not utilize my discovery enough to dare to attempt an ocean voyage with it. It was a pretty plaything, and would make my fortune if amongst civilized people; but I have no objection to both my submarine boat and balloon becoming public property, as far as I am concerned, I having enough actual wealth, in solid metal, to enable me to enjoy everything in this life worth enjoying.
If this manuscript ever comes to the hands of any one, they can go ahead and manufacture without infringing upon my patent-rights; but should they make an immense fortune, as they are sure to do, why then they can remember the inventor, if they choose; if God wills it that I should ever be where any of my fellow-men can help me, or I them. By my series of experiments in ballooning I had exhausted all my inventions for escape, and I still returned to one of two things: To let the world know of my distress by sending the news by balloons, or else escape myself, in my steam yacht, or life raft, and run the risk of finding the island occupied upon my return, and myself debarred from my treasures and ownership. Between these two I felt that it was time for me to choose, definitely and speedily.
The manuscript sent forth.
Perseverance Island, South Pacific,
January, 1877.
I havedecided. I am no longer in doubt. My mind is fully made up as to the course I must take, and that it is of no use for me to remain upon this island fretting my life away. I must escape, I must have companionship, and I must choose. Each method presented to my mind has its advantages, and I have long been in doubt which to adopt: but the struggle is ended; I have fully made up my mind, and shall not swerve from it. If I should try to escape I have the following methods open to me: First, the submarine boat. If I should decide to use that method, I should, in the first place, have to build a much larger one, with room for provisions and bed; and, being larger, it would be propelled much slower by goat power, for I could not utilize a steam-engine on account of the oxygen it would eat up, and the necessary space that would be needed for fuel. Now to build another, and larger boat, would take time and patience, and would be practically useless when built; so I dismissed this from my mind. The one I now had was too small to carry provisions for myself and goats, enough to last any great length of time; and the whole fabric was too crude to trust myself in fora voyage of any length, supposing, even, that I could carry in it sufficient food to sustain life. There was one principle, however, in the submarine boat that I hated to give up, and that was the perfect safety from storms on the surface: these I could escape at all times,—and, again, I should never lose in the night-time what I made in the day. There would be no drifting back, before the wind, whilst I was asleep, but by descending from the surface at night I should rest peacefully till morning, subject only to the slow drift of any ocean current that I might encounter. In stormy weather also I could always keep on my way in perfect calm, beneath the surface, without resistance of any kind except the friction of the water. These points were strongly in my favor; but I could not see any way to utilize them. One great impediment would be the want of air. If I should have to remain below the surface for any length of time beyond a few hours, I should have to keep to work preparing and introducing new air. Then, if my steering apparatus should get out of order, it would be difficult to repair it, and if my goats should die, or become sick, I should be utterly without any means of locomotion, and liable to be left drifting about in mid-ocean till death ended my troubles. No; after long and anxious consultation with myself, I was forced to give up all idea of using my submarine boat, and, having so decided, put it wholly and completely out of my mind, and did not allow myself to think of it again in connection with my escape.This gave my mind relief to concentrate itself upon the second means of escape, namely, the steam yacht.
Here I was again puzzled. There was a great deal in its favor. I should, of course, have to sleep, and during my sleep I should go to leeward, before the wind, without reckoning of where I should bring up. I felt that I could stop this drifting, to a degree, by making a sort of bag of canvas, to be submerged in the ocean to a certain depth to which the yacht could be anchored, so to speak, during the night. She would, of course, still drift, but not one-quarter as much as she would without it. Such an anchor was often used successfully, as I well knew, in larger vessels, in gales of wind, to keep them head to sea, and to prevent them drifting so rapidly to leeward before the blast as they would without it. If I should risk this drifting I might also be exposed to all kinds of weather and gales of wind to which my little boat was hardly equal. I felt confident that she would not be safe in a heavy seaway, and, if the machinery should break down, I should be reduced to sails alone, which I could only handle in the daytime, and which, in any sudden squall, might cause my being capsized for want of assistance in taking them in. No; I knew the risk was too great. I might never see land for months, if at all, if my machinery should give out so as to compel me to use sails, which would often become unmanageable by myself alone. No, I must give this idea up; and I did so.
I next turned my thoughts to a catamaran boat, or life raft,—something upon hollow cylinders, that could not capsize, and upon which I should feel sure of being safe, as far as any fear I might have of the ocean. This seemed more feasible than anything yet,—slow, to be sure, but more safe than any of the foregoing. I had here the danger of being washed off such a raft, the discomforts of being forced to go without fire during any gale of wind, and to be utterly unable to advance, with any great speed, towards my place of destination, unless the wind should be, by chance, favorable. By this third method I should, in reality, be exposed upon an open raft to the winds of heaven, for how long a time God only knew. That I should suffer infinitely I felt certain. I was too old not to see plainly just what I should have to go through with to put to sea in such a vessel. I knew that it had been done, and that just such rafts had crossed the Atlantic after many weary days of passage, and others had started that were called life rafts,—and believed so to be both by practical and scientific men, who had examined them before their departure,—which had never been heard of again. No, I would not trust myself to the mercies of the sea in this manner, and exchange my pleasant island for its dangers.
My last chance of escape was by my flying-machine, and the many things in its favor tempted me greatly, and at one time I thought that they had overcome in my mind the danger. I could easily construct one of these machines, that would take into the air both myself, mytwo goats, provisions, spare sulphuric acid and steel filings to make new gas, and if my machinery would work I could escape in safety, I felt convinced. I could, as I have said, make new gas, even when on my voyage; and if I should use up all my sand-bags, and needed more ballast, I had only to let down a bucket into the ocean, attached to a long line, and pull up as much water as I might need to overcome the buoyancy of any new gas I might make. I might, also, if a favorable wind should commence, fly like a bird towards the continent of South America. But, on the other hand, if a gale should arise, I might, if one of my fragile propellers should become broken, be hurled before the blast till I floated above the vast ocean far beyond the reach of mortal aid. If I dared trust my machinery this would be the way I should make my attempt; but I did not feel that I had the right to risk my life in this manner, or by any of the above methods, till I had exhausted all means of making the outside world come to me. Therefore, after due and serious consideration, I made up my mind firmly not to try to escape by any of the above plans, or by any means, till I had tried the other alternative.
This decision having once been firmly made, I felt that more than half my task was already done; for it was this shilly-shallying that was undoing me. Anything was better than to waste my life in this useless wavering. What good to me was all my wealth unless I could utilize it? and to do so I must run some risks, and the quicker Iundertook them the quicker I should be put out of my pain and misery if my plans were to be successful, and the more years I should have to enjoy my princely revenues. I could not better affairs by any act of mine. It was all in the hands of God, and I might as well now, as at any time, give myself up to what He might order for the best.
Having thus made up my mind to let my position be known to the outside world, and to ask for assistance and aid, I had next to settle upon the best plan. If I should send up, daily, one or more small balloons, with a piece of parchment attached, giving the latitude and longitude of the island and asking for rescue, I ran several risks. In the first place, I was well aware that in these days, on board steamers, with passengers especially, anything and everything was thought of to pass away an idle hour, and that albatrosses, when caught, were fitted out often with letters and legends tied to their feet; that, in sport, bottles were often thrown overboard containing fables and yarns of shipwreck and disaster, and I was very much afraid that, if one of my balloons should be picked up, it would be taken as a hoax, as the first thing would be to examine the chart, and no island would be found to exist where I now write these lines. Besides, if anybody should pick up one of my balloons, which at sea was improbable, it would, I fear, be taken little account of. For, although I might send up hundreds, the chance of their falling into the water so as to be seen by any vessel,in the daytime, near enough to be distinguished from a nautilus, was extremely and infinitesimally small. No, I had little hope in this direction. On the other hand, should they reach land, the chart would show that there was no known land in the direction specified, and the whole thing would be taken as a hoax from the next neighboring town, and I felt sure no attention would be paid to it. And if any of them landed on the coast of South America, as was possible, and even probable, the English language, in which they would be written, would be so much Greek to the natives. On the other hand, should one of them be picked up by a vessel, and search made for the island, what guarantee had I that I would be allowed to preserve my treasure?
No! I felt that small balloons would be of little use to me, and, in fact, might do more harm than good. What should I do to prove that I was in earnest; that there was such an island, and that I was upon it, in person; and that I needed help and assistance, which I could repay? Why, I felt convinced, by writing a history of all my sorrows, troubles, and tribulations, that would bear upon its face the impress of truth, would carry conviction to any mind that would read it, and would prove to the intellect of any one that it was notfiction, but truth, in all its majesty, never to be mistaken for the former.
This, I felt, was the only way to reach out towards a rescue, and it is for this purpose that all that has been herein set down has been penned. Having made my mindup firmly to this, I have written all the above, to be launched into space. Let me beg that my story may be believed, and that I may be rescued; let me ask of you, who find this, by God's grace, to weigh each word and sentence, and feel that you are reading no romance. I shall attach this to a balloon of size, so as to float long in the air, and to attract attention, if ever observed by any one, both by the strangeness of its make and these parchment sheets upon which I have written.
And now let me proclaim to the world the following,—for if this manuscript ever does come into the hands of anyone who intends to seek me out, let all that is contained therein be perfectly understood:—
PROCLAMATION.
In the name of God, Amen.—Be it known to all men, that I, William Anderson, a citizen of the United States of America, do here solemnly declare that I am the discoverer, and at this present the occupant, of an island in the South Pacific Ocean, which I have named Perseverance Island, and that said island lies in the latitude of 42° 21′ S., and longitude 119° 11′ 15″ W. of Greenwich. That I was cast on shore, and miraculously saved by the goodness of God, on Nov. 10, 1865, and that I claim as my own, in the name of the United States, all this hitherto unknown island as my property, belonging to me and my heirs forever; and, inasmuch as I have discovered upon and about this island immense treasures, as recitedin a narrative hereto annexed, I ask, demand, and pray for the protection of the United States, and hope that it will be deemed both fitting and proper to dispatch a man-of-war to protect me, for which assistance I am fully ready and capable of reimbursing the government for any outlay; and further, let it be well understood that I, the aforesaid William Anderson, will resist to the death any encroachment upon my property, by whomsoever made; and that for the protection of myself, my treasure, and my island, it is hereby plainly stated, all manner of instruments of defence have been made by me, the said William Anderson, and that the harbors of the island are strewed with torpedoes, and that it is highly dangerous to attempt to land upon any part of the island without intercourse with, and consent of, myself. And that there may be no mistake, and that I may know that if any that approach have seen this proclamation, and acknowledge my just claims and pity my long years of solitude and suffering, I issue the following set of signals, to be by them used in token of amity and that they come to me as friends, otherwise they will be treated as enemies; and although my wealth is great, as herein related, it is believed that pity for my sufferings will touch the heart of any in the civilized world, and I do look most for succor and comfort from the ships of war of the United States of America.
The signals to be made by any vessel approaching the island, which would be in safety, and rules for anchorage, etc., are the following, and must be strictlyobserved:—
If in the daytime, the vessel, if a steamer, will stand in to the mouth of Mirror Bay till the two iron discs on the mainland are in line, or nearly so, when she will anchor, in six fathoms of water, and then fire three guns, two from the starboard side, one from the port side, and then run up the colors of her nation to the mizzen peak. A sailing vessel will follow these orders except that greater license will be granted her in coming to in a line with the two discs.
If a vessel makes the island in the night-time, she will heave to, or stand off and on, and not attempt to approach, by boat or otherwise, at her peril, till the morning; keeping up, during the night, a red signal lantern at the fore, and firing one gun; when, in the morning, she can stand in under the rule preceding this, for daytime. Having anchored and signalled, the same will be answered by the occupant of the island by two guns from South Cape, when a boat can then come on shore, containing three persons, one officer and two seamen, who, if unarmed, will be allowed to land, and, if honest and true men, as is to be hoped, remuneration for all their trouble in seeking me out will be freely granted. But let it be distinctly understood that all my treasures, of both gold, silver, and pearls, are no longer hidden in the places described in my narrative, but have been removed, and carefully re-hidden, and that an attempt to take my life and possess one's self of my treasures will be futile, for their burying-placewill never be known; and I shall resist all aggression with all my might and strength, and, if need be, give up my life in defending my treasure, that I have watched over for so many years.
In my lonely, solitude, with none but the hand of the ever-present Providence spread over to protect me, I sign the above proclamation as my will and desire.
William Anderson.
Perseverance Island, South Pacific, Jan. 10, 1877.
And now I have done. I am about to cast this manuscript to the winds of heaven, to be conveyed hence to where God shall think best. Let me beg that the subject-matter of the "Good Luck" may be published in the London newspapers, when attention may be brought to the case, and the old society may send for me, and believe in me much quicker than the outside world will.
I know but little French, but, to still further protect this manuscript I add these few lines, from what remains to me in memory, of the sailor's French that I once picked up, in Havre, in years gone by, so that this may not be thrown carelessly away if it falls into the hands of any who can speak that lingo.
AVIS.
Ne jetez pas cette papier; c'est écrit en Anglais et estDE GRAND IMPORTANCE. Faites rendre en Français, et vous trouverai une vraie historie d'or et de l'argenttrouvé par moi sur une isle dans l'océan Pacific.
I have no more to add. I have finished my story with regret. I am tying this manuscript together, and inflating the balloon that is to carry it where God wills.
I will believe in His justice, and await in patience His reply to my many prayers.
William Anderson.