_A strange manuscript found in a copper cylinder_
          (the fifth installment)

   from _Harper's weekly_ (1888-feb-04) 
           (by James De Mille)

Chapter VI.  The New World  (cont'd)

Having thus resolved at all hazards to try my fate, I rowed in
towards the shore.  Thus far I had seen galleys passing and small
boats, but they had taken no notice of me, for the reason that they
were too far away to perceive anything about me that differed from
any other boat; but now, as I rowed, I noticed a galley coming down
towards me.  She seemed to be going in towards the shore at the
very point at which I was aiming, and her course and mine must soon
meet if I continued to row.  After some hesitation I concluded to
make signals to her, so as to attract attention; for, now that I
had resolved to venture among the people here, I was anxious to end
my suspense as soon as possible.  So I continued rowing, and
gradually drew nearer.  The galley was propelled by oars, of which
there were fifty on either side.  The stem was raised, and covered
in like a cabin.  At length I ceased rowing, and sat watching her. 
I soon saw that I was noticed, but this did not occur till the
galley was close by me--so close, indeed, that I thought they would
pass without perceiving me.  I raised my hands, waved them, and
gave a cry.  The galley at once stopped, a boat was lowered, and
some men descended and rowed towards me.

  They were men of strange appearance--very small in stature and
slender in frame.  Their hair was black and straight, their
features were quite regular, and their general expression was one
of great gentleness.  I was surprised to notice that they kept
their eyes almost closed, as though they were weak and troubled by
the glare of the sun.  With their half-closed eyes they blinked at
me, and then one who appeared to be their chief spoke to me.  I
understood not a word; and then I answered him in English, which,
of course, was equally unintelligible to him.  I then made signs,
pointing to the mountains and endeavoring to make known to him that
I had come from beyond them--that I had suffered shipwreck, that I
had drifted here, and that I needed assistance.  Of all this it was
quite evident that they understood nothing except the fact that I
needed help.  The moment that they comprehended this they took me
in tow and rowed back to the galley.

  I found the galley to be about one hundred and fifty feet in
length.  For about two thirds of this length forward it was open
and filled with seats, where there were about a hundred rowers, who
all looked like those that I had first seen, all being of small
stature, slender frames, and, moreover, all being apparently
distressed by the sunlight.  There was in all of them the same mild
and gentle expression.  In complexion and general outline of
features they were not unlike Arabs, but they were entirely
destitute of that hardness and austerity which the latter have. 
They all had beards, which were dressed in a peculiar way in
plaits.  Their costume varied.  The rowers wore a coarse tunic,
with a girdle of rope.  The officers wore tunics of fine cloth and
very elegant mantles, richly embroidered, and with borders of down.

They all wore broad-brimmed hats, and the one who seemed to be
chief had on his some golden ornaments.

  Here once more I tried to explain to them who I was.  They looked
at me, examining me all over, inspecting my gun, pistol, coat,
trousers, boots, and hat, and talking all the time among
themselves.  They did not touch me, but merely showed the natural
curiosity which is felt at the sight of a foreigner who has
appeared unexpectedly.  There was a scrupulous delicacy and a
careful and even ceremonious politeness in their attitude towards
me which was at once amazing and delightful.  All fear and anxiety
had now left me; in the gentle manners and amiable faces of these
people I saw enough to assure me of kind treatment; and in my deep
joy and gratitude for this even my hunger was for a time forgotten.

  At length the chief motioned to me to follow him.  He led the way
to the cabin, where, opening the door, he entered, and I followed,
after which the others came in also and then the door was shut.  At
first I could see nothing.  There were no windows whatever, and
only one or two slight crevices through which the light came. 
After a time my eyes grew more accustomed to the darkness, and I
could see that the cabin was a spacious compartment, adorned with
rich hangings of some unknown material.  There was a large table
and seats.  Taking me by the hand, the chief led me to this, where
I seated myself, while the others remained standing.  Then some of
them went away, and soon returned with food and drink.  The food
was of different kinds--some tasting like goose, others like
turkey, others like partridge.  It was all the flesh of fowls,
though, judging from the slices before me, they must have been of
great size.  I wondered much at the behavior of the officers of the
ship, who all, and the chief himself more than all, stood and
waited upon me; but it was a new world, and I supposed that this
must be the fashion; so I made no objections, but accepted the
situation and ate with a thankful heart.

  As the first keenness of my appetite was satisfied I had more
leisure to make observations.  I noticed that the eyes of my new
friends no longer blinked; they were wide open; and, so far as I
could make them out, their faces were much improved.  Weakness of
eyes seemed common among these people, and therefore the officers
had their cabin darkened, while the unfortunate rowers had to labor
in the blazing sun.  Such was my conclusion, and the fact reminded
me of the miserable fellahin of Egypt, who have ophthalmia from the
blazing sun and burning sand.

  After the repast they brought me water in a basin, and all stood
around me.  One held the basin, another a towel, another a flask,
another took a sponge and proceeded to wash my face and hands. 
This was all strange to me, yet there was nothing left for me but
submission.  Then the chief, who had stood looking on with a smile
on his face took off his rich furred mantle and handed it to me. 
I was half inclined to refuse it, but was afraid of giving offense,
so I accepted it, and he himself fastened it around my shoulders. 
The others seemed actually to envy the chief, as though he had
gained some uncommon good-fortune.  Then they offered me various
drinks, of which I tasted several kinds.  Some were sweet waters of
different flavors, others tasted like mild wine, one was a
fermented drink, light, sweet, and very agreeable to the palate. 
I now wished to show my generous entertainers that I was grateful;
so I raised my cup, bowed to all of them, particularly the chief,
and drank their health.  They all watched this ceremony with very
sober faces, and I could not quite make out whether they took my
meaning or not.  They certainly did not look pleased, and it seemed
to me as though they felt hurt at any expression of gratitude, so
I concluded for the future to abstain from all such demonstrations.

Yet with every moment the manners of these people grew more
bewildering.  It was strange, indeed, for me to find myself so
suddenly the center of interest and of generous intentions.  For a
moment the thought occurred to me that they regarded me as some
wonderful being with superior powers, and were trying to propitiate
me by these services; yet I soon saw that these services were not
at all acts of propitiation; they looked rather like those loving
and profuse attentions which a family showers down upon some dear
one long absent and at last returned, and with this my wonder grew
greater than ever.

  The galley had long since resumed her progress.  I heard the
steady beat of the oars as they all moved in time, and at length
the motion ceased.  The chief then signed to me and went out.  I
followed, and the rest came after.  And now as I emerged from the
gloom of the cabin, I found myself once more in the glorious light
of day, and saw that we had reached the land.  The galley was
hauled up alongside a stone quay, and on the shore there were
buildings and walls and trees and people.  The chief went ashore at
once and I accompanied him.  We walked for some distance along a
road with stone walls on either side, from behind which there arose
trees that from a distance had looked like palms.  I now found them
to be giant ferns, arching overhead with their broad fanlike leaves
and branches in dense masses, making the roadway quite dark in the
shadow.  Astonished as I was at the sight of these trees, I soon
forgot them in a still more astonishing sight, for after going
onward about a hundred paces I stopped, and found myself in a wide
space where four cross-roads met.  Here there were three birds of
gigantic stature.  They had vast bodies, short legs, short necks,
and seemed as large as an ordinary-sized ox.  Their wings were
short, and evidently could not be used for flight; their beaks were
like that of a sea-gull; each one had a man on his back, and was
harnessed to a car.  The chief motioned to me to enter one of these
cars.  I did so.  He followed, and thereupon the driver started the
bird, which set forth with long, rapid strides, at a pace fast as
that of a trotting horse.  So astonished was I that for some time
I did not notice anything else; but at length, when my first
feeling had subsided, I began to regard other objects.  All the way
the dense fern foliage arched overhead, throwing down deep shadows.

They grew on either side in dense rows, but between their stalks I
could see the country beyond, which lay all bright in the sunlight.

Here were broad fields, all green with verdure; farther away arose
clumps of tree-ferns; at every step of the way new vistas opened;
amid the verdure and the foliage were the roofs of structures that
looked like pavilions, and more massive edifices with pyramidal
roofs.  Our road constantly ascended, and at length we came to a
crossing.  This was a wide terrace at the slope of the mountain; on
the lower side was a row of massive stone edifices with pyramidal
roofs, while on the upper there were portals which seemed to open
into excavated caverns.  Here, too, on either side arose the giant
ferns, overarching and darkening the terrace with their deep
shadow.  From this point I looked back, and through the trunks of
the tree-ferns I could see fields and pavilions and the pyramidal
roofs of massive edifices, and broad, verdant slopes, while in the
distance there were peeps of the boundless sea.  We continued on
our way without stopping, and passed several successive terraces
like the first, with the same caverns on the upper side and massive
edifices on the lower, until at last the ascent ended at the fifth
terrace, and here we turned to the left.  Now the view became more
varied.  The tree-ferns arose on either side, arching overhead; on
my right were the portals that opened into caverns, on my left
solid and massive houses, built of great blocks of stone, with
pyramidal roofs.  As far as I could judge, I was in a city built on
the slope of a mountain, with its streets formed thus of successive
terraces and their connecting cross-ways, one half its habitations
consisting of caverns, while the other half were pavilions and
massive stone structures.  Few people, however, were to be seen. 
Occasionally I saw one or two groping along with their eyes half
shut, seeking the darkest shadows; and it seemed to me that this
extraordinary race of men had some natural and universal
peculiarity of eyesight which made them shun the sunlight, and seek
the darkness of caves and of dense, overshadowing foliage.

  At length we came to a place where the terrace ran back till it
formed a semicircle against the mountain slope, when several vast
portals appeared.  Here there was a large space, where the
tree-ferns grew in long lines crossing each other, and making a
denser shade than usual.  On the lower side were several stone
edifices of immense size; and in the middle of the place there
arose a singular structure, shaped like a half pyramid, with three
sides sloping, and the fourth perpendicular, flat on the top, which
was approached by a flight of steps.  We now went on until we
reached the central portal of the range of caverns, and here we
stopped.  The chief got out and beckoned to me.  I followed.  He
then led the way into the cavern, while I, full of wonder, walked
behind him.   

Chapter VII: Scientific Theories and Skepticism

Thus far Melick had been reading the manuscript, but at this point
he was interrupted by the announcement that dinner was ready.  Upon
this he stopped abruptly; for on board the Falcon dinner was the
great event of the day, and in its presence even the manuscript had
to be laid aside.  Before long they were all seated around the
dining-table in the sumptuous cabin, prepared to discuss the repast
which had been served up by the genius of the French chef whom Lord
Featherstone had brought with him.

  Let us pause here for a moment to take a minuter survey of these
four friends.  In the first place, there was Lord Featherstone
himself, young, handsome, languid, good-natured to a fault, with
plenty of muscle if he chose to exert it, and plenty of brain if he
chose to make use of it--a man who had become weary of the monotony
of high life, and like many of his order, was fond of seeking
relief from the _ennui_ of prosperity amid the excitements of the
sea.  Next to him was Dr. Congreve, a middle-aged man, with
iron-gray hair, short beard and mustache, short nose, gray eyes,
with spectacles, and stoutish body.  Next came Noel Oxenden, late
of Trinity College, Cambridge, a college friend of
Featherstone's--a tall man, with a refined and intellectual face
and reserved manner.  Finally, there was Otto Melick, _litterateur_
from London, about thirty years of age, with a wiry and muscular
frame, and the restless manner of one who lives in a perpetual
fidget.

  For some time nothing was said; they partook of the repast in
silence--but at length it became evident that they were thinking of
the mysterious manuscript.  Featherstone was the first to speak.

  "A deuced queer sort of thing this, too," said he, "this
manuscript.  I can't quite make it out.  Who ever dreamed of people
living at the South Pole--and in a warm climate too?  Then it seems
deuced odd, too, that we should pick up this copper cylinder with
the manuscript.  I hardly know what to think about it."

  Melick smiled.  "Why, it isn't much to see through," said he.

  "See through what?" said the doctor, hastily, pricking up his
ears at this, and peering keenly at Melick through his spectacles.

  "Why, the manuscript, of course."

  "Well," said the doctor, "what is it that you see?  What do you
make out of it?"

  "Why, any one can see," said Melick, "that it's a transparent
hoax, that's all.  You don't mean to say, I hope, that you really
regard it in any other light?"

  "A transparent hoax!" repeated the doctor.  "Will you please
state why you regard it in that light?"

  "Certainly," said Melick.  "Some fellow wanted to get up a
sensation novel and introduce it to the world with a great flourish
of trumpets, and so he has taken this way of going about it.  You
see, he has counted on its being picked up, and perhaps published. 
After this he would come forward and own the authorship."

  "And what good would that do?" asked the doctor, mildly "He
couldn't prove the authorship, and he couldn't get the copyright."

  "Oh, of course not; but he would gain notoriety, and that would
give him a great sale for his next effort."

  The doctor smiled.  "See here, Melick," said he, "you've a very
vivid imagination, my dear fellow; but come, let us discuss this
for a little while in a common-sense way.  Now how long should you
suppose that this manuscript has been afloat?"

  "Oh, a few months or so," said Melick.

  "A few months!" said the doctor.  "A few years you mean.  Why,
man, there are successive layers of barnacles on that copper
cylinder which show a submersion of at least three years, perhaps
more."

  "By Jove! yes," remarked Featherstone.  "Your sensation novelist
must have been a lunatic if he chose that way of publishing a
book."

  "Then, again," continued the doctor, "how did it get here?"

  "Oh, easily enough," answered Melick.  "The ocean currents
brought it."

  "The ocean currents!" repeated the doctor.  "That's a very vague
expression.  What do you mean?  Of course it has been brought here
by the ocean currents."

  "Why, if it were thrown off the coast of England it would be
carried away, in the ordinary course of things, and might make the
tour of the world."

  "The ocean currents," said the doctor, "have undoubtedly brought
this to us.  Of that I shall have more to say presently--but just
now, in reference to your notion of a sensation novelist, and an
English origin, let me ask your opinion of the material on which it
is written.  Did you ever see anything like it before?  Is it
paper?"

  "No," said Melick; "it is evidently some vegetable substance.  No
doubt the writer has had it prepared for this very purpose, so as
to make it look natural."

  "Do you know what is is?" asked the doctor.

  "No."

  "Then I'll tell you; it's papyrus."

  "Papyrus?"

  "Yes, actual papyrus.  You can find but little of that in
existence at the present day.  It is only to be found here and
there in museums.  I know it perfectly well, however, and saw what
it was at the first glance.  Now, I hold that a sensation novelist
would never have thought of papyrus.  If he didn't wish to use
paper, he could have found a dozen other things.  I don't see how
he could have found any one able to prepare such a substance as
this for writing.  It must have come from a country where it is
actually in use.  Now, mark you, the papyrus-plant may still be
found growing wild on the banks of the upper Nile, and also in
Sicily, and it is made use of for ropes and other things of that
sort.  But as to making writing material out of it, that is hardly
possible for the art is lost.  The ancient process was very
elaborate and this manuscript is written on leaves which resembled
in a marvellous manner those of the Egyptian papyrus books.  There
are two rolls at Marseilles which I have seen and examined, and
they are identical with this.  Now these papyrus leaves indicate
much mechanical skill, and have a professional look.  They seem
like the work of an experienced manufacturer."

  "I don't see," said Melick, obstinately, "why one shouldn't get
papyrus now and have it made up into writing material."

  "Oh, that's out of the question," said the doctor.  "How could it
ever enter into any one's head?  How could your mere
sensation-monger procure the raw material?  That of itself would be
a work of immense difficulty.  How could he get it made up?  That
would be impossible.  But, apart from this, just consider the
strong internal evidence that there is as to the authenticity of
the manuscript.  Now, in the first place, there is the description
of Desolation Island, which is perfectly accurate.  But it is on
his narrative beyond this that I lay chief stress.  I can prove
that the statements here are corroborated by those of Captain Ross
in his account of that great voyage from which he returned not very
long ago."

  The doctor, who had been talking with much enthusiasm, paused
here to take breath, and then went on:

  "I happen to know all about that voyage, for I read a full report
of it just before we started, and you can see for yourselves
whether this manuscript is credible or not.

  "Captain James Clarke Ross was sent forth on his expedition in
1839.  On January 1, 1841, he passed the antarctic circle in 178o
east longitude.  On the 11th he discovered land in 70o 41' south
latitude, 172o 36' east longitude.  He found that the land was a
continuous coast, trending southward, and rising to peaks of ten
thousand feet in height, all covered with ice and snow.  On the
12th he landed and took possession in the name of the queen.  After
this he continued his course as far as 78o 4' south latitude,
tracing a coast-line of six hundred miles.  Observe, now how all
this coincides with More's narrative.  Well, I now come to the
crowning statement.  In 77o 32' south latitude, 167o east
longitude, he came in sight of two enormous volcanoes over twelve
thousand feet in height.  One of these was in an active state of
eruption.  To this he gave the name of Mount Erebus.  The other was
quiet; it was of somewhat less height, and he gave it the name of
Mount Terror.  Mark, now, how wonderfully this resembles More's
account.  Well, just here his progress was arrested by a barrier
which presented a perpendicular wall of over a hundred and fifty
feet in height, along which he coasted for some distance.  On the
following year he penetrated six miles farther south, namely, 78o
11' south latitude, 161o 27' west longitude.  At this point he was
again stopped by the impassable cliffs, which arose here like an
eternal barrier, while beyond them he saw a long line of lofty
mountains covered with ice and snow."

  "Did you hear the result of the American expedition?" asked
Melick.

  "Yes," replied the doctor.  "Wilkes pretends to have found a
continent, but his account of it makes it quite evident to my mind
that he saw nothing but ice.  I believe that Wilkes's antarctic
continent will some day be penetrated by ships, which will sail for
hundreds of miles farther south.  All that is wanted is a favorable
season.  But mark the coincidence between Ross's report and More's
manuscript.  This must have been written at least three years ago,
and the writer could not have known anything about Ross's
discoveries.  Above all, he could not have thought of those two
volcanoes unless he had seen them."

  "But these volcanoes mentioned by More are not the Erebus and
Terror, are they?" said Lord Featherstone.

  "Of course not; they are on the other side of the world."

  "The whole story," said Melick, "may have been written by one of
Ross's men and thrown overboard.  If I'd been on that expedition I
should probably have written it to beguile the time."

  "Oh, yes," said the doctor; "and you would also have manufactured
the papyrus and the copper cylinder on board to beguile the time."

  "I dare say the writer picked up that papyrus and the copper
cylinder in China or Japan, and made use of it in this way."

  "Where do you make out the position of More's volcanoes?" asked
Featherstone.

  "It is difficult to make it out accurately," said the doctor. 
"More gives no data.  In fact he had none to give.  He couldn't
take any observations."

  "The fact is," said Melick, "it's not a sailor's yarn at all.  No
sailor would ever express himself in that way.  That's what struck
me from the first.  It has the ring of a confounded
sensation-monger all through."

  The doctor elevated his eyebrows, but took no notice of this.

  "You see," he continued, addressing himself to the others,
"Desolation Island is in 50o south latitude and 70o east longitude.

As I make out, More's course led him over about ten degrees of
longitude in a southwest course.  That course depended altogether
upon the ocean currents.  Now there is a great antarctic
drift-current, which flows round the Cape of Good Hope and divides
there, one half flowing past the east coast of Africa and the other
setting across the Indian Ocean.  Then it unites with a current
which flows round the south of Van Dieman's Land, which also
divides, and the southernmost current is supposed to cross the
Pacific until it strikes Cape Horn, around which it flows, dividing
as before.  Now my theory is, that south of Desolation Island--I
don't know how far--there is a great current setting towards the
South Pole, and running southwest through degrees of longitude 60o,
50o, 40o, 30o, 20o, 10o, east of Greenwich; and finally sweeping
on, it would reach More's volcanoes at a point which I should judge
to be about 80o south latitude and 10o west longitude.  There it
passes between the volcanoes and bursts through the vast mountain
barrier by a subterranean way, which has been formed for it in past
ages by some primeval convulsion of nature.  After this it probably
sweeps around the great South Polar ocean, and emerges at the
opposite side, not far from the volcanoes Erebus and Terror.

(End.)