The works of Edgar Allan Poe : newly collected and edited, with a memoir, critical introductions, and notes

Google

This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on Hbrary shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project

to make the world's books discoverable online.

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject

to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books

are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.

Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the

publisher to a library and finally to you.

Usage guidelines

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we liave taken steps to
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.
We also ask that you:

+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for
personal, non-commercial purposes.

+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.

+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for informing people about this project and helping them find
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.

+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe.

About Google Book Search

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web

at |http : //books . google . com/|

[;■■;■. ■; :;

WORKS

; ; ' , S
i : ' , ^
\ ' -1

'■■.

v.2
cop. 3

URBANA

i L

, ■

1 ,
■1

Hosiedb, Google

db, Google

db, Google

db, Google

db, Google

THE WORKS

OF

EDGAR ALLAN POE

IN TEN VOLUMES
VOLUME II

TALES OF THE GROTESQUE

AND

ARABESQUE

;v Google

„ Google

db, Google

db, Google

. Hosiedbi Google

db, Google

THE WORKS

OF

EDGAR ALLAN POE

NEWLY COLLECTED AND EDITED, WITH A

MEMOIR. CRITICAL INTRODUCTIONS, AND

NOTES, BY EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN

AND GEORGE EDWARD WOODBERRY

TALES OF THE GROTESQUE
AND

ARABESQUE

NEW YORK

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

1927

;yGoogIe

Frinlcd in tbe United Suta of America

„ Google

Contents of the Second Volume

TALES OF CONSCIENCE, NATURAL
BEAUTY, AND PSEUDO-SCIENCE

:ONSCIENCa:
1 WJLSONt^

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY:

TALES OF PSEUTJO-SCIENrE-

:. VALDEMARV -

7Gfi«5S

„ Google

„ Google

I

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

„ Google

IfcrJeob, Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

WILLIAM WILSON

What say of it ? what sa; ol
That spectre in my path F

Chambgri^vne : Pkat.onlda,

Let me call myself, for the present, William Wil-
son. The fair page now lying before me need not
be sullied with my real appellation. This has been
already too much an object for the scorn — for the
horror — for the detestation of my race. To the utter-
most regions of the globe have not the indignant
winds bruited its unparalleled infamy ? Oh, outcast
of all outcasts most abandoned ! — to the earth art
thou not forever dead ? to its honors, to its flowers,
to its golden aspirations ? — and a cloud, dense, dis-
mal, and limitless, does It not hang eternally between
thy hopes and heaven?

I would not, if I could, here or to-day, embody a
lecord of my later years of unspeakable misery and
unpardonable crime. This epoch, these later years,
took unto themselves a sudden elevation in turpitude,
whose origin alone it is my present purpose to assign.
Men usually grow base by degrees. From me, in an
instant, all virtue dropped bodily as a mantle. From
5

;v Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCB

comparatively trivial wickedness I passed, with the
stride of a giant, into more than the enormities of
an Elah-Gabalus. What chance — what one event
brought this evil thing to pass, bear with me while I
relate. Death approaches ; and the shadow which
foreruns him has thrown a softening influence over
my spirit. I long, in passing through the dim valley,
for the sympathy^ I had nearly said for the pity —
of my fellow-men. I would fain have them believe
that I have been, in some measure, the slave of cir-
cumstances beyond human control. I would wish
them to seek out for me, in the details I am about to
give, some little oasis of fatality amid a wilderness of
error. I would have them allow — what they cannot
refrain from allowing — that, although temptation may
have erewhile existed as great, man was never thus,
at least, tempted before — certainly, never thus fell.
And is it therefore that he has never thus suffered?
Have I not indeed been living in a dream? And am
I not now dying a victim to the horror and the
mystery of the wildest of alt sublunary visions?
^ I am the descendant of a race whose imaginative
and easily excitable temperament has at all times
rendered them remarkable ; and, in my earliest in-
fancy, 1 gave evidence of having fully inheiited the
family character. As I advanced in years it was more
strongly developed; becoming, for many reasons, a
cause of serious disquietude to nty friends, and of
positive injury to myself. I grew sdf-wllled, addicted
to the wildest caprices, and a prey to the most ungov-
ernable passions. Weak-minded, and beset with con-
stitutional inlirmities akin to my own, my parent!
could do but little to check the evil propensities which
distinguished me. Some feeble and ill-directed eSorti

■'^i-'t'.oogle

WILLIAM WILSON

resulted to complete failure on their part, and, oi
course, in total triumph on mine. Thenceforward my
voice was a household law ; and at an age when few
children have abandoned their leading-strings I was
left to the guidance of my own will, and became, in
all but name, the master of my own actions.

My earliest recollections of a school-life are con-
nected with a large, rambling, Eliiabethan house, in a
misty-looking village of England, where were a vast
number of gigantic and gnarled trees, and where all
the houses were excessively ancient. In truth, it was
a dream-like and spirit-soothing place, that venerable
old town. At this moment, in fancy, I feel the re-
freshing chilliness of its deeply-shadowed avenues,
inhale the fragrance of its thousand shrubberies, and
thrill anew with undeftnable delight at the deep hollow
note of the church-bell, breaking, each hour, with
sullen and sudden roar, upon the stillness of the dusky
atmosphere in which the fretted Gothic steeply lay
imbedded and asleep.

It gives me, perhaps, as much of pleasure as I can
now in any manner experience to dwell upon minute
recollections of the school and its concerns. Steeped
in misery as 1 am — misery, alas! only too real — 1
shall be pardoned for seeking relief, however slight
and temporary, in the weakness of a few raitibling
details. These, moreover, utterly trivial, ahd eve:i
ridiculous in themselves, assume to my fancy adventi-
tious importance, as connected with a period and a
locality when and where I recognize the first am-
biguous monitions of the destiny which afterwards so
fuiiy overshadowed me. Let me then remember.

The house, 1 have said, was old and irregular.
The grounds were extensive, and a high and solid

;v Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

brick wall, topped with a bed of mortar and broken
glass, encompassed the whole. This prison-like ram-
part formed the limit of our domain ; beyond it we
flaw but thrice a week — once every Saturday after-
noon, when, attended by two ushers, we were per-
mitted to take brief walks in a body through some of
the neighboring fields — and twice during Sunday,
when we were paraded in the same formal manner to
the morning and evening service in the one church
of the village. Of this church the principal of our
school was pastor. With how deep a spirit of wonder
and perplexity was I wont to regard him from our
remote pew in the gallery, as, with step solemn and
slow, he ascended the pulpit ! This reverend man,
with countenance so demurely benign, with robes so
glossy and so clerically flowing, with wig so minutely
powdered, so rigid and so vast, — could this be he
who, of late, with sour visage, and in snuffy habili-
ments, administered, ferule in hand, the Draconiaa
Laws o£ the academy? Oh, gigantic paradox, too
utterly monstrous for solution I

At an angle of the ponderous wall frowned a more
ponderous gate. It was riveted and studded with
iron bolts, and surmounted with jagged iron spikes.
What impressions of deep awe did it inspire I It
was never opened save for the three periodical egres-
sions and ingressions already mentioned ; then, in
every creak of its mighty hinges, we found a plenitude
of mystery — a world of matter for solemn remark, or
for more solemn meditation.

The extensive enclosure was irregular in form, hav-
ing many capacious recesses. Of these, three or four
of the largest constituted the play-ground. It was
level, and covered with line hard gravel. I well re-

iiGoogle

WILLIAM WILSON

member it had no trees, nor benches, nor anything
similar within It. Of course it was in the rear of the
house. In front lay a small parterre, planted with
box and other shrubs ; but through this sacred divi-
sion we passed only upon rare occasions indeed —
such as a first advent to school or final departure
tiience, or perhaps when, a parent or friend having
called for us, we joyfully toolt our way home for the
Christmas or Midsummer holidays.

But the house! — how quaint an old building was
this! — to me how veritably a palace of enchantment 1
There was really no end to its windings — to its incom-
prehensible subdivisions. It was difficult, at any given
time, to say with certainty upon which of its two stories
one happened to be. From each room to every other
there were sure to be found three or four steps either
in ascent or descent. Then the lateral branches were
innumerable, inconceivable, and so returning in upon
themselves that our most exact ideas in regard to the
whole mansion were not very far different from those
with which we pondered upon infinity. During the five
years of my residence here I was never able to ascer-
tain, with precision, in what remote locality lay the
little sleeping apartment assigned to myself and some
eighteen or twenty other scholars.

The school-room was the largest in the house — I
could not help thinking, in the world. It was very
long, narrow, and dismally low, with pointed Gothic
windows and a ceiling of oak. In a remote and ter-
ror-inspiring angle was a square enclosure of eight or
ten feet, compriang the sanctum, "during hours," of
our principal, the Reverend Dr. Bransby. It was a
solid structure, with massy door, sooner than open
which in the absence of the " Dominie " we would all

„ Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

have willingly perished by the feine forU et dure. In
other angles were two other simitar boxes, far less reve-
renced, indeed, but still greatly matters of awe. One
of these was the puipit of the " classical " usher, one
of the "English and mathematical.' Interspersed
about the room, crossing and recrossing in endless ir-
regularity, were innumerable benches and desks, black,
ancient, and time-worn, piled desperately with much-
bethumbed books, and so beseamed with initial letters,
names at full length, grotesque figures, and other mul-
tiplied efforts of the knife, as to have entirely lost what
little of original form might have been their portion in
days long departed. A huge bucket with water stood
at one extremity of the room, and a clock of stupendous
dimensions at the other.

Encompassed by the massy walls of this venerable
academy, I passed, yet not in tedium or disgust, the
years of the third lustrum of my life. The teeming
brain of childhood requires no external world of inci-
dent to occupy or amuse it ; and the apparently dismal
monotony of a school was replete with more intense
excitement than my riper youth has derived from luxury,
or my full manhood from crime. Yet I must believe
that my first mental development had in it much of the
uncommon — even much of the outri. Upon mankind
at large the events of very early existence rarely leave
in mature age any definite impression. All is gray
shadow — a weak and irregular remembrance — an in-
distinct regathering of feeble pleasures and phantas-
magoric pains. With me this is not so. In childhood
1 must have felt with the energy of a man what 1 now
find stamped upon memory in lines as vivid, as deep,
and as durable as the exergues of the Carthaginian
medals.

„ Google

WILLIAM WILSON

Yet in fact — in the fact of the world's view — how
little was there to remember ! The morning's awaken-
ing, the nightly summons to bed; the connings, the
recitations ; the periodical half-holidays, and peram-
bulations ; the play-ground, with its broils, its pastimes,
its intrigues; — these, by a mental sorcery long for-
gotten, were made to involve a wilderness of sensation,
a world of rich incident, an universe of varied emotion,
of excitement the most passionate and spirit-stirring.
"OA, U ban lemps, que ce siicU de ferl"

In truth, the ardor, the enthusiasm, and the imperi- \,
ousness of my disposition, soon rendered me a marked '
character among my schoolmates, and by slow but
natural gradations gave me an ascendency over al! not
greatly older than myself : over all with a single excep-
tion. This exception was found in the person of a
scholar who, although no relation, bore the same Chris-
tian and surname as myself, — a circumstance, in fact,
little remarkable ; for, notwithstanding a noble descent,
mine was one of those every-day appellations which
seem by prescriptive right to have been, time out of
mind, the common property of the mob. In this nar-
rative I have therefore designated myself as William
Wjlson, — a fictitious title not very dissimilar to the
real. 'My namesake alone, of those who in school-
phraseology constituted "our set," presumed to com-
pete with me in the studies of the class — in the sports
and' broils of the play-ground — to refuse implicit be-
hef in my assertions, and submission to my will — in-
deed, to interfere with my arbitrary dictation in any
respect whatsoever. If there is on earth a supreme
and unquahfied despotism, It Is the despotism of a
master-mind in boyhood over the less energetic spirits
of its companions.

db, Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

source of the greatest
n spite of the bravado
nith which in public 1 made a point of treating him
and his pretensions, I secretly felt that 1 feared him,
and could not help thinking the equality, which he
maintained so easily with myself, a proof of his true
superiority ; since not to be overcome cost me a per-
petual struggle. Yet this superiority, even this equality,
was in truth acknowledged by no one but myself ; our
associates, by some unaccountable blindness, seemed
not even to suspect it. Indeed, his competition, his
resistance, and especially his impertinent and dogged
interference with my purposes, were not more pointed
than private. He appeared to be destitute alike of the
ambition which urged, and of the passionate energy of
mind which enabled, me to excel. In his rivalry he
might have been supposed actuated solely by a whim-
sical desire to thwart, astonish, or mortify myself;
although there were times when I couid not help ob-
serving, with a feeling made up of wonder, abasement,
and pique, that he mingled with his injuries, his insults,
or his contradictions, a certain most inappropriate, and
assuredly most unwelcome, afftctionaUness of manner.
1 could only conceive this singular behavior to arise
from a consummate self-conceit assuming the vulgar
airs of patronage and protection.

Perhaps it was this latter trait in Wilson's conduct,
conjoined with our identity of name, and the mere acci-
dent of our having entered the school upon the same
day, which set afloat the notion that we were brothers,
among the senior classes in the academy. These do
not usually inquire with much strictness into the affairs
of their juniors. I have before said, or should have
■aid, that Wilson was not in the most remote degree

„ Google

WtLLIAM WILSON

connected with my family. But assuredly if we had
been brothers we must liave been twins; for, after
leaving Dr. Bransby's, I casually learned that my
namesake was born on the nineteenth of January,
1813; and this is a somewhat remarkable coincidence ;
for the day is precisely that of my own nativity.

It may seem strange that in spite of the continual
anxiety occasioned me by the rivalry of Wilson, and
his intolerable spirit of contradiction, I could not
bring myself lo hate him altogether. We had, to be
sure, nearly every day a quarrel In which, yielding me
publicly the palm of victory, he, in some manner, con-
trived to make me fee! that it was he who had deserved
it; yet a sense of pride on my part, and a veritable
dignity on his own, kept us always upon what are
called "speaking terms," while there were many points
of strong congeniality in our tempers, operating to
awake in me a sentiment which our position alone,
perhaps, prevented from ripening into friendship. It
is difficult, indeed, to define, or even to describe, my
real feelings towards him. They formed a motley
and heterogeneous admixture: some petulant ani-
mosity, which was not yet hatred, some esteem, more
respect, much fear, with a world of uneasy curiosity.
To tlie moralist it will be unnecessary to say, in addi-
tion, that Wilson and myself were the most insepa-
rable of companions.

It was no doubt the anomalous state of affairs
existing between us, which turned all my attacks
upon him (and they were many, either open or covert)
into the channel of banter or practical joke (giving
pain while assuming the aspect of mere fun) rather
than into a more serious and determined hostility.
Itut my endeavors on this head were by no means
13

tec by Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

uniformly successful, even when my plans were the
most wittily concocted ; for my namesake had much
about him, in character, of that unassuming and quiet
austerity which, while enjoying the poignancy of its
own jokes, has no heel of Achilles in itself, and abso-
lutely refuses to be laughed at. I could find, indeed,
but one vulnerable point, and that lying in a personal
peculiarity arising, perhaps, from constitutional dis-
ease, would have been spared by any antagonist less
at his wit's end than myself : — my .rival had a weak-
ness in the faucial or guttural organs, which precluded
him from raising his voice at any time above a, very
lowd)hisper. Of this defect I did not fail lo take
what poor advantage lay in my power.

Wilson's retaliations in kind were many ; and there
was one form of his practical wit that disturbed me
beyond measure- How his sagacity first discovered
at all that so petty a thing would vex me, is a question
I never could solve ; but having discovered, he habit-
ually practised the annoyance. I had always lelc
(o my uncourtly patronymic, and its very
ot plebeian, prsenomen. The words were
venom in my ears; and when, upon tlie day of my
arrival, a second William Wilson came also to the
academy, I felt angry with him for bearing the name,
and doubly disgusted with the name because a
stranger bore it, who would be the cause of its two-
fold repetition, who would be constantly in my pres
ence, and whose concerns, in the ordinary routine of
the school business, must inevitably, on account of
the detestable coincidence, be often confounded with

The feeling of vexation thus engendered grew
stronger with every circumstance tending to show

„ Google

WILLIAM WILSON

resemblance, moral or physical, between my rival and
myself, I had not then discovered the remarkable
fact that we were of the same age; but I saw that we
were of the same height, and I perceived that we were
even singularly alike in general contour of person
and outline of feature. I was galled, too, by the
rumor touching a relationship, which had grown cur-
rent in the upper forms. In a word, nothing could
more seriously disturb me, {although I scrupulously
concealed such disturbance) than any allusion to a
similarity of mind, person, or condition existing be-
tween us. But, in truth, I had no reason to believe
that (with the exception of the matter of relationship,
and in the case of Wilson himself) this similarity
had ever been made a subject of comment, or even
observed at all by our schoolfellows. That ke
observed it in all its bearings, and as fixedly as I,
was apparent ; but that he could discover in such
circumstances so fruitful a field of annoyance can
only be attributed, as I said before, to his more than
ordinary penetration.

His cue, which was to perfect an imitation of my.
self, lay both in words and ia actidns; and most
admirably did he play his part. My dress it was
an easy matter to copy ; my gait and general man-
ner were, without difficulty, appropriated ; in spite
of his constitutional defect, even my voice did not
escape him. My louder tones were, of course, un-
attempted, but then the key, — it was identical; and
his singular whisper, — it grew the very echo of my

How greatly this most exquisite portraiture harassed
me (for it could not justly'te termed a caricature) I
will not now venture to describe. I had but one con*

„ Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

solatjon — in the fact that the imitation, apparently,
was noticed by myself alone, and that I had to endure
only the knowing and strangely sarcastic smiles of
my namesake himself. Satisfied with having pro-
duced in my bosom the intended effect, he seemed
to chuckle in secret over the sting he had inflicted,
and was characteristically disregardful of the public
applause which the success of his witty endeavors
might have so easily elicited. That the school, in-
deed, did not feel his design, perceive its accomplish-
ment, and participate in his sneer, was, for many
anxious months, a riddle 1 could not resolve. Perhaps
the gradation of his copy rendered it not so readily
perceptible ; or, more possibly, I owed my security to
the masterly air of the copyist, who, disdaining the
letter, {which in a painting is all the obtuse can see)
gave but the full spirit of his original for my individ-
ual contemplation and chagrin.

I have already more than once spoken of the dis-
gusting air of patronage which he assumed toward
me, and of his frequent officious -interference with
my will. This interference often took the ungracious
character of advice ; advice not openly given, but
hinted or insinuated. I received it with a repug-
nance which gained strength as I grew in years.
Yet, at this distant day, let me do him the simple
justice to acknowledge that I can recall no occasion
when the suggestions of my rival were on the side
of those errors or follies so usual to his immature
age and seeming inexperience ; that his moral sense,
at least, if not his general talents and worldly wis-
dom, was far keener than my own; and that I might,
tcKlay, have been a better, and thus a happier man,
had I less frequently rejected the counsels embodied
i6

;v Google

in. those meaning whispers which I then but too
cordially hated and too bitterly despised.

As it was, I at length grew restive in the extreme
under his distasteful supervision, and daily resented
more and more openly what I considered his intoler-
able arrogance. I have said that, in the first years
of our connection as schoolmates, my feehngs in
regard to him might have been easily ripened into
friendship; but, in the latter months of my residence
at the academy, although the intrusion of his ordinary
manner had, beyond doubt, in some measure abated,
my sentiments, in nearly similar proportion, partook
very much of positive hatred. 'Upon one occasioa
he saw this, I think, and afterwards avoided or made
a show of avoiding me.

It was about the same period, if I remember aright,
that, in an altercation of violence with him, in which
he was more than usually thrown oil his guard,
and spoke and acted with an openness of demeanor
rather foreign to his nature, I discovered, or fancied
1 discovered, in his accent, his air and general ap-
pearance, a something which first startled, and then
deeply interested me, by bringing to mind dim vi-
sions of my earliest infancy — wild, confused and
thronging memories of a time when memory herself
was yet unborn. I cannot better describe the sen-
sation which oppressed me than by saying that I
could with difficulty shake off the belief of my having
been acquainted with the being who stood before me,
at some epoch very long ago — some point of the past
even infinitely remote. The delusion, however, faded
rapidly as it came ; and I mention it at all but to de-
fine the day of the last conversation I there held with
my singular namesake.

„ Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

The hi^e old house, with its countless subdivisions,
had several large chambers communicating with each
other, where slept the greater number of the students.
There were, however, (as must necessarily happen in
a building so awkwardly planned) many little nooks
or recesses, the odds and ends of the structure ; and
these the economic ingenuity of Dr. Bransby had also
fitted up as dormitories; although, being the merest
closets, they were capable of accommodating but a
single individual. One of these small apartments was
occupied by Wilson.

One night, about the close of my fifth year at the
school, and immediately after the altercation just men-
tioned, finding every one wrapped in sleep, 1 arose
from bed, and, lamp in hand, stole through a wilder-
ness of narrow passages from my own bedroom to that
of my rival. 1 had long been plotting one of those ill-
natured pieces of practical wit at his expense in which
I had hitherto been so uniformly unsuccessful. It
was my intention, now, to put my scheme in operation,
and I resolved to make him feel the whole extent of
the malice with which I was imbued. Having reached
his closet, I noiselessly entered, leaving the lamp,
with a shade over it, on the outside. I advanced a
step, and listened to the sound of his tranquil breath-
ing. Assured of his being asleep, I returned, took the
light, and with it again approached the bed. Close
curtains were around it, which, in the prosecution of
my plan, I slowly and quietly withdrew, when the
bright rays fell vividly upon the sleeper, and my eyes
at the same moment upon his countenance. I looked,
— and a numbness, an iciness of feeling, instantly per-
vaded my frame. My breast heaved, my knees tot-
tered, my whole spirit became possessed with an
18

;v Google

objectless yet intolerable horror. Gasping for breath,
] lowered the lamp in still nearer proximity to the face.
Were these, — ikeie the lineaments o£ Wiiiiam Wil-
son? I saw, indeed, that they were his, but 1 shook
as if with a lit of the ague, in fancying they were not.
What teas tiiere about them to confound me in this
manner? I gazed, — while my brain reeled with a
multitude of incoherent thoughts. Not thus he ap-
peared — assuredly not thus — in the vivacity of his
waking hours. The same name ! the same contour
of person ! the same day of arrival at the academy !
And then his dogged and meaningless imitation of
my gait, my voice, ray habits, and my manner ! Was
it, in truth, within the bounds of human possibility,
that what I noTv sa'w was the result, merely, of the
habitual practice of this sarcastic imitation? Awe-
stricken, and with a creeping shudder, I extinguished
the lamp, passed silently from the chamber, and left,
at once, the halls of that old academy, never to enter
them again.

After a lapse of some months, spent at home in
mere idleness, 1 found myself a student at Eton. The
brief mtervai had been sufficient to enfeeble my re-
membrance of the events at Dr. Bransby's, or at least
to effect a material change in the nature of the feel-
ings with which I remembered them. The truth — the
tragedy — of the drama was no more. 1 could now
find room to doubt the evidence of my senses ; and
seldom called up the subject at all but with wonder at
the extent of hu^man credulity, and a smile at the
vivid force of the imagination which I hereditarily
possessed. Neither was this species of scepticism
likely to be diminished by the character of tbe life I *
led at Eton. The vortex of thoughtless folly, into
'9

;v Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

which I there so immediately and so recklessly plunged,
washed away all but the froth of my past hours, en-
gulfed at once every solid or serious impression, and
left to memory only the veriest levities of a former

I do not wish, however, to trace the course of my
miserable profligacy here — a profligacy which set at
defiance the laws, while it eluded the vigilance, of the
institution. "Three years of folly, passed without profit,
had but given me rooted habits of vice, and added,
in a somewhat unusual degree, to my bodily stature,
when, after a week of soulless dissipation, I invited a
small party of the most dissolute students to a secret
carousal in my chambers. We met at a late hour of
the night ; for our debaucheries were to be faithfully
protracted until morning. The wine flowed freely,
and there were not wanting other and perhaps mor*
dangerous seductions ; so that the gray dawn had
already faintly appeared in the east while our delirious
extravagance was at its height Madly flushed with
cards and intoxication, 1 was in the act of insisting
upon a toast of more than wonted profanity, when my
attention was suddenly diverted by the violent, al-
though partial, unclosing of the door of the apartment,
and by the eager voice of a servant from without. He
said that some person, apparently in great haste, de-
manded to speak with me in the hall.

Wildly excited with wine, the unexpected interrup-
tion rather delighted than surprised me. I staggered
forward at once, and a few steps brought me to the
vestibule of the building. In this low and small room
there hung no lamp ; and now no light at all was ad-
mitted, save that of the exceedingly feeble dawn which
made its way through the semi-circular window. As

„ Google

I put my foot over the threshold, I became aware ot
the figure of a youth about my own height, and hab-
ited in a white kerseymere morning frock, cut in the
novel fashion of the one I myself wore at the moment.
This the faint light enabled me to perceive ; but the
features of his face I could not distinguish. Upon my
entering, he strode hurriedly up to me, and, seizing me
by the arm with a gesture of petulant impatience,
whispered the words " William Wilson ! " in my ear.

I grew perfectly sober in an instant.

There was that in the manner of the stranger, and
in the tremulous shake of his uplifted finger, as he
held it between my eyes and the light, which filled me
with unqualified amazement ; but it was not this which
had so violently moved me. It was the pregnancy o£
solemn admonition in the singular, low, hissing utter-
ance ; and, above all, it was the character, the tone,
the key, of those few, simple, and familiar, yet Tvkis-,
pered syllables, which came with a thousand throng-
ing memories of by-gone days, and struck upon my
soul with the shock of a galvanic battery. Ere \ could
recover the use of my senses he was gone.

Although this event failed not of a vivid effect
upon my disordered imagination, yet was it evanes-
cent as vivid. For some weeks, indeed, I busied my-
self in earnest inquiry, or was wrapped in a cloud of
morbid speculation. I did not pretend to disguise
from my perception the identity of the singular indi-
vidual who thus perseveringly interfered with my af-
fairs, and harassed me with his insinuated counsel.
But who and what was this Wilson ? — and whence
came he? — and what were his purposes? Upon
neither of these points could I be satisfied — merely
ascertaining, in regard to him, that a sudden acci-

db, Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

dent in his family had caused his removal from Dr.
Btansby's academy on the afternoon of the day in
which 1 myself had eloped. But in a brief period I
ceased to think upon the subject, my attention being
all absorbed in a contemplated departure for Oxford.
Thither I soon went, the uncalculating vanity of my
parents furnishing me with an outfit and annual es-
tablishment which would enable me to indulge at will
in the luxury already so dear to my heart — to vie in
profuseness of expenditure with the haughtiest heirs
of the wealthiest earldoms in Great Britain.

Excited by such appliances to vice, my constitu-
tional temperament broke forth with redoubled ardor,
and I spurned even the common restraints of decency
in the mad infatuation of my revels. But it were ab-
surd to pause in the detail of my extravagance. Let
it suffice, that among spendthrifts I out-Heroded
Herod, and that, giving name to a multitude of novel
follies, I added no brief appendix to the long cata-
logue of vices then usual in the most dissolute uni-
versity of Europe.

u It could hardly be credited, however, that I had,'
'even here, so utterly fallen from the gentlemanly
estate as to seek acquaintance with the vilest arts of
the gambler by profession, and, having become an
adept in his despicable science, to practise it habit-
ually as a means of increasing my already enormous
income at the expense of the weak-minded among
my fellow-collegians. Such, nevertheless, was the fact.
And the very enormity of this offence against all
manly and honorable sentiment proved, beyond doubt,
the main if not the sole reason of the impunity with
which it was committed. Who, indeed, among my
most abandoned associates, would not rather have

22

d by Google

WILLIAM WILSON

disputed the clearest evidence of his senses, than have
suspected of such courses the gay, the frank, the
generous William. Wilson — the noblest and most
liberal commoner at Oxford ; him whose follies (said
his parasites) were but the follies of youth and un-
bridled fancy — whose errors but inimitable whim —
whose darkest vice but a careless and dashing
extravagance? j

I had been now two years successfully busied iin
this way, when there came to the university a young
paniesif. nobleman, Glendinning — rich, said report,
as Herodes Atticus — his riches, too, as easily ac-
quired. I soon found him of weak intellect, and of
course marked him as a fitting subject for my skill,
I frequently engaged him in play, and contrived, with
the gambler's usual art, to let him win considerable
sums, the more effectually to entangle him in my
snares. At length, my schemes being ripe, 1 met him
(with the full intention that this meeting should be
final and decisive) at the chambers of a fellow-com-
moner, (Mt. Preston) equally intimate with both, but
who, to do him justice, entertained not even a remote
suspicion of my design. To give to this a better
coloring, I had contrived to have assembled a party
of some eight or ten, and was solicitously careful
that the introduction of cards should appear acci-
dental, and originate in the proposal of my contem-
plated dupe himself. To be brief upon a vile topic,
none of the low finesse was omitted, so customary
upon similar occasions that it is a just matter for
wonder how any are still found so besotted as to fall
its victim.

We had protracted our sitting far into the night,
and I had at length effected the manteuvre of get-

„ Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

ting Glendinning as my sole antagonist. The game
too, was my favorite icarti. The rest of the com
pany, interested in the extent of our play, had aban-
doned their own cards, and were standing around us
as spectators. The parvenu^ who had been induced,
by my artifices in the early part of the evening, to
drink deeply, now shuffied, dealt, or played, with a
wild nervousness of manner for which his intoxication,
I thought, might partially but could not altogether ac-
count. In a very short period he had become my
debtor to a large amount, when, having taken a long
draught of port, he did precisely what I had been
coolly anticipating — he proposed to double our al-
ready extravagant stakes. With a well-feigned show
of reluctance, and not until after my repeated refusal
had seduced him into some angry words which gave
a color of pique to my compliance, did I finally
comply. The result, of course, did but prove how
entirely the prey was in my toils ; in less than an hour
he had quadrupled his debt. For some time his
countenance had been losing the florid tinge lent it
by the wine ; but now, to my astonishment, I per-
ceived that it had grown to a pallor truly fearful. I
say, to my astonishment Glendinning had been rep-
resented to my eager inquiries as immeasurably
wealthy ; and the sums which he had as yet lost, al-
though in themselves vast, could not, I supposed, very
seriously annoy, much less so violently affect him.
That he was overcome by the wine just swallowed,
was the idea which most readily presented itself ; and,
rather with a view to the preservation of my own
character in the eyes of my associates, than from any
leas interested motive, I was about to insist, pemnp-
torily, upon a discontinuance of the play, when aone

24

Google

WILLIAM WILSON

expressions at my elbow from among the company,
and an ejaculation evincing utter despair on the part
of Glendinning, gave me to understand that I had
efiected his total ruin under circumstances which,
rendering him an object for the pity of all, should
have protected him from the ill offices even of a

What now might have been my conduct it is diffi-
cult to say. The pitiable condition of my dupe had
thrown an air of embarrassed gloom over all ; and for
some moments a profound silence was maintained,
{?uring which I could not help feeling my cheeks tingle
with the many burning glances of scorn or reproach
cast upon me by the less abandoned of the party. I
will even own that an intolerable weight of anxiety
was for a brief instant lifted from my bosom by the
sudden and extraordinary interruption which ensued.
The wide, heavy folding-doors of the apartment were
all at once thrown open, to their full extent, with a
vigorous and rushing impetuosity that extinguished,
as if by magic, every candle in the room. Their light,
in dying, enabled us just to perceive that a stranger
had entered, about my own height, and closely muffled
in a cloak. The darkness, however, was now total;
and we could only feel that he was standing in our
midst. Before any one of us could recover from the
extreme astonishment into which this rudeness had
thrown all, we heard the voice of the intruder.

"Gentlemen," he said, in a low, distinct, and never-
to-be- forgotten whisper which thrilled to the very mar-
row of my bones, "gentlemen, I make no apology for
this behavior, because, in thus behaving, I am but ful-
filling a duty. You are, beyond doubt, uninformed of
the true character of the person who has to-night won
2J

;v Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

at icartSs. largesum of money from Lord Glendinning.
I will therefore put you upon an expeditious and de-
cisive plan of obtaining this very necessary informa-
» tion. Please to examine, at your leisure, the inner
linings of the cufi of his left sleeve, and the several
little packages which may be found in the some-
what capacious pockets of his embroidered morning
wrapper."

While he spoke, so profound was the stillness that
one might have heard a pin drop ujjon the floor. In
ceasing, he departed at once, and as abruptly as he
had entered. Can I — shall i describe my sensations ?
Must I say that I felt all the horrors of the damned .'
Most assuredly I had little time for reflection. Many
hands rouglily seized me upon the spot, and lights
were immediately re-procured. A search ensued. In
the lining of my sleeve were found all the court cards
essential in icarti, and, in the pockets of my wrapper,
a number of packs, fac-similes of those used at our
sittings, with the single exception that mine were of
the species called, technically, arrondisj the honors
being slightly convex at the ends, the lower cards
slightly convex at the sides. In this disposition, the
dupe who cuts, as customary, at the length of the
pack, will invariably find that he cuts his antagonist
an honor ; while the gambler, cutting at the breadth,
will, as certainly, cut nothing for his victim which may
count in the records of the game.

Any burst of indignation upon this discovery would
have affected me less than the silent contempt, or the
sarcastic composure, with which it was received.

"Mr. Wilson," said our host, stooping to remove
from beneath his feet an exceedingly luxurious cloak
of rare furs, " Mr. Wilson, this is your property."

Hoao=b, Google

WILSON

(The weather was cold ; and, upon quitting my own
room, I had thrown a cloak over my dressing wrapper,
putting it off upon reaching the scene of play.) " t^
presume it is supererojatory to seek here " (eying the

Tijlds of the garment with a Bitter smilej " for any far-
ther evidence of your skill. Indeed, we have had
enough. You will see the necessity, I hope, of quit-
ting Oxford— ^ at all events, of quitting instantly my
chambers."

Abased, humbled to the dust as I then was, it is
probable that I should have resented this galling lan-
guage by immediate personal violence, had not my
whole attention been at the moment arrested by a fact
of the most starding character. The cloak which I

■ had worn was of a rare description of fur ; how rare,
how extravagantly costly, 1 shall not venture to say.
Its fashion, too, was of my own fantastic invention ;
for I was fastjdjQustaan^siJnLdegree^of ccixcombiy,
inmatters of this frivolous natm;e^_When, therefore,
MrTTrEBtonreaeliea'meTHarwhich he had picked up
upon the floor, and near the folding-doors of the apart-
ment, it was with an astonishment nearly bordering
upon terror, that I perceived my own already hanging
on my arm, (where 1 had no doubt unwittingly placed
it) and that the one presented me was but its exact
counterpart in every, in even the minutest possible
particular. The singular being who had so disas-
trously exposed me, had been muffled, I remembered,
in a cloak ; and none had been worn at all by any of
the members of our party, with the exception of my-
self. Retaining some presence of mind, I took the
one offered me by Preston ; placed it, unnoticed, over
my own; left the apartment with a resolute scowl of
defiance ; and, next morning ere dawn of day, com-

db, Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

menced a hurried journey from Oxford to the conti-
nent, in a perfect agony of horror and of shame.

I fled in vain. My evil destiny pursued me as if in
exultation, and proved, indeed, that the exercise of its
mysterious dominion had as yet only begun Scarcely
had I set foot in Paris, ere I had fresh evidence of the
detestable interest taken by this Wilson in my con-
cerns. Years flew, while I experienced no relief.
Villain I — at Rome, with how untimely, yet with how
spectral an ofl^ciousaess, stepped he in between me
and my ambition ! At Vienna, too — at Berlin — and
at Moscow ! Where, in truth, had f not bitter cause
to curse him within my heart? From his inscrutable
tyranny did I at length dee, panic-stricken, as from a
pestilence; and to the vtty ends of the earth I fled

And again, and again, in secret communion with my
own spirit, would I demand the questions, " Who is he ?
— whence came he? — and what arc his objects?"
But no answer was there found. And now I scruti-
nized, with a minute scrutiny, the forms, and the
methods, and the leading traits of his impertinent su-
pervision. But even here there was very little upon
which to base a conjecture. It was noticeable, in-
deed, that, in no one of the multiplied instances in
which he had of late crossed my path, had he so
crossed it except to frustrate those schemes, or to dis-
turb those actions, which, if fully carried out, might
have resulted in bitter mischief. Poor justifi ca^or
tlji^in truth, for an authority so impenously assumed
Poor~ittflethnity fof^natural n^is of seil-ageJlrf' si
peiti^ciously, so insultingly denied i

I had* also Beetrforced to notice that my tormentoi
for a very long period of time, (while acrupulouily am

WILLIAM WILSON

with miraculous dexterity maintaining his whim of an
identity of apparel with myself) had so contrived it, in
the execution of his varied interference with my wilf,
that I saw not, at any moment, the features of his face,
BeWilson what he might, /Aij, at least, wasbutthe ver-
iest of affectation, or of folly. Could he, for an instant,
have supposed that, in my admonish er at Eton — in
the destroyer of my honor at Oxford, — in him who
thwarted my ambition at Rome, my revenge at Paris,
my passionate love at Naples, or what he falsely
termed my avarice in Egypt, — that in this,my arch-
enemy and evil genius, I could fail to recognize the
William Wilson, of my school-boy days : the namesake,
the companion, the rival, the hated and dreaded rival
at Dr. Bransby's? Impossible! — but let me hasten
to the last eventful scene of the drama.

Thus farThad succumbed su pinely to this imperious
domination. The sentiment of deep awe with which

"T~hatiltfiilly regarded the elevated' cliaracter, the
majestic wisdom, the apparent omnipresence 'and
omnipotence of Wilson, added to a feeling of even
terror, with which certain other traits in his nature
and assumptions inspired me, had operated, hitherto,
to impress me with an idea of my own utter weakness
and helplessness, and to suggest an implicit, although
bitterly reluctant submission to his arbitrary will.

. But, of late days, I had given myself up entirely to
wine ; and its maddening influence upon my hereditary '
temper rendered me more and more impatient of con-
trol, I began to murmur, to hesitate, to resist. And
was It only fancy which induced me to believe that,
with the increase of my own firmness, that of my tor-
mentor underwent a proportional diminution ? Be
this as it may, I now began to feel the inspiration of

29

;v Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

a burning hope, and at length nurtured in my secret
thoughts a stern and desperate resolution that 1 would
submit no longer to be enslaved.

It was at Rome, during the Carnival of i8 — , tbat I
attended a masquerade in the palazzo of the Neapoli-
tan Duke Di Broglio. I had indulged more freely
than usual in the excesses of the wine-table ; and now
the suffocating atmosphere of the crowded rooms irri-
tated me beyond endurance. The difficulty, too, of
forcing my way through the mazes of the company
contributed not a httie to the ruffling of my temper ;
for I was anxiously seeking (let me not say with what
unworthy motive} the young, the gay, the beautiful
wife of the aged and doting Di Broglio. With a too
unscrupulous confidence she had previously communi-
cated to me the secret of the costume in which she
would be habited, and now, having caught a glimpse
of her person, I was hurrying to make my way into
her presence. At this moment I felt a light hand
placed upon my shoulder, and that ever-remembered,
low, damnable whisper within my ear.

In an absolute frenzy of wrath, I turned at once
upon him who had thus interrupted me, and seized
him violently by the collar. He was attired, as I had
expected, in a costume altogether similar to my own ;
wearing a Spanish cloak of blue velvet, begirt about
the waist with a crimson belt sustaining a rapier. A
mask of black silk entirely covered his face,

" .Scoundrel ! " I said, in a voice husky with rage,
while every syllable I uttered seemed as new fuel to
my fury; "scoundrel! impostor! accursed villain I
you shall not— you shall not dog me unto death-
Follow me, or I stab you where you stand!" — and
I broke my way from the ballroom into a small ante
30

;vGoogIe

WILLIAM WILSON
chamber adjoining, dragging him unresistingly with

Upon entering, I thrust him furiously from me.
He staggered against the wall, while I closed the door
with an oath, and commanded him to draw. He hesi-
tated but for an instant ; then, with a slight sigh, drew
in silence, and put himself upon his defence.

The contest was brief indeed. I was frantic with
every species of wild excitement, and felt within my
single arm the energy and power of a multitude. In
a few seconds I forced him by sheer strength against
the wainscoting, and thus, getting him at mercy,
plunged my sword, with brute ferocity, repeatedly
through and through his bosom.

At that instant some persoi) tried Hie latcli of the
door. I hastened to prevent an intrusion, and then
immediately returned to my dying antagonist. But
what human language can adequately portray that
astonishment, that horror which possessed me at the
spectacle then presented to view? The brief moment
in which I averted my eyes had been sufficient to pro-
duce, apparently, a material change in the arrange;
ments at the upper or farther end of the room. A
large mirror — so at first it seemed to me in my con-
fusion — now stood where none had been perceptible
before ; and, as I stepped up to it in extremity of
terror, mine own image, but with features all pale and
dabbled in blood, advanced to meet me with a feeble
and tottering gait.

Thus it appeared, I say, but was not. It was my
antagonist^ — it was Wilson, who then stood before
me in the agonies of his dissolution. His mask and
cloak lay, where he had thrown them, upon the floor.
Not a thread in all his raiment — not a line in all the

d by Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE '

marked and singular lineaments of his face which was
not, even in the most absolute identity, mine own!

It was Wilson; but he spoke no longer in a whisper,
and I could have fancied that I myself was speaking
while he said; —

" You have conquered, and I yield. Yet, hence-
forward art thou also dead — dead to the World,
to Heaven and to Hope ! In me didst thou exist —
and, in my death, see by this image, ■which is thint
own, how utterly thou hast murdered thyself."

;vCoogIe

THE IMP OF THE PERVERSE

In the consideration of the faculties and impulses —
of Xht prima mobilia of the human soul, the phrenolo-
gists have failed to make room for a propensity which,
although obviously existing as a radical, primitive, irre-
ducible sentiment, has been equally overlooked by all
the moralists who have preceded them. In the pure
arrogance of the reason, we hava all overlooked it. We
have suffered its existence to escape our senses, solely
through want of belief, — of faith, — whether it be
faith in Revelation, or faith in the Kabbala. The
idea of it has never occurred to us, simply because of
its supererogation. We saw no need of the impulse
— for the propensity. We could not perceive its
necessity. We could not understand, that is to say,
we could not have understood, had the notion of this
primum mobile ever obtruded itself; we could not
have understood in what manner it might be made to
further the objects of humanity, either temporal or
eternal. It cannot be denied that phrenology, and in
great measure, all metaphysician ism, have been con-
cocted a priori. The intellectual or logical man,
rather than the "understanding or observant man, set
himself to imagine designs — to dictate purposes to
God. Having thus fathomed to his satisfaction the
intentions of Jehovah, out of these intentions he built
his innumerable systems of mind. In the matter of

db, Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

phrenology, for example, we first determined, naturally
enough, that it was the design of the Deity that ma.n
should eat. We then assigned to man an organ of
alimentiveness, and this organ is the scourge with
which Ihe Deity compels man, will-I nill-l, into eating.
Secondly, having settled it to be God's will that man
should continue his species, we discovered an organ
of amativeness, forthwith. And so with combative-
ness, with ideality, with causality, with construe tivi;-
ness, — so, in short, with every organ, whether
representing a propensity, a moral sentiment, or a
faculty of the pure intellect. And in these arrange-
ments of the principia of human action, the Spurz-
heimites, whether right or wrong, in part, or upon the
whole, have but followed in principle the footsteps of
their predecessors; deducing and establishing every-
thing from the preconceived destiny of man, and upon
the ground of the objects of his Creator.

It would have been wiser, it would have been safer,
to classify (if classify we must) upon the basis of what
man usually or occasionally did, and was always occa-
sionally doing, rather than upon the basis of what we
took it for granted the Deity intended him to do. If
we cannot comprehend God in his visible works, how
then in his inconceivable thoughts, that call the works
into being? If we cannot understand him in hia
objective creatures, how then in his substantive moods
and phases of creation?

Induction, a fasteriori, would have brought phre-
nology to admit, as an innate and primitive principle
of human action, a paradoxical something, which we
may cail perverseness, for want of a more characteris-
tic term. In the sense I intend, it is, in fact, a mobile
without motive, a motive not moHvirt. Through its
34

;v Google

THE IMP OF THE PERVERSE

promptings we act without comprehensible object; or,
if this shall be understood as a contradiction in terms,
we may so far modify the proposition as to say that
through its promptings we act for the reason that we
should not. In theory, no reason can be more unrea-
sonable ; but, in fact, there is none more strong.
With certain minds, under certain conditions, it be-
comes absolutely irresistible. I am not more certain
that I breathe than that the assurance of tlie wrong
or error of any action is often the one unconquerable
force which impels us, and alone impels us, to its prose-
cution, Nor will this overwhelming tendency to do
wrong for the wrong's sake admit of analysis, or reso-
Jution into ulterior elements. It is a radical, a primi-
tive impulse — elementary. It 'will be said, I am
aware, that when we persist in acts because we feel
we should not persist in them, our conduct is but a
modification of that which ordinarily springs from the
cambativeness of phrenology. But a glance will show
the fallacy of this idea. The phrenological com-
bativeness has, for its essence, the necessity of self-
defence. It is our safeguard against injury. Its
principle regards our well-being ; and thus the desire
to be well is excited simultaneously with its develop-
ment. It follows, that the desire to be well must be
excited simultaneously with any principle which shall
be merely a modification of comb ativen ess, but in the
case of that something which I term perverseness, the
desire to be well is not only not aroused, but a
strongly antagonistic al sentiment exists.

An appeal to one's own heart is, after all, the best
reply to the sophistry just noticed. No one who trust-
ingly consults and thoroughly questiora his own soul
will be disposed to deny the entire radicalness of the
3S

d by Google

TALES OF

propensity in question. It is not more incompreiien'
sibie than distinctive. There lives no man who at
some period has not been tormented, for example, by
an earnest desire to tantalize a listener by circumlo-
cution. The speaker is aware that he displeases; he
has every intention to please; he is usually curt,
precise, and clear; the most laconic and luminous
language is struggling for utterance upon his tongue ;
it is only with difBculty that he restrains himself from
giving it flow ; he dreads and deprecates the anger
of him whom he addresses ; yet, the thought strikes
him, that by certain involutions and parentheses this
anger may tie engendered. That single thought is
enough. The impulse increases to a wish, the wish
to a desire, the desire to an uncontrollable longing,
and the longing (to the deep regret and mortification
of the speaker, and in defiance of all consequences)
is indulged.

We have a task before us which must be speedily
performed. We know that it will be ruinous to make
delay. The most important crisis of our life calls,
trumpet-to ngued, for immediate energy and action.
We glow, we are consumed with eagerness to com-
mence the work, with the anticipation of whose glo-
rious result our whole souls are on fire. It must, it
shall be undertaken toJay, and yet we put it off until
to-morrow; and why? There is no answer, except
that we feel perverse, using the word with no com-
prehension of the principle. To-morrow arrives, and
with it a more impatient anxiety to do our duty, but
with this very increase of anxiety arrives, also, a
nameless, a positively fearful, because unfathomable
craving for delay. This craving gathers strength as
the moments fiy. The last hour for action is at hand,
36

;v Google

THE IMP OF THE PERVERSE

We tremble with the violence of the conflict within
us, of the definite with the indefinite, of the substance
with the shadow. But, if the contest have proceeded
thus far, it ia the shadow which prevails, — we struggle
in vain. The clock strikes, and is the knell of our
welfare. At the same time, it is the chantic!eer-note
to the ghost that has so long overawed us. It flies —
it disappears — -we Are free. The old energy returns.
We will labor kcot. Alas, it is tea late /

We stand upon the brink of a precipice. We peer
into the abyss — we grow sick and diziy. Our first
impulse is to shrink from the danger. Unaccount-
ably we remain. By slow degrees our sickness, and
dizziness, and horror, become merged in a cloud of
unnamable feeling. By gradations, still more imper-
ceptible, this cloud assumes shape, as did the vapor
from the bottle out of which arose the Genius in the
"Arabian Nights." But out of Xhisour cloud upon the
precipice's edge, there grows into palpability a shape,
far more terrible than any Genius, or any demon of a
tale, and yet it is but a thought, although a fearful
one, and one which chills the very marrow of our
bones with the fierceness of the delight of its horror.
It is merely the idea of what would be our sensations
during the sweeping precipitancy of a fall from such a.
height. And this fall, this rushing annihilation, for
the very reason that it involves that one most ghastly
and loathsome of all the most ghastly and loathsome
images of death and suffering which have ever pre-
sented themselves to our imagination — for this very
cause do we now the most vividly desire it. And
because our reason violently deters us from the brink,
therefore, do we the more impetuously approach it
There is no passion in nature so demoniacally imp*
37

d by Google

TALES C

tient, as that of him who, shuddering upon the edge
of a precipice, thus meditates a plunge. To indulge
for a moment in any attempt at thought is to be
inevitably iosi ; for reflection but urges us to forbear,
and therefore it is, I say, that we cannot. If there be
no friendly arm to check us, or if we fail in a sudden
effort to prostrate ourselves backward from the abyss,
we plunge, and are destroyed.

Examine these and similar actions as we will, we
shall find them resulting solely from the spirit of the
Perverse. We perpetrate them merely because we
feel that we should not. Beyond or behind this, there
is no intelligible principle ; and we might, indeed,
deem this perverseness a direct instigation of the
Arch-Fiend, were it not occasionally known to operate
in furtherance of good.

I have said thus much, that in some measure I may
answer your question; that I may explain to you why
I am here ; that I may assign to you something that
shall have at least the faint aspect of a cause for my
wearing these fetters, and for my tenanting this cell
of the condemned. Had I not been thus prolix, you
might either have misunderstood me altogether, or,
with the rabble, have fancied me mad. As it is, you
will easily perceive that I am one of the many
uncounted victims of the Imp of the Perverse.

It is impossible that any deed could have been
wrought with a more thorough deliberation. For
weeks, for months, I pondered upon the means of the
murder. I rejected a thousand schemes, because their
accomplishment involved a chance of detection. At
length, in reading some Frenth memoirs, I found an
account of a nearly fata! illness that occurred to
Madame Pilau, through the agency of a candle acci-

;v Google

THE IMP OF THE PERVERSE

dentally poisoned. The idea struck my fancy at once.
I knew my victim's habit of reading in bed. I knew,
too, that his apartment was narrow and iil-ventilated.
But I need not vex you with impertinent details. I
need not describe the easy artifices by which I sub-
stituted, in iiis bedroom candle-stand, a wax-light oi
my own making, for the one whicli 1 there found.
The next morning he was discovered dead in his bed,
and the coroner's verdict was, — " Death by the visi-
tation of God."

Having inherited his estate, all went well with me
for years. The idea of detection never once entered
my brain. Of the remains of the fatal taper I had
myself carefully disposed. I had left no shadow of 2
clew by which it would be possible to convict, or even
to suspect me of the crime. It is inconceivable how
rich a sentiment of satisfaction arose in my bosom as
I reflected upon my absolute security. For a very
long period of time, 1 was accustomed to revel in this
sentiment It afforded me more real delight than all
the mere worldly advantages accruing from my sin.
But there arrived at length an epoch, from which the
pleasurable feeling grew, by scarcely perceptible gra-
dations, into a haunting and harassing thought. It
harassed because it haunted. I could scarcely get
rid of it for an instant. It is quite a common thing
to be thus annoyed with the ringing in our ears, or
rather in our memories, of the burden of some ordi-
nary song, or some unimpressive snatches from an
opera. Nor wiU.we be the less tormented if the song
in itself be good, or the opera air meritorious. In
this manner, at last, I would perpetually catch myself
pondering upon my security, and repeating, in a low
undertone, the phrase, " I am safe,"
39

d by Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

One day, whilst sauntering along the streets, I
arrested myself in the act of murmuring, half aloud,
these customary syllables. In a fit of petulance, I
remodelled them thus: — "I am safe — I am safe

— yes — if I be not fool enough to make open
confession ! "

No sooner had I spoken these words than I felt an
icy chili creep to my heart. I had had some experi-
ence in these fits of perversity, (whose nature I have
been at some trouble to explain,) and 1 remembered
well that, in no instance, I had successfully resisted
their attacks. And now my own casual self-sugges-
tion, that I might possibly be fool enough to confess
the murder of which 1 had been guilty, confronted
me, as if the very ghost of him whom I had murdered

— and beckoned me on to death.

At first, I made an effort to shake off this night-
mare of the soul. I walked vigorously — faster —
still faster— at length 1 ran. I felt a maddening
desire to shriek aloud. Every succeeding wave of
thought overwhelmed me with new terror, for, alas !
I well, too well understood that to think, in my situa-
tion, was to be lost. 1 still quickened my pace. I
bounded like a madman through the crowded thorough-
fares. At length, the populace took the alarm, and
pursued me. I felt then the consummation of my fate.
Could 1 have torn out my tongue, I would have done
it — but a rough voice resounded in my ears — a
rougher grasp seized me by the shoulder. I turned

— I gasped for breath. For a moment, I experienced
all the pangs of suffocation ; I became blind, and deaf,
and giddy; and then, some invisible fiend, I thought,
struck me with his broad palm upon the back. The
long-imprisoned secret burst forth from my soul.

„ Google

THE IMP OF THE PERVERSE

They say that I spoke with a distinct e
but with marked emphasis and passionate hurry, as
if in dread of interruption before concluding the brief
but pregnant sentences that consigned me to the
hangman and to hell.

Having related all that was necessary for the fullest
judicial conviction, I fell prostrate in a swoon.

But why shall I say more? To-day I wear these
chains, and am htre! To-morrow I shall be fetteiv
less! — but where f

db, Google

THE BLACK CAT

J7 OR the most wild, yet most homely narrative which
I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief.
Mad indeed would I be to expect it, in a case where
my very senses reject their own evidence. Yet, mad
am I not — and very surely do I not dream. But to-
morrow I die, and to-day I would unburden my soul.
My immediate purpose is to place before the world,
plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of
mere household events. Lo their consequences, these
events have terrified — have tortured — have destroyed
me. Yet I will not attempt to expound them. To me,
they have presented little but Horror; to many they
will seem less terrible than baroques. Hereafter,
perhaps, some intellect may be found which will
reduce my phantasm to the common-place : some in-
tellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable
than my own, which will perceive, in the circumstances
I detail with awe, nothing more than an ordinary suc-
cession of verj' natural causes and effects. "*■

From my infancy I was noted for the docility and
humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart
was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of
my companions. I was especially fond of animals,
ajid was indulged by my parents with a. great variety
of pets. With these I spent most of my time, and

ie=b, Google

THE BLACK CAT

never was so liappy as when feeding and caressing
them. This peculiarity of character grew with my
growth, and in my manhood I derived from it one
of my principal sources of pleasure. To those who
have cherished an affection for a faithful and saga-
cious dog, I need hardly be at the trouble of explain-
ing the nature or the intensity of the gratification thus
derivable. There is something in the unselfish and
self-sac ri fie ing love of a brute which goes directly
to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion
to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of

I married early, and was happy to find in my wife
a disposition not uncongenial with my own. Observ-
ing my partiality for domestic pets, she loSt no oppor-
tunity of procuring those of the most agreeable kind.
We had birds, gold-fish, a fine dog, rabbits, a small
monkey, and a cat.

This latter was a remarkably large and beautiful
animal, entirely black, and sagacious to an astonishing
degree. In speaking of his intelligence, my wife, who
.at heart was not a little tinctiwed with superstition,
made frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion
which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise.
Not that she was ever serious upon this point — and
I mention the matter at all for no better reason than
that it happens, just now, to be remembered.

Pluto — this was the cat's name — was my favorite
pet and playmate. I alone fed him, and he attended
me wherever I went about the house. It was even
with difficulty that I could prevent him from following
me through the streets.

Our friendship lasted, in this manner, for sereral

years, during which my general temperament and

43

;v Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

character, through the instrumentality of the Fiend
Intemperance, had (I blush to confess it) experienced
a radical alteration for the worse. I grew, day by
day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of
the feelings of others. I suffered myself to use in-
temperate language to my wife. At length, I even
offered her personal violence. My pets, of course,
were made to feel the change in my disposition. I
not only neglected, but ill-used them. For Pluto,
however, I still retained sufficient regard to restrain
me from maltreating him, as 1 made no scruple of
maltreating the rabbits, the monkey, or even the dog,
when by accident, or through affection, they came in
my way. But my disease grew upon me — for what
disease is like Alcohol ! — and at length even Pluto,
who was now becoming old, and consequently some-
what peevish — even Pluto began to experience the
effects of my ill-temper.

One night, returning home, much intoxicated, from
one of my haunts about town 1 fancied that the cat
avoided my presence. I seized him; when, in his
fright at my violence, he inflicted a slight wound
upon my hand with his teeth. The fury of a demon
instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer.
My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight
from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence,
gin-nurtured, thrilled every fibre of my frame. J took
from my waistcoat-pocket a pen-knife, opened it,
grasped the poor beast by the throat, and dehber-
ately cut one of its eyes from the socket ! I blush,
I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity.

When reason returned with the morning — when I
had slept off the fumes of the night's debauch— I ex-
perieaced a sentiment half of horror, half of remorsCi

ij Google

for the crime of which I had been gitilty ; but it was,
at best, a feeble and equivocal feeling, and the soul
remained untouched. I again plunged into excess,
and soon drowned in wine all memory of the deed.

In the mean time the cat slowly recovered. The
socket of the lost eye presented, it is true, a frightful
appearance, but he no longer appeared to suffer any
pain. He went about the bouse as usual, but, as
might be expected, fied in extreme terror at my ap-
proach. I had so much of my old heart ieft, as to be
at first grieved by this evident dislike on the part of a
creature which had once so loved me. But this feel-
ing soon gave place to irritation. And then came, as
if to my final and irrevocable overthrow, the spirit
of Pebverseness. Of this spirit philosophy takes
no account. Yet I am not more sure that my soul
lives than I am that perverseness is one of the primi-
tive impulses of the human heart : one of the itidi-
visible primary faculties, or sentiments, which give
direction to the character of Man. Who has not, a
hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a
silly action, for no other reason than because he knows
he should Kotf Have we not a perpetual inclination,
in the teeth of our best judgment, to violate that which
is Zaw, merely because we understand it to be such ?
This spirit of perverseness, 1 say, came to my final
overthrow. It was this unfathomable longing of the
soul to vex itself — to offer violence to its own nature
— to do wrong for the wrong's sake only — that urged
me to continue and finally to consummate the injury
I had inflicted upon the unoffending brute. One
morning, in cool blood, I slipped a noose about its
neck and hung it to the limb of a tree; hung it with
the tears streaming from my eyes, and with the bit
45

;v Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

terest remorse at my heart; hung it because I knew
that it had loved me, and because 1 felt it had given
me no reason of offence ; hung it because I knew that
in so doing I was committing a sin — a deadly sin
that would so jeopardize my immortal soul as to place
it, if such a thing were possible, even beyond the
reach of the infinite mercy of the Most Merciful and
Most Terrible God.

On the night of the day on which this cruel deed
was done, I was aroused from sleep by the cry of fire.
The curtains of my bed were in flames. The \yhole
house was blazing. It was with great difficulty that
my wife, a servant, and myself, made our escape from
the conflagration. The destruction was complete.
My eritire worldly wealth was swallowed up, and I
resigned myself thenceforward to despair.

I am above the weakness of seeking to establish a
sequence of cause and effect, between the disaster and
the atrocitj But I am detailing a chain of facts, and
wish not to leave even a possible link imperfect. On
the day succeeding the fire, I visited the ruins. The
walls, with one exception, had fallen in. This ex-
ception was found in a compartment wall, not very
thick, which stood about the middle of the house, and
against which had rested the head of my bed. The
plastenng had here, in great measure, resisted the
action of the fire — a fact which I attributed to its
hai mg been recently spread. About this wall a dense
crowd were collected, and many persons seemed to be
examining a particular portion of It with very minute
and eager attention. The words " strange ! " " sin-
gular ! " and other similar expressions, excited my
curiosity. 1 approached and saw, as if graven in bas
relief ■apim the white surface, the figure of a gigantic

46

„ Google

THE BLACK CAT

cal. The impression was given with an accuracy tniljr
marvellous. There was a rope about the animal's

When I first beheld this apparition — for I could
scarcely regard it as less — my wonder and my terror
were extreme. But at length reflection came to my
aid- The cat, I remembered, had been hung in a
garden adjacent to the house. Upon the alarm of
fire, this garden had been immediately filled by the
crowd — by some one of whom the animal must have
been cut from the tree and thrown, through an open
window, into my chamber. This had probably been
done with the view of arousing me from, sleep. The
falling of other walls had compressed the victim of
my cruelty'into the substance of the freshly-spread
piaster; the lime of which, with tlie flames, and the
ammonia from the carcass, had then accomplished the
portraiture as I saw it.

Although I thus readily accounted to my reason, if
not altogether to my conscience, for the startling fact
just detailed, it did not the less fail to make a deep
impression upon my fancy. For months I could not
rid myself of the phantasm of the cat; and during
this period there came back into my spirit a halt-
sentiment that seemed, but was not, remorse. I went
so far as to regret the loss of the animal, and to look
about me, among the vile haunts which I now habitu-
ally frequented, for another pet of the same species,
and of somewhat similar appearance, with which to
supply its place..

One night as 1 sat, half stupefied, in a den of more

than infamy, my attention was suddenly drawn to

some black object, reposing upon the head of one

of the immense hogsheads of Gin, or of Rum, which

47

d by Google

TALES OF COKSCIESCE

constituted the chief furniture of the apartment. I
had been looking steadily at the top of this hogshead
for some minutes, and what now caused me surprise
was the fact that I had not sooner perceived the object
thereupon. I approached it, and touched it wi;h my
hand. It was a black cat — a very large one ^ fully
as large as Pluto, and closely resembling him in every
respect but one. Pluto had not a white hair upon any
portion of his body; but this cat had a large, although
indefinite splotch of white, covering nearly tlie wliole
region of the breast.

Upon roy touching him, he immediately arose,
purred loudly, rubbed against my hand, and appeared
delighted with my notice. This, then, was the very
creature of which 1 was in search. I at once offered
to purchase it of the landlord ; but this person made
no claim to it — knew nothing of it — had never seen

I continued my caresses, and, when I prepared to go
home, the animal evinced a disposition to accompany
me. I permitted it to do so; occasionally stooping
and patting it as I proceeded. When it reached the
house, it domesticated itself at once, and became
immediately a great favorite with my wife.

For my own part, I soon found a dislike to it
arising within me. This was just the reverse of what
I had anticipated; but — I know not how or why it
was — its evident fondness for myself rather disgusted
and annoyed. By slow degrees, these feelings of dis-
gust and annoyance rose into the bitterness of hatredi
I avoided the creature ; a certain sense of shame, and
tha remembrance of my former deed of cruelty, pre-
venting me from physically abusing it. I did not, for
some weeks, strike, or otherwise violently ill use it;

48

„ Google

THE BLACK CAT

but gradually — very gradually — I came to look upon
it with unutterable loathing, and toflee silently from its
odious presence, as from the breath of a pestilence.

What added, no doubt, to my hatred of the beast,
was the discover}', on the morning after I brought it
home, that, like Pluto, it also had been deprived of
one of its eyes. This circumstance, however, only
endeared it to my wife, who, as I have already said,
possessed, in a high degree, that humanity of feeling
which had once been my distinguishing trait, and the
source of many of my simplest and purest pleasures.

With my aversion to this cat, however, its partiality
for myself seamed to increase. It followed my foot-
steps with a pertinacity which it would be difficult to
make the reader comprehend. Whenever I sat, it
would crouch beneath my chair, or sprii^ upon my
knees, covering me with its loathsome caresses. If I
arose to walk. It would get between my feet and thus
nearly throw me down, or, fastening its long and sharp
claws in my dress, clamber, in this manner, to my breast.
At such times, although I longed to destroy it with a
blow, I was yet withheld from so doing, partly by a
memory of my former crime, but chiefly — let me con-
fess it at once — by absolute dread oi the beast.

This dread was not exactly a dread of physical evil
— and yet 1 should be at a loss how otherwise to de-
fine it. I am almost ashamed to own — yes, even in
this felon's cell, I am almost ashamed to own — that
the terror and horror with which the animal inspired
me, had been heightened by one of the merest chi-
meras it would &e possible to conceive. My wife had
called my attention, more than once, to the character
of the mark of white hair, of which I have spoken,
and which constituted the sole visible difference be-
voL. 11,-4 49

d by Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

tween the strange beast and the one I had destroyed.
The reader will remember that this mark, although
large, had been originally very indefinite ; but, by slow
degrees — degrees nearly imperceptible, and which for
a long time mj' Reason struggled to reject as fanciful
— it had, at length, assumed a rigorous distinctness of
outline. It was now the representation of an object
that I shudder to name ; and for this, above all, I
loathed, and dreaded, and would have rid myself of
the monster had I dared; it was now, I say, the im-
age of a hideous~of a ghastly thing — of the GAL-
LOWS ! — oh, mournful and terrible engine of Horror
and of Crime, of Agony and of Death !

And now was 1 indeed wretched beyond the wretch-
edness of mere Humanity. And a brute beast — whose
fellow I had contemptuously destroyed — a brute beast
to work out for nte — for me a man, fashioned in the
image of the High God — so much of insufferable woe !
Alas ! neither by day nor by night knew I the bless-
ing of Rest any more ! During tiie former the crea-
ture left me no moment alone ; and, in the latter, I
started, hourly, from dreams of unutterable fear, to
iind the hot breath of the thing upon my face, and its
vast weight — an incarnate Night-Mare that I had no
power to shake off — incumbent eternally upon my
heart !

Beneath the pressure of torments such as these, the
feeble remnant of the good within me succumbed.
Evil thoughts became my sole intimates — the darkest
and most evil of thoughts. The moodiness ot my
usual temper increased to hatred of all things and
of all mankind ; while, from the sudden, frequent, and
ungovernable outbursts of a fury to which I now
blindly abandoned myself, my imcompl^ning wif^

:,Google

THE BLACK CAT

alas ! was the most usual and the most patient of
sufferers.

One day she accompanied me, upon some household
errand, into the cellar of the old building which our
poverty compelled us to inhabit. The cat followed me
down the steep stairs, and, nearly throwing me head-
1 ng exasperated me to madness. Uplifting an axe,
and forgett ng, in my wrath, the childish dread which
1 ad 1 therti stayed my hand, I aimed a blow at the
in n a! wh ch, of course, would have proved instantly
fatal had t descended as I wished. But this blow
was arrested by the hand of my wife. Goaded, by
tl e nterferenrt, into a rage more than demoniacal, I
V tl dre V n y arm from her grasp and buried the axe

1 er bra n She fell dead upon the spot, without a
groan.

This hideous murder accomplished, I set myself
forthwith, and with entire deliberation, to the task of
concealing the body. I knew that I could not remove
it from the house, either by day or by night, without the
risk of being observed by the neighbors. Many pro-
jects entered my mind. At one period I thought of cut-
ting the corpse into minute fragments, and destroying
thera by fire. At another, I resolved to dig a grave
for it in the floor of the cellar. Again, I deliberated
about casting it in the well in the yard — about pack-
ing it in a box, as if merchandise, with the usual
arrangements, and so getting a porter to take it
from the house. Finally I hit upon what I considered
a far better expedient than either of these. I deter-
mined to wall it up in the cellar — as the monks of
the middle ages are recorded to have walled up their
victims.

For a purpose such as this the cellar was well
51

;v Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

adapted. Its walls were loosely constructed, and had
lately been plastered throughout with a rough plaster,
which the dampness of the atmosphere had prevented
from hardening. Moreover, in one of the walls was a
projection, caused by a false chimney, or fireplace,
that had been filled up, and made to resemble the rest
of the cellar, I made no doubt that I could readily
displace the bricks at this point, insert the corpse, and
wall the whole up as before, so that no eye could de-
tect anything suspicious.

And in this calculation I -was not deceived. By
means of a crow-bar I easily dislodged the bricks, and,
having carefully deposited the body against the inner
wall, I propped it in that position, while, with little
trouble, I re-laid the whole structure as it originally
stood. Having procured mortar, sand, and hair, with
every possible precaution, I prepared a plaster which
could not be distinguished from the old, and with this
J very carefully went over the new brick-work. When
1 had finished, I felt satisfied that all was right. The
wall did not present the slightest appearance of hav-
ing been disturbed. The rubbish on the floor was
picked up with the minutest care. I looked around
triumphantly, and said to myself — "Here at least,
then, my labor has not been in vain."

My next step was to look for the beast which had
been the cause of so much wretchedness; for I had,
at length, firmly resolved to put it to death. Had I
been able to meet with it, at the moment, there could
have been no doubt of its fate ; but it appeared that
the crafty animal had been alarmed at the violence of
my previous anger, and forbore to present itself in
my present mood. It is impossible to describe, or to
imagine, the deep, the blissful sense of relief which

„ Google

THE BLACK C

the absence of the detested creature o
bosom. It did not make its appearance during the
night — and thus for one night at least, since its intro-
duction into the house, I soundly and tranquilly slept ;
ay, sUpt even with the burden of murder upon my soul !

The second and the third day passed, and still my
tormentor came not. Once again I breathed as 3
free man. The monster, in terror, had fled the prem-
ises forever 1 I should behold it no more ! My happi-
ness was supreme 1 The guilt of my dark deed
disturbed me but httle. Some few inquiries had been
made, but these had been readily answered. Even a
search had been instituted — but of course nothing
was to be discovered. I looked upon my future feli-
city as secured.

Upon the fourth day of the assassination, a party
of the police came, very unexpectedly, into the house,
and proceeded again to make rigorous investigation
of the premises. Secure, however, in the inscruta-
bility of my place of concealment, \ felt no embar-
rassment whatever. The oificers bade me accompany
them in their search. They left no nook or comer
unexplored. At length, for the third or fourth time,
they descended into the cellar. I quivered not in a
muscle. My heart beat calmly as that of one who
slumbers in innocence. I walked the cellar from end
to end, I folded my arms upon my bosom, and
roamed easily to and fro. The police were thoroughly
satisfied and prepared to depart. The glee at my
heart was too strong to be restrained. I burned to
say if but one word, by way of triumph, and to render
doubly sure their assurance of my guiltlessness.

" Gentlemen," I said at last, as the party ascended

the steps, " I delight to have allayed your suspicions.

53

;v Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

I wish you all health, and a little more courtesy. By
the bye, gentlemen, this — this is a very well con-
structed house." (In the rabid desire to say some-
thing easily, I scarcely knew what I uttered at all)
" I may say an excellently well constructed house.
These walls — are you going, gentlemen?. — these
walls are solidly put together; " and here, through the
mere frenzy of bravado, 1 rapped heavily, with a
cane which I held in my hand, upon that very portion
of the brick-work behind which stood the corpse of
the wife of my bosom.

But may God shield and deliver me from the fangs
of the Arch-Fiend ! No sooner had the reverberation
of my blows sunk into silence, than I was answered
by a voice from within the tomb I — by a cry, at first
muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and
then quickly swelling into one long, loud, and continu-
ous scream, utterly anomalous and inhuman — a howl
— a wailing shriek, half of horror and half of triumph,
such as might have arisen only out of hell, conjointly
from the throats of the damned in their agony and of
the demons that exult in the damnation.

Of my own thoughts it is folly to speak. Swooning,
I staggered to the opposite wall. For one instant the
party upon the stairs remained motionless, through
extremity of terror and of awe. In the next, a dozen
stout arms were toiling at the wall. It fell bodily.
The corpse, already greatly decayed and clotted with
gore, stood erect before the eyes of the spectators.
Upon its head, with red extended mouth and solitary
eye of fire, sat the hideous beast whose craft had se-
duced me into murder, and whose informing voice
had consigned me to the hangman. I had walled the
monster up within the tombl
54

(

4= by Google

THE TELL-TALE HEART

1 RUEI^nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous
I had been and am ; but why wilt you say that I
am mad ? The disease had sharpened my senses —
not destroyed — not dulled them. Above all was the
sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the
heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in' hell.
How, then, am I mad ? Hearken ! and observe how
healthily — how calmly I can tell you the whole story.
It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my
brain ; but once conceived, it haunted me day and
night. Object there was none. Passion there was
none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged
me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I
had no desire. I think it was his eye ! yes, it was
this ! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture —
a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it
fell upon me, my blood ran cold ; and so by degrees
— very gradually — 1 made up my mind to take the
life of the o!d man, and thus rid myself of the eye

Now this is tlie point. You fancy me mad. Mad-
men know nothing. But you should have seen tni.
You should have seen how wisely I proceeded — with
what caution — with what foresight — with what dis-
simulation 1 went to work ! I was never kinder to the
55

;v Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

.d man than during the whole week before 1 killed
him. And every night, about midnight, 1 turned the
latch of his door and opened it — oh, so gently I And
then, when I had made an opening sufBeient for mj-
head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, so
that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head.
Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I
thrust it in! I moved it slowly — very, very slowly,
so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It
took me an hour to place my whole head within the
opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his
bed. Hal — would a madman have been so wise as
this ? And then, when my head was well in the room,
I undid the lantern cautiously — oh, so cautiously —
cautiously (for the hinges creaked) — I undid it just so
much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye.
And this I did for seven long nights — every night
just at midnight — but 1 found the eye always closed;
and so it was impossible to do the work ; for it was
not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye.
And every morning, when the day broke, I went
boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to
him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquir-
ing how he had passed the night. So you see he
would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to
suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in
upon him while he slept.

Upon the eighth night I was more than usually
cautious in opening the door. A watch's minute-hand
moves more quickly than did mine. Never before
that night had \ felt the extent of my own powers —
of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings
of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the
door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my
56

;v Google

THE TELL-TALE HEART

secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the
idea; and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on
the bed suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think
that 1 drew back — but no. His room was as black
as pitch with the thick darkness, (for the shutters were
close fastened through fear of robbers) and so 1 knew
that he could not see the opening of the door, and I
kept pushing It on steadily, steadily.

I had my head in, and was about to open the
lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fasten-
ing, and the old man sprang up in the bed, crying
out— "Who's there?"

I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole
hour I did not move a muscle, and in the mean time
I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up
in the bed, listening ; just as I have done, night after
night, hearkening to the death-watches in the wall.

Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was
the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of
pain or of grief — oh, no! — it was the low stifled
sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when
overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well. Many
a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it
has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with
its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me. I
say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt,
and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart. I
knew that he had been lying awake ever since the
first slight noise, when he had turned in the bed. Hia
fears had beeti ever since growing upon him. He
had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could
not. He had been saying to himself — " It is nothing
but the wind in the chimney — it is only a mouse
crossing the floor," or " it b merely a cricket which
i7

d by Google

TALES or CONSCIENCE

has made a single chirp." Yes, he had been trying
to comfort himself with these suppositions ; but he had
found all in vain. All in vain; because Death, in
approaching him, had stallced with his black shadow
before him, and enveloped the victim. And it was
the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow
that caused him to fee! —although he neither saw nor
heard — \ofeel\}c\^ presence of my head within the room.

When I had waited a long time, very patiendy,
without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a
little — -a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So
I opened it — you cannot imagine how stealthily,
stealthily — until, at length, a single dim ray, like the
thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and
fell upon the vulture eye.

It was open — wide, wide open — and I grew furious
as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness
— all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that
chilled the very marrow in my bones ; but I could
see nothing else of the old man's face or person : for
I had directed the ray as if by instinct, precisely
upon the damned spot.

And now have I not told you that what you mistake
for madness is but over acnteness of the senses ? —
now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick
lound, fnuck siuh a sound as a ivatch makes tuhen
en-veloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too.
It was the beating of the old man's heart. It in-
creased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates
the soldier into courage.

But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely

breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how

steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eye.

Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It

S8

„ Google

THE TELL-TALE HEART

grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder
every instant. The old man's terror must have been
extreme ! It grew louder, I say, louder every mo-
ment ! — do you mark me well ? I have told you that
I am nervous ; so I am. And now at the dead hour
of the night, amid the dreadiu! silence of that old
house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncon-
trollable terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I re-
frained and stood still. But the beating grew louder,
louder! 1 thought the heart must burst. And now
a new anxiety seized me — the sound would be heard
by a neighbor ! The old man's hoiir had come J
With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped
into the room. He shrieked once — once only. In
an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the
heavy bed over him. I then smiled gayly, to find the
deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the heart
beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did
not vex me ; it would not be heard through the wall.
At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I
removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he
was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the
heart and held it there many minutes. There was
no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would
trouble me no more.

If still you think me mad, you will think so no
longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for
the concealment of the body. The night waned, and
I worked hastily, but in silence. First .of all I dis-
membered the co/pse. I cut off the head and the
arms and the legs.

I then took up three planks from the flooring of the
chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I
thea replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunniogly.

db, Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

that no human eye — not even Am — could have de-
tected anything wrong. There was nothing to wash
out — no stain of any kind — no blood-spot whatever.
I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught all

When I had made an end of these labors, it was
four o'clock — still dark as midnight As the bell
sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street
door. I went down to open it with a light heart, —
for what had I now to fear ? There entered three
men, who introduced themselves, with perfect suavity,
as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by
a neighbor during the night; suspicion of foul play
had been aroused ; information had been lodged at
the police office, and they {the officers) had been
deputed to searchThe premises.

I smiled, — for what had I to fear? I bade the
gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own
in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent
in the country. I took my visitors all over the house.
1 bade them search —search vtell. I led them, at
length, to Ais chamber. I showed them his treasures,
secure, undisturbed. In the enthusiasm of my confi-
dence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired
them Aere to rest from their fatigues, while I myself,
in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my
own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed
the corpse of the victim.

The officers were satisfied. My manner had con-
vinced them. I was singularly at ease. They sat,
and while 1 answered cheerily, they chatted of familiar
things. But, ere long, I felt myself getting pale and
wished them gone. My head ached, and I fancied a
ringing in my ears : but still they sat and still chatted.
60

;v Google

The ringing became more distinct: it continued and
became more distinct : I talked more freely to get rid
of the feeling: but it continued and gained definitive-
ness — until, at length, I found that the noise was not
within my ears.

No doubt I now grew very pale ; but I talked more
fluently, and with a heightened voice. ' Yet the sound
increased — and what could I do ? It was a low, dull,
quick sound — much such a sound as a watch makes
when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath — and
yet the ofScers heard it not. I talked more quickly

— more vehemently ; but the noise steadily increased.
1 arose and argued about trifles, in a high key, and
with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily
increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced
the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excitet; to
fury by the observations of the men — but the noise
steadily increased. Oh God ! what could 1 do ? !
foamed— I raved — I swore! I swung the chair
upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon
the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually
increased. It grew louder — louder — louder ! And
still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it
possible they heard not? Almighty God! — no, not
They heard!— they suspected! — thty knew! — they
were making a mockery of my horror ! — this I thought,
and this I think. But anything was better than this
agony ! Anything was more tolerable than this deri-
sion! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no
longer I I felt that I must scream or die ! — and now

— again!— hark I louder I louder! louder! louder.' —
" Villains ! " I shrieked, " dissemble no more I I

admit the deed! — tear up the planks! — here, here!
-~- it b the beating of his hideous heart 1 "
6i

d by Google

THE MAN OF THE CROWD

Ce grand malheui, de ne pouvoir ttre seul.

1 T was well said of a certain German book that " «
Idsst sick nicht lesen " ^ it does not permit itself to be
read. There are some secrets which do not pennit
themselves Co be told. Men die nightly in their beds,
wringing the hands of ghostly confessors, and loolting
them piteously in the eyes — die with despair of heart
and convulsion of throat, on account of the hideous-
aess of mysteries which will not suffer themselves to
be revealed. Now and then, alas, the conscience of
man takes up a burden so heavy in horror that it can
be thrown down only into the grave. And thus the
essence of all crime is undivulged.

Not long ago, about the closing in of an evening in

autumn, 1 sat at the large bow-window of the D

Coffee-House in I mdjn. For some months I had
been ill in health, but was now convalescent, and, with
returning strength, found myself in one of those happy
moods which are so precisely the converse of ennui:
moods of the keenest appetency, when the film from
the mental vision departs — the d;(XiE ff irpiv hn}ft —
and the intellect, electrified, surpasses as greatly its
every-day condition, as does the vivid yet candid rea-
son of Leibnitz the mad and flimsy rhetoric of Gorgias.
Uerdy to breathe was enjoyment; and I derived

;v Google

THE MAN OF THE CROWD

positive pleasure even from many of the legitimate
sources of pain. I felt a calm but inquisitive interest
in everything. With a cigar in my mouth and a
newspaper in my lap, I had been amusing myself for
the greater part of the afternoon, now in poring over
advertisements, now in observing the promiscuous
company in the room, and now in peering through the
smoky panes into the street.

This latter is one of the principal thoroughfares of
the city, and had been very much crowded during the
whole day. But, as the darkness came on, the throng
momently increased ; and, by the time the lamps were
well lighted, two dense and continuous tides of popu-
lation were rushing past the door. At this particular
period of the evening I liad never before been in a
similar situatiOTi, and the tumultuous sea of human
heads filled me, therefore, with a. delicious novelty of
emotion. I gave up, at length, all care of things
within the hotel, and became absorbed in contempla-
tion of the scene without.

At first my observations took an abstract and gen-
eralizing turn. 1 looked at the passengers in masses,
and thought of them in their aggregate relations.
Soon, however, I descended to details, and regarded
with minute interest the innumerable varieties of
figure, dress, air, gait, visage, and expression of
countenance.

Byfar the greater number of those who went by had
a satisfied business-like demeanor, and seemed to be
thinking only of making their way through the press.
Their brows were knit, and their eyes rolled quickly;
when pushed against by fellow- wayfarers they evinced
no symptom of impatience, but adjusted their clothes
and hurried on. Others, still a numerous class, were
63

d by Google

TALES OP CONSCIENCE

restless in their movements, had flushed faces, and
talked and gesticulated fo themselves, as if feeling in
solitude OD account of the very denseness of the com-
pany around. When impeded in their progress, these
people suddenly ceased muttering, but redoubled their
gesticulations, and awaited, with an absent and over-
done smile upon the lips, the course of the persons
impeding them, if jostled, they bowed profusely to
the jostlers, and appeared overwhelmed with con-
fusion. There was nothing very distinctive about
these two large classes beyond what I have noted.
Their habiliments belonged to that order wliich is
pointedly termed the decent. They were undoubtedly
noblemen, merchants, attorneys, tradesmen, stock-
jobbers — the Eupatrids and the common-places of
society^ men of leisure and men actively engaged
in affairs of their own — conducting business upon
their own responsibility. They did not greatly excite
my attention.

The tribe of clerks was an obvious one; and here I
discerned two remarkable divisions. There were the
junior clerks of flash houses^ young gentlemen with
tight coats, bright boots, well-oiled hair, and super-
cilious lips. Setting aside a certain dapperness of
carriage, which may be termed deskism for want of a
better word, the manner of these persons seemed to
me an exact fac-simile of what had been the perfec-
tion of bon ton about twelve or eighteen months before.
They wore the cast-off graces of the gentry; and this,
I believe, involves the best definition of the class.

The division of the upper clerks of stanch firms, or
of the " steady old fellows," it was not possible to mis-
take. These were known by their coats and panta-
loons of black or brown, made to sit comfortably, with
64

db, Google

while cravats and waistcoats, broad solid-looking shoes,
and thick hose or gaiters. They had all slightly bald
lieads, from which the right ears, long used to pen-
holding, had an odd habit of standing off on end. I
observed that they always removed or settled their
hats with both hands, and wore watches, with short
gold chains of a substantial and ancient pattern.
Theirs was the affectation of respectability ; if indeed
tliere be an affectation so honorable.

There were many individuals of dashing appearance,
whom I easily understood as belonging to the race of
swell pick-pockets, with Vhich all great cities are in-
fested. I watched these g^nlry with much inquisitive-
ness, and found it difficult to imagine how they should
ever be mistaken for gentlemen by gentlemen them-
selves. Their voluminousness of wristband, with an
air of excessive frankness, should betray them at

The gamblers, of whom I descried not a few, were
still more easily recognizable. They wore every
variety of dress, from that of the desperate thimble-
rlg bully, with velvet waistcoat, fancy neckerchief,
gilt chains, and fiiagreed buttons, to that of the scru-
pulously inornate clergyman than which nothing
could be less liable to suspicion. Still all were dis-
tinguished by a certain sodden swarthiness of com-
plexion, a filmy dimness of eye, and pallor and
compression of lip. There were two other traits,
moreover, by which I could always detect them : a
guarded lowness of tone in conversation, and a more
than ordinary extension of the thumb in a direction at
right angles with the fingers. Very often, in company
with these sharpers, I observed an order of men some-
what diHerent in habits, but still birds of a kindred
votn.-S 6s

db, Google

TALES OF

feather. They may be defined as the gentlemen who
live by their wits. They seem to prey upon the public
in two battalions — that of the dandies and that of
the military men. Of the first grade the leading fea-
tures are long locks and smiles ; of the second frogged
coats and frowns.

Descending in the scale of what is termed gentility,
I found darker and deeper themes for speculation. I
saw Jew pedlers, with hawk eyes flashing from coun-
tenances whose every other feature wore only an ex-
pression of abject humility ; sturdy professional street
beggars scowling upon mendicants of a better stamp,
whom despair alone had driven forth into the night
(or charity ; feeble and ghastly invalids, upon whom
death had placed a sure hand, and who sidled and
tottered through the mob, looking every one beseech-
ingly in the face, as if in search of some chance con-
solation, some lost hope ; modest young girls returning
from long and late labor to a cheerless horn?, and
shrinking more tearfully than indignantly from the
glances of ruffians, whose direct contact, even, could
not be avoided ; women of the town of all kinds and
of all ages — the unequivocal beauty in the prime of
her womanhood, putting one in mind of the statue in
Lucian, with the surface of Parian marble, and the
interior filled with filth — the loathsome and utterly
lost leper in rags — the wrinkled, bejewelled and
paint-begrimed beldame, making a last effort at youth
— the mere child of immature form, yet, from long
association, an adept in the dreadful coquetries of lier
trade, and burning with a rabid ambition to be ranked
the equal of her elders in vice ; drunkards innumerable
and indescribable — some in shreds and patches, reel-
ing, inarticulate, with bruised visage and lack-lustre
66

;v Google

THE MAN OF THE CROWD

eyes — some in whole although filthy garments, with
3. slightly unsteady swagger, thick sensual lips, and
hearty-looking rubicund faces — others clothed in
materials which had once been good, and which even
now were scrupulously well brushed — men who
walked with a more than naturally firm, and springy
step, but whose countenances were fearfully pale,
whose eyes hideously wild and red, and who clutched
with quivering fingers, as they strode through the
crowd, at every object which came within their reach ;
besides these, pie-men, porters, coal-heavers, sweeps;
organ-grinders, monfcey-eshibiters and ballad-mongers,
those who vended with those who sang; ragged arti-
sans and exhausted laborers of every description, and
all full of a noisy and inordinate vivacity which jarred
discordantly upon the ear, and gave an aching sensa-
tion to the eye.

As the night deepened, so deepened to me the in-
terest of the scene; for not only did the general char-
acter of the crowd materially alter, (its gentler features
retiring in the gradual withdrawal of the more orderly
portion of the people, and its harsher ones coming out
into bolder relief, as the late hour brought forth evety
species of infamy from its den) but the rays of the
gas-lamps, feeble at first in their struggle with tiie dy-
ing day, had now at length gained ascendency, and
threw over everything a fitful and garish lustre. All
was dark yet splendid — as that ebony to which has
been likened the style of Tertullian.

The wild effects o£ the light enchained me to an ex-
amination of individual faces ; and although the rapid-
ity with which the world of light flitted before the
window prevented me from casting more than a glance
upon each visage, still it seemed that, in my then
67

d by Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

peculiar mesial state, I could frequently read, even
in that brief interval of a glance, the history of long

With my brow to the glass, I was thus occupied in
scrutinizing the mob, when suddenly there came into
view a countenance, (that of a decrepit old man, some
sixty-five or seventy years of age) — a countenance
which at once arrested and absorbed my whole atten-
tion, on account of the absolute idiosyncrasy of its
expression. Anything even remotely resembling that
expression I had never seen before. I well remember
that my first thought, upon beholding it, was that Retzch,
liad he viewed it, would have greatly preferred it to his
own pictural incarnations of the fiend. As I endeav-
ored, during the brief minute of my original survey, to
form some analysis of the meaning conveyed, there
arose confusedly and paradoxically within my mind
the ideas of vast mental power, of caution, of penuri-
ousness, of avarice, of coolness, of malice, of blood-
thirstiness, of triumph, of merriment, of excessive
terror, of intense — of supreme despair, I felt siiigu-
larly aroused, startled, fascinated. " How wild a
history," I said to myself, "is written within that
bosom ! " Then came a craving desire to keep the
man in view — to know more of him. Hurriedly put-
ting on an overcoat, and seizing rny hat and cane, I
made my way into the street, and pushed through the
crowd in the direction which I had seen him take ; for
he had already disappeared. With some little difli-
culty I at length came within sight of him, ap-
proached, and followed him closely, yet cautiously, so
as not to attract his attention.

I had now a good opportunity of examining his

person. He was short in stature, very thin, and

68

;v Google

THE MAN OF THE CROWD

apparently very feeble. His clothes, generally, were
filthy and ragged ; but as he came, now and then,
within the strong glare of a lamp, I perceived that his
linen, although dirty, was of beautiful texture; and
my vision deceived me, or, through a rent in a closely-
buttoned and evidently second-handed roquelaire
which enveloped him, I caught a glimpse both of a
diamond and of a dagger. These observations height-
ened my curiosity, and I resolved to follow the
stranger whithersoever he should go.

It was now fully nightfall, and a thick humid fog
hung over the city, soon ending in a settled and heavy
rain. This change of weather had an odd effect upon
the crowd, the whole of which was at once put into
new commotion, and overshadowed by a world of
umbrellas. The waver, the jostle, ami the hum in-
creased in a tenfold degree. For my own part I did
not much regard the rain — the lurking of an old fever
in my system rendering the moisture somewhat too
dangerously pleasant. Tying a handkerchief about
my mouth, I kept on. For half an hour the old man
held his way with diiSculty along the great thorough-
fare ; and I here walked close at his elbow through
fear of losing sight of hira. Never once turning his
head to look back, he did not observe me. By-and-
by he passed into a cross street, which, although
densely filled with people, was not quite so much
thronged as the main one he had quitted. Here a
change in his demeanor became evident. He walked
more slowly and with less object than before — more
hesitatingly. He crossed and re-crossed the way re-
peatedly without apparent aim ; and the press was
still so thick, that, at every such movement, I was
obliged to foUow him closely. The street was a nar-

69

db, Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

row and long one, and his course lay within it for
nearly an hour, during which the passengers had
gradually diminished to about that number which is
ordinarily seen at noon in Broadway near the park —
so vast a difference is there between a London popu-
lace and that of the most frequented American city.
A second turn brought us into a square, brilliantly
lighted, and overflowing with life. The old manner of
the stranger reappeared. His chin fell upon his
breast, while his eyes roiled wildly from under his
knit brows, in every direction, upon those who hemmed
him in. He urged his way steadily and perseveringly.
I was surprised, however, to find, upon his having
made the circuit of the square, that he turned and
retraced his steps. Still more was I astonished to see
him repeat the same wallt several times — once nearly
detecting me as he came round with a sudden
movement.

In this exercise he spent another hour, at the end of
which we met with far less interruption from passen-
gers than at first. The rain fell fast; the air grew
cool ; and the people were retiring to their homes.
With a gesture of impatience, the wanderer passed
into a by-street comparatively deserted. Down this,
some quarter of a mile long, he rushed with an activity
1 could not have dreamed of seeing in one so aged,
and which put me to much trouble in pursuit. A few
minutes brought us to a large and busy bazaar, with
the localities of which the stranger appeared well
acquainted, and where his original demeanor again
became apparent, as he forced his way to and fro,
without aim,"among the host of buyers and sellers.

During the hour and a half, or thereabouts, which
we passed in this place, it required much caution on

d by Google

THE MAN OF THE CROWD

my part to keep him within reach without attracting
his observation. Luckily I wore a pair of caontchouc
overshoes, and could move about in perfect silence.
At no moment did he see that I watched himi He
entered shop after shop, priced nothing, spoke no
word, and looked at all objects with a wild and vacant
state. 1 was now utterly amazed at his behavior, and
firmly resolved that we should not part until I had
satisfied myself in some measure respecting him.

A loud-toned clock struck eleven, and the company
were fast deserting the bazaar. A shop-keeper, in
putting up a shutter, josded the old man, and at the
instant I saw a strong shudder come over his frame.
He hurried into the street, looked anxiously around
him for an instant, and then ran with incredible swift-
ness through many crooked and peopleless lanes, until
we emerged once more upon the great thoroughfare

whence we had started — the street of the D

Hotel. It no longer wore, however, the same aspect
It was still brilliant with gas; but the rain fell fiercely,
and there were few persons to be seen. The stranger
grew pale. He walked moodily some paces up the
once populous avenue, then, with a heavy sigh, fumed
In the direction of the river, and, plunging through a
great variety of devious ways, came out, at length, in
view of one of the principal theatres. It was about
being closed, and the audience were thronging from
the doors. I saw the old man gasp as if for breath
while he threw himself amid the crowd ; but I thought
that the intense agony of his countenance had, in some
measure, abated. His head again fell upon his breast;
he appeared as I had seen him at first. I observecl
that he now took the course in which had gone the
greater number of the audience — but, upon the wh^e,
71

d by Google

TALES OP CONSCIENCt,

I was at a loss to comprehend the waywardness of his
actions.

As he proceeded, the company grew more scattered,
and his old uneasiness and vacillation were resumed.
For some time he followed closely a party of some ten
or twelve roisterers ; but from this number one by
one dropped ofE, until three only remained together,
in a narrow and gloomy lane little frequented. The
stranger paused, and, for a moment, seemed lost in
thought; then, with every mark of agitation, pursued
rapidly a route which brought us to the verge of tlie
city, amid regions very different from those we had
hitherto traversed. It was the most noisome quarter
of London, where everything wore the worst impress
of the most deplorable poverty, and of the most
desperate crime. By the dim light of an accidental
lamp, tall, antique, worm-eaten, wooden tenements
were seen tottering to their fall, in directions so many
and capricious that scarce the semblance of a passage
was discernible between them. The paving-stones
lay at random, displaced from their beds by the rankly-
growing grass. Horrible filth festered in the dammed-
up gutters. The whole atmosphere teemed with
desolation. Yet, as we proceeded, the sounds of
human life revived by sure degrees, and at length
large bands of the most abandoned of a London
populace were seen reeling to and fro. The spirits of
the old man again flickered up, as a lamp which is
near its death-hour. Once more he strode onward
with elastic tread. Suddenly a corner was turned, a
blaze of light burst upon our sight, and we stood
before one of the huge suburban temples of Intemper-
ance — one of the palaces of the fiend. Gin.

It was now nearly daybreak; but a number of
72

d by Google

THE MAN OF THE CROWD

wretched inebriates still pressed in and out of the
flaunting entrance. With a half-shriek of joy the old
man forced a passage within, resumed at once his
original bearing, and stalked backward and forward,
without apparent object, among the throng. He had
not been thus long occupied, however, before a rush
to the doors gave token that the host was closing
them for the night. It was something even more
intense than despair that I then observed upon the
countenance of the singular being whom I had
watched so pertinaciously. Yet he did not hesitate la
his career, but, with a mad energy, retraced his steps
at once, to the heart of the mighty London. Long
and swiftly he fled, while 1 followed him in the wildest
amazement, resolute not Co abandon a scrutiny in
which I now felt an interest all-absorbing. The sun
arose while we proceeded and, when we had once
again reached that most th-rnged mart of the popalous

town, the street of the D Hotel, it presented an

appearance of human bustle and activity scarcely
inferior to what I had seen on the evening before.
And here, long, amid the momently increasing con-
fusion, did I persist in my pursuit of the stranger.
But, as usual, he walked to and fro, and during the
day did not pass from out the turmoil of that street.
And, as the shades of the second evening came on, I
grew wearied unto death, and, stopping fully in front
of the wanderer, gazed at him steadfastly in the face.
He noticed me not, but resumed his solemn walk,
while I, ceasing to follow, remained absorbed in con-
templation. "This old man," I said at length, "is the
type and the genius of deep crime. He refuses to be
alone. I/e ii the man of the crowd. It will be in
vain to follow; for I shall learn no more of him, nor
73

d by Google

TALES OF CONSCIENCE

of his deeds. The worst heart of the world is a
grosser book than the Orfulus Anima, > and perhaps
it is but one of the great mercies of God that ' tr lasst
tick nicht hsett.' "

1 The Ortulus Anima cum Oralioniiui Aliguibui Suferad

„ Google

II

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

Hosiedb, Google

db, Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

THE ELK

1 HE natural scenery of America has often been
contrasted in its general features, as well as in detail,
with the landscape of the Old World — more especially
of Europe — and not deeper has been the enthusiasm,
than wide the dissension, of the supporters of each
region. The discussion is one not likely io be soon
closed, for although much has been said on both
sides, a world more yet remains to be said.

The most conspicuous of the British tourists who
have attempted a comparison seem to regard our
norlheru and eastern seaboard, comparatively speak-
ing, as all of America, at least as all of the United
States, worthy of consideration. They say little,
because they have seen less, of the gorgeous interior
scenery of some of our western and southern districts,
— of the vast valley of Louisiana, for example, — a
realization of the wildest dreams of paradise. For
the most part, these travellers content themselves with
a hasty inspection of the natural " lions " o£ the land, —
the Hudson, Niagara, the Catskills, Harper's Ferry,
the lakes of New York, the Ohio, the prairies, and the
Mississippi. These, indeed, are objects well worthy
77

d by Google

the contemplation even of him who has just clam-
bered by the castellated Rhine, or roamed

" By the blue rushing of the arrowy Rhone ; "

6ut these are not all of which we can boast; and,
indeed, I will be so hardy as to assert that there are
innumerable quiet, obscure, and scarcely explored
nooks, within the limits of the United States, that, by
the true artist, or cultivated lover of the grand and
beautiful amid the works of God, will be preferred to
each and to all of the chronicled and better accredited
scenes to which 1 have referred.

In fact, the real Edens of the land He far away from
the track of our most deliberate tourists, — how very
far, then, beyond the reach of the foreigner, who,
having made with his publisher at home arrangements
for a certain amount of comment upon America, to be
furnished in a stipulated period, can hope to fulfil his
agreement in no other manner than by steaming it,
memorandum-book in hand, through only the most
beaten thoroughfares of the country !

I mentioned, just above, the valley of Louisiana.
Of all extensive areas of natural loveliness, this is,
perhaps, the most lovely. No fiction has approached
it. The most gorgeous imagination might derive
suggestions from its exuberant beauty. And beaulv
is, indeed, its sole character. It has little, or rath t
nothing, of the sublime. Gentle undulations of Hn.l.
interwreathed with fantastic crystallic streams, banked
by flowery slopes, and backed by a forest vegetation,
gigantic, glossy, multi-colored, sparkling with gay
birds, and burdened with perfume, — these features
make up, in the vale of Louisiana, the most voluptu-
ous natural scenery upon earth.
78

;v Google

THE ELK

But, even of this delicious region, the sweeter
portions are reached only by by-paths. Indeed, in
America generally, the traveller who would behold the
finest landscapes, must seek them, not by the railroad,
nor by the steamboat, nor by the stage-coach, nor in
his private carriage, cor yet even on horseback, — but
on foot. He must walk, he must leap ravines, he
must risk his neck among precipices, or he must leave
unseen the truest, the richest, and most unspeakable
glories of the land.

Now, in the greater portion of Europe no such
necessity exists. In England it exists not at all.
The merest dandy of a tourist may there visit every
nook worth visiting, without detriment to his silk
stockings, so thorougliiy known are all points of
interest, and so well arranged are the means of
attaining them. This consideration has never been
allowed its due weight, in comparisons of the natural
scenery of the Old and New Worlds. The entire
loveliness of the former is collated with only the most
noted, and with by no means the most eminent, items
in the general loveliness of the latter.

River scenery has, unquestionably, within itself, all
the main elements of beauty, and, time out of mind,
has been the favorite theme of the poet. But much of
this fame is attributable to the predominance of travel
in fluvial over that in mountainous districts. In the
same way large rivers, because usually highways,
have, in all countries, absorbed an undue share of
admiration. Tiiey are more observed, and, conse-
quently, made more the subject of discourse, than less
important, but often more interesting streams.

A singular exemplification of my remarks upon this

hud may be found ia the Wissahiccon, a brook (for

79

d by Google

TALES OF

more it can scarcely be called) which empties itseli
into the Schuylkill, about six miles westward of Phila-
delphia. Now, the Wissahiccon is of so remarkable
a loveliness, that, were it flowing in. England, it would
be the theme of every bard, and the common topic of
every tongue, if, indeed, its banks were not parcelled
ofif in lots, at an exorbitant price, as building-sites for
the villas of the opulent. Yet it is only within a very
few years that any one has more than heard of the
Wissahiccon, while the broader and more navigable
water into which it flows has been long celebrated as
one of the finest specimens of American river-scenery.
The Schuylkill, whose beauties have been much
exaggerated, and whose banks, at least in the neighbor-
hood of Philadelphia, are marshy, like those of the
Delaware, is not at all comparable, as an object of
picturesque interest, with the more humble and less
notorious rivulet of which we speak.

Jt was not until Fanny Kemble, in her droll book
about the United States, pointed out to the Phila-
delphians the rare loveliness of a stream which lay at
their own doors, that this loveliness was more than
suspected by a few adventurous pedestrians of the
vicinity. But the "Journal" having opened all eyes,
the Wissahiccon, to a certain extent, rolled at once into
notoriety. I say " to a certain extent," for, in fact, the
true beauty of the stream lies far above the route of
the Philadelphian picturesque-hunters, who rarely
proceed farther than a mile or two above the mouth
of the rivulet — for the very excellent reason that
here the carriage-road stops. I would advise the
adventurer who would behold its finest points to take
the Ridge Road, running westwardly from the city,
and, having reached the second lane beyond the sixth

„ Google

THE ELK

milestone, to follow this lane to its termination. He
will thus strike the Wissahiccon at one of its best
reaches, and, in a skifE, or by clambering along its
banks, he can up or down the stream, as best suits his
fancy, and in either direction will meet his reward.

! have already said, or should have said, that the
brook is narrow. Its banks are generally, indeed
almost universally, precipitous, and consist of high
hills, clothed with noble shrubbery near the water,
and crowned, at a greater elevation, with some of the
most magnificent forest-trees of America, among which
stands conspicuous the Liriodendron TuUpifera. The
immediate shores, however, are of granite, sharply
defined or moss-covered, against which the pellucid
water lolls in Its gentle flow, as the blue waves of the
Mediterranean upon the steps of her palaces of marble.
Occasionally, in front of the cliffs, extends a small,
definite plateau of rich ly-herb aged land, affording the
most picturesque position for a cottage and garden
which the richest imagination could conceive. The
windings of the stream are many and abrupt, as is
usually the case where banks are precipitous, and thus
the impression conveyed to the voyager's eye, as he
proceeds, is that of an endless succession of infinitely
varied small lakes, or, more properly speaking, tarns.
The Wissahiccon, however, should be visited, not like
"fair Melrose," by moonlight, or even in cloudy
weather, but amid the brightest glare of a noonday
Eun ; for the narrowness of the gorge through which
it flows, the height of the hills on either hand, and the
density of the foliage, conspire to produce a gloomi-
ness, if not an absolute dreariness, of effect, which,
unless relieved by a bright, general light, detracts
from the mere beauty of the scene.

VOL. II.— 6 8r

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

Not long ago, I visited the stream by the route
described, and spent the better part of a suhry day in
floating in a skifE upon its bosom. The heat gradually
overcame me; and, resigning myself to the influence
of the scenes and of the weather, and of the gently-
moving current, 1 sank into a half-slumber, during
which my imagination revelled ia visions of the
Wissahiccon of ancient days — of the "good old days"
when the Demon of the Engine was not, when picnics
were undreamed of, when "water privileges" were
neither bought nor sold, and when the red man trod
alone, with the elk, upon the ridges that now towered
above. And, while gradually these conceits took
possession of my mind, the lazy brook had borne me,
inch by inch, around one promontory, and within full
view of another that bounded the prospect at the
distance of forty or fifty yards. It was a steep, rocky
cliff, abutting far into the stream, and presenting
much more of the Salvator character than any portion
of the shore hitherto passed. What I saw upon this
cliff, although surely an object of very extraordinary
nature, the place and season considered, at first
neither startled nor amazed me — so thoroughly and
appropriately did it chime in with the half-si umberoua
fancies that enwrapped me. I saw, or dreamed that I
saw, standing upon the extreme verge of the precipice,
with neck outstretched, with ears erect, and the whole
attitude indicative of profound and melancholy in-
quisitiveness, one of the oldest and boldest of those
identical elks which had been coupled with the red
men of my vision.

I say that, for a few minutes, this apparition neither
startled nor amazed me. During this interval my
whole soul was bound up in intense sympathy alone.

d by Google

THE ELK

I fancied the elk repining, not less than wondering, at
the manifest alterations for the worse, wrought upon
the brook and its vicinage, even within the last few
years, by the stern hand of the utilitarian. But a
slight movement of the animal's head at once dispelled
the dreaminess that invested me, and aroused me to a
full sense of the novelty of the adventure. I arose
upon one knee within the skiff, and, while I hesitated
whether to stop my career, or let myself float nearer
to the object of my wonder, I heard the words " Hist!
hist ! " ejaculated quickly, but cautiously, from the
shrubbery overhead. In an instant afterwards, a
negro emerged from the thicket, putting aside the
bushes with care, and treading stealthily. He bore
in one hand a quantity of salt, and, holding it out
towards the elk, gently but steadily approached. The
noble animal, although a little fluttered, made no
attempt at escape. The negro advanced, offered the
salt, and spoke a few words of encouragement or
conciliation. Presently the elk bowed and stamped,
and then lay quietly down, and was secured with a
halter.

Thus ended my romance of the elk. It was a pet
of great age, and very domestic habits, and belonged
to an English family occupying a villa in the vicinity.

d by Google

THE ISLAND OF THE FAY

NuUhs enim locus sine genio est.

J^A musigtie," says Marmontel, in those Conta
Moraux ^ which, in all our translations, we have
insisted upon calling " Moral Tales," as if in mockery
of their spirit, — " la musique est U seul des talents
qui jouit de lui-mSme; tons Us autres veulent des
t^mcins." He here confounds the pleasure derivable
from sweet sounds with the capacity for creating them.
No more than any other talent is that for music
susceptible of complete enjoyment, where there is no
second party to appreciate its exercise. And it is only
in common with other talents that it produces effects
which may be fully enjoyed in solitude. The idea
which the raconteur has either failed to entertain
clearly, or has sacrificed in its expression to his
national love of point, is, doubtless, the very tenable
one that the higher order of music is the most
thoroughly estimated when we are exclusively alone.
The proposition, in this form, will be admitted at once
by those who love the lyre for its own sake, and for its
spiritual uses. But there is one pleasure still within
the reach of fallen mortality — and, perhaps, only one

I Moraux is here derived from mxvrs, and its meaning il
"lashionable," or, mote strictly, "of maanera."

84

db, Google

THE ISLAND OF THE FAY

— which owes even more than does music to the
accessory sentiment of seclusion. I mean the happi-
ness experienced in the contemplation of natural
scenery. In truth, the man who would behold aright
the glory of God upon earth must in solitude beliold
that glory. Tome, at least, the presence — not of
human life only, but of life in any other form than
that of the green things which grow upon the soil, and
are voiceless — is a stain upon the landscape, is at war
with the genius of the scene. I love indeed to regard
the dark valleys, and the gray rocks, and the waters
that silently smile, and the forests that sigh in uneasy
slumbers, and the proud watchful mountains that look
down upon all — I love to regard these as themselves
but the colossal members of one vast animate and
sentient whole : a whole whose form (that of the
sphere) is the most perfect and most inclusive of all;
whose path is among associate planets ; whose meek
handmaiden is the moon ; whose mediate sovereign is
the sun ; whose life is eternity ; whose thought is that
of a God ; whose enjoyment is knowledge ; whose
destinies are lost in immensity; whose cognizance of
ourselves is akin with our own cognizance of the
animalcula which infest the brain — a being which
we, in consequence, regard as purely inanimate and
material, much in the same manner as these animalcula

a,' Our telescopes and our mathematical investigations
assure us on every hand, notwithstanding the cant of
the more ignorant of the priesthood, that space, and
therefore that bulk, is an important consideration in
tl:e eyes of the Almighty. The cycles in which the
stars move are those best adapted for the evolution,
without collision, of the greatest possible number of
8s

db, Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

bodies. The forms of those bodies are accurately
such as, within a given surface, include the greatest
possible amount of matter ; while the surfaces them-
selves are so disposed as to accomraodate a denser
population than could be accommodated on the same
surfaces otherwise arranged. Nor is it any argument
against bulk being an object with God, that space
itself is infinite; for there may be an infinity of matter
to fill it. And since we see clearly that the endow-
ment of matter with vitaUty is a principle — indeed, as
far as our judgments extend, the hading principle in
the operations of Deity — it is scarcely logical to
imagine it confined to the regions of the minute,
where we daily trace it, and not extending to those of
the august. As we find cycle within cycle without
end, yet all revolving around one far-distant centre
which is the Godhead, may we not analogically
suppose, in the same manner, life within life, the less
within the greater, and all within the Spirit Divine?
In short, we are madly erring, through self-esteem,
in believing man, in either his temporal or future
destinies, to be of more moment in the universe than
that vast "clod of the valley" which he tills and
contemns, and to which he denies a soul, for no more
profound reason than that he does not behold it in
operation.!

These fancies, and such as these, have always given
to my meditations among the mountains, and the
forests, by the rivers and the ocean, a tinge of what
the every-day world would rot fail to term the fantastic.
My wanderings amid such scenes have been many,

1 Speaking of tlie tides, Pomponius MeU, in his treatise Dt
Si/H Orih, says, "Either the world is a great inimal, or,"

86

;v Google

THE ISLAND OF THE FAY

and far-searching, and often solitary ; and the interest
with which I have strayed through many a dim, deep
valley, or gazed into the reflected heaven of many a
bright lake, has been an interest greatly deepened by
the thought that I have strayed and gazed alone.
What flippant Frenchman ' was it who said, in allusion
to the well-known work of Zimmerman, that " la
solitude est tine belle chose; ittais il faut qutlqu'un
pour vous dire que la solitude est une belle chose."
The epigram cannot be gainsaid; but the necessity
is a thing that does not exist.

It was during one of my lonely journeyings, amid a
far-distant region of mountain locked within mountain,
and sad rivers and melancholy tarns writhing or
sleeping within all, that I chanced upon a certain
rivulet and island. I came upon them suddenly in
the leafy June, and threw myself upon the turf,
beneath the branches of an unknown odorous shrub,
that I might doze as 1 contemplated the scene. I felt
that thus only should I look upon it — such was the
character of phantasm which it wore.

On all sides, save to the west, where the sun was
about sinking, arose the verdant walls of the forest.
The little river, which turned sharply in its course, and
was thus immediately lost to sight, seemed to have no
exit from its prison, but to be absorbed by the &tf^
green foliage of the trees to the east; while in the
opposite quarter {so it appeared to me as I lay at
length and glanced upward) there poured down noise-
lessly and continuously into the valley a rich golden
and crimson waterfall from the sunset fountains of

1 Balzac — in substance. I do not remEmber the words.

87

db, Google

TALES OF

About midway in the short vista which my dreamy
vision took in, one small circular island, profusely
verdured, reposed upon the bosom of the stream.

so mirror-like was the glassy water, that it was
scarcely possible to say at what point upon the slope
of the emerald turf its crystal dominion began.

My position enabled me to include in a smgle view
both the eastern and western extremities of the islet;
and I observed a singularly marked difference in their
aspects. The latter was all one radiant harem of
garden beauties. !t glowed and blushed beneath the
eye of tlie slant sunlight, and fairly laughed with
flowers. The grass was short, springy, sweet-scented,
and asphodel-interspersed. The trees were lithe,
mirthful, erect — bright, slender, and graceful — of
eastern figure and foliage, with bark smooth, glossy,
and party-colored. There seemed a deep sense of hfe
and joy about all ; and although no airs blew from out
the heavens, j'et everything had motion through the
gentle sweepings to and fro of innumerable butter-
flies, that might have been mistaken for tulips with

The other or eastern end of the isle was whelmed
in the blackest shade. A sombre, yet beautiful and
peaceful gloom here pervaded all things, The trees
were dark in color and mournful in form and atti-
tude : wreathing themselves into sad, solemn, and
spectra! shapes, that conveyed ideas of mortal sorrow
and untimely death. The grass wore the deep tint of

1 "Florem putarts nare fer liquiditm allura."—?.
CouuiaE.

„ Google

THE ISLAND OF THE FAY

the cypress, and the heads of its blades hung droop-
ingly, and, hither and thither among it, were many
small unsightly hillocks, low and narrow, and not very
long, that had the aspect of graves, but were not;
although over and all about them the rue and the
rosemary clambered. The shade of the trees fell
heavily upon the water, and seemed to bury itself
therein, impregnating the depths of the element with
darkness. I fancied that each shadow, as the sun
descended lower and lower, separated itself sullenly
from the trunk that gave it birth, and thus became
absorbed by the stream ; while other shadows issued
momently from the trees, taking the place of their
predecessors thus entombed.

This idea, having once seized upon my fancy, greatly
excited it, and 1 lost myself forthwith in revery. " If
ever island were enchanted," said I to myself, " this
is it This is the haunt of the few gentle Fays who
remain from tl e v e k of tl e ace. Are these green
tombs theirs ? — o do tl ej y eld up their sweet lives
as mankind y eld up tl e own f In dying, do they
not rather waste a ay mou nfuUy ; rendering unto
God little by 1 tde tl e ex stence, as these trees
render up shadow afte shadow, exhausting their sub-
stance unto dissolution . \V hat the wasting tree is to
the water that imbibes its shade, growing thus blacker
by what it preys upon, may not the life of the Fay be
to the death which engulfs it ? "

As I thus mused, with half-shut eyes, while the sun
sank rapidly to rest, and eddying currents careered
round and round the island, bearing upon their bosom
large, dazzling, white flakes of the bark of the syca-
more, — flakes which, in their multiform positions
upon the water, a quick imagination might have con-

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

verted into anything it pleased, — while I thus mused,
it appeared to me that the form of one of those very
Fays about whom I had been pondering, made its
way slowly into the darkness from out the light at the
western end of the island. She stood erect in a singu-
larly fragile canoe, and urged it with the mere phantom
of an oar. While within the influence of the linger-
ing sunbeams, her attitude seemed indicative of joy,
but sorrow deformed it as she passed within the shade.
Slowly she glided along, and at length rounded the
islet and re-entered the region of light. " The revo-
lution which has just been made by the Fay," con-
tinued I, musingly, " is the cycle of the brief year of
her life. She has floated through her winter and
through her summer. She is a year nearer unto
Death : for I did not fail to see that as she came into
the shade, her shadow fell from her, and was swal-
lowed up in the dark water, making its blackness
more black."

And again the boat appeared, and the Fay ; but
about the attitude of the latter there was more of care
and uncertainty, and less of elastic joy. She floated
again from out the light, and into the gloom (which
deepened momently), and again her shadow fell from
her into the ebony water, and became absorbed into
its blackness. And again and again she made the
circuit of the island {while the sun rushed down to
his slumbers), and at each issuing into the light, there
was more sorrow about her person, while it grew
feebler, and far fainter, and more indistinct ; and at
each passage into the gloom, there fell from her a
darker shade, which became whelmed In a shadow
more black. But at length, when the sun had utterly

;v Google

THE ISLAND OF THE FAY

departed, the Fay, now the mere ghost ot her former
self, went disconsolately with her boat into the region
of the ebony flood : and that she issued thence at all
I cannot say, — for darkness fell over all things, and I
beheld her magical figure no more.

db, Google

THE DOMAIN OF ARNHEIM

The garden

like

alidi

efai

lewas

cut,

That lay

sluir

n delight,

And to the

opei

iskiK

id shut J

Theaiur,

Ids of

r'sembled right

In a largt

ndssl

witi

lithefl

ow'rsofUght!

Theflow'rs-

■de^li

lice, ai

id the loun

d sparks of deaw,

That hung .

(■pon

, their

■eleam

■es, did shew

Like twinkl

ingE

itiirrs,

hh

Gi

Flb]

lr: Ch

riifs VUtary on

E

arfh.

r ROM his cradle to his grave a gale of prosperity
bore n>y friend Ellison along. Nor do I use the word
prosperity in its mere worldly sense. I mean it as
synonymous with happiness. The person of whom I
speak seemed born for the purpose of foreshadowing
the doctrines of Turgot, Price, Priestley, and Coodorcet
— of exemplifying by individual instance what has
been deemed the chimera of the perfectionists. In
the brief existence of Ellison I fancy that I have seen
refuted the dogma, that in man's very nature lies
some hidden principle, the antagonist of bliss. An
anxious examination of his career has given me to
understand that, in general, from the violation of a
few simple laws of humanity arises the wretchedness
of mankind; that as a species we have in our posses-
sion the as yet unwrought elements of content; and
that, even now, in the present darkness and madness
of all thought on the great question of the social
92

;v Google

THE DOMAIN OF AKNHEIM

condition, it is not impossible tiiat man, the individual,
under certain unusual and highly fortuitous conditions,
may be happy.

With opinions such as these my young friend, too,
was fully imbued ; and thus it is worthy of observation
that the uninterrupted enjoyment which distinguished
his life was, in great measure, the result of preconcert.
It is, indeed, evident that with less of the instinctive
philosophy which, now and then, stands so well in
the stead of experience, Mr. Ellison would have
found himself precipitated, by the very extraordinary
successes of his life, into the common vortex of
unhappiness which yawns for those of pre-eminent
endowments. But it is by no means my object to pen
,an essay on happiness. The ideas of my friend may
be summed up in a few words. He admitted but four
elementary principles, or, more strictly, conditions, of
bliss. That which he considered chief was (strange
to say !) the simple and purely physical one of free
exercise in the open air. " The health," he said,
" attainable by other means, is scarcely worth the
name." He instanced the ecstasies of the fox-hunter,
and pointed to the tillers of the earth, the only people
who, as a class, can be fairly considered happier than
others. His second condition was the love of woman.
His third, and most difficult of realization, was the
contempt of ambition. His fourth was an object of
unceasing pursuit; and he held that, other things
being equal, the extent of attainabl« happiness was in
proportion to the spirituality of this object.

Ellison was remarkable in the continuous profusion

of good gifts lavished upon him by fortune. In

personal grace and beauty he exceeded all men. His

intellect was of that order to which the acquisition of

93

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

knowledge is less a labor than an intuition and a
necessity. His family was one of the most illustrious
of the empire. His bride was the loveliest and most
devoted of women. His possessions had been always
ample ; but, on the attainment of his majority, it was
discovered that one of those extraordinary freaks of
fate had been played in his behalf, which startle the
■whole social world amid which they occur, and seldom
fail radically to alter the moral constitution of those
who are their objects.

It appears that about a hundred years before Mr.
Ellison's coming of age, there had died, in a remote
province, one Mr. Seabright Eilison. This gentleman
had amassed a princely fortune, and, having no
immediate connections, conceived tbe whim of suf-
fering his wealth to accumulate for a century after
his decease. Minutely and sagaciously directing the
various modes of investment, he bequeathed the ag-
gregate amount to the nearest of blood bearing the
name Ellison, who should be alive at the end of the
hundred years. Many attempts had been made to
set aside this singular bequest ; their ex post facto
character rendered them abortive; but the attention
of a jealous government was aroused, and a legislative
act finally obtained, forbidding all similar accumula-
tions. This act, however, did not prevent young
Ellison from entering into possession, on his twenty-
first birthday, as the heir of his ancestor Seabright,
of a fortune of four huttdred and fifty millions of
dollars^

1 An incident, similar in outline to the one here imagined,
oceuTied not very long »go in England The name of the fot-

in the "Tour" of Prince Fiickler-Huskau, who makes the sum

„ Google

THE DOMAIN OF ARNHEIM

When it had become known that such was the
Enormous wealth inherited, there were, of course,
many speculations as to the mode of its disposal.
The magnitude and the immediate availabihty o£ the
sum bewildered all who thought on the topic. The
possessor of any appreciable amount of money might
have been imagined to perform any one of a thousand
things. With riches merely surpassing those of any
citizen, it would have been easy to suppose him
engaging to supreme excess in the fashionable extrava-
gances of his time — or busying himself with political
intrigue — or aiming at ministerial power — or pur-
chasing increase of nobility — or collecting large
museums of ■virtH-^ar playing the munificent patron
of letters, of science, of art — or endowing, and
bestowing his name upon, extensive institutions of
charity. But for the inconceivable wealth in the
actual possession of the heir, these objects, and all
ordinary objects, were felt to afford too limited a field.
Recourse was had to figures, and these but sufficed to
confound. It was seen that, even at three percent,
the annual income of the inheritance amounted to no
less than thirteen millions and five hundred thousand
dollars; which was one niiilion and one hundred and
twenty-five thousand per month ; or thirty-six thousand

inherittd nine/y millions of founds, and justly observes that "in
ttae contemplation of so vast a sum, and of the services to which
it might be applied, there is something even of the sublime." To
suit the views of this article I have followed the PrincP's state-
ment, although a grossly exaggerated one. The germ and, in fact,

db, Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTV

nine hundred and eighty-six per day; or one thousand
five hundred and forty-one per hour; orsixand tiventy
dollars for every minute that flew. Thus the usual
track of supposition was thoroughly broken up. Men
knew not what to imagine. There were some who even
conceived that Mr. Ellison would divest himself of at
least one-half of his fortune, as of utterly superfiuous
opulence ^ enriching whole troops of his relatives by
division of his superabundance. To the nearest of
these he did, in fact, abandon the very unusual wealth
which was his own before the inheritance.

I was not surprised, however, to perceive that he
had long made up his mind on a point which had
occasioned so much discussion to his friends. Nor
was 1 greatly astonished at the nature of his decision.
In regard to individual charities he had satisfied his
conscience. In the possibility of any improvement,
properly so called, being effected by man himself in
the general condition of man, he had (I am sorry to
confess it) little faith. Upon the whole, whether
happily or unhappily, he was thrown back, in very
great measure, upon self.

In the widest and noblest sense he was a poet.
He comprehended, moreover, the true character, the
august aims, the supreme majesty and dignity of the
poetic sentiment. The fullest, if not the sole proper
satisfaction of this sentiment he instinctively felt to
lie in the creation of novel forms of beauty. Some
peculiarities, either in his early education or in the
nature of his intellect, had tinged with what is termed
materialism all his ethical speculations; and it was
this bias, perhaps, which led him to believe that the
most advantageous at least, if not the sole legitimate,
Geld for the poetic exercise lies in the creation of novel

96

„ Google

THE DOMAIN OF ARMH&IM'

modes of ^\irs\y physical loveliness. Thus it happened
he became neither musician nor poet, if we use this
latter term in its every-day acceptation. Or it might
have been that he neglected to become either, merely
in pursuance of his idea that in contempt of ambition
is to be found one of the essential principles of
happiness on earth. Is it not, indeed, possible that,
while a high order of genius is necessarily ambitious,
the highest is above that which is termed ambition ?
And may it not thus happen that many far greater
than Milton have contentedly remained " mute and
inglorious " ? I believe that the world has never seen "1
— and that, unless through some series of accidents !
goading the noblest order of mind into distasteful /■
exertion, the world will never see — that full extent of r
triumphant execution, in the richer domains of art, of^
which the human nature is absolutely capable.

Ellison became neither musician nor poet ; although
no man lived more profoundly enamoured of music and
poetry. Under other circumstances than those which
invested him, it is not impossible that he would have
become a painter. Sculpture, although in its nature
rigorously poetical, was too limited in its extent and
consequences to have occupied, at any time, much of
his attention. And I have now mentioned all the prov-
inces in which the common understanding of the poetic
sentiment has declared it capable of expatiating. But
Ellison maintained that the richest, the truest, and most
natural, if not altogether the most extensive province,
had been unaccountably neglected. No definition had
spoken of the landscape-gardener as of the poet ; yet it
seemed to my friend that the creation of the landscape-
garden oifered to the proper Muse the most magnificent
of opportunities. Here, indeed, was the fairest field for
VOL. II. — 7 97

d by Google

TALES OP NATURAL BEAUTY

the display of imagination in tlie endless combining of
forms of novel beauty ; the elements to enter into com-
bination being, by 3 vast superiority, the rnoat glorious
which the earth could aSord. In tlie multiform and
multicolor of the flowers and the trees, he recogniied
the most direct and energetic efEorts of Nature at
physical loveliness. And in the direction or concen-
tration of this effort, or, more properly, in its adapta-
tion to the eyes which were to behold it on earth, he
perceived that he should be employing the best means
— laboring to the greatest advantage— in the fulfil-
ment, not only of his own destiny as poet, but of the
august purposes for which the Deity had implanted
the poetic sentiment in man.

" Its adaptation to the eyes which were to behold it
on earth." In his explanation of this phraseology,
Mr. EUisoQ did much toward solving what has always
seemed to rac an enigma ; — I mean the fact (which
none but the ignorant dispute) that no such combina-
tion of scenery exists in nature as the painter of genius
may produce. No such paradises are to be found in
reality as have glowed on the canvas of Claude. In
the most enchanting of natural landscapes there will
always be found a defect or an excess — many ex-
cesses and defects. While the component parts may
defy, individually, the highest skill of the artist, the
arrangement of these parts will always be susceptible
of improvement. In short, no position can be attained
on the wide surface of the natural earth, from which
an artiatical eye, looking steadily, will not find matter
of offence in what is termed the "composition " of the
landscape. And yet how unintelligible is this ! In
all other matters we are justly instructed to regard
nature as supreme. With her details we slirink from

„ Google

THE DOMAIN OF ARNHEIM

competition. Who shall presume to imitate the colors
of the tulip, or to improve the proportions of the lily of
the valley ? The criticism which says, of sculpture
or portraiture, that here nature is to be exalted or
idealized rather than imitated, is in error. No pic-
torial or sculptural combinations of points of human
loveliness do more than approach the living and
breathing beauty. In landscape aione is the prin-
ciple of the critic true ; and, having felt its truth here,
it is bat the headlong spirit of generalization which
has led him to pronounce it true throughout all the
domains of art. Having, I say,//// its truth here ; for
the feeling is no affectation or chimera. The mathe-
matics afford no more absolute demonstrations than
the sentiment of his art yields the artist. He not only
believes, but positively knows, that such and such
apparentlyarbitrary arrangements of matter constitute,
and alone constitute, the true beauty. His reasons,
however, have not yet been matured into expression.
It remains for a more profound analysis than the
world has yet seen fully to investigate and express
them. Nevertheless he is confirmed in his instinctive
opinions by the voice of all his brethren. Let a " com-
position " be defective ; let an emendation be wrought
in its mere arrangement of form ; let this emendation
be submitted to every artist in the world ; by each will
its necessity be admitted. And even far more than
this : in remedy of the defective composition, each
insulated member of the fraternity would have sug-
gested the identical emendation.

I repeat that in landscape arrangements alone is

the physical nature susceptible of exaltation, and that,

therefore, her susceptibility of improvement at this

one point was a mystery I had been unable to solve.

99

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

My own thoughts on the subject had rested in the
idea that the primitive intention of nature would have
so arranged the earth's surface as to have fulfilled at
all points man's sense of perfection in the beautiful,
the sublime, or the picturesque ; but that this primi-
tive intention had been frustrated by the known geo-
logical disturbances — disturbances of form and coior-
grouping, in the correction or allaying of Which lies the
soul of art. The force of this idea was much weak-
ened, however, by the necessity which it involved of
considering the disturbances abnormal and unadapted
to any purpose. It was Ellison who suggested that
they were prognostic of death. He thus explained : —
Admit the earthly immortality of man to have been the
first intention. We have then the primitive arrange-
ment of the earth's surface adapted to his blissful es-
tate, as not existent but designed. The disturbances
were the preparations for his subsequently conceived
deathful condition.

" Now," said my friend, " what we regard as exalta-
tion of the landscape may be really such, as respects
only the moral or human point ofvuw. Each alter-
ation of the natural scenery may possibly effect a
blemish in the picture, if we can suppose this picture
viewed at large — in mass — from some point distant
from the earth's surface, although not beyond the
limits of its atmosphere. It is easily understood that
what might improve a cloaety scrutinized detail may
at the same time injure a general or more distantly
observed effect. There may be a class of beings,
human once, but now invisible to humanity, to whom,
from afar, our disorder may seem order — our unpic-
turesqueness picturesque ; in a word, the earth-angels,
for whose scrutiny more especially than our own, and

db, Google

for whose death-refined appreciation of the beautiful,
may have been set in array by God the wide landscape-
gardens of the hemispheres,"

In the course of discussion, my friend quoted some
passages from a writer on landscape-gardening, who
has been supposed to have well treated his theme :

" There are properly but two styles of landscape-garden-
ing, the natural and the artificial. One seeks to recall the
original beauty of the country, by adapting its means to
the surrounding scenery; cultivating trees in harmony
with the hills or plain of the neighboring land ; detecting
and bringing into practice those nice relations of size, pro-
portion, and color which, hid from the common observer,
are revealed everywhere to the experienced student of
nature. The result of the natural style of gardening is
seen rather in the absence of all defects and incongruities,
in the prevalence of a healthy harmony and order, than in
the creation of any special wonders or miracles. The
artilicial style has as many varieties as there are different
tastes to gratify. It has a certain general relation to the
various styles of building. There are the stately avenues
and retirements of Versailles ; Italian terraces ; and a
various mixed old English style, which bears some relation
to the domestic Gothic or English Elizabethan architecture.
Whatever may be said against the abuses of the artificial
landscape-gardening, a mixture of pure art in a garden
scene adds to it a great beauty. This is partly pleasing to
the eye, by the show of order and design, and partly
moral. A terrace, with an old moss.covered balustrade,
calls up at once to the eye the fair forms [hat have passed
there in other days. The slightest exhibition of art is an
evidence of care and human interest."

" From what I have already observed," said Elli-
Kon, "you will understand that I reject the idea, here
expressed, of recalling the original beau^ of the

db, Google

TALES OF NATURAL

country. The original beauty is never so great aa
that which may be introduced. Of course, every-
thing depends on the selection of a spot with capabil-
ities. What is said about detecting and bringing into
practice nice relations of size, proportion, and color,
is one of those mere vaguenesses of speech which
serve to veil inaccuracy of thought. The phrase
quoted may mean anything, or nothing, and guides
in no degree. That the true result of tbe natural
style of gardening is seen rather in the absence of all
defects and incongruities than in the creation of any
special wonders or miracles, is a proposition better
suited to the grovelling apprehension of the herd than
to the fervid dreams of the man of genius. The
negative merit suggested appertains to that hobbling
criticism which, in letters, would elevate Addison into
apotheosis. In truth, while that virtue which con-
sists in the mere avoidance of vice appeals directly to
the understanding, and can thus be circumscribed in
rule, the loftier virtue, which flames in creation, can
be apprehended in its results alone. Rule applies
but to the merits of denial — to the excellences which
refrain. Beyond these, the critical art can but sug-
gest. We may be instructed to build a ' Cato,' but
we are in vain fold how to conceive a Parthenon or
an Inferno. The tbing done, however; the wonder
accomplished, — and the capacity for apprehension
becomes universal. The sophists of the negative
school, who, through inability to create, have scoffed
at creation, are now found the loudest in applause.
What, in its chrysalis condition of principle, affronted
their demure reason, never fails, in its maturity of
accomplishment, to eWort admiration from their in-
stinct of beauty.

;v Google

THE DOMAIN OF ARNHEIM

" The author's observations on the artificial style,"
continued Ellison, " are less objectionable. A mix-
ture of pure art in a garden scene adds to it a great
beauty. This is just ; as also is the reference to the
sense of human interest. The principle expressed is
incontrovertible, but there vtay be something beyond
it. There may be an object in keeping with the
principle — an object unattainable by the means ordi-
narily possessed by individuals, yet which, if attained,
would lend a charm to the landscape-garden far sur-
passing that which a sense of merely human interest
could bestow. A poet, having very unusual pecuniary
resources, might, while retaining the necessary idea
of art, or culture, or, as our author expresses it, of
interest, so imbue his designs at once with extent and
novelty of beauty as to convey the sentiment of spirit-
ual interference. It will be seen that, in bringing
about such result, he secures all the advantages of
interest or design, while relieving his worl; of the
harshness or technicality of the worldly art. In the
most rugged of wildernesses — in the most savage of
the scenes of pure nature — there is apparent the art
of a creator ; yet this art is apparent to reflection only ;
in no respect has it the obvious force of a feeling. Now
let us suppose this sense of the Almighty design to
be one step deprtssed — to be brought into something
like harmony or consistency with the sense of human
art — to form an intermedium between the two: let
us imagine, for example, a landscape whose combined
vastness and definitiveness, whose united beauty,
magnificence, and strangeness, shall convey the idea
of care, or culture, or superintendence, on the part of
beings superior, yet akin to humanity — then the
Gentimeat of interest is preserved, while the art inter-
103

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL

volved is made to assume the air of an intermediate oi
secondary nature; a nature which is not God, nor an
emanation from God, but which still is nature in the
sense of the handiwork o£ the angels that hover be-
tween man d God

It was in d t h enormous wealth to the
embodiment f h as this, in the free exer-

cise in the p d by the personal superin-

tendence of I pi th unceasing object which

these plans fi d d th high spirituality of the
object, in the contempt of ambition which it enabled
him truly to feel, in the perennial springs with which
it gratified, without possibility of satiating, that one
master passion of his soul, the thirst for beauty;
above all, it was in the sympathy of a woman, not
unwomanly, whose loveliness and love enveloped his
existence in the purple atmosphere of Paradise, that
Ellison thought to find, and found, exemption from
the ordinary cares of humanity, with a far greater
amount of positive happiness than ever glowed in the
rapt day-dreams of De Stael.

1 despair of conveying to the reader any distinct
conception of the marvels which my friend did actu-
ally accomphsh. I wish to describe, but am disheart-
ened by the difficulty of description, and hesitate
between detail and generality. Perhaps the better
course will be to unite the two in their extremes.

Mr. Ellison's first step regarded, of course, the
choice of a locality; and scarcely had he commenced
thinking on this point, when the luxuriant nature of
the Pacific Islands arrested his attention. In fact, he
had made up his mind for a voyage to the South Seas,
when a night's reflection induced him to abandon the
idea. " Were I misanthropic," he said, " such a Iscalt
104

d by Google

would suit me. The thoroughness of its insulation
and seclusion, and the difficulty of ingress and egress,
would in such case be the charin of charms ; but as
yet I am not Timon. I wish the composure, but not
the depression of solitude. There must remain with
me a certain control over the extent and duration of
my repose. There will be frequent hours in which I
shall need, too, the sympathy of the poetic in what I
have done. Let me seek, then, a spot not far from a.
populous city — whose vicinity, also, will best enable
me to execute my plans."

In search of a suitable place so situated, Ellison
travelled for several years, and I was permitted to
accompany him. A thousand spots with which I was
enraptured, he rejected without hesitation, for reasons
which satisfied me, in the end, that he was right.
We came at length to an elevated tableland of won-
derful fertility and beauty, affording a panoramic
prospect very little less in extent than that of ^tna,
and, in Ellison's opinion as well as my own, surpass-
ing the far-famed view from that mountain in all the
true elements of the picturesque.

" I am aware," said the traveller, as he drew a sigh
of deep delight after gazing on this scene, entrancedj
for nearly an hour, " I know that here, in my circum-
stances, nine-tenths of the most fastidious of men
would rest contenL This panorama Is indeed glori-
ous, and 1 should rejoice in it but for the excess of its
glory. The taste of all the architects I have ever
known leads them, for the sake of ' prospect,' to put
up buildings on hill-tops. The error is obvious.
Grandeur in any of its moods, but especially in that
of extent, startles, excites — and then fatigues, de-
presses. For the occasional scene nothing can be
los

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL

better — for the constant view nothing worse. And,
in the constant view, the most objectionable phase ot
grandeur is that o£ extent; the worst phase of extent,
that of distance. It is at war with the sentiment and
with the sense of seclusion — the sentiment and sense
which we seek to humor in ' retiring to the country.'
In looking from the summit of a mountain we cannot
help feeling abroad in the world. The heart-sick
avoid distant prospects as a pestilence."

It was not until toward the close of the fourth year
of our search that we found a locality with which
Ellison professed himself satisfied. It is, of course,
needless to say where was this locality. The late
death of my friend, in causing his domain to be
thrown open to certain classes of visitors, has given to
Amheim a species of secret and subdued if not
solemn celebrity, similar in kind, although infinitely
superior in degree, to that which so long distinguished
Fonthill.

The usual approach to Amheim was by the river.
The visitor left the city in the early morning. During
the forenoon he passed between shores of a tranquil
and domestic beauty, on which grazed innumerable
sheep, their white fleeces spotting the vivid green of
rolling meadows. By degrees the idea of cultivation
subsided into that of merely pastoral care. This
slowly became merged in a sense of retirement — this
again in a consciousness of solitude. As the evening
approached, the channel grew more narrow ; the banks
more and more precipitous; and these latter were
clothed in richer, more profuse, and more sombre
foliage. The water increased in transparency. The
stream took a thousand turns, so that at no moment
could its gleaming surface be seen for a greater dis-
io6

d by Google

THE DOMAIN OF ARNHEIM

tance than a furlong. At every instant the vessel
seemed imprisoned within an enchanted circle, having
insuperable and impenetrable walls of foliage, a. roof
of ultra-marine satin, and no floor — the keel balanc-
ing itself with admirable nicety on that of a phantom
bark which, by some accident having been turned
upside down, floated in constant company with the
substantial one, tor the purpose of sustaining it. The
channel now became 3l gorge — although the term is
somewhat inapplicable, and I employ it merely be-
cause the language has no word which better repre-
sents the most striking, not the most distinctive,
feature of the scene. The character of gorge was
maintained only in the height and parallelism of the
shores; it was lost altogether in their other traits.
The walls of the ravine (through which the clear
water still tranquilly flowed) arose to an elevation of a
hundred and occasionally of a hundred and fifty feet,
and inclined so much toward each other as, in a great
measure, to shut out the light of day ; while the long .
plume-like moss, which depended densely from the inter-
twining shrubberies overhead, gave the whole chasm
an air of funereal gloora. The windings became more '
frequent and intricate, and seemed often as if return-
ing in upon themselves, so that the voyager had long
lost all idea of direction. He was, moreover, enwrapt
in an exquisite sense of the strange. The thought ot
nature still remained, but her character seemed to
have undergone modification; there was a weird sym-
metry, a thrilling uniformity, a wizard propriety in
these her works. Not a dead branch — not a withered
leaf — not a stray pebble — not a patch of the brown
earth was anywhere visible. The crystal water welled
up against the clean granite, or the unblemished moss,
107

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

with a sharpness of outline that delighted while it
bewildered the eye.

Having threaded the mazes of this chaQnel for some
hours, the gloom deepening every moment, a sharp
and unexpected turn of the vessel brought it suddenly,
as if dropped from heaven, into a circular basin of
very considerable extent when compared with the
width of the goi^e. It was about two hundred yards
in diameter, and girt in at all points but one — that
immediately fronting the vessel as it entered — by
hills equal in general height to the walls of the chasm,
although of a thoroughly different character. Their
sides sloped from the water's edge at an angle of
some forty-five degrees, and they were clothed from
base to summit — not a perceptible point escaping —
in a drapery of the most gorgeous flower-blossoms;
scarcely a green leaf being visible among the sea of
odorous and fluctuating color. This basin was of
great depth, but so transparent was the water that the
bottom, which seemed to consist of a thick mass of
small round alabaster pebbles, was distinctly visible
by glimpses : that is to say, whenever the eye could
permit itself not to see, far down in the inverted
heaven, the duplicate blooming of the hills. On these
latter there were no trees, nor even shrubs of any size.
The impressions wrought on the observer were those
of richness, warmth, color, quietude, uniformity, soft-
ness, delicacy, daintiness, voluptuousness, and a mi-
raculous extremeness of culture that suggested dreams
of a new race of fairies, laborious, tasteful, magnifi-
cent, and fastidious ; but as the eye traced upward the
myriad-tinted slope, from its sharp junction with the
water to its vague termination amid the folds of
overhanging cloud, it became, indeed, difficult not
to8

d by Google

THE DOMAIN OF ARMMEIH

to fancy a panoramic cataract of rubies, sapphires,
opals and golden onyxes, roUing^ silently out of the sky.

The visitor, shooting suddenly into this bay from
out the gloom o£ the ravine, is delighted but astounded
by the full orb of the declining sun, which he had
supposed to be already far below the horizon, but
which now confronts him, and forms the sole termina-
tion of an otherwise limitless vista seen through
another chasm-like rift in the hills.
' But here the voyager quits the vessel which has
borne him so far, and descends into a light canoe of
ivory, stained with arabesque devices in vivid scarlet,
both within and without. The poop and beak of this
boat rise high above the water, with sharp points, so
that the general form is that of an irregular crescent,
ft lies on the surface of the bay with the proud grace
of a swan. On its ermined floor reposes a single
feathery paddle of satin-wood; but no oarsman or
attendant is to be seen. The guest is bidden to be
of good cheer — that the fates will take care of him.
The larger vessel disappears, and he is left alone in
the canoe, which lies apparently motionless in the
middle of the lake. While he considers what course
to pursue, however, he becomes aware of a gentle
movement in the fairy baik. It slowly swings itself
around until its prow points toward the sun. It
advances with a gentle but gradually accelerated
velocity, while the slight ripples it creates seem to
break about the ivory sides in divinest melody — seem
to ofier the only possible explanation of the soothing
yet melancholy music for whose unseen origin the
bewildered voyager looks around him in vain.

The canoe steadily proceeds, and the rocky gate of

the vista is approached, so that its depths can be more

109

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

distinctly seen. To the right arises a chain of lofty
hills rudely and luxuriantly wooded. It is observed,
however, that the trait of exquisite cleanness where
the bank dips into the water, still prevails. There is
not one token of the usual river debris. To the left
the character of the scene is softer and more obviously
artificial. Here the bank slopes upward from the
stream in a very gentle ascent, forming a broad sward
of grass of a texture resembling nothing so much as
velvet, and of a brilliancy of green which would bear
comparison with the tint of the purest emerald. This
plateau vanes m width from ten to three hundred
yards; reachmg from the nverbank to a wall, fifty
feet high, which extends, in an infinity of curves, but
following the general direction of the river, until lost
in the distani^e to the westward This wall is of one
continuous rock, and has been formed by cutting
perpendicularly the once rugged precipice of the
stream's southern bank ; but no trace of the labor lias
been suffered to remain. The chiselled stone has the
hue of ages, and is profusely overhung and overspread
with the ivy, the coral honeysuckle, the eglantine, and
the clematis. The uniformity of the top and bottom
lines of the wall is fully relieved by occasional trees
of gigantic height, growing singly or in small groups,
both along the plateau and in the domain behind the
wall, but in close proximity to it; so that frequent
limbs {of the black walnut especially) reach over and
dip their pendent extremities into the water. Farther
back within the domain, the vision is impeded by an
impenetrable screen of foliage.

These things are observed during the canoe's
gradual approach to what I have called the gate of
the vista. On drawing nearer to this, honever, ita

„ Google

chasm-like appearance vanishes ; a new outlet from
the bay is discovered to the left — in which direction
the wall is also seen to sweep, still following the
general course of the stream. Down this new opening
the eye cannot penetrate very far ; for the stream,
accompanied by the wall, still bends to the left, until
both are swallowed up by the leaves.

The boat, nevertheless, glides magically into the
winding channel ; and here the shore opposite the
wall is found to resemble that opposite the wall in the
straight vista. Lofty hills, rising occasionally into
mountains, and covered with vegetation in wild luxuri-
ance, still shut in the scene,

Floating gently onward, but with a velocity slightly
augmented, the voyager, after many short turns, finds
hb progress apparently barred by a gigantic gate or
rather door of burnished gold, elaborately carved and
fretted, and reflecting the direct rays of the now fast-
sinking sun with aa effulgence that seems to wreathe
the whole surrounding forest in flames. This gate is
inserted in the lofty wall ; which here appears to cross
the river at right angles. In a few moments, however,
it is seen that the main body of the water still sweeps
in a gentle and extensive curve to the left, the wall
following it as before, while a stream of considerable
volume, diverging from the principal one, makes its
way, with a slight ripple, under the door, and is thus
hidden from sight. The canoe falls into the lesser
channel and approaches the gate. Its ponderous
wings are slowly and musically expanded. The boat
glides between them, and commences a rapid descent
into a vast amphitheatre entirely begirt with purple
mountains, whose bases are laved by a gleaming river
throughout the full extent ot their circuit. Meantime

d by Google

the whole Paradise of Amheim bursts upon the view.
There is a. gush of entrancing melody; there is aa
oppressive sense of strange sweet odor; there is a
dreamJike intermingling to the eye of tall slender
Eastern trees — bosky shrubberies — flocks of golden
and crinison birds — lily-fringed lakes — meadows of
violets, tulips, poppies, hyacinths, and tuberoses —
long intertangled lines of silver streamlets — and,
upspringing confusedly from amid all, a mass of semi-
Gothic, semi-Saracenic architecture, sustaining itseli
as if by miracle in mid-air; glittering in the red sun-
light with a hundred oriels, minarets, and pinnacles;
and seeming the phantom handinork, conjointly, of
the Sylphs, of the Fairies, of the Genii, and of the
Gnomes.

db, Google

LANDOR'S COTTAGE

A PENDANT TO " 1

XJURING a pedestrian tour last summer, through
one or two of the river counties of New York, 1 found
myself, as the day declined, somewhat embarrassed
about the road I was pursuing. The land undulated
very remarkably ; and my path, for the last hour, had
wound about and about so confusedly, in its effort to
keep in the valleys, that I no longer knew in what

direction lay the sweet village of B , where I

had determined to stop for the night. The sun had
scarcely sAcrte ~ strictly speaking — during the day,
which, nevertheless, had Deen unpleasantly warm. A
smoky mist, resembling that of the Indian summer,
enveloped all things, and, of course, added to my un-
certainly. Not that I cared much about the matter.
If I did not hit upon the village before sunset, or
even before dark, it was more than possible that a
little Dutch farmhouse, or something oE that kind,
would soon make its appearance — although, in fact,
the neighborhood (perhaps on account of being more
picturesque than fertile) was very sparsely inhabited.
At all events, with my knapsack for a pillow, and my
hound as a sentry, a bivouac in the Open air was '
the thing which would have amused me. 1 1 •'
VOL. II. -8 113

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

on, therefore, quite at ease — Ponto taking charge of
my gun — until at length, just as I had begun to con-
sider whether the numerous little glades that led
hither and thither were intended to be paths at all,
I was conducted by one of the most promising of
them into an unquestionable carriage-track. There
could be no mistaking it. The traces of light wheeb
were evident ; and although the tall shrubberies and
overgrown undergrowth met overhead, there was no
obstruction whatever below, even to the passage of a
Virginian mountain wagon — the most aspiring vehi-
cle, I take it, of its kind. (jThe road, however, except
in being open through the wood ~ if wood be not
too weighty a name for such an assemblage of light
trees — and except in the particulars of evident wheel-
Iraclcs, bore no resemblance to any road I had before
seen. The tracks of which I speak were but faintly
perceptible, having been impressed upon the firm, yet
pleasantly moist surface of — what looked more like
green Genoese velvet than anything else. It was
grass, clearly, but grass such as we seldom see out of
England — so short, so thick, so even, and so vivid in
color. Not a single impediment lay in the wheel-
route, not even a chip or dead twig. The stones that
once obstructed the way had been carefully placed,
not thrown, along the sides of the lane, so as to
define its boundaries at bottom with a kind of half-
precise, half-negligent, and wholly picturesque, defini-
tion. Clumps of wild flowers grew everywhere luxuri.
antly in the interspaces.

What to make of all this, of course I knew not

Here was art undoubtedly — that did not surprise

me — all roads, in the ordinary sense, are works of

nor can I say that there was much to wonder at

114

;v Google

I^NDOR S COTTAGE

in the mere excesi at art manifested ; all that seemed
to liave been done might have been done Aere — with
such natural " capabilities " (as they have it in the
books on Landscape Gardening) — with very little labor
and expense. No, it was not the amount, bUTlhe char-
acter of the art which caused me to take a seat on one
of the blossomy stones and gaie up and down this fairy-
like avenue for half an hour or more in bewildered
admiration. One thing became more and more evi-
dent the longer I gazed : an artist, and one with a most
scrupulous eye for form, had superintended all these
arrangements. The greatest care had been taken to
preserve a due medium between the neat and graceful
on the one hand, and the fiiltoresco, in the true sense
of the Italian term, on the other. There were few
straight, and no long uninterrupted, lines. The same
effect of curvature or of color appeared twice, usually,
but not oftener, at any one point of view. Every-
where was variety in uniformity. It was a piece of
" composition," in which the most fastidiously critical
taste could scarcely have suggested an emendation.

I had turned to the right as I entered this road, and
now, arising, I continued in the same direction. The
path was so serpentine that at no moment could 1
trace its course for more than two or three paces in
advance. Its character did not undergo any material
change.

"presently the murmur of water fell gently upon my
ear; and in a few moments afterwards, as I turned
with the road somewhat more abruptly than hitherto,
I became aware that a building of some kind lay at
the foot of a gentle declivity just before me. I could
see nothing distinctly on account of the mist which
occupied all the little valley below. A gentle breeie,

d by Google

however, now arose, as the sun was about descend-
ing ; and wliile I remained standing on the brow of
the slope, the fog gradually became dissipated into
wreaths, and so floated over the scene.

As it came fully into view — thus gradually as I
describe it — piece by piece, here a tree, there a
glimpse of water, and here again the summit of a
chimney, ! could scarcely help fancying that the
whole was one of the ingenious illusions sometimes
exhibited under the name of " vanishing pictures.^

By the time, however, that the fog had thoroughly
disappeared, the sun had made its way down behind
the gentle hilis, and theiice, as if with a slight chassez
to the south, had come again fully into sight; glaring
with a purplish lustre through a chasm that entered
the valley from the west. Suddenly, therefore — and
as if by the hand of magic — this whole valley and
everything in it became brilliantly visible.

The first coup d'ail, as the sun slid into the posi-
tion described, impressed me very much as I have
been impressed, when a boy, by the concluding scene
of some well-arranged theatrical spectacle or melo-
drama. Not even the monstrosity of color was want-
ing ; for the sunlight came out through the chasm,
tinted all orange and purple ; while the vivid green
of the grass in the valley was reflected more or less
upon all objects, from the curtain of vapor that still
hung overhead, as if loath to take its total departure
from a scene so enchantingly beautiful.

The little vale, into which I thus peered down from
under the fog-canopy, could not have been more than
four hundred yards long ; while in breadth it varied
from fifty to one hundred and fifty, or perhaps two
hundred. It was most narrow at its northern extremity,

d by Google

LANDOR'S COTTAGE

opening out as it tended southwardly, but with no
very precise regularity. The widest portion was
within eighty yards o£ the southern extreme. The
slopes which encompassed the vale could not fairly be
called hills, unless at their northern face. Here a
precipitous ledge of granite arose to a height of some
ninety feet; and, as I have mentioned, the valley at
this point was not more than fifty feet wide; but as
the visitor proceeded southwardly from this cliff, he
found, on his right hand and on his left, declivities at
once less high, less precipitous, and less rocky. All,
in a word, sloped and softened to the south ; and yet
the whole vale was engirdled by eminences, more or
less high, except at two points. One of these I have
already spoken of. It lay considerably to the north
of west, and was where the setting sun made its way,
as I have before described, into the amphitheatre,
through 3 cleanly cut natural cleft in the granite
embankment: this fissure might have been ten yards
wide at its widest point, so far as the eye could trace
it. It seemed to lead up, up, like a natural causeway,
into the recesses of unexplored mountains and forests.
The other opening was directly at the southern end of
the vale. Here, generally, the slopes were nothing
more than gentle inclinations, extending from east to
west about one hundred and fifty yards. In the
middle of this extent was a depression, level with the
ordinary floor of the valley. As regards vegetation,
as weli as in respect to everything else, the scene
softened and sloped Xa the south. To the north — on
the craggy precipice, a few paces from the verge —
upsprang the magnificent trunks of numerous hickories,
black walnuts, and chestnuts, interspersed with occa-
Gional oak ; and the strong lateral branches thrown
"7

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

out by the walnuts, especially, spread far over the
edge of the cliff. Proceeding southwardly, the explorer
saw at first the same class of trees, but less and less
lofty and Salvatorish in character; then he saw the
gentler elm, succeeded by the sassafras and locust —
these again by the softer linden, red-bud, catalpa, and
maple — these yet again by stil! more graceful and
more modest varieties. The whole face of the southern
declivity was covered with wild shrubbery alone, an
occasional silver willow or white poplar excepted. In
the bottom of the valley itself (for it must be borne in
mind that the vegetation hitherto mentioned grew
only on the cliffs or hillsides) were to be seen three
insulated trees. One was an elm of fine size and
exquisite form ; it stood guard over the southern gate
of the vale. Another was a hickory, much larger
than the elm, and altogether a much finer tree,
although both were exceedingly beautiful : it seemed
to have taken charge of the north-western entrance,
springing from a group of rocks in the very jaws of
the ravine, and throwing its graceful body, at an angle
of nearly forty-five degrees, far out into the sunshine
of the amphitheatre. About thirty yards east of this
tree stood, however, the pride of the valley, and
beyond all question the most magnificent tree I have
ever seen, unless, perhaps, among the cypresses of the
Itchiatuckanee. It was a triple-stemmed tulip-tree —
the Liriodendron Tulipifera — one of the natural
order of magnolias. Its three trunks separated from
the parent at about three feet from the soil, and,
diverging very slightly and gradually, were not more
than four feet apart at the point where the largest
stem shot out into foliage ; this was at an elevation of
about eigh^ feet. The whole height of the principal
Ii8

d by Google

LANDOR'S COTTAGE

division was one hundred and twenty feet. Noticing
can. surpass in beauty the form, or the glossy, vivid
green of the leaves of the tulip-tree. In the present
instance they were fully eight inches wide; but their
glory was altogether eclipsed by the gorgeous splendor
of the profuse blossoms. Conceive, closely congre-
gated, a million of the largest and most resplendent
tulips ! Only thus can the reader get any idea of the
picture 1 would convey. And then the Stately grace
of the clean, delicately-granulated columnar stems,
the largest four feet in diameter, at twenty from the
ground. The innumerable blossoms, mingling with
those of other trees scarcely less beautiful, although
infinitely less majestic, filled the valley with more
than Arabian perfumes.

The general floor of the amphitheatre v/as grass of
the same character as that I had found in the road : if
anything, more deliciously soft, thick, velvety, and
miraculously green. It was hard to conceive how all
this beauty had been attained.

I have spoken of the two openings into the vale.
From the one to the north-west issued a rivulet, which
came, gently murmuring and slightly foaming, down
the ravine, until it dashed against the group of rocks
out of which sprang the insulated hickory. Here,
after encircling the tree, it passed on, a little to the
north of east, leaving the tulip-tree some twenty feet
to the south, and making no decided alteration in its
course until it came near the midway between the
eastern and western boundaries of the valley. At this
point, after a series of sweeps, it turned off at right
angles and pursued a generally southern direction —
meandering as it went — until it became lost in a small
lake of irregular figure (although roughly oval) that
1 19

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

lay gleaming near the lower extremity of the vale,
This lakelet was, perhaps, a hundred yards in diameter
at its widest part. No crystal could be clearer than
its waters. Its bottom, which could be distinctly seen,
consisted altogether of pebbles brilliantly white. Its
banks, of the emerald grass already described, rounded,
rather than sloped, off into the clear heaven below;
and so clear was this heaven, so perfectly, at times,
did it reflect all objects above it, that where the true
bank ended and where the mimic one commenced, it
was a point of no little difficulty to determine. The
trout, and some other varieties of fish, with which
this pond seemed to be almost inconveniently crowded,
had all the appearance of veritable flying-fish. It
was almost impossible to believe that they were not
absolutely suspended in the air. A light birch canoe,
that lay placidly on the water, was reflected in its
minutest fibres with a fidelity unsurpassed by the
most exquisitely polished mirror. A small island,
fairly laughing with flowers in full bloom, and afford-
ing little more space than just enough for a picturesque
little building, seemingly a fowl-house, arose from the
lake not far from its northern shore, to which it was
connected by means of an inconceivably light-looking
and yet very primitive bridge. It was formed of a
single broad and thick plank of the tulip wood.
This was forty feet long, and spanned the interval
between shore and shore with a slight but very
perceptible arch, preventing all oscillation. From
the southern extreme of the lake issued a continuation
of the rivulet, which, after meandering for perhaps
thirty yards, finally passed through the "depression"
(already described) in the middle of the southern
declivity, and tumbling down a sheer precipice of a

d by Google

LAN dor's cottage

hmidred feet, made its devious and unnoticed way to
the Hudson.

The lake was deep — at some points thirty feet —
but the rivulet seldom exceeded three, while its great-
est width was about eight. Its bottom and banks
were as those of the pond ; if a defect could have been
attributed to them, in point of picture squen ess, it was
that of excessive neatness.

The expanse of the green turf was relieved, here and
there, by an occasional showy shrub, such as the hy-
drangea, or the common snowball, or the aromatic
syringa ; or, more frequently, by a clump of geraniums
blossoming gorgeously ingreat varieties. These latter
grew in pots which were carefully buried in the soil,
so as to give the plants the appearance of being in-
digenous. Besides all this, the lawn's velvet was
exquisitely spotted with sheep — a considerable flock
of which roamed about the vale, in company with three
tamed deer, and a vast number of brilliantly-plumed
ducks. A very large mastiff seemed to be in vigilant
attendance upon these animals, each and all.

Along the eastern and western cliffs — where, to-
wards the upper portion of the amphitheatre, the boun-
daries were more or less precipitous — grew ivy in
great profusion, so that only here and there could
even a glimpse of the naked rock be obtained. The
northern precipice, in like manner, was almost entirely
clothed by grape-vines of rare luxuriance; some spring-
ing from the soil at the base of the cliff, and others
from ledges on its face.

The slight elevation which formed the lower boun
dary of this little domain was crowned by a neat stone
wall, of sufficient height to prevent the escape of the
deer. Nothing of the fence kind was observable else-

db, Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

wbere ; for nowhere else was an artificial enclosure
needed : — any stray sheep, for example, which should
attempt to make its way out of the vale by means of
the ravine, would find its progress arrested, after a few
yards' advance, by the precipitous ledge of rock over
which tumbled the cascade that had arrested my atten-
tion as I first drew near the domain. In short, the
only ingress or egress was through a grate occupying
a rocky pass in the road, a few paces below the point
at which I stopped to reconnoitre the scene.

1 have described the brook as meandering very
irregularly through the whole of its course. Its two
general directions, as I have said, were first from
west to east, and then from north to south. At the
turn, the stream, sweeping backwards, made an almost
circular loop, so as to form a peninsula which was
very nearly an island, and which included about the
sixteenth of an acre. On this peninsula stood a dwell-
ing-house — and wheti I say that this house, like the
infernal terrace seen by Vathek, " itait /Tune archi-
tecture inconnue dans les annates de ta terre," I mean,
merely, that its tout ensemble struck me with the keen-
est sense o£ combined novelty and propriety — in a
word, ot poetry {iot, than in the words just employed,
I could scarcely give, of poetry in the abstract, a more
rigorous definition) — and I do not mean that the
merely outr^ was perceptible in any respect.

In fact, nothing could well be more simple, more
utterly unpretending, than this cottage. Its marvel-
lous effect lay altogether in its artistic arrangement as
a picture. I could have fancied, while I looked at it,
that some eminent landscape-painter had built it with
bis brush,

The point of view from which I first saw the valley

122

d by Google

I^NDORS COTTAGE

was not altogether, although it was nearly, the best
point from which to survey the house. I will there-
fore describe it as I afterwards saw it, from a position
on the stone wall at the southern extreme of the
amphitheatre.

The main building was about twenty-four feet long,
and sixteen broad — certainly not more. Its total
height, from the ground to the apex of the roof, could
not have exceeded eighteen feet. To the west end of
this structure was attached one about a third smaller
in all its proportions : — the line of its front standing
back about two yards from that of the latger house ;
and the line of its roof, of course, being considerably
depressed below that o£ the roof adjoining. At right
angles to these buildings, and from the rear of the
main one, not exactly in the middle, extended a third
compartment, very small — being, in general, one third
less than the western wing. The roofs of the two larger
were very steep : sweeping down from the ridge-beam
with a long concave curve, and extending at least four
feet beyond the walls in front, so as to form the roofs
of two piazzas. These latter roofs, of course, needed
no support ; but as they had the cm- of needing it, slight
and perfectly plain pillars were inserted at the corners
aione. The roof of the northern wing was merely an
extension of a portion of the main roof. Between the
chief building and western wing arose a very tail and
rather slender square chimney of hard Dutch bricks,
alternately black and red ; a slight cornice of project-
ing bricks at the top. Over the gables, the roofs also
projected very much ; in the main building, about four
feet to the east and two to the west. The principal
door was not exactly in the main division, being a little
to the east, while the two windows were to the west.
123

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

These latter did not extend to the floor, but were much
longer and narrower than usual ; they had single shut-
ters like doors; the panes were of lozenge form, but
quite large. The door itself had its upper half of
glass, also in lozenge panes ; a movable shutter se-
cured it at night. The door to the west wing was in
its gable, and quite simple; a single window looked
out to Che south. There was no external door to the
north wing, and it, also, had only one window to the
east.

The blank wall of the eastern gable was relieved by
stairs (with a balustrade) running diagonally across it,
the ascent being from the south. Under cover of the
widely projecting eave these steps gave access to a
door leading into the garret, or rather loft, for it was
lighted only by a single window to the north, and
seemed to have been intended as a store-room.

The piazzas of the main building and western wing
had no floors, as is usual ; but at the doors and at
each window, large, flat, irregular slabs of granite lay
imbedded in the delicious turf, affording comfortable
footing in all weather. Excellent paths of the same
material, not nicely adapted, but with the velvety sod
filling frequent intervals between the stones, led hither
and thither from the house, to a crystal spring about
five paces off, to the road, or to one or two out-houses
that lay to the north, beyond the brook, and were
thoroughly concealed by a few locusts and catalpas.

Not more than six steps from the main door of the
cottage stood the dead trunk of a fantastic pear-tree,
so clothed from head to foot in the gorgeous bignonia
blossoms that one required no little scrutiny to deter-
mine what manner of sweet thing it could be. From
various arms of this tree hung cages of different kinds.
124

d by Google

LAN dor's cottage

In one, a large wicker cylinder with a ring at top,
revelled a mocking-bird; in anotlier, an oriole; in a
third, the impudent bobolink — while three or four
more delicate prisons were loudly vocal with canaries.
The pillars of the piazza were enwreathed in jas-
mine and sweet honeysuckle ; while from the angle
formed by the main structure and its west wing, in
front, sprang a grapevine of unexampled luxuriance.
Scorning all restraint, it had clambered iirst to the
lower roof — then to the higher; and along the ridge
of this latter it continued to writhe on, throwing out
tendrils to the right and left, until at length it fairly
attained the east gable, and fell trailing over the

The whole house, with its wings, was constructed of
the old-fashioned Dutch shingles — broad, and with
unrounded corners. It is a peculiarity of this material
to give houses built of it the appearance of being
wider at bottom than at top, after the manner of
Egyptian architecture ; and in the present instance
this exceedingly picturesque effect was aided by
numerous pots of gorgeous flowers that almost encom-
passed the base of the buildings.

The shingles were painted a dull gray ; and the
happiness with which this neutral tint melted into the
vivid green of the tulip-tree leaves that partially over-
shadowed the cottage, can readily be conceived by an

From the position near the stone wall, as described,
the buildings were seen at great advantage ; for the
south-eastern angle was thrown forward, so that the
eye took in at once the whole of the two fronts, with
the picturesque eastern gable, and at the same time
obtained just a sufficient glimpse of the northern

I2S

d by Google

wing, with parts of a pretty roof to the spring-house,
and nearly half of a light bridge that spanned the
brook in the near vicinity of the main buildings.

I did not remain very long on the brow of the hill,
although long enough to make a thorough survey of
the scene at my feet. It was clear that I had wan-
dered from the road to the village, and I had thus good
traveller's excuse to open the gate before me, and
inquire my way, at ali events ; so, without more ado, I
proceeded.

The road, after passing the gate, seemed to lie upon
a natural ledge, sloping gradually down along tlie face
of the north-eastern cliffs. It led me on to the foot of
the northern precipice, and thence over the bridge,
round by the eastern gable to the front door. In this
progress, I took notice that no sight of the out-houses
could be obtained.

As I turned the comer of the gable, the mastiff
bounded towards me in stern silence, but with the eye
and the whole air of a tiger. I held him out my
hand, however, in token of amity, and I never yet
knew the dog who was proof against such an appeal
to his courtesy. He not only shut his mouth and
wagged his tail, but absolutely offered me his paw —
afterwards extending his civilities to Ponto.

As no bell was discernible, I rapped with my stick
against the door, which stood half open. Instantly a
figure advanced to the threshold — that of a young
woman about twenty-eight years of age — slender, or
rather slight, and somewhat above the medium height.
As she approached, with a certain modest decision of
step altogether indescribable, I said to myself, " Surely'
here 1 have found the perfection of natural, in con-
tradistinction from artificial, ^acrf," The second im-,
126

;v Google

'S COTTAGE

pression which she made on me, but by far the more
vivid of the two, was that of enthusiasm. So intense
an expression of romance, perhaps I should call it, or
of unworldliness, as that which gleamed from her
deep-set eyes, had never so sunk into my heart of
hearts before. 1 know riot how it is, but this peculiar
expression of the eye, wreathing itself occasionally
into the lips, is the most powerful, if not absolutely
the sole, spell which rivets my interest in woman..
" Romance," provided my readers fully comprehend
what I would here imply by the word — " romance "
and " woraanUness " seem to me convertible terms :
and, after all, what man truly loves in woman, is,
simply, her womanhood. The eyes of Annie {I heard
some one from the interior call her " Annie, dariing ! ")
were "spiritual gray;" her hair, a light chestnut: this
is all 1 had time to observe of her.

At her most courteous of invitations, I entered —
passing first into a tolerably wide vestibule. Having
come mainly to observe, I took notice that to my right,
as I stepped in, was a window, such as those in front
of the house ; to the left, a door leading into the prin-
cipal room ; while, opposite me, an open door enabled
me to see a small apartment, just the size of the vesti-
bule, arranged as a study, and having a large bow-
window looking out to the north.

Passing into the parlor, I found myself with Mr.
Landor — for this, I afterwards found, was his name.
He was civil, even cordial in his manner; but just
then I was more intent on observing the arrange-
ments of the dwelUng which had so much interested
me, than the personal appearance of (he tenant.

The north wing, I now saw, was a bedchamber ; its
door opened info the parlor. West of this door was A

d by Google

TALES OF NATURAL BEAUTY

single windo\w, looking towards the brook. At the
west end of the parlor, were a firepJace and a door
Jeading into the west wing— probably a kitchen.

Nothing could be more rigorously simple than the
furniture of the parlor. On the floor was an ingrain
carpet, of excellent texture — a white ground, spotted
with small circular green figures. At the windows
were curtains of snowy white jaconet muslin : they
were tolerably full, and hung decisively, perhaps
rather formally, in sharp, parallel plaits to the floor —
just to the floor. The walls were papered with a
French paper of great delicacy — a silver ground,
with a faint green cord running zigzag throughout.
Its expanse was relieved merely by three of Julien's
exquisite lithographs A. trois crayons, fastened to the
wall without frames. One of these drawings was a
scene of Oriental luxury, or rather voluptuousness;
another was a " carnival piece," spirited beyond com-
pare ; the third was a Greek female head : — a face so
divinely beautiful, and yet of an expression so pro-
vokingly indeterminate, .icver before arrested my
attention.

The more substantial furniture consisted of a round
table, a few chairs (including a large rocking-chair),
and a sofa, or rather " settee ; " its material was plain
maple painted a creamy white, slightly interstriped
with green — the seat of cane. The chairs and table
were " to match ; " but the forms of all had evidently
been designed by the same brain which planned "the
grounds ; " it is impossible to conceive anything more
graceful.

On the table were a few books; a large, square,
crystal bottle of some novel perfume ; a plain, ground-
glass astral (not solar) lamp, with an Italian shade ;
128

d by Google

LANDOR S COTTAGE

and a large vase of resplendently-blooming flowers.
Flowers indeed, of gorgeous colors and delicate odor,
formed the sole mere decoration of the apartment.
The fireplace was tiearly filled with a vase of brilliant
geranium. On a triangular shelf in each angle of the
room stood also a similar vase, varied only as to its
lovely contents. One or two smaller bouquets adorned
the mantel; and late violets clustered about the open
windows.

It is not the purpose of this work to do more than
give, in detail, a picture of Mr. Laador's residence —
as I found it.

d by Google

„ Google

m

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

Hosiedb, Google

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

THE UNPARALLELED ADVENTURE
OF ONE HANS PFAALL

With a burning speat and a horse of air.
To the wilderoess I wander.

Tsm O'Bedlam-s Song.

JljY late accounts from Rotterdam, tliat city seems
to be in a high state of philosophical excitement.
Indeed, phenomena have there occurred of a nature
SO completely unexpected, so entirely novel, so utterly
at variance with preconceived opinions, as to leave no
doubt on my mind that long ere this all Europe is in
an uproar, all physics in a ferment, all reason and
astronomy together by the ears.

It appears that on the day of (I am not

positive about the date), a vast crowd of people,
forpurposes not specifically mentioned, were assembled
in the great square of the Exchange in the well-condi-
tioned city of Rotterdam. The day was warm —
unusually so for the season ; there was hardly a breath
of air stirring; and the multitude were in no bad
humor at being now and then besprinkled with friendly
showers of momentary duration, that fell from large
white masses of cloud profusely distributed about the
133

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

blue vault of the firmament. Nevertheless, about
noon, a slight but remarkable agitation became appar-
ent in the assembly; the clattering of ten thousand
tongues succeeded ; and, in an instant aiterwards, ten
thousand faces were upturned towards the heavens,
ten thousand pipes descended simultaneously from
the corners of ten thousand mouths, and a shout,
which could be compared to nothing but the roaring
of Niagara, resounded long, loudly, and furiously
through all the city and through all the environs of
Rotterdam.

The origin of this hubbub soon became sufficiently
evident. From behind the huge bulk of one of those
sharply defined masses of cloud already mentioned,
was seen slowly to emerge into an open area of blue
space, a queer, heterogeneous, but apparently solid
substance, so oddly shaped, so whimsically put together,
as not to be in any manner comprehended, and never
to be sufficiently admired, by the host of sturdy
burghers who stood open-mouthed below. What
could it be? In the name of all the devils in
Rotterdam, what could it possibly portend? No one
knew ; no one could imagine ; no one — not even the
burgomaster Mynheer Superbus Von Underduk —
had the slightest clew by which to unravel the
mystery; so, as nothing more reasonable could be
done, every one to a man replaced his pipe carefully
in the comer of his mouth, and, maintaining an eye
steadily upon the phenomenon, puffed, paused, waddled
about, and grunted significantly — then waddled back,
grunted, paused, and finally — puffed again.

In the mean time, however, lower and still lower

towards the goodly city, came the object of so much

curiosity, and the cause of so much smoke. In a vei^

134

d by Google

5 it arrived near enough to be accurately
discerned. It appeared to be — yes ! it -was uj>
doubtedly a species of balloon ; but surely no such
balloon had ever been seen in Rotterdam before.
For who, let me ask, ever heard of a balloon manu-
factured entirely of dirty newspapers? No man in
Holland certainly ; yet here, under the very noses of
the people, or rather at some distance above their
noses, was the identical thing in question, and com-
posed, I have it on the best authority, of the precise
material which no one had ever before known to be
used for a similar purpose. It was an egregious
insult to the good sense of the burghers of Rotterdam.
As to the shape of the phenomenon, it was even still
more reprehensible, being little or nothing better than
a huge fool's-cap turned upside down. And this
similitude was regarded as by no means lessened
when, upon nearer inspection, the crowd saw a large
tassel depending from its apex, and, around the upper
rim or base of the cone, a circle of little instruments
resembling sheep-bells, which kept up a continual
tinkling to the tune of " Betty Martin." But sfill
worse. — Suspended by blue ribbons to the end of
this fantastic machine, there hung, by way of car, an
enormous drab beaver hat, with a brim superlatively
broad, and a hemispherical crown with a black band
and a silver buckle. It is, however, somewhat remail:-
able that many citizens of Rotterdam swore to li:iving
seen the same hat repeatedly before ; and indeed the
whole assembly seemed to regard it with eyus of
familiarity ; while the vrouw Grettel Pfaall, upon sight
of it, uttered an exclamation of joyful surprise, and
declared it to be the identical hat of her good man
himself. Now this was a circumstance the more to
I3S

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

be observed, as Pfaall, with three companions, had
actually disappeared from Rotterdam about five years
before, ia a very sudden and unaccountable manner,
and up Co the date of this narrative all attempts at
obtaining intelligence concerning them had failed.
To be sure, some bones which were thought to be
human, mixed up with a quantity of odd-looking
rubbish, had been lately discovered in a retired situa-
tion to the east of the city; and some people went so
far as to imagine that in this Spot a foul murder had
been committed, and that the sufferers were in all
probability Hans Pfaall and his associates. — But to

The balloon (for such no doubt it was} had now
descended to within a hundred feet of the earth,
allowing the crowd below a sufficiency distinct view
o£ the person of its occupant. This was in truth a
very singular somebody. He could not liave been
more than two feet in height; but this altitude, little
as it was, would have been sutficient to destroy his
equilibrium, and tilt him over the edge of his tiny car,
but for the intervention of a circular rim reaching as
high as the breast, and rigged on to the cords of the
baUoon. The body of the little man was more than
proportionally broad, giving to his entire figure a
rotundity highly absurd. His feet, of course, could
not be seen at all. His hands were enormously
large. His hair was gray, and collected into a queue
behind. His nose was prodigiously long, crooked,
and inflammatory ; his eyes full, brilliant, and acute;
his chin and cheeks, although wrinkled with age, were
broad, puffy, and double ; but of ears of any kind
there was not a semblance to be discovered upon any
portion of his head. This odd little gentleman wan
136

d by Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

dressed in a loose surtout of sky-blue satin, with tight
breeches to match, fastened with silver buckles at the
knees. His vest was of some bright yellow material;
a white taffety cap was set jauntily on one side of his
head; and, to complete his equipment, a blood-red
silk handkerchief enveloped his throat, and fell down,
in a dainty manner, upon his bosom, in a fantastic
bow-knot of super-eminent dimensions.

Having descended, as I said before, to about one
hundred feet from the surface of the earth, the little
old gentleman was suddenly seized with a fit of
trepidation, and appeared disinclined to make any
nearer approach to terra firma. Throwing out,
therefore, a quantity of sand from a canvas bag,
which he lifted with great difficulty, he became
stationary in an instant. He then proceeded, in a
hurried and agitated manner, to extract from a
side-pocket in his surtout a large morocco pocket-
book. This he poised suspiciously in his hand ;
then eyed it with an air of extreme surprise, and
was evidently astonished at its weight. He at
length opened it, and, drawing therefrom a huge
letter sealed with red sealing-wax and tied carefully
with red tape, let it fall precisely at the feet of
the burgomaster Superbus Von Underduk. His Ex-
cellency stooped to take it up. But the aeronaut,
still greatly discomposed, and having apparently no
further business to detain him in Rotterdam, began
at this moment to make busy preparations for de-
parture; and, it being necessary to discharge a
portion of ballast to enable him to reascend, the
half-do len bags which he threw out, one after
another, without taking the trouble to empty their
contents, tumbled, every one of them, most unfortu-
137

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

nately, upon the back of the burgomaster, and rolled
him over and over no less than half a dozen times,
in the face of every individual in Rotterdam. It
is not to be supposed, however, that the great
Underduk suffered this impertinence on the part
of the little old man to pass off with impunity. It
is said, on the contrary, that during each of his hatf-
dozen circumvolutions he emitted no less than half
a dozen distinct and furious whiffs from his pipe,
to which he held fast the whole time with all his
might, and to which he intends holding fast (God
willing) until the day of his decease.

In the mean time the balloon arose like a lark,
and, soaring far away above the city, at length
drifted quietly behind a cloud similar to that from
which it had so oddly emerged, and was thus lost
forever to the wondering eyes of the good citizens
of Rotterdam. All attention was now directed to
the letter, the descent of which, and the consequences
attending thereupon, had proved so fatally subversive
of both person and personal dignity to his Excellency,
Von Underduk. That functionary, however, had not
failed, during his circumgyratory movements, to be-
stow a thought upon the important object of secur-
ing the epistle, which was seen, upon inspection, to
have fallen into the most proper hands, being actually
addressed to himself and Professor Rubadub, in their
official capacities of President and Vice-President of
the Rotterdam College of Astronomy. It was ac-
cordingly opened by those dignitaries upon the spot,
and found to contain the following extraordinary,
uid indeed very serious, communication: —

138

„ Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

To their Excellencies VoN Underduk and Ruba-
DUB, President and Vice-President of the Stales'
College of Astronomers, in the city of Rotterdam.

Your Excellencies may perhaps be able to remem-
ber an humble artisan, by name Hans Pfaall, and
by occupation a mender ot bellows, who, with three
Others, disappeared from Rotterdam, about tive years
ago, in a manner which must have been considered
unaccountable. If, however, it so please your Excel-
lencies, I, the writer of this communication, am
the identical Hans Pfaall himself. It is we!! known
to most of my fellow-citizens that for the period of
forty years I continued to occupy the little square
brick building, at the head of the alley caJled Sauer-
kraut, in which I resided at the time of mj disap-
pearance. My ancestors have also resided therein
time out of mind — they, as well as myself, steadily
following the respectable and indeed lucrative pro-
fession of mending of bellows: for, to speak the truth,
until of late years that the heads of all the people
have been set agog with politics, no better business
than my own could an honest citizen of Rotterdam
either desire or deserve. Credit was good, employ-
ment was never wanting, and there was no lack of
either money or good-will. But, as I was saying, we
soon began to feel the effects of liberty, and long
speeches, and radicalism, and all that sort of thing.
People who were formerly the very best customers in
the world had now not a moment of time to think of
as at all. They had as much as they could do to read
about the revolutions, and keep up with the march
of intellect and the spirit of the age. If a lire wanted
fanning, it could readily be fanned with a newspaper;
139

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-

and as the government grew weaker, I have no doubt
that leather and iron acquired durabihty in proportion
— for, in a very short time, there was not a pair of
bellows in all Rotterdam that ever stood in need of
a stitch or required the assistance of a hammer. This
was a state of things not to be endured. I soon grew
as poor as a rat, and, having a wife and children to
provide for, my burdens at length became intolerable,
and I spent hour after hour in reflecting upon the
most convenient method of putting an end to my life.
Duns, in the mean time, left me little leisure for con-
templation. My house was literally besieged from
morning till night. There were three fellows in par-
ticular, who worried me beyond endurance, keeping
watch continually about my door, and threatening
me with the law. Upon these three I vowed the
bitterest revenge, if ever I should be so happy as to
get them within my clutches; and I believe nothing
in the world but the pleasure of this anticipation pre-
vented me from putting my plan of suicide into im-
mediate execution, by blowing my brains out with a.
blunderbuss, 1 thought it best, however, to dissem-
ble m^ wrath, and to treat them with promises and
fair words, until, by some good turn of fate, an oppor-
tunity of vengeance should be afforded me.

One day, having given them the slip, and feeling
more than usually dejected, I continued for a Ipng
time to wander about the most obscure streets with-
out object, until at length I chanced to stumble
against the comer of a bookseller's stall. Seeing a
chair close at hand, for the use of customers, I threw
myself doggedly into it, and, hardly knowing why,
opened the pages of the first volume which came
within my reach. It proved to be a small pamphlet
140

d by Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

treatise on Speculative Astronomy, written either by
Professor Enclie of Berlin, or by a Frenchman of
somewhat similar name, I had some little tincture
of information on matters of this nature, and soon
became more and more absorbed in the contents of
the book — reading it actually through twice before
I awoke to a recollection of what was passing around
me. By this time it began to grow dark, and I di-
rected my steps toward home. But the treatise (in
conjunction with a di.icovery in pneumatics, lately
communicated to me as an important secret, by a
cousin from Nanti) had made an indelible impression
on my mind, and, as I sauntered along the dusky
streets, I revolved carefully over in my memory the
wild and sometimes unintelligible reasonings of the
writer. There are some particular passages which
affected my imagination in an extraordinary manner.
The longer I meditated upon these, the more intense
grew the interest which had been excited within me.
The limited nature of my education in general, and
more especially my ignorance on subjects connected
with natural philosophy, so far from rendering me
diffident of my own ability to comprehend what I had
read, or inducing me to mistrust the many vague
notions which had arisen in consequence, merely
served as a farther stimulus to imagination ; and I was
vain enough, or perhaps reasonable enough, to doubt
whether those crude ideas which, arising in ill-regu-
lated minds, have all the appearance, mav not often
in effect possess all the force, the reality, and other
inherent properties of instinct or intuition.

It was late when I reached home, and I went im-
mediately to bed. My mind, however, was too much
occupied to sleep, and I lay the whole night buried
141

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-

In meditation. Arising early in the morning, 1 re-
paired eagerly to the bookseller's stall, and laid out
what little ready money 1 possessed, in the purchase
of some volumes of Mechanics and Practical Astron-
omy. Having arrived at home safely with these, I
devoted every spare moment to their perusal, and soon
made such proficiency in studies of this nature as I
thought sufficient for the execution of a certain design
with which either the devil or my better genius had
inspired me. In the intervals of this period, I made
every endeavor to conciliate the three creditors who
had given me so much annoyance. In this i finally
succeeded — partly by selling enough of my house-
hold furniture to satisfy a moiety of their claim, and
partly by a promise of paying the balance upon com-
pletion of a little project which I told them I had in
view, and for assistance in which I solicited their ser-
vices. By these means (for they were ignorant men)
I found little difficulty in gaining them over to ray
purpose.

Matters being thus arranged, I contrived, by the aid
of my wife, and with the greatest secrecy and caution,
to dispose of what property I had remaining, and to
borrow in small sums, under various pretences, and
without giving any attention (I am ashamed to say)
to my future means of repayment, no inconsiderable
quantity of ready money. With the means thus accru-
ing I proceeded to procure, at intervals, cambric mus-
lin, very fine, in pieces of twelve yards each ; twine ; a
lot of the varnish of caoutchouc ; a large and deep
basket of wicker-work, made to order; and several
other articles necessary in the construction and equip-
ment of a balloon of extraordinary dimensions. This
I directed my wife to make up as soon as possible,
142

;v Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE H/

and gave her all requisite information as to the par-
ticular method of proceeding. In the mean time I
worked up the twine into network of sufficient dimen-
sions; rigged it with a hoop and the necessary cords j
and made purchase of numerous instruments and ma-
terials for experiment in the upper regions of the
upper atmosphere. I then took opportunities of con-
veying by night, to a retired situation east of Rotter-
dam, five iron-bound casks, to contain about fifty gal-
lons each, and one of a larger size; six tin tubes,
three inches in diameter, properly shaped, and ten
feet in length; a quantity of a i>arlicular metallic
substance, or semi-metal which I shall not name, and
a dozen demijohns of a very common acid. The
gas to be formed from these latter materials is a gas
never yet generated by any other person than myself
— or at least never applied to any similar purpose. I
can only venture to say here, that it is a constituent of
azote, so long considered irreducible, and that its den-
sity is about 374 times less than that of hydrogen.
It is tasteless, but not odorless ; burns, when pure, with
a greenish flame, and is instantaneously fatal to animal
life. Its full secret I would make no difliculty in disclos-
ing, but that it of right belongs (as 1 have before hinted)
to a citizen of Nantz, in France, by whom it was con-
ditionally communicated to myself. The same indi-
vidual submitted to me, without being at all aware of
my intentions, a method of constructing balloons from
the membrane of a certain animal, through which
substance any escape of gas was nearly an impossi-
bility. I found it, however, altogether too expensive,
and was not sure, upon the whole, whether cambric
muslin, with a coating of gum caoutchouc, was not
equally as good. 1 mention this circumstance, because
143

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

I think it probable that hereafter the individual in
question may attempt a balloon ascension with the
novel gas and material I have spoken of, and I do not
wish to deprive him of the honor of a very singular

Oa the spot which I intended each of the smaller
casks to occupy respectively during the inflation of
the balloon, I privately dug a small hole ; the holes
forming in this manner a circle twenty-five feet ia
diameter. In the centre of this circle, being the sta-
tion desLgfted for the large cask, I also dug a hole o£
greater depth. In each of the five smaller holes, I
deposited a canister containing fifty pounds, and in
the larger one a keg holding one hundred and fifty
pounds of cannon powder. These — the keg and the
canisters — I connected in a proper manner with cov-
ered trains; and having let into one of the canisters
the end of about four feet of slow-match, I covered up
the hole, and placed the cask over it, leaving the other
end of the match protruding about an inch, and barely
visible beyond the cask. I then filled up the remain-
ing holes, and placed the barrels over them in their
destined situation.

Besides the articles above enumerated, I conveyed
to the (Up6i, and there secreted, one of M. Grimm's
improvements upon the apparatus for condensation of
the atmospheric air. I found this machine, however,
to require considerable alteration before it could be
adapted to the purposes to which I intended making
itapplicable. But, with severe labor and unremitting
perseverance, I at length met with entire success in all
my preparations. My balloon was soon completed.
It would contain more than forty thousand cubic feet of
gas; would take me up easily, I calculated, with all my
144

d by Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE JiJ

implements, and, if I managed rightly, with one hun-
dred and seventy-five pounds of ballast into the bar-
gain. It had received three coats of varmsh, and I
found the cambric muslin to answer all the purposes
of silk itself, being quite as strong and a good deal
less expensive.

Everything being now ready, I exacted from my
wife an oath of secrecy in relation to all my actions
from the day of my first visit to the bookseller's stall;
and promising, on my part, to return as soon as cir-
cumstances would permit, I gave her what lltUe money
I had left, and bade her farewell. Indeed, I had no
fear on her account. She was what people call a
notable woman, and could manage matters in the
world without my assistance. I believe, to tell the
truth, she always looked upon me as an idle body —
a mere make-weight, good for nothing but building
castles in the air — and was rather glad to get rid of
me. It was a dark night when 1 bade her good-by,
and taking with me, as aides-de-camp, the three cred-
itors who had given me so much trouble, we carried
the balloon, with the car and accoutrements, by a
roundabout way, to the station where the other articles
were deposited. We there found them all unmolested,
and I proceeded immediately to business.

It was the first of April. The night, as I said
before, was dark ; there was not a star to be seen ;
and a drizzling rain, falling at intervals, rendered us
very uncomfortable. But my chief anxiety was con-
cerning the balloon, which, in spite ot the varnish
with which it was defended, began to grow rather
heavy with the moisture; the powder also was liable
to damage. I therefore kept my three duns working
with great diligence, pounding down ice around the

VOL. II.— 10 I4S

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

central cask, and stirring the acid in the others.
They did not cease, however, importuning me with
questions as to what I intended to do with all this
apparatus, and expressed much dissatisfaction at the
terrible labor 1 made them undergo. They could not
perceive (so they said) what good was likely to result
from their getting wet to the skin, merely to take a
part in such horrible incantations. I began to get
uneasy, and worked away with all my might ; for I
verily believe the idiots supposed that I had entered
into a compact with the devil, and that, in short, what
I was now doing was nothing better than it should
be. I was, therefore, in great fear of their leaving me
altogether. I contrived, however, to pacify them by
promises of payment of all scores in full, as soon as
I could bring the present business to a termination.
To these speeches they gave, of course, their own
interpretation; fancying, no doubt, that at all events I
should come into possession of vast quantities of
ready money ; and provided I paid them all I owed,
and a trifle more, in consideration of their services, I
dare say they cared very little what became of either
my soul or my carcass.

In about four hours and a half I found the balloon
sufficiently inflated. I attaphed the car, therefore,
and put all my implement^ in it — a telescope; a
r, with some important modifications ; a ther-
an electrometer; a compass; a magnetic
needle; a seconds watch; a bell; a speaking-trumpet,
etc., etc., etc. — also a globe of glass, exhausted of
air, and carefully closed with a stopper— not for-
getting the condensing apparatus, some unslacked
lime, a stick of sealing-wax, a copious supply of water,
and a large quantity of provisions, such as pemmlcan,

146

db, Google

ADVENTURE C

in which much nutriment is contained in compara-
tively little bullf, I also secured in the car a pair of
pigeons and a cat.

It was now nearly daybreak, and I thought it high
time to take my departure. Dropping a lighted cigar
on the ground, as if by accident, I took the oppor-
tunity, in stooping to pick it up, of igniting privately
the piece o£ slow-match, the end of which, as I said
before, protruded a little beyond the lower rim of one
of the smaller casks. This manoeuvre was totally
unperceived on the part of the three duns; and,
jumping into the car, I immediately cut the single
cord which held me to the earth, and was pleased to
find that I shot upwards with inconceivable rapidity,
carrying with all ease one hundred and seventy-five
pounds of leaden ballast, and able to have carried up as
many more. As I left the earth, the barometer stood at
thirty inches, and the centigrade thermometer at 19°.

Scarcely, however, had i attained the height of fifty
yards, when, roaring and rumbling up after me in the
most tumultuous and terrible manner, came so dense
a hurricane of fire, and gravel, and burning wood, and
blazing metal, and mangled limbs, that my very heart
sunk within me, and I fell down in the bottoin of the
car, trembling with terror. Indeed, I now perceived
that I had entirely overdone the business, and that
the main consequences of the shock were yet to be
experienced. Accordingly, in less than a second, I
felt all the blood in my body rushing to my temples,
and, immediately thereupon, a concussion, which I
shall never forget, burst abruptly through the night,
and seemed to rip the very firmament asunder.
When I afterwards had time for reflection, I did not
fail to attribute the extreme violence of the explosion
»47

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-

as regarded myself, to its proper cause — my situation
directly above it, and in the line of its greatest power-
But at the time I thought only of preserving my life.
The balloon at first collapsed, then furiously expanded,
then whirled round and round with sickening velocity,
and finally, reeling and staggering like a drunken
man, hurled me over the rim of the car, and left me
dangling, at a terrific height, with my head downward
and my face outward, by a piece of slender cord about
three feet in length, which hung accidentally through
a crevice near the bottom of the wicker-work, and in
which, as I fell, my left foot became most providen-
tially entangled. It is impossible — utterly impossible
— to form any adequate idea of the horror of my
situation. I gasped convulsively for breath^ a shudder
resembling a iit of the ague agitated every nerve and
muscle in my frame — 1 felt my eyes starting from
their sockets — a horrible nausea overwhelmed me —
.'and at length I lost all consciousness in a swoon.

How iong I remained in this state it is impossible
to say. It must, however, have been no inconsiderable
time, for, when I partially recovered the sense of
existence, I found the day breaking, the balloon at a
prodigious height over a wilderness of ocean, and not
a trace of land to be discovered far and wide within
the limits of the vast horizon. My sensations, how-
ever, upon thus recovering, were by no means so
replete with agony as might have been anticipated.
Indeed, there was much of madness in the calm
survey which I began to take of my situation. I drew
up to my eyes each of my hands, one after the other,
and wondered what occurrence could have given rise
to the swelling of the veins, and the horrible blackness
of the finger-nails. I afterwards carefully examined
148

d by Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

my head, shaking it repeatedly, and feeling it with
minute attention, until I succeeded in satisfying niyseli ,
that it was not, as I had more than half suspected,
larger than my "balloon. Then, in a knowing manner,
I felt in both my breeches pockets, and, missing there-
from a set of tablets and a toothpick case, endeavored
to account for their disappearance, and, not being able
to do so, felt inexpressibly chagrined. It now occurred
to me that I suffered great uneasiness in the joint of
my left ankle, and a dim consciousness of my situation
began to glimmer through my mind. But, strange to
say ! I was neither astonished nor horror-stricken. If
I felt any emotion at all, it was a kind of chuckling
satisfaction at the cleverness I was about to display
in extricating myself from this dilemma; and never,
for a moment, did I look upon my ultimate safety as a
question susceptible of doubt. For a few minutes I
remained wrapped in the profoundest meditation. I
have a distinct recollection of frequently compressing
my lips, putting my forefinger to the side of my no.se,
and making use of other gesticulations and grimaces
common to men who, at ease in their armchairs,
meditate upon matters of intricacy or importance.
Having, as I thought, sufficiently collected my ideas,
I now, with great caution and deliberation, put my
hands behind my back, and unfastened the large iron
buckle which belonged to the waistband of my panta- I
loons. This buckte had three teeth, which, being
somewhat rusty, turned with great difficulty on their
axis, 1 brought them, however, after some trouble, at
right angles to the body of the buckle, and was glad
to find them remain firm in that position. Holding
within my teeth the instrument thus obtained, I now
proceeded to untie the knot of my cravat I had to
149

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

L several times before 1 could accomplish this
It it was at leiigtii accomplished. To
one end of the cravat I then made fast the buckle,
and the other end I tied, for greater security, tightly
around my wrist. Drawing now my body upwards,
with a prodigious exertion of muscular force, I suc-
ceeded, at the very first trial, in throwing the buckle
over the car, and entangling it, as I had anticipated,
in the circular rim of the wicker-work.

My body was now inclined towards the side of the
car, at an angle of about forty-five degrees ; but it
must not be understood that I was therefore only
forty-five degrees below the perpendicular. So far
from it, I still lay nearly level with the plane of the
horizon ; for the change of situation which I had
acquired, had forced the bottom of the car consider-
ably outward from my position, which was accordingly
one of the most imminent peril. It should be remem-
bered, however, that when I fell, in the first instance,
from the car, if I had fallen with my face turned toward
the balloon, instead of turned outwardly from it as it
actually was — or if, in the second place, the cord by
which I was suspended had chanced to hang over the
upper edge, instead of through a crevice near the
bottom of the car — I say it may readily be conceived
that, in either of these supposed cases, I should have
been unable to accomplish even as much as I had
now accomplished, and the disclosures now made
would have been utterly lost to posterity. I had
therefore every reason to be grateful ; although, in
point of fact, I was still too stupid to be anything at
all, and hung for, perhaps, a quarter of an hour in
that extraordinary manner, without making the slight-
est farther exertion, and in a singularly tranquil state

I JO

;v Google

OF ONE HANS PFAALL

of idiotic enjoyment. But this feeling did not fail to
die rapidly away, and thereunto succeeded horror, and
dismay, and a, sense of utter helplessness and ruin.
In fact, the blood so long accumulating in the vessels
of my head and throat, and which had hitherto buoyed
up my spirits with delirium, had now begun to retire
within their proper channels, and the distinctness
which was thus added to my perception of the danger
merely served to deprive me of the self-possession and
courage to encounter it. But this weakness was,
luckily for me, of no very long duration. In good
time came to my rescue the spirit of despair, and,
with frantic cries and struggles, I jerked my way
bodily upwards, till, at length, clutching with a vice-
like grip the long-desired rim, I writhed my person
over it, and feli headlong and shuddering within the

It was not until some time afterward that I recov-
ered myself sufficiently to attend to the ordinary cares
of the balloon. I then, however, examined it with
attention, and found it, to ray great relief, uninjured.
My implements were all safe, and, fortunately, I had
lost neither ballast nor provisions. Indeed, I had so
well secured them in their places, that such an acci-
dent was entirely out of the question. Looking at my
watch, I found it six o'clock. I was still rapidly
ascending, and the barometer gave a present altitude
of three and three-quarter niiies. Immediately beneath
me in the ocean laj' a small black object, slightly
oblong in shape, seemingly about the size of a domino,
and in every respect bearing a great resemblance to
one of those toys. Bringing my telescope to bear
upon it, I plainly discerned it to be a British ninety-
four gun ship, ciose-hauled, and pitching heavily in

d by Google

the sea with her head to the W. S. W. Besides this
ship, I saw nothing but the ocean and the sky, and
the sun, which had long arisen.

It is now high time that I should explain to your
Excellencies the object of my voyage. Your Excel-
lencies will bear in mind that distressed circumstances
in Rotterdam had at length driven me to the resolu-
tion of committing suicide. It was not, however, that
to life itself I had any positive disgust, but that I was
harassed beyond endurance by the adventitious mis-
eries attending my situation. In this state of mind,
wishing to live, yet wearied with life, the treatise at
the stall of the bookseller, backed by the opportune
discovery of my cousin of Nantz, opened a resource
to my imagination. I then finally made up my mind.
1 determined to depart, yet live — to leave the world,
yet continue to exists in short, to drop enigmas, I
resolved, let what would ensue, to force a passage, if
, I could, to the moon. Now, lest I should be supposed
' more of a madman than I actually am, I will detail,
as well as I am able, the considerations which led me
to believe that an achievement of this nature, although
without doubt difficult and full of danger, was not
absolutely, to a bold spirit, beyond the confines of the
possible.

The moon's actual distance from the earth was the
first thing to be attended to. Now, the mean or
average interval between the centres of the two
planets is 599643 of the earth's equatorial radii, or
only about 237,000 miles. I say the mean or average
interval; but it must be borne in mind that, the form
of the moon's orbit being an ellipse of eccentricity
amounting to no less than 0.05484 of the major semi-
axis of the ellipse itself, and the earth's centre being

db, Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS FFAALL

situated in its focus, if 1 could, in any manner, con-
trive to meet the moon in its perigee, the above-
mentioned distance would be materially diminished.
But to say nothing, at present, of this possibility, it
was very certain that, at all events, from the 237,000
miles I would have to deduct the radius of the earth,
say 4,000, and the radius of the moon, say r,o8o, in all
5,080, leaving an actual interval to be traversed, under
average circumstances, of 231,920 miles. Now this,
I reflected, was no very extraordinary distance.
Travelling on the land has been repeatedly accom-
plished at the rate of sixty miles per hour; and indeed
3 much greater speed may be anticipated. But even
at this velocity, it would talce me no more than one
hundred and sixty-one days to reach tlie surface of the
moon. There were, however, many particulars in-
ducing me to believe that my average rate of travel-
ling might possibly very much exceed that of sixty
miles per hour, and, as these considerations did not
fail to make a deep impression upon my mind, I will
mention them more fully hereafter.

The next point to be regarded was one of far
greater importance. From indications afforded by
the barometer, we find that, in ascensions from the
surface of the earth, we have, at the height of
1,000 feet, left below us about one-thirtieth of the
entire mass of atmospheric air; that at 10,600, we
have ascended through nearly one-third ; and that at
i8,oco, which is not far from the elevation of Coto-
paxi, we have surmounted one-half the material, or, at
all events, one-half the ponderable body of air incum-
bent upon our globe. It is also calculated that at an
altitude not exceeding the hundredth part of the
earth's diameter — that is, not exceeding eighty miles
153

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

— the rarefaction would be so excessive that animal
life could in no manner be sustained, and, i
that the most delicate means we possess of a
ing the presence of the atmosphere would be inade-
quate to assure us of its existence. But 1 did not
fail to perceive that these latter calculations are
founded altogether on our experimental knowledge of
the properties of air, and the mechanical laws regulat-
ing its dilation and compression, in what may be
called, comparatively speaking, the immediate vicinity
of the earth itself; and, at the same time, it is taken
for granted that animal life is, and must be, essentiaUy
incapable of modification at any given unattainable
distance from the surface. Now, all such reasoning,
and from such data, must of course be simply analogi-
cal. The greatest height ever reached by man was
that of 25,000 feet, attained in the aeronautic expedi-
tion of Messieurs Gay-Lussac and Biot. This is a
moderate altitude, even when compared with the
eighty miles in question ; and I could not help think-
ing that the subject admitted room for doubt, and
great latitude for speculation.

But, in point of fact, an ascension being made to
any given altitude, the ponderable quantity of air sur-

mounted in Any farther
p p h dd

1 h gh a

ibyn.

11> f
1 ph

d by Google

Hosiedb, Google

■SCIENCE

light, was a matter worthy of attention. This radi-
ance, so apparent in the tropics, and which cannot
be mistaken for any meteoric lustre, extends from
the horizon obliquely upwards, and follows generally
the direction of the sun's equator. It appeared to
me evidently in the nature of a rare atmosphere
extending from the sun outwards, beyond the orbit
of Venus at least, and I believed indefinitely farther.'
Indeed, this medium 1 could not suppose confined
to the path of the comet's ellipse, or to the immediate
neighborhood of the sun. It was easy, on the contrary,
to imagine it pervading the entire regions of our
planetary system, condensed into what we call atmos-
phere at the planets themselves, and perhaps at some
of them modified by considerations purely geological ;
that is to say, modified, or varied in its proportions
(or absolute nature) by matters volatilized from the
respective orbs.

Having adopted this view of the subject, I had
little farther hesitation. Granting that on my pas-
sage I should meet with atmosphere essentially the
same as at the surface of the earth, I conceived that,
by means of the very ingenious apparatus of M.
Grimm, I should readily be enabled to condense it
in sufficient quantity for the purposes of respiration.
This would remove the chief obstacle in a journey
to the moon. I had indeed spent some money and
great labor in adapting the apparatus to the object
intended, and confidently looked forward to its
successful application, if I could manage to complete
the voyage within any reasonable period. — This

db, Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

brings me back to the rate at which it would be
possible to travel.

It is true that balloons, in the first stage of their
ascensions from the earth, are known to rise with a
velocity comparatively moderate. Now, the power
of elevation lies altogether in the superior gravity of
the atmospheric air compared with the gas in the
balloon; and, at first sight, it does not appear probable
that, as the balloon acquires altitude, and consequently
arrives successively In atmospheric strata of densities
rapidly diminishing — I say, it does not appear at all
reasonable that, in this its progress upward, the
original velocity should be accelerated. On the other
hand, I was not aware that, in any recorded ascension,
a ditninuHoa had been proved to be apparent in the
absolute rate of ascent ; although such should have
been the case, if on account of nothing else, on
account of the escape of gas through balloons ill
constructed, and varnished with no better material
than the ordinary varnish. It seemed, therefore, that
the effect of such escape was only sufficient to
counterbalance the effect of the acceleration attained
in the diminishing of the balloon's distance from the
gravitating centre. I now considered that, provided
in my passage I found the medium I had imagined,
and provided it should prove to be essentially what
we denominate atmospheric air, it could make com-
paratively little difference at what extreme state of
rarefaction I should discover it — that is to say, in
regard to my power of ascending — for the gas in the
balloon would not only be itself subject to similar
rarefaction (in proportion to the occurrence of which,
I could suffer an escape of so much as would be
requisite to prevent explosion), but, being what it was.

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIESCE

would, at all events, continue specifically lighter than
any compound whatever of mere nitrogen and oxygen.
Thus there was a chance — in fact, there was a strong
probability — that, at no epoch of my ascent, I should
reach a point where the united weights of my immense
balloon, the inconceivably rare gas within it, the car,
and its contents, should equal the -weight of the mass
of the surrounding atmosphere displaced ; and this
will be readily understood as the sole condition upon
which my upward flight would be arrested. But, if
this point were even attained, I could dispense with
ballast and other weight to the amount of nearly
300 pounds. In the mean time, the force of gravita-
tion would be constantly diminishing, in proportion
to the squares of the distances, and so, with a velocity
prodigiously accelerating, 1 should at length arrive
in those distant regions where the force of the earth's
attraction would be superseded by that of the moon.

There was another difiiculty, however, which
occasioned me some little disquietude. It has been
observed that, in balloon ascensions to any consider-
able height, besides the pain attending respiration,
great uneasiness is experienced about the head and
body, often accompanied with bleeding at the nose
and other symptoms of an alarming kind, and growing
more and more inconvenient in proportion to the
altitude attained.' This was a reflection of a nature
somewhat startling. Was it not probable that these
symptoms would increase until terminated by death

' Since the original publication of Hans Pfaall, I find that Mt.
Green, of Nassau-balloon notoriely, and oilier late aeronauts, deny
the assertions of Humboldt, in this respect, and speak of a-dscreai-

158

d by Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

itself? I finally thought not. Their origin was to
be looked for in the progressive removal of the custo-
mary atmospheric pressure upon the surface of the
body, and consequent distention of the superficial
blood-vessels — not in any positive disorganization
of the animal system, as in the case of difiicuity in
breathing, where the atmospheric density is chemically
insufficient lor the due renovation of blood in a ven-
tricle of the heart. Unless for default of this renova-
tion, I could see no reason, therefore, why life could
not be sustained even in a vacuum ; for the expan-
sion and compression of chest, commonly called
breathing, is action purely muscular, and the cause,
not the effect, of respiration. In a word, I conceived |
that, as the body should become habituated to the
want of atmospheric pressure, these sensations of
pain would gradually diminish — and to endure them
while they continued, I relied with confidence upon
the iron hardihood of my constitution.

Thus, may it please your Excellencies, I have de-
tailed some, though by no means all, the considera-
tions which led me to form the project of a lunar voy-
age. I shall now proceed to lay before you the result
of an attempt so apparently audacious in conception,
and, at all events, so utterly unparalleled in the annals
of mankind.

Having attained the altitude before mentioned —
that is to say, three miles and three-quarters — 1
threw out from the car a quantity of feathers, and
found that I stitl ascended with sufficient rapidity;'
tliere was, therefore, no necessity for discharging any
ballast. I was glad o£ this, for I wished to retain
with me as much weight as I could carry, for the
obvious reason that I could not be positive either
1 59

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

about the gravitation or the atmospheric density o£
the moon. I as yet suffered no bodily inconvenience,
breathing with great freedom, and feeling no pain
whatever in the head. The cat was lying very de-
murely upon my coat, which I had taken off, and
eying the pigeons with an air of nonchalance. These
latter being tied by the leg, to prevent their escape,
were busily employed in picking up some grains of
rice scattered for them in the bottom of the car.

At twenty minutes past six o'clock, the barometer
showed an elevation of 26,400 feet, or five miles to a
fraction. The prospect seemed unbounded. Indeed,
it is very easily calculated, by means of spherical
geometry, how great an extent of the earth's area I
beheld. The convex surface of any segment of a
sphere is to the entire surface of the sphere itself as
the versed sine of the segment to the diameter of the
sphere. Now, in my case, the versed sine — that is
to say, the ikickness of the segment beneath me —
was about equal to my elevation, or the elevation of
the point of sight above the surface. " As five miles,
then, to eight thousand," would express the proportion
of the earth's area seen by me. In other words, I be-
held as much as a sixteen-hundredth part of the
whole surface of the globe. The sea appeared un-
ruffled as a mirror, although, by mean's of the tele-
scope, I could perceive it to be in a state of violent
agitation. The ship was no longer visible, having
drifted away, apparently, to the eastward. I now
began to experience, at intervals, severe pain In the
head, especially about the ears — still, however, breath-
ing with tolerable freedom. The cat and pigeons
seemed to suffer no inconvenience whatsoever.

At twenty minutes before seven, the balloon entered
160

d by Google

a long series of dense cloud, which put me to great
trouble by damaging my condensing apparatus and
wetting me to the skin. This was, to be sure, a
singular rentonlre, for I had not believed it possible
that a cloud of this nature could be sustained at so
great an elevation. I thought it best, however, to
throw out two five-pound pieces of ballast, reserv-
ing still a weight of one hundred and sixty -five
pounds. Upon so doing, I soon rose above the diffi-
culty, and perceived immediately that I had obtained
a great increase in my rate of ascent. In a few
seconds after my leaving the cloud, a flash of vivid
lightning shot from one end of it to the other, and
caused it to Itindie up, throughout its vast extent, like
a mass of ignited charcoal. This, it must be remem-
bered, was in the broad light of day. No fancy may
picture the sublimity which might have been ex-
hibited by a similar phenomenon taking place amid
the darkness of the night. Hel! itself might then
have found 3 fitting image. Even as it was, my hair
stood on end, while I gazed afar down within the
yawning abysses, letting imagination descend, and
Stalk about in the strange vaulted halls, and ruddy
gulfs, and red ghastly chasms of the hideous and
unfathomable fire. I had indeed made a narrow
escape. Had the balloon remained a very short while
longer within the cloud — that is to say, had not the
inconvenience of getting wet determined me to dis-
charge the ballast — my destruction might, and
probably would, have been the consequence. Such
perils, although little considered, are perhaps the
greatest which must be encountered in balloons. I
had by this time, however, attained too great an
elevation to be any longer uneasy on this head.
vol. n. — M i6i

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

I was now rising rapidly, and by seven o'clock the
barometer Indicated an altitude of no less than nine
miles and a half. I began to find great difficulty in
drawing my breath. My head, too, was excessively
painful ; and, having felt for some time a moisture
about my cheeks, I at length discovered it to be
blood, which was oozing quite fast from the drums of
my ears. My eyes, also, gave me great uneasiness.
Upon passing the hand over them they seemed to
have protruded from their sockets in no inconsid-
erable degree ; and all objects in the car, and even the
balloon itself, appeared distorted to my vision. These
symptoms were more than I had expected, and occa-
sioned me some alarm. At this juncture, very impru-
dently, and without consideration, I threw out from the
car three five-pound pieces of ballast. The accelerated
rate of ascent thus obtained, carried me too rapidly,
and without sufficient gradation, into a highly rarefied
stratum of the atmosphere, and the result had nearly
proved fatal to my expedition and to myself. 1 was
suddenly seized with a spasm which lasted for more
than five minutes, and even when this in a measure
ceased, I could catch my breath only at long intervals,
and in a gasping manner, — bleeding all the while
copiously at the nose and ears, and even slightly at
the eyes. The pigeons appeared distressed in the
extreme, and struggled to escape; while the cat
mewed piteously, and with her tongue hanging out of
her mouth, staggered to and fro in tlie car as if under
the influence of poison. I now too late discovered
the great rashness of which I had been guilty in dis-
charging the ballast, and my agitation was excessive.
I anticipated nothing less than death, and death in a
few minutes. The physical suffering I underwent
162

d by Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS

contributed also to render me nearly incapable of
making any exertion for the preservation of my life.
I had, indeed, little power of reflection left, and the
violence of .the pain in my bead seemed to be greatly
on the increase. Thus I found that my senses would
shortly give way altogether, and I had already
clutched one of the valve ropes with the view of at-
tempting a descent, when the recollection of the trick
I had played the three creditors, and the possible
consequences to myself, should I return, operated to
deter me for the moment. I lay down in the bottom
of the car, and endeavored to collect my faculties.
In this I so far succeeded as to determine upon the
experiment of losing blood. Having no lancet, how-
ever, I was constrained to perform the operation in
the best manner 1 was able, and finally succeeded in
opening a vein in my left arm with the blade of my
penknife. The blood had hardly commenced flowing
when I experienced a sensible relief, and by the time
I had lost about half a moderate basin. full, most of
the worst symptoms had abandoned me entirely. I
nevertheless did not think it expedient to attempt
getting on my feet immediately; but, having tied up
my arm as well as I could, I lay still for about a
quarter of an hour. At the end of this time I arose,
and found myself freer from absolute pain of any
kind than I had been during the last hour and a
quarter of my ascension. The difficulty of breathing,
however, was diminished in a very shght degree, and
I found that it would soon be positively necessary to
make use of my condenser. In the mean time, look,
ing towards the cat, who was again snugly stowed
away upon my coat, I discovered, to my infinite sur-
prise, that she had taken the opportunity of my

■63

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-

indisposition to bring into light a litter of three little
kittens. This was an addition to the number of pas-
sengers on my part altogether unexpected; but I was
pleased at the occurrence. It would afford nie a
chance of bringing to a kind of test the truth of a
surmise, which, more than anything else, had influ-
enced me in attempting this ascension, I had ima-
gined that the habitual endurance of the atrnospheric
pressure at the surface of the earth was the cause,
or nearly so, of the pain attending animal existence
at a distance above the surface. Should the kittens
be found to suffer uneasiness in an equal degree -with
their mother, I must consider my theory in fault, but
a failure to do so I should look upon as a strong
confirmation of my idea.

By eight o'clock I had actually attained an elevation
of seventeen miles above the surface of the earth.
Thus it seemed to me evident that my rate of ascent
was not only on the increase, but that the progression
would have been apparent in a slight degree even
had I not discharged the ballast which 1 did. The
pains in mj' head and ears returned, at intervals, with
violence, and I still continued to bleed occasionally at
the nose ; but, upon the whole, I suffered much less
than might have been expected. I breathed, however,
at every moment, with more and more difficulty, and
each inhalation was attended with a troublesome
spasmodic action of the chest. I now unpacked the
condensing apparatus, and got it ready for immediate

The view of the earth, at this period of my ascension,
was beautiful indeed. To the westward, the north-
ward, and the southward, as far as I could see, lay a
boundless sheet of apparently unruffled ocean, which

164

db, Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE I

every moment g-ained a deeper and deeper tint of blue.
At a vast distance to the eastward, although perfectly
discernible, extended the islands of Great Britain, the
entire Atlantic coasts of France and Spain, with a
small portion of the northern part of the continent of
Africa. Of individual edifices not a trace could be
discovered, and the proudest cities of mankind had
utterly faded away from the face of the earth.

What mainly astonished me, in the appearance of
things below, was the seeming concavity of the surface
of the globe. I had, thoughtlessly enough, expected
to see its real convexity become evident as I ascended ;
but 3 very little reflection sufficed to explain the dis-
crepancy. A line, dropped from my position per-
pendicularly to the earth, would have formed the
perpendicular of a right-angled triangle, of which the
base would have extended from the right angle to the
horizon, and the hypothenuse from the horizon to my
position. But my height was little or nothing in
comparison with my prospect. In other words, the
base and hypothenuse of the supposed triangle would,
in my case, have been so long, when compared to the
perpendicular, that the two former might have been
regarded as nearly parallel. In this manner, the
horizon of the aeronaut appears always to be upon a
level with the car. But as the point immediately
beneath him seems, and is, at a great distance below
him, it seems, of course, also at a great distance below
the horizon. Hence the impression of concavity ;
and this impression must remain, until the elevation
shall bear so great a proportion to the prospect that
the apparent parallelism of the base and hypothenuse
disappears.

The pigeons about this time seeming to undergo
■Si

db, Google

TALES OF PSEtlDO-SrIENCE

much suffering, 1 determined upon giving tliem their
liberty. I first untied one of them, a beautiful gray-
mottled pigeon, and placed him upon the rim of the
wicker-work. He appeared extremely uneasy, looking
anxiously around him, fluttering his wings, and making
a loud cooing noise, but could not be persuaded to
trust himself from the car. I took him up at last,
and threw him to about half-a-dozen yards from the
balloon. He made, however no attempt to descend,
as I had expected, but t ug 1 d w th g eat vehemence
to get back, uttering at th am t m very shrill and
piercing cries. He at 1 gth 1 d in regaining

his former station on th m b t h 1 hardly done so
when his bead dropped ] 1 b st, and he fell
dead within the car. Tl h o d d not prove so
unfortunate. To prevent his following the example of
his companion, and accomplishing a return, I tiirew
him downwards with all my force, and was pleased to
find him continue his descent, with great velocity,
making use of his wings with ease, and in a perfectly
natural manner. In a very short time he was out of
sight, and I have no doubt he reached home in safety.
Puss, who seemed in a great measure recovered from
her illness, now made a hearty meal of the dead bird,
and then went to sleep with much apparent satisfac-
tion. Her kittens were quite lively, and so far evinced
not the slightest sign of any uneasiness.

At a quarter-past eight, being able no longer to
draw breath without the most intolerable pain, I
proceeded, forthwith, to adjust around the car the
apparatus belonging to the condenser. This appa-
ratus will require some little explanation, and your
Excellencies will please to bear in mind that my
object, in the first place, was to surround myself and
i66

d by Google

T ( h b g) d h wh

b h p d d h

outside of the ropes, to the upper rim or hoop where
the network is attached. Having pulled the bag up
in this way, and formed a complete enclosure on all
sides and at bottom, it was now necessary to fasten
up its top or mouth, by passing its material over the
hoop of the network, — in other words, between the
network and the hoop. But if the network were
separated from the hoop to admit this passage, what
was to sustain the car in the mean lime? Now the
network was not permanently fastened to the hoop,
but attached by a series of running loops or nooses.
I therefore undid only a few of these loops at one
time, leaving the car suspended by the remainder.
Having thus inserted a portion of the cloth forming
the upper part of the bag, I refastened the loops, — not
to the hoop, for that would have been impossible,
since the cloth now intervened, — but to a S2r;es of
large buttons, affixed to the cloth itself, abo it three
feet below the mouth of the bag ; the mtervals
between the buttons having been made to correspond
to the intervals between the loops. This done, a few
more of the loops were unfastened from the rim, a
farther portion of the cloth introduced, and the dia-
167

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

engaged loops then connected with their propeT
buttons. In this way it was possible to insert the
whole upper part of the bag between the network
and the hoop. It is evident that the hoop would now
drop down within the car, while the whole weight of
the car itself, with all its contents, would be held up
merely by the strength of the buttons. This, at first
sight, would seem an inadequate dependence ; but it
was by no means so, for the buttons were not only
very strong in themselves, but so close together that a
very slight portion of the whole weight was supported
by any one of them. Indeed, had the car and
contents been three times heavier than they were, I
should not have been at all uneasy. I now raised up
the hoop again within the covering of gum-elastic, and
propped it at nearly its former height by means of
three light poles prepared for the occasion. This was
done, of course, to keep the bag distended at the top,
ajid to preserve the lower part of the network in its
proper situation. All that now remained was to
fasten up the mouth of the enclosure; and this was
readily accomplished by gathering the folds of the
material together, and twisting them up very tightly
on the inside by means of a kind of stationary
tourniquet.

In the sides of the covering thus adjusted round the
car had been inserted three circular panes of thick
but clear glass, through which I could see without
difficulty around me in every horizontal direction. In
that portion of the cloth forming the bottom was
likewise a fourth window, of the same kind, and
corresponding with a small aperture in the floor of
the car itself. This enabled me to see perpendicularly
down, but having found it impossible to place any
i6S

d by Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

similar contrivance overhead, on account o£ the peculiar
manner of closing up the opening there, and the con-
sequent wrinkles in the cloth, 1 could expect to see
no objects situated directly in my zenith. This, of
course, was a matter of little consequence ; for, had I
even been able to place a window at top, the balloon
itself would have prevented my making any use of it.

About a foot below one of the side windows was a
circular opening, three inches in diameter, and fitted
with a brass rim adapted in its inner edge to the
windings of a screw. In this rim was screwed the
large tube of the condenser, the body of the machine
being, of course, within the chamber of gum-elastic.
Through this tube a quantity of the rare atmosphere
circumjacent being drawn by means of a vacuurn
created in the body of the machine, was thence dis-
charged, in a state of condensation, to mingle with the
thin air already in the chamber. This operation,
being repeated several times, at length filled the
chamber with atmosphere proper for all the purposes
of respiration. But in so confined a space it would,
in a short time, necessarily become foul, and unfit for
use from frequent contact with the lungs. It was
then ejected by a small valve at the bottom of the
car, — the dense air readily sinking into the thinner
atmosphere below. To avoid the inconvenience of
making a total vacuum at any moment within the
chamber, this purification was never accomplished all
at once, but in a gradual manner, — the valve being
opened only for a few seconds, then closed again,
until one or two strokes from the pump of the con-
denser had supplied the place of the atmosphere
ejected. For the sake of experiment I had put the
cat and kittens in a small basket, and suspended it

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO

outside the car to a button at the bottom, close by the

1 th gh h' h I ould feed them at any

m wh n n I did this at some little

k d b 1 1 mouth of the chamber, by

h 5 nd h h one of the poles before

m d o wh ti h k had been, attached. As

d dm tted in the chamber, the

h p d p b necessary ; the expansion

£ 1 Id ph e powerfully distending the

g I

B h m Ih df Ily mpleted these arrangements
and filled the chamber as explained, it wanted only
ten minutes of nine o'clock. During the whole period
of my being thus employed, I endured the most ter-
rible distress from difficulty of respiration, and bitterly
did I repent the negligence, or rather foolhardiness,
of which I had been guilty, of putting off to the last
moment a matter of so much importance. But having
at length accomplished it, I soon began to reap the
benefit of my invention. Once again I breathed with
perfect freedom and ease — and indeed why should f
not ? I was also agreeably surprised to find myself,
in a great measure, relieved from the violent pains
which had hitherto tormented me. A slight headache,
accompanied with a sensation of fulness o
about the wrists, the ankles, and the throat. ■
nearly all of which I had now to complain. Thu
seemed evident that a greater part of the a
attending the removal of atmospheric pressure had
actually itor« o^ as I had expected, and that much
of the pain endured for the last two hours should have
been attributed altogether to the effects of a deficient
respiration.

At twenty minutes before nine o'clock, — that is W
170

d by Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

eay, a short time prior to my closing up the mouth of
the chamber, — the mercury attained its limit, or ran
down, in the barometer, which, as I mentioned before,
was one of an extended construction. Ft then indi'
cated an altitude on my part of 132,000 feet, or five
and twenty miles, and I consequently surveyed at that
time an extent of the earth's area amounting to no less
than the three hundred- and- twentieth part of its entire
superficies. At nine o'clock 1 had again lost sight of
land to the eastward, but not before I became aware
that the balloon was drifting rapidly to the N. N. W,
The ocean beneath me still retained its apparei?! con-
cavity, although my view was often interrupted by the
masses of cloud which floated to and fro.

At half-past nine I tried the experiment of throw-
ing out a handful of feathers through the valve. They
did not float as I had expected, but dropped down
perpendicularly, like a bullet, en masse, and with the
greatest velocity, — being out of sight in a very few
seconds. I did not at firs! know what to make of this
extraordinary phenomenon ; not being able to believe
that my rate of ascent had, of a sudden, met with so
prodigious an acceleration. But it soon occurred to
me that the atmosphere was now far too rare to sus-
tain even the feathers ; that they actually fell, as they
appeared to do, with great rapidity; and that 1 had
been surprised by the united velocities of their descent
and my own elevation.

By ten o'clock I found that I had very little to
occupy my immediate attention. Affairs went on
swimmingly, and I believed the balloon lo be going
upwards with a speed increasing momently, although
I had no longer any means of ascertaining the pro-
gression of the increase. I suffered no pain or uneasi-
171

d by Google

TALES OF PSEU DO -SCIENCE

ness of any kind, and enjoyed better spirits than I had
at any period since my departure from Rotterdam;
busying myself now in examining the state of my
various apparatus, and now in regenerating the atmos-
phere within the chamber. This latter point 1 deter-
mined to attend to at regular intervals of forty minutes,
more on account of the preservation of my health,
than from so frequent a renovation being absolutely
necessary. In the mean while I could not help mak-
ing anticipations. Fancy revelled in the wild and
dreamy regions of the moon. Imagination, feeling
herself for once unshackled, roamed at will among the
ever-changing wonders of a shadowy and unstable
land. Now there were hoary and time-honored forests,
and craggy precipices, and waterfalls tumbling with
a loud noise into abysses without a bottom. Then
I came suddenly into still noonday solitudes, where
no wind of heaven ever intruded, and where vast
meadows of poppies and slender, lily-looking flowers
spread themselves out a weary distance, all silent and
motionless forever. Then again 1 journeyed far down
away into another country where it was all one dim
and vague lake, with a boundary-line of clouds. But
fancies such as these were not the sole possessors of
my brain. Horrors of a nature most stern and most
appalling would too frequently obtrude themselves upon
my mind, and shake the innermost depths of my soul
with the bare supposition of their possibility. Yet I
would not suffer my thoughts for any length of time to
dwell upon these latter speculations, rightly judging the
real and palpable dangers of the voyage sufficient for
my undivided attention.

At five o'clock P. m., being engaged in regenerating

the atmosphere within the chamber, I took that oppoi^

172

d by Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE Uf

tunity of observing the cat and kittens through the
valve. The cat herself appeared to suffer again very
much, and I had no hesitation in attributing her un-
easiness chiefly to a difficulty in breathing; but my
experiment with the kittens had resulted very strangely.
1 had expected, of course, to see them betray a sense
of pain, although in a less degree than their mother;
and this would have been sufficient to confirm my
opinion concerning the habitual endurance of atmos-
pheric pressure. But I was not prepared to find them,
upon close examination, evidently enjoying a high
degree of health, breathing with the greatest ease
and perfect regularity, and evincing not the slight-
est sign of any uneasiness. I could only account
for all this by extending my theory, and suppos-
ing that tlie highly rarefied atmosphere around
might perhaps not be, as I had taken for granted,
chemically insufficient for the purposes of iife, and
that a person born in such a medium might, possibly,
be unaware of any inconvenience attending its inhala-
tion, while, upon removal to the denser strata near the
earth, he might endure tortures of a similar nature to
those I had so lately experienced. It has since been
to me a matter of deep regret that an awkward acci-
dent, at this time, occasioned me the loss of my little
family of cats, and deprived me of the insight into this
matter which a continued experiment might have
afforded. In passing my hand through the valve,
with a cup of water for the old puss, the sleeve of my
shirt became entangled in the loop which sustained
the basket, and thus, in a moment, loosened it from
the button. Had the whole actually vanished into
air, it could not have shot from my sight in a more
abrupt and instantaneous manner. Positively, there
173

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

could not have intervened the tenth part of a second
between the disengagement of the basket and its abso-
lute disappearance with all that it contained. My
good wishes followed it to the earth, but of course I
had no hope that either cat or kittens would ever live
to tell the tale of their misfortune.

At six o'clock I perceived a great portion of the
earth's visible area to the eastward involved in thick
shadow, which continued to advance with great ra-
pidity, until, at five minutes before seven, the whole
surface in view was enveloped in the darkness of
night. It was not, however, until long after this time
that the rays of the setting sun ceased to illumine tlic
balloon; and this circumstance, although of course
fully anticipated, did not fail to give me an infinite
deal of pleasure. It was evident that, in the morn-
ing, I should behold the rising luminary many hours
at least before the citizens of Rotterdam, in spite of
their situation so much farther to the eastward, and
thus, day after day, in proportion to the height as-
cended, would I enjoy the light of the sun for a longer
and a longer period. I now determined to keep a jour-
nal of my passage, reckoning the days from one to
twenty-four hours continuously, without taking into
consideration the intervals of darkness.

At ten o'clock, feeling sleepy, I determined to lie
down for the rest of the night; but here a difficulty
presented itself, which, obvious as it may appear,
had escaped my attention up to the very moment
of which I am now speaking. If I went to sleep as
I proposed, how could the atmosphere in the chamber
be regenerated in the interim ? To breathe it for more
than an hour, at the farthest, would be a matter of
impossibility ; or, if even this term could be extended
174

d by Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

to an hour and a quarter, the most ruinous conse-
quences might ensue. The consideration of this
dilemma gave me no little disquietude ; and it will
hardly be believed that, after the dangers I had
undergone, I should look upon this business in so
serious a light as to give up all hope of accomplish-
ing my ultimate design, and finally make up my mind
to the necessity of a descent. But this hesitation
was only momentary. I reflected that man is the
veriest slave of custom, and that many points in the
routine of his existence are deemed essentially im-
portant, which are only so at all by his having
rendered them habitual. It was very certain that I
could not do without sleep ; but I might easily bring
myself to feel no inconvenience from being awakened
at intervals of an hour during the whole period of my
repose. It would require but five minutes, at most,
to regenerate the atmosphere in the fullest manner —
and the only real difficulty was to contrive a method
of arousing myself at the proper moment for so doing.
But this was a question which, I am wiUing to con-
fess, occasioned me no little trouble in its solution.
To be sure, I had heard of the student who, to prevent
his falling asleep over his books, held in one hand a
ball of copper, the din of whose descent into a basin
of the same metal on the floor beside his chair served
effectually to startle him up, if, at any moment, he
should be overcome with drowsiness. My own case,
however, was very different indeed, and left me no
room for any similar idea ; for I did not wish to keep
awake, but to be aroused from slumber at regular
intervals o£ time. I at length hit upon the following
expedient, which, simple as it may seem, was hailed
by me, at the moment of discovery, as
'75

d by Google

period of sixty minutes. This, of course, was a mat-
ter briefly and easily ascertained, by noticing the
proportion of the pitcher filled in any given time.
Having arranged all this, the rest of the plan is

176

db, Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

obvious. My bed was so contrived upon the floor
of tlie car as to bring my liead, in lying down, immedi-
ately below the mouth of the pitcher. It was evident
that, at the- expiration of an hour, the pitcher, getting
full, would be forced to run over, and to run over at
the mouth, which was somewhat lower than the rim.
It was also evident that the water, thus falling from
a height of more than four feet, could not do other-
wise than fa!! upon my face, and that the sure conse-
quence would be to waken me up instantaneously,
even from the soundest slumber in the world.

It was fully eleven by the time I had completed
these arrangements, and I immediately betook myself
to bed, with full confidence in the efficiency of my
invention. Nor in this matter was I disappointed.
Punctually every sixty minutes was I aroused by my
trusty chronometer, when, having emptied the pitcher
into the bung-hole of the keg, and performed the
duties of the condenser, 1 retired again to bed.
These regular interruptions to my slumber caused me
even less discomfort than ! had anticipated ; and when
I finally arose for the day, it was seven o'clock, and
the sun had attained many degrees above the line of
my horizon.

April 'id. I found the balloon at an immense
height indeed, and the earth's convexity had now
become strikingly manifest. Below me in the ocean
lay a cluster of black specks, which undoubtedly
were islands. Overhead, the sky was of a jetty black,
and the stars were brilliantly visible ; indeed they had
been so constantly since the first dav of ascent. Far
away to the northward I perceived a thin, white, and
exceedingly brilliant line, or streak, on the edge of
the horizon, and I had no hesitation in supposing it
VOL. iL— 12 177

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

to be the southern disk of the ices of the Polar sea.
My curiosity was greatly excited, for I had hopes of
passing on much farther to the north, and might
possibly, at some period, find myself placed directly
above the Pole itself, I now lamented that my great
elevation would, in this case, prevent my taking as
accurate a survey as I could wish. Much, however,
might be ascertained.

Nothing else of an extraordinary nature occurred
during the day. My apparatus all continued in good
order, and the balloon still ascended without any per-
ceptible vacillation. The cold was intense, and obliged
me to wrap up closely in an overcoat. When dark-
ness came over the earth, I betook myself to bed,
although it was for many hours afterwards broad day-
light all around my immediate situation. The water-
clock was punctual in its duty, and I slept until next
morning soundly, with the exception of the periodical
interruption.

April \th. Arose in good health and spirits, and
was astonished at the singular change which had
taken place in the appearance of the sea. It had lost,
in a great measure, the deep tint of blue it had hitherto
worn, being now of a grayish-white, and of a lustre
daziling to the eye. The convexity of the ocean had
become so evident that the entire mass of the distant
water seemed to be tumbling headlong over the abyss
of the horizon, and I found myself listening on tiptoe
for the echoes of the mighty cataract. The islands
were no longer visible ; whether they had passed down
the horizon to the southeast, or whether my increasing
elevation had left them out of sight, it is impossible
to say. I was inclined, however, to the latter opinion.
The rim of ice to the northward was growing more
178

d by Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE UJ

and more apparent. Cold by no means so intense.
Nothing of importance occurred, and I passed the day
in reading, having taken care to supply myself with
books. -

April ith. Beheld the singular phenomenon of the
sun rising while nearly the whole visible surface o£
ihe earth continued to be involved in darkness. In
time, however, the light spread itself over all, and I
again saw the line of ice to the northward. It was
now very distinct, and appeared of a much darker hue
than the waters of the ocean. I was evidently api-
proaching it, and with great rapidity. Fancied I
could again distinguish a strip of land to the eastward,
and one also to the westward, but could not be cer-
tain. Weather moderate. Nothing of any conse-
quence happened during the day. Went early to
bed.

April dth. Was surprised at finding the rim of
ice at a very moderate distance, and an immense field
of the same material stretching away off to the hori-
zon in (he north. It was evident that if the balloon
held its present course it would soon arrive above the
Frozen Ocean, and I had now little doubt of ulti-
mately seeing the Pole. During the whole of the day
I continued to near the ice. Towards night the limits
of my horizon very suddenly and materially increased,
owing undoubtedly to the earth's form being that of
an oblate spheroid, and my arriving above the flat-
tened regions in the vicinity of the Arctic circle.
When darkness at length overtook me, I went to bed
in great anxiety, fearing to pass over the object of so
much curiosity when I should have no opportunity of
observing it.

April flh. Arose early, and, to my great joy, at
179

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

length beheld what there could be no hesitation in
supposing the northern Pole itself. It was there,
beyond a doubt, and immediately beneath my feet;
but, alas ! I had now ascended to so vast a distance
that nothing could with accuracy be discerned. In-
deed, to judge from the progression of the numbers
indicating my various altitudes, respectively, at differ-
ent periods, between six, a. m., on the second of April,
and twenty minutes before nine, A. m., of the same
day (at which time the barometer ran down) it might
be fairly inferred that the balloon had now, at four
o'clock in the morning of April the seventh, reached a
height of not less, certainly, than 7,254 miles above
(he surface of the sea. This elevation may appear
immense, but the estimate upon which it is calculated
gave a result in all probability far inferior to the
truth. At all events I undoubtedly beheld the whole
of the earth's major diameter; the entire northern
hemisphere lay beneath me like a chart orthographi-
cally projected ; and the great circle of the equator
itself formed the boundary line of my horizon. Your
Excellencies may, however, readily imagine that the
confined regions hitherto unexplored within the limits
of the Arctic circle, although situated directly beneath
me, and therefore seen without any appearance of
being foreshortened, were still, in themselves, com-
paratively too diminutive, and at too great a distance
from the point of sight, to admit of any very accurate
examination. Nevertheless, what could be seen was
of a nature singular and exciting. Northwardly from
that huge rim before mentioned, and which, with
slight qualification, may be called the limit of human
discovery in these regions, one unbroken, or nearly
unbroken, sheet of ice continues to extend. In the

db, Google

OF ONE HANS

first few degrees of this its progress, its surface is very
sensibly flattened, farther on depressed into a plane,
and finally, becoming not a little concave, it termi-
nates, at" the Pole itself, in a circular centre, sharply
defined, whose apparent diameter subtended at the
balloon an angle of about sixty-five seconds, and
whose dusky hue, varying in intensity, was at all times
darker than any other spot upon the visible hemi-
sphere, and occasionally deepened into the most ab-
solute blackness. Farther than this, little could be
ascertained. By twelve o'clock the circular centre
had materially decreased in circumference, and by
seven, p. M., I lost sight of it entirely; the balloon
passing over the western limb of the ice, and floating
away rapidly in the direction of the equator.

April ith. Found a sensible diminution in the
earth's apparent diameter, besides a material altera-
tion in its general color and appearance. The whole
visible area partook in different degrees of a tint of
pale yellow, and in some portions had acquired a
brilliancy even painful to the eye. My view down-
wards was also considerably impeded by the dense
atmosphere in the vicinity of the surface being loaded
with clouds, between whose masses I could only now
and then obtain a glimpse of the earth itself. This
difficulty of direct vision had troubled me more or less
for the last forty.eight hours; but my present enor-
mous elevation brought closer together, as it were,
the floating bodies of vapor, and the inconvenience
became, of course, more and more palpable in pro-
portion to ray ascent. Nevertheless, I could easily
perceive that the balloon now hovered above the
range of great lakes in the continent of North
America, and was holding a course, due south, which

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

would soon bring me to the tropics. This circum-
stance did not fail to give me tile most heartfelt
satisfaction, and I hailed it as a happy omen of ulti-
mate success. Indeed, the direction I had hitherto
taken had filled me with uneasiness; for it was evi-
dent that, had I continued it much longer, there would
have been no possibility of my arriving at the moon
at ail, whose orbit is inclined to the ecliptic at only
the small angle of 5° 8' 4S". Strange as it may seem,
it was only at this late period that I began to under-
stand the great error I had committed, in not taking
my departure from earth at some point in the plane of
the lunar ellipse.

April ijth. To-day, the earth's diameter was greaOy
diminished, and the color of the surface assumed
hourly a deeper tint of yellow. The balloon kept
Steadily on her course to the southward, and arrived,
at nine, p. m., over the northern edge of the Mexican
Gulf.

April \oth. I was suddenly aroused from slumber,
about five o'clock this morning, by a loud, crackling,
and terrific sound, for which I could in no manner
account. It was of very brief duration, but, while it
lasted, resembled nothing in the world of which I bad
any previous experience. It is needless to say that
1 became excessively alarmed, having in the first
instance attributed the noise to the bursting of the
balloon. I examined all my apparatus, however, with
great attention, and could discover nothing out of
order. Spent a great part of the day in meditating
upon an occurrence so extraordinary, but could find
no means whatever of accounting for it. Went to
bed dissatisfied, and in a state of great anxiety and
agitation.

182

d by Google

OF ONE HANS

April wlh. Found a startling diminution in the
apparent diameter of the earth, and a considerable
increase, now observable for the lirst time, in that of
the moon itself, which wanted only a few days of
being full. It now required long and excessive labor
to condense within the chamber sufficient atmospheric
air for the sustenance of life.

April i2ih. A singular alteration took place in
regard to the direction of the balloon, and, although
fully anticipated, afforded me the most unequivocal
delight. Having reached, in its former course, about
the twentieth parallel of southern latitude, it turned
off suddenly, at an acute angle, to the eastward, and
thus proceeded throughout the day, keeping nearly, if
not altogether, in (ht exact plane of tht lunar ellipse.
What was worthy of remark, a very perceptible
vacillation in the car was a consequence of this
change of route, — a vacillation which prevailed, in a
more or less degree, for a period of many hours.

April \-^th. Was again very much alarmed by a
repetition of the loud crackling noise which terrified
me on the tenth. Thought long upon the subject, but
was unable to form any satisfactory conclusion. Great
decrease in the earth's apparent diameter, which now
subtended from the balloon an angle of very little
more than twenty-five degrees. The moon could not
be seen at all, being nearly in my zenith. I still
continued in the plane of the ellipse, but made little
progress to the eastward.

April 14/A. Extremely rapid decrease in the
diameter of the earth. To-day I became strongly
impressed with the idea that the balloon was now
actually running up the line of apsides to the point of
perigee, — in other words, holding the direct course
■S3

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

which would bring it immediately to the moon in that
part of its orbit the nearest to the earth. The moon
itself was directly overhead, and consequently hidden
from my view. Great and long-continued labor neces-
sary for the condensation of the atmospliere.

April \lth. Not even the outlines of continents
and seas could now be traced upon the earth with
distinctness. About twelve o'clock I became aware,
for the third time, of that appalling sound which had
so astonished me before. It now, however, continued
for some moments, and gathered intensity as it con-
tinued. At length, while, stupefied and terror-stricken,
I stood in expectation of I knew not what hideous
destruction, the car vibrated with excessive violence,
and a gigantic and learning mass of some material
which I could not distinguish came with a voice of
a thousand thunders, roaring and booming by the
balloon. When my fears and astonishment had in
some degree subsided, I had little difficulty in suppos-
ing it to be some mighty volcanic fragment ejected
from that world to which I was so rapidly approach-
ing, and, in all probability, one of that singular class of
substances occasionally picked up on the earth, and
termed meteoric stones for want of a better appellation.

April i6tk. To-day, looking upwards as well as I
could, through each of the side windows alternately, I
beheld, to my great delight, a very small portion of
the moon's disk protruding, as it were, on all sides
beyond the huge circumference of the balloon. My
agitation was extreme ; for I had now little doubt of
soon reaching the end of my perilous voyage. Indeed,
the labor now required by the condenser had increased
to a most oppressive degree, and allowed me scarcely
any respite from exertion. Sleep was a matter nearly
184

d by Google

ADVENTURE OE ONE HANS

out of the question. I became quite ill, and my
frame trembled with exhaustion. It was irnpossible
that human nature could endure this state of intense
suffering much longer. During the now brief interval
of darkness a meteoric stone again passed in my
vicinity, and the frequency of these phenomena began
to occasion me much apprehension.

April i-jtk. This morning proved an epoch in my
voyage. It will be remembered that, on the thirteenth,
the earth subtended an angular breadth of twenty-
five degrees. On the fourteenth, this had greatly
diminished; on the fifteenth, a still more rapid
decrease was observable ; and, on retiring for the
night of the sixteenth, I had noticed an angle of no
more than about seven degrees and fifteen minutes.
What, therefore, must have been my amazement, on
awakening from a brief and disturbed slumber, on the
morning of this day, the seventeenth, at finding the
surface beneath me so suddenly and wonderfully
augmented in volume, as to subtend no less than
thirty-nine degrees in apparent angular diameter 1 I
was thunderstruck ! No words can give any adequate
idea of the extreme, the absolute horror and astonish-
ment, with which I was seized, possessed, and alto-
gether overwhelmed. My knees tottered beneath me
— my teeth chattered — my hair started up on end.
" The balloon, then, had actually burst ! " These
were the first tumultuous ideas which hurried through
my mind; "The balloon liad positively burst! — I
was falling — ■ falling with the most impetuous, the
most unparalleled velocity! To judge from the
immense distance already so quickly passed over, it
could not be more than ten minutes, at the farthest,
before I should meet the surface of the earth, and
I8s

db, Google

TALES OF

be hurled into annihilation ! " But at length reflec-
tion came to my relief. I paused ; I considered ; and
I began to doubt. The matter was impossible. I
could not in any reason have so rapidly come down.
Besides, although I was evidently approaching the
surface below me, it was with a speed by no means
commensurate with the velocity I had at first con-
ceived. This consideration served to calm the per-
turbation of my mind, and I finally succeeded in
regarding the phenomenon in its proper point of view.
In fact, amazement must have fairly deprived me of
my senses, when I could not see the vast difference, in
appearance, between the surface below me, and the
surface of my mother earth. The latter was indeed
over my head, and completely hidden by the balloon,
while the moon — the moon itself ia all its glory —
lay beneath me, and at my feet.

The stupor and surprise produced in my mind by
this extraordinary change in the posture of affairs,
was perhaps, after all, that part of the adventure least
susceptible of explanation. For the bouUversemenl
in itself was not only natural and inevitable, but had
been long actually anticipated, as a circumstance to
be expected whenever I should arrive at that exact
point of my voyage where the attraction of the planet
should be superseded by the attraction of the satellite
— or, more precisely, where the gravitation of the
balloon towards the earth should be less powerful
than its gravitation towards the moon. To be sure, I
arose from a sound slumber, with all my senses in
confusion, to the contemplation of a very startling
phenomenon, and one which, although expected, was
not expected at the moment- The revolution itself
must, of course, have taken place in an easy and

db, Google

gradual manner, and it is by no means clear that, had
I even been awake at the time of the occurrence, I
should have been made aware of it by any internal
evidence of an inversion — that is to say, by any
inconvenience or disarrangement, either about my
person or about my apparatus.

It is almost needless to say, that, upon coming to
a due sense of my situation, and emerging from the
terror which had absorbed every faculty of my soul,
my attention was, in the first place, wholly directed
to the contemplation of the general physical appear-
ance of the moon. It lay beneath me like a chart —
and although I judged it to be still at no inconsider-
able distance, the indentures of its surface were
defined to my vision with a most striking and alto-
gether unaccountable distinctness. The entire absence
of ocean or sea, and indeed of any lake or river, or
body of water whatsoever, struck me, at the first
glance, as the most extraordinary feature in its geologi-
cal condition. Yet, strange to say, I beheld vast level
regions of a character decidedly alluvia!, although
by far the greater portion of the hemisphere in sight
was covered with innumerable volcanic mountains,
conical in shape, and having more the appearance of
artificial than of natural protuberances. The highest
among them does not exceed three and three-quarter
miles in perpendicular elevation ; but a map of the
volcanic districts of the Campi Phlegrai would afford
to your Excellencies a better idea of their general
surface than any unworthy description I might think
proper to attempt. The greater part of them were
in a state of evident eruption, and gave me fearfully
to understand their fury and their power, by the
repeated thunders of the miscalled meteoric stones,

d by Google

TALES OF

which now rushed upwards by the balloon with a
frequency more and more appalling.

April \Ztk. To-day I found an enormous increase
in the moon's apparent bulk — and the evidently
accelerated velocity of my descent began to fill me
with alarm. It will be remembered that, in the
earliest stage of my speculations upon the possibility
of a passage to the moon, the existence, in its vicinity,
of an atmosphere dense in proportion to the bulk of
the planet, had entered largely into ray calculations ;
this too in spite of many theories to the contrary, and,
It may be added, in spite of a general disbelief in the
existence of any lunar atmosphere at all. But, in
addition to what I have already urged in regard to
Encke's comet and the zodiacal light, I had been
strengthened in my opinion by certain observations
of Mr. Schroeter, of Lilienthal. He observed the
moon, when two days and a half old, in the evening
soon after sunset, before the dark part was visible,
and continued to watch it until it becarne visible.
The two cusps appeared tapering in a very sharp
faint prolongation, each exhibiting its farthest ex-
tremity faintly illuminated by the solar rays, before
any part of the dark hemisphere was visible. Soon
afterwards, the whole dark limb became illuminated.
This prolongation of the cusps beyond the semicircle,
I thought, must have arisen from the refraction of
the sun's rays by the moon's atmosphere. I com-
puted, also, the height of the atmosphere (which could
refract light enough into its dark hemisphere to
produce a twilight more luminous than the light
reflected from the earth when the moon is about 32°
from the new) to be i,3j6 Paris feet; in this view, I
supposed the greatest height capable of refracting

d by Google

OF ONE HANS PFAALL

the solar ray to be 5,376 feet. My ideas upon this
topic had also received confirmation by a passage in
the eighty-second volume of the Philosophical Trans-
actions, in-which it is slated that, at an occultation of
Jupiter's satellites, the third disappeared after having
been about i" or 2" of time indistinct, and the fourth
became indiscernible near the limb.'

Upon the resistance, or more properly, upon the
support of an atmosphere, existing in the state of
density imagined, I had, of course, entirely depended
for the safety of my ultimate descent. Should I then,
after all, prove to have been mistaken, I had in con-
sequence nothing better to expect, as a finale to my
adventure, than being dashed into atoms against the
rugged surface of the satellite. And, indeed, 1 had
now every reason to be terrified. My distance from
the moon was comparatively trifling, while the labor
required by the condenser was diminished not at all,
and I could discover no indication whatever of a
decreasing rarity in the air.

1 Hevelius writes that he has several times found, in skies per-
fectly clear, when even stars of the sixth and seventh magnitude
were conspicuous, that, at the same altitude of the moon, at the
same elongation from the earth, and with one and the same excel-
lent telescope, the moon and it; macule did not appear equally
lucid at all times. From the circumstances of the observation, it

air, in the lube, in the moon, or in the eye of the spectator, but
must be looked for in something (an atmosphere ?) existing about
the moon.

Cassini frequently observed Saturn, Jupiter, and the fined stars,
when approaching the moon to occultation, to have their circular
figure changed into an oval one; and, in other occultations, he

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

April 19/A, This morning, to my great joy, aboot
nine o'clock, the surface of the moon being frightfully
near, and my apprehensions excited to the utmost,
the pump of my condenser at length gave evident
tokens of an alteration in the atmosphere. Ey ten,
I had reason to believe its density considerably
increased. By eleven, very little labor was necessary
at the apparatus ; and at twelve o'clock, with some
hesitation, I ventured to unscrew the tourniquet,
when, finding co inconvenience from having done
so, I finally threw open the gum-elastic chamber, and
unrigged it from around the car. As might have been
expected, spasms and violent headache were the
immediate consequences of an experiment so precipi-
tate and full of danger. But these and other difficul-
ties attending respiration, as they were by no means
so great as to put me in peril of my life, I determined
to endure as I best could, in consideration of my
leaving them behind me momently in my approach
to the denser strata near the moon. This approach,
however, was still impetuous in the extreme ; and
it soon became alarmingly certain that, although I
had probably not been deceived in the expectation of
an atmosphere dense in proportion to the mass of
the satellite, still f had been wrong in supposing this
density, even at the surface, at all adequate to the
support of the great weight contained in the car of
my balloon. Yet this should hays been the case, and
in an equal degree as at the surface of the earth, the
actual gravity of bodies at either planet supposed in
the ratio of the atmospheric condensation. That it
was not the case, however, my precipitous downfall
gave testimony enough ; wky it was not so, can only
be explained by a reference to those possible geo-
190

d by Google

AD VENT ORE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

logical disturbances to which I have formerly alluded.
At all events I was now close upon the planet, and
coming down with the most terrible impetuosity. I
lost not a moment, accordingly, in throwing overboard
first my ballast, then my water-kegs, then my condens-
ing apparatus and gum-elastic chamber, and finally
every article within the car. But it was all to no
purpose. I still fell with horrible rapidity, and was
now not more than half a mile from the surface. As
a last resource, therefore, having got rid of my coat,
hat, and boots, I cut loose from the balloon the car
itself, which was of no inconsiderable weight, and
thus, clinging with both hands to the network, I had
barely time to observe thai the whole country, as far
as the eye could reach, was thickly interspersed with
diminutive habitations, ere I tumbled headlong into
the very heart of a fantastical-looking city, and into
the middle of a vast crowd of ugly little people, who
none of them uttered a single syllable, or gave them-
selves the least trouble to render me assistance, but
stood, like a parcel of idiots, grinning in a ludicrous
manner, and eying me and my balloon askant, with
their arras set akimbo. I turned from them in con-
tempt, and, gazing upwards at the earth so lately
left, and left perhaps forever, beheld it like a huge,
dull, copper shield, about two degrees in diameter,
fixed immovably in the heavens overhead, and tipped
on one of its edges with a crescent border of the most
brilliant gold. No traces of land or water could be
discovered, and the whole was clouded with vari-
able spots, and belted with tropical and equatorial

Thus, may it please your Excellencies, after a series

of great anxieties, unheard-of dangers, and unparal-

191

d by Google

leied escapes, I had, at length, on the nineteenth day
of my departure from Rotterdam, arrived in safety at
the conclusion of a voyage undoubtedly the most
extraordinary and the most momentous ever accom-
plished, undertaken, or conceived by any denizen of
earth. But my adventures yet remain to be related.
And indeed your Excellencies may well imagine that,
after a residence of five years upon a planet not only
deeply interesting in its own peculiar character, but
rendered doubly so by its intimate connection, in
capacity of satellite, with the world inhabited by man,
I may have intelligence for the private ear of the
States' College of Astronomers of far more importance
than the details, however wonderful, of the mere voy-
age which so happily concluded. This is, in fact, the
ease. I have much — very much which it would give
me the greatest pleasure to communicate. I have
much to say of the climate of the planet ; of its won-
derful aStemations of heat and cold ; of unmitigated
and burning sunshine for one fortnight, and more than
polar frigidity for the next; of a constant transfer of
moisture, by distillation like that in vacuo, from the
point beneath the sun to the point the farthest from it;
of a variable zone of running water; of the people
themselves; of their manners, customs, and political
institutions; of their peculiar physical construction;
of their ugliness; of their want of ears, those useless
appendages in an atmosphere so peculiarly modified;
of their consequent ignorance of the use and proper-
ties of speech ; of their substitute for speech in a sin-
gular method of intercommunication ; of the incom-
prehensible connection between each particular indi-
vidual in the moon with some particular individual on
the earth — a connection analogous with and depend-
192

;v Google

? ONE RAWS PFAALL

ing upon that of the orbs of the planet and the satel
lite, and by means of which the Uves and destinies oi
the inhabitants of the one are interwoven with the
lives and- destinies of the inhabitants of the other; and
above all, if it so please your Excellencies, — above all
of those dark and hideous mysteries which lie in the
outer regions of the moon, — regions which, owing to
the almost miraculous accordance of the satellite's
rotation on its own axis with its sidereal revolution
about the earth, have never yet been turned, and, by
God's mercy, never shall be turned, to the scrutiny of
the telescopes of man. All this, and more — much
more — would I most willingly detail. But, to be
brief, I must have my reward. I am pining for a
return to my family and to my home ; and as the price
of any farther communications on my part — in con-
sideration of the light which I have it in my power to
throw upon many very important branches of physical
and metaphysical science — I must solicit, througli the
influence of your honorable body, a pardon for the
crime of which I have been guilty in the death of the
creditors upon my departure from Rotterdam, This,
then, is the object of the present paper. Its bearer,;
an inhabitant of the moon, whom I have prevailed '
upon, and properly instructed, to be my messenger to
the earth, will await your Excellencies' pleasure, and
return to me with the pardon in question, if it can in
any manner be obtained.

I have the honor to be, &c., your Excellencies' very

humble si

Hans Pfaall.

Upon finishing the perusal of this very extraordinary
document, Professor Rubadub, it is said, dropped his
pipe upon the ground in the extremity of his surprise,

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

and Mynheer Superbiis Von Underduk having taken
off his spectacles, wiped tliem, and deposited them in
his pocket, so far forgot both himself and his dignity
as to turn round three times upon his heel in the quin-
tessence of astonishment and admiration. There was
no doubt about the matter — the pardon should be
obtained. So at least swore, with a round oath, Pro-
fessor Rubadub, and so finally thought the illustrious
Von Underduk, as he took the arm of his brother in
science and, without saying a word, began to make
the best of his way home to deliberate upon the meas-
ures to be adopted. Having reached the door, how.
ever, of the burgomaster's dwelling, the professor
ventured to suggest that as the messenger had thought
proper to disappear — no doubt frightened to death
by the savage appearance of the burghers of Rotter-
dam—the pardon would he of little use, as no one
but a man of the moon would undertake a voyage to
so vast a distance. To the truth of this observation
the burgomaster assented, and the matter was there-
fore at an end. Not so, however, rumors and specu-
lations. The letter, having been pubhshed, gave rise
to a variety of gossip and opinion. Some of the over-
wise even made themselves ridiculous by decrying the
whole business as nothing better than a hoax. But
hoax, with this sort of people, is, I believe, a general
term for all matters above their comprehension. For
my part, 1 cannot conceive upon what data they have
founded such an accusation. Let tik see what they

Imprimis. That certain wags in Rotterdam have
certain especial antipathies to certain burgomasters

Secondly. That an odd little dwarf and bottle ci

;v Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HJ

jurer, both of whose ears, tor some misdemeanor, have
been cut off close to his head, has been missing for
several days from the neighboring city of Bruges,

Thirdly. That the newspapers which were stuck
all over the little balloon, were newspapers of Holland,
and therefore could not have been made in the moon.
They were dirty papers — very dirty — and Cluck, the
printer, would take his bible oath to their having been
printed in Rotterdam.

Fourthly. That Hans Pfaal! h mself the drunken
villain, and the three very idle gen le en st led his
creditors, were all seen, no longer han no or three
days ago, in a tippling house n he subu bs having
just returned, with money in t! e r pocke s from a trip
beyond the sea.

Lastly. That it is an opinion very generally re-
ceived, or which ought to be generally received, that
the College of Astronomers in the city of Rotterdam,
as well as all other colleges in all other parts of the
world, ^ not to mention colleges and astronomers in
general, — are, to say the least of the matter, not a
whit better, nor greater, nor wiser than they ought
to be.

Note. — Strictly speaking, there is but little similarity
between the above sketchy trifle and the celebrated
" Moon-Story " of Mr. Locke ; but as both have the charac-
ter of koaxi! (although the one is in a tone of banter, the
other of downright earnest), and zs both hoajies are on tha
same subject, the moon — moreover, as both attempt to
give plausibility by scientific detail — the author of " Hans
Pfaall" thinks it necessary to say, in sdf-defince, that bis
own jiu d'lsprit was published, in the " Souihem Literary
Messenger," about three weeks before the coaunencement
'95-

d by Google

TALES C

of Mr. L.'s in the New York " Sun." Fancying a likeness
which, perhaps, does not exist, some of the New York
papers copied " Hans Kiall," and collated it with the
" Moon-Hoajt," by way of detecting the writer of the one
in the writer of the other.

As many more persons were actually gulled by the
" Moon-Hoax " than would be willing to acknowledge the
fact, it may here afford some little amusement to show why
tio one should have been deceived — to point out those
particulars of the story which should have been sufficient
to establish its real character. Indeed, however rich the
imagination displayed in this ingenious fiction, it wanted
much of the force which might have been given it by a
more scrupulous attention to facts and to general analogy.
That the public were misled, even for an instant, merely
proves the gross ignorance which is so generally prevalent
upon subjects of an astronomical nature.

The moon's distance from the earth is, in round num-
bers, 240,000 miles. If we desire to ascertain how near,
apparently, a lens would bring the satellite (or any distant
object) we, of course, have but to divide the distance by
the magnifying, or, more strictly, by the space-penetrating
power of the glass. Mr. L. makes his lens have a power
of 43,000 times. By this divide 240,000 (the moon's real
distance), and we have five miles and five sevenths, as the
apparent distance. No animal at all could be seen so far;
much less the minute points particularized in the story.
Mr. L. speaks about Sir John Herschel's perceiving flowers
(the Papaver rhceas, &c.) and even detecting the color and
the shape of the eyes of small birds. Shortly before, too,
he has himself olraerved that the lens would not render
perceptible objects of less than eighteen inches in diam-
eter ; but even this, as I have said, is giving the glass by
far too great power. It may be observed, in passing, thai
this prodigious glass is said to have been moulded at the
glass-house of Messrs, Hartley and Grant, in Dumbarton;
but Messrs. H. and G.'a establishment had ceased opeta-
19a

;v Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

tions for many years previous to the publicalion of the

On page t3, pamphlet edition, speaking of "a hairy
veil " over the eyes of a species of bison, the author says :
" It immediately occurred to the acute mind of Dr.
Herschel that this was a providential contrivance to pro-
tect the eyes of the animal from the great extremes of
light and darkness to which all the inhabitants of our side
of the moon are periodically subjected." But this cannot
be thought a very "acute" observation of the Doctor's.
The inhabitants of our side of the moon have, evidently,
no darkness at all; so there can be nothing of the " ex-
tremes " mentioned. In the absence of the sun they have
a light from the earth equal to that of thirteen full
unclouded moons.

The topography throughout, even when professing to
accord with Blunt's Lunar Chart, is entirely at variance
with that or any other lunar chart, and even grossly at
variance with itself. The points of the compass, too, are
in inextricable confusion ; the writer appearing to be igno-
rant that, on a lunar map, these are not in accordance
with terrestrial points ; the east being to the left, &c.

Deceived, perhaps, by the vague titles, Man J^ubium,
Man TranquilUtatis, Mare Facutiditatis, Sec, given to the
dark spots by former astronomers, Mr. L. has entered into
details regarding oceans and other large bodies of water
in the moon ; whereas there is no astronomical point more
positively ascertained than that no such bodies exist there.
In examining the boundary between light and darkness
(in the crescent or gibbous moon| where this boundary
crosses any of the dark places, the line of division is found
to be rough and jagged ; but, were these dark places
liquid, it would evidently be even.

The description of the wings of the man-bat, on page 21,

is but a literal copy of Peter Wilkins' account of the wings

of his flying islanders. This simple fact should have

induced suspicion, at least, it might be thought.

197

d by Google

TALES or PSEUDO-

On page 23, we have the following : " What 3 prodigious
influence must our thirteen times larger globe have eser-
dsed upon this satellite when an embryo in the womb of
time, the passive subject of chemical affinity I " This is
Teryiine,- but it should be observed that no astronomer
would have made such a remark, especially to any "Journal
of Science;" for the earth, in the sense intended, is not
only thirteen, but forty-nine times larger than the moon.
A similar objection applies to the whole of the concluding
pages, where, by way of introduction to some discoveries
in Saturn, the philosophical correspondent enters into a
minute schoolboy account of that planet: — this to the
Edinburgh " Journal of Science " I

But there is one point, in particular, which should have
betrayed the fiction. Let us imagine the power actually
possessed of seeing animals upon the moon's surface ; —
what would yfrrf arrest the attention of an observer from
the earth ? Certainly neither their shape, siie, nor any
other such peculiarity, so soon as theii remarkable situa-
tien. They would appear to be walking, with heels up and
head down, in the manner of flies on a ceiling. The real
observer would have uttered an instant ejaculation of sur-
prise (however prepared by previous knowledge) at the
Bingularity of their position; t\ie ficlilioui observer has not
even mentioned the subject, but speaks of seeing the entire
bodies of such creatures, when it is demonstrable that he
could have seen only the diameter of their heads I

It might as well be remarked, in conclusion, that the
size, and particularly the powers of the man hats, (for
example, their ability to fly in so tare an atmosphere — if,
indeed, the moon have any,) with most of the other fancies
in regard to animal and vegetable existence, are at vari-
ance, generally, with all analogical reasoning on these
themes : and that analogy here will often amount to cols'
elusive demonstration. It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary
to add that all the suggestions attributed to Brewstef
and Herschei, in the beginning of the article, about "a

db, Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

transfusion of artificial liglit fhrougli the focal object of
vision," &c., &c., belong totliat species of figurative writing
which comes, most properly, under the denomination of
rigmaroU.

There is a real and very definite limit to optical dis-
covery among the stars — a limit whose nature need only
be stated to be understood. If, indeed, the casting of
large lenses were all that is required, man's ingenuity
would ultimately prove equal to the task, and we might
have them of any size demanded. But, unhappily, in pro-
portion to the increase of size in the lens, and, conse-
quently, of space-penetrating power, is the diminution of
light from the object, by diffusion of its rays. And for
this evil there is no remedy within human ability, ior an
object is seen by means of that light alone which proceeds
from itself, whether direct or reflected. Thus the only
" arti^cial" light which could avail Mi Locke, would be
some artificial light which he should be able to throw —
not upon the "'focai object of vision," but upon the real
object to be viewed — to wit ; ufin'i the moon. It has been
easily calculated that, when the light proceeding from a
star becomes so diffused as to be as weak as the natural
light proceeding from the whole of the stars, in a clear
and moonless night, then the star is no longer visible for
any practical purpose.

The Earl of Ross telescope, lately constructed in Eng-
land, has a j/,mi/«wj with a reflecting surface of 4,071 aquar*
inches ; the Herschel telescope having one of only 1,811.
The metal of the Earl of Ross's is 6 feet diameter ; it ia gi
inches thick at the edges, and 5 at the centre. Thewelgit
is 3 tons. The focal length is 50 feet.

I have lately read a singular and somewhat ingenictta
little book, whose litlepage runs thus: L'Homtni dans la
Lvne, au U Vnyagi Ckimirique fait au Monde dt la Lvtu,
nouuellemint dicouutrt far Dominique Gontalis, Aduant
turier Eipagnol, autremet dit le Courier volant. Mil t»
noh-elangvefarJ.B D a Paris, ckei Francois PibI, frU I*
199

d by Google

ForttatHi dc Saint Benoist. EtchezJ. Goignard, au premier
filler di la grand" lallt du Palais, frcche les Consultationt,

The writerprofesses to have translated his work from the
Enghsh of one Mr. D'Avisson (Davidson?) although there
is a terrible amb^uity in the statement. " I'en ai eu," says
he, "Foriginal de Monsieur D'Avisson, midecin des mieux
ptrsez qui seient aujourd'huy dans la cbrtoissanee des Belles
Lettres, et sur tout de la Pkilosofkie Matm-elle. Je lui ai eelte
ebligation entre les autres, de m 'auoir non setilement mis en
main ce Livre en anglais, mass encore It Manuserit du Sieur
Thomas D' Ana«,gcntilkomme E^ossois, ricommandable poor
ta verlH, sur la version duquel fadvoue que fay tiri le plan
de la mienne."

After some irrelevant adventures, much in the mannet
of Gil Bias, and which occupy the first thirty pages, the
author relates that, being ill during a sea voyage, the crew
abandoned him, together with a negro servant, on the
island of St. Helena. To increase the chances of obtain-
ing food, the two separate, and live as far apart as possible.
This brings about a training of birds, to serve the purpose
of carrier-pigeons between them. By and by these are
taught to carry parcels of some weight — and this weight
is gradually increased. At length the idea is entertained
of uniting the force of a great number of the birds, with a
view to raising the author himself. A machine is con-
trived for the purpose, and we have a minute description
of it. which is materially helped out by a sleel engraving.
Here we perceive the Signer Gonzales, with point ruffles
and a huge periwig, seated astride something which
resembles very closely a broomstick, and borne aloft by a
multitude of wild swans (gaiaas) who had strings reaching
from their tails to the machine.

The nmn event detailed in the Signer's narrative
depends upon a very important fact, of which the reader
is kept in ignorance until near the end of the book. The
gansat, with whom he had become so familiar, were not

200

;v Google

ADVENTURE OF ONE HANS PFAALL

really denizens of St. Helena, but of the moon. Thence
it had been their custom, time out of mind, to migrate
annually to some portion of the earth. In proper season,
of course they would return home; and the author, hap'
pening one day to require their services for a short
voyage, is unexpectedly carried straight up, and in a very
brief period arrives at the satellite. Here he finds, among
other odd things, that the people enjoy extreme happiness ;
that they have no law ; that they die without pain ; that
they are from ten to thirty feet in height; that they live
five thousand years; that ihey have an emperoi called
Irdonozur; and that they Can jump sixty feet high, when,
being out of the gravitating influence, they fly about with

I cannot forbear giving a specimen of the general /^Vi^
safhy of the volume.

" I must now declare to you," says the Signer Gonzales,
"the nature of the place in which I found myself. All the
clouds were beneath my feet, or, if you please, spread
between me and the earth. As to the stats, since then
Mas Ha nigkt where I vnu, they ahvays had the same appear-
ance ; not brilliant, as usual, but pale, and very nearly like
the moon of a morning. But few of them were visible, and
these ten times larger (as well as I could judge) than
they seem to the inhabitants of the earth. The moon,
which wanted two days of being full, was of a terrible

" I must not forget, here, that the stars appeared only
on that side of the globe turned towards the moon, and
that the closer they were to it the larger they seemed. I
have also to inform you that, whether it was calm weather
or stormy, I found myself always immediately bctiuien the
mogn and the earth. 1 was convinced of this for two
reasons — because my birds always flew in a straight line [
and because whenever we attempted to test, we were
carried insensihly around the globe of the earth. For I
admit the opinion of Copernicus, i
201

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

nereT ceases lo revolve /Vom the tasi to the -mest, not upon
the poles of the Equinoctial, commonly called the poles of
the world, but upon those of the Zodiac, a question of
which I propose to speak more at length hereafter, when
I shall have leisure to refresh my memory in regard to the
astrology which I learned at Salamanca when young, and
have since forgotten."

Notwithstanding the blunders italiciied, the book is not
without some claim to attention, as affording a naive speci-
men of the current astronomical notions of the time. One
of these assumed that the "gravitating power" extended
but a short distance from the earth's surface, and, accord-
ingly, we tind our voyager "carried insensibly around the
globe," &c.

There have been other "voyages to the moon," but
none of higher merit than the one just mentioned. That
of Bergerac is utterly meaningless. In the third volume
of the " American Quarterly Review " will be found quite
an elaborate criticism upon a certain "Journey" of the
kind in question; — a criticism in which it is difficult to
say whether the critic most exposes the stupidity of the
book, or his own absurd ignorance of astronomy. I forget
the title of the work; but the mtans of the voyage are
more deplorably ill-conceived than are even the ganzas
of our friend the Signor Gonzales. The adventurer, in
"iiggine the earth, happens to discover a peculiar metal for
which the moon has a strong attraction, and straightway
constructs of it a box, which, when cast loose from its
terrestrial fastenings, flies with him, forthwith, to the
satellite. The " Flight of Thomas O'Rourke " is a jeu
d'uptit not altogether contemptible, and has been trans-
lated into German. Thomas, the hero, was, in fact, the
game-keeper of an Irish peer, whose eccentricities gave
rise to the tale. The "flight" is made on an eagle's
back, from Hungry Hill, a lofty mountain at the end of
Ban try Bay
In these various brechuris the aim Is always satirical;

„ Google

the theme being a description of Lunarian customs as
compared with ours. In none, is there any effort at
plausibility in the details of the voyage itself. The writers
seem, in erfch instance, to be utterly uninformed in respect
to astronomy. In " Hans Pfaall " the design is original,
inasmuch as regards an attempt at virisimilitudi, in the
application of scientific principles (so far as the whimsical
tiature of the subject would permit) to the actual passage
between the earth and the moon.

db, Google

THE BALLOON HOAX

Astounding News by ExprBs, via Norfolk I —The Atlantic
crossed in Three Dayst Signal Triumph of Mr. Monck Mason's
Flying Machinel — Arrival at Sullivan-s Island, near Charleston,
S. C, of Mr. Mason, Mr. Kobert Holland, Mr. Hen;on, Mr.
Harrison Ainsworth, and four others, in the Steering Ballooa
" Victoria," after a passage of Seventy-five Hours from Land to
Land I Full Particulars of the Voyage I

[NOTB BY THB AuTKOR. — The Subjoined /Vu ^eiprit with
the preceding heading in magnificent capitals, vrell interspersed
with notes of admiration, was originally published, as matter of
fact, in the New York " Sun," a daily newspaper, and therein fully
subserved the purpose of creating indigestible aliment for the
quidnunis during the few hours intervening between a couple of
the Charleston mails. The rush for the " sole paper which had
the news" was something beyond even the prodigious; and, in
fact, if (as some assert) the " Victoria '■ did not absolutely accom-
plish the voyage recorded, it will be difGcult to assign a reason why
she shmU not have accomplished it.]

1 HE great problem is at length solved! The air,
as well as the earth and the ocean, has been subdued
by science, and will become a common and convenient
highway for mankind. The Atlantic has been actually
crossed in a Balloon .' and this too without difficulty
— without any great apparent danger — with thorough
control of the machine — and in the inconceivably brief
period of seventy-five hours from shore to shore! By
the energy of an agent at Charleston, S. C, we are
enabled to be the first to furnish the public with a

204

;v Google

THE BALLOON HOAX

detailed account of this most extraordinary voyage,
wliich was performed between Saturday, the 6th
instant, at II, A.M., and 2, p.m., on Tuesday, the gth
instant, by Sir Everard Bringhurst; Mr. Osborne, a
nephew of Lord Bentinelt's ; Mr. Monck Mason and -
Mr. Robert Holland, the well-known aeronauts; Mr.
Harrison Ainsworth, author of " Jack Sheppard," &c.;
and Mr. Henson, the projector of the late unsuccessful
flying machine — with two seamen from Woolwich —
in all, eight persons. The particulars furnished below
may be relied on as authentic and accurate in every
respect, as, with a slight exception, they are copied
vtrbatiin from the joint diaries of Mr. Monck Mason
and Mr. Harrison Ainsworth, to whose poUteness our
agent is also Indebted for much verbal information
respecting the balloon itself, its construction, and
other matters of interest. The only alteration in the
MS. received has been made for the purpose of throw-
ing the hurried account of our agent, Mr. Forsyth,
into a connected and intelligible forni.

THE BALLOON.

Two very decided failures, of late ^ those of Mr.
Henson and Sir George Cayley — had much weak-
ened the public interest in the subject of aerial navi-
gation. Mr. Henson's scheme (which at first was
considered very feasible even by men of science) was
founded upon the principle of an inclined plane,
started from an eminence by an extrinsic force, ap-
plied and continued by the revolution of impinging
vanes, in form and number resembling the vanes of
a windmill. But, on all the experiments made with
models at the Adelaide Gallery, it was found that the

305

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

operation of these fans not only did not propel the
macliine, but actually impeded its flight. The only pro-
pelling force it ever exhibited was the mere impetus ac-
quired from the descent of the inclined plane ; and this
impetus carried the machine farther when the vanes
were at rest than when they were in motion — a fact
which Sufficiently demonstrates their inutility ; and in
the absenceof the propelling, which was also the sustain'
ing power, the whole fabric would necessarily descend.
This consideration led Sir. George Cayley to think
only of adapting a propeller to some machine having
of itself an independent power of support — in a word,
to a balloon; the idea, however, being novel, or origi-
nal, with Sir George, only so far as regards the mode
of its application to practice. He exhibited a model
of his invention at the Polytechnic Institution. The
propelling principle, or power, was here, also, applied
to interrupted surfaces, or vanes, put in revolution.
These vanes were four in number, but were found
entirely ineffectual in moving the balloon, or in aiding
its ascending power. The whole project was thus a
complete failure.

It was at this juncture that Mr. Monck Mason
(whose voyage from Dover to Weilburg in the bal-
loon " Nassau " occasioned so much excitement in
1837) conceived the idea of employing the principle
of the Archimedean screw for the purpose of projjui-
sion through the air — rightly attributing the failure
of Mr. Henson's scheme, and of Sir George Cayley's,
to the interruption of surface In the independent
vanes. He made the iirst public experiment at
Willis's Rooms, but afterwards removed his model
to the Adelaide Gallery.

Like Sir George Cayley's balloon, his own was an

d by Google

THE BALLOON HOAX

ellipsoid. Its length was thirteen feet siit inches —
height, six feet eight inches. It contained about
three hundred and twenty cubic feet of gas, which,
if pure hydrogen, would support twenty-one pounds
upon its first inflation, before the gas has time to
deteriorate or escape. The weight of the whole ma-
chine and apparatus was seventeen pounds — leaving
about four pounds to spare. Beneath the centre of
the balloon, was a frame of light wood, about nine
feet long, and rigged on to the balloon itself with a
network in the customary manner. From this frame-
work was suspended a wicker basket or car.

The screw consists of an axis of hollow brass tube,
eighteen inches in length, through which, upon a
semi-spiral inclined at fifteen degrees, pass a series
of steel wire radii, two feet long, and thus projecting
a toot on either side. These radii are connected at
the 'outer extremities by two bands of flattened wire
— the whole in this manner forming the framework
of the screw, which is completed by a covering of
oiled silk cut into gores, and tightened so as to pre-
sent a tolerably uniform surface. At each end of its
axis this screw is supported by pillars of hollow brass
tube descending from the hoop. In the lower ends
of these tubes are holes in which the pivots of the
axis revolve. From the end of the axis which is
next the car proceeds a shaft of steel, connecting the
screw with the pinion of a piece of spring machinery
fixed in the car. By the operation of this spring the
screw is made to revolve with great rapidity, com-
municating a progressive motion to the whole. By
means of the rudder the machine was readily turned
in any direction. The spring was of great power,
compared with its dimensions, being capable of raising

807

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUD 0- SCIENCE

forty-five pounds upon a barrel of four inches diam-
eter, after the first turn, and gradually increasing as it
was wound up. It weighed, altogether, eight pounds
six ounces. The rudder was a light frame of cane
covered with silk, shaped somewhat like a batlledoor,
and was about three feet long, and at the widest, one
foot. Its weight was about two ounces. It could
be turned _/fa/, and directed upwards or downwards,
as well as to the right or left ; and thus enabled the
aeronaut to transfer the resistance of the air, which in
an inclined position it must generate in its passage, to
any side upon which he might desire to act; thus de-
termining the balloon in the opposite direction,

This model (which, through want of time, we have
necessarily described in an imperfect manner) was
put in action at the Adelaide Gallery, where it accom-
plished a velocity of five miles per hour; although,
strange to say, it excited very little interest in com-
parison with the previous complex machine of Mr.
Henson — so resolute is the world to despise anything
which carries with it an air of simplicity. To accom-
plish the great desideratum of aerial navigation, it
was very generally supposed that some exceedingly
complicated application must be made of some un-
usually profound principle in dynamics.

So well satisfied, however, was Mr. Mason of the
ultimate success of his invention, that he determined
to construct immediately, if possible, a balloon of
sufficient capacity to test the question by a voyage
of some extent — the original design being to cross
the British Channel, as before, in the Nassau balloon.
To carry out his views, he solicited and obtained the
patronage ol Sir Everard Bringhurst and Mr. Os-
borne, two gentlemen well known for scientific acquire-

d by Google

THE BALLOON HOAX

ment, and especially for the interest they have exhib-
ited in the progress of aerostation. The project, at
the desire of Mr. Osborne, was kept a profound secret
from the public — the only persons intrusted with
the design being those actually engaged in the con-
struction of the machine, which was built (under the
superintendence of Mr. Mason, Mr. Holland, Sir Ever-
ard Bringhurst, and Mr. Osborne) at the seat of the
latter gentleman near Penstruthal, in Wales. Mr.
Henson, accompanied by his friend Mr. Ainsworth,
was admitted to a private view of the balloon on
Saturday last — when the two gentlemen made final
arrangements to be included in the adventure. We
are not informed for what reason the two seamen
were also included in the party — but, in the course
of a day or two, we shall put our readers in pos-
session of the minutest particulars respecting this ex-
traordinary voyage.

The balloon is composed of silk, varnished with the
liquid gum caoutchouc. It is of vast dimensions,
containing more than 40,000 cubic feet of gas ; but, as
coal gas was employed in place of the more expensive
and inconvenient hydrogen, the supporting power of
the machine, when fully inflated, and immediately
after inflation, is not more than about 2,500 pounds.
The coal gas is not only much less costly, but is easily
procured and managed.

For its introduction into common use for purposes
of aerostation, we are indebted to Mr. Charles Green.
Up to his discovery, the process of inflation was not
only exceedingly expensive, but uncertain. Two, and
even three, days have frequently been wasted in futile
attempts to procure a sufficiency of hydrogen to fill a
balloon, from which it had great tendency to escape

-14

zog

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

owing to its extreme subtlety, and its affinity for the
surrounding atmosphere. In a balloon sufficiently
perfect to retain its contents of coal-gas unaltered, in
quality or amount, for six months, an equal quantity
of hydrogen could not be maintained in equal purity
. for six weeks.

The supporting power being estimated at 2,500
pounds, and the united weights of the party amount-
ing only to about 1,300, there was left a surplus of
1,300, of which again 1,200 was exhausted by ballast,
arranged in bags of different sizes, with their respec-
tive weights marked upon them — by cordage, baro-
meters, telescopes, barrels containing provision for 3
fortnight, water-casks, cloaks, carpet-bags, and various
other indispensable matters, including a coffee-warmer,
contrived for warming coffee by means of slack-lime,
so as to dispense altogether with fire, if it should be
judged prudent to do so. Al! these a.rticles, with the
exception of the ballast, and a few trifles, were sus-
pended from the hoop over head. The car is much
smaller and lighter, in proportion, than the one
appended to the model. It is formed of a light
wicker, and is wonderfully strong for so frail looking
a machine. Its rim is about four feet deep. The
rudder is also very much larger, in proportion, than
that of the model ; and the screw is considerably
smaller. The balloon is furnished, besides, with 3
grapnel and a guide-rope ; which latter is of the most
indispensable importance. A few words, in explana-
tion, will here be necessary for such of our readers as
are not conversant with the details of aerostation.

As soon as the balloon quits the earth, it is sub-
jected to the influence of many circumstances tending
to create a difference in its weight ; augmenting or

;v Google

diminishing its ascending power. For example, there
may be a deposition of dew upon the silk, to the
extent, even, of several hundred pounds; ballast has
then to be thrown out, or the machine may descend.
This ballast being discarded, and a clear sunshine
evaporating the dew and at the same time expanding
the gas in the silk, the whole will again rapidly ascend.
To cheek this ascent, the only resource is (or rather
a/as, until Mr. Green's invention of the guide-rope)
the permission of the escape of gas from the valve ;
but, in the loss of gas, is a proportionate general loss
of ascending power; so that, in a comparatively brief
period, the best constructed balloon must necessarily
exhaust all its resources, and come to the earth. This
was the great obstacle to voyages of length.

The guide-rope remedies the difficulty in the simplest
manner conceivable. It is merely a very long rope
which is suffered to trail from the car, and the effect
of which is to prevent the balloon from changing its
level in any material degree. If, for example, there
should be a deposition of moisture upon the silk, and
the machine begins to descend in consequence, there
will be no necessity for discharging ballast to remedy
the increase of weight, for it is remedied, or counter-
acted, in an exactly just proportion, by the deposit on
the ground of just so much of the end of the rope as
is necessary. If, on the other hand, any circum-
stances should cause undue levity, and consequent
ascent, this levity is immediately counteracted by the
additional weight of rope upraised from the earth.
Thus, the balloon can neither ascend nor descend,
except within very narrow limits, and i
either in gas or ballast, remain comparatively i
paired. When passing over an expanse of wati

211

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

becomes necessary to employ small kegs of copper ot
wood, filled with liquid ballast of a lighter nature than
water. These float, and serve all the purposes of a
mere rope on land. Another moat important office of
the guide-rope is to point out the direction of the
balloon. The rope drags, either on land or sea, while
the balloon is free ; the latter, consequently, is always
in advance, when any progress whatever is made : a
comparison, therefore, by means of the compass, of
the relative positions of the two objects, will always
indicate the course. In the same way, the angle
formed by the rope with the vertical axis of tlie
machine indicates the velocity. When there is no
angle —in other words, when the rope hangs perpen-
dicularly, the whole apparatus is stationary ; but the
larger the angle, that is to say, the farther the balloon
precedes the end of the rope, the greater the velocity;
and the converse.

As the original design was to cross the British
Channel and alight as near Paris as possible, the
voyagers had taken the precaution to prepare them-
selves with passports directed to all parts of the Con-
tinent, specifying the nature of the expedition, as in
the case of the " Nassau " voyage, and entitling the
adventurers to exemption from the usual formalities
of office ; unexpected events, however, rendered these
passports superfluous.

The inflation was commenced very quietly at day-
break, on Saturday morning, the 6th instant, in the
Court-yard of Wheal- Vor House, Mr. Osborne's seat,
about a mile from Penstruthal, in North Wales ; and
at seven minutes past eleven, everything being ready
for departure, the bailoon was set free, rismg gently
but steadily, in a direction nearly south ; no use being

db, Google

THE BALLOON HOAX

made, for the first half hour, of either the screw or the
mdder. We proceed now with the journal, as tran-
scribed by Mr. Forsyth from the joint MSS. of Mr.
Monck Mason and Mr. Ainsworth, The body of the
journal, as given, is in the handwriting of Mr. Mason,
and a P. S. is appended, each day, by Mr. Ainsworth,
who has in preparation, and will shortly give the
public, a more miniile and, no doubt, a thrillingly
interesting account of the voyage,

THE JOURNAL,

Saturday, April ike 6tk. — Every preparation
likely to enibarrass us having been made over night,
we commenced the inflation this morning at day-
break ; but owing to a thick fog, which encumbered
the folds of the silk and rendered it unmanageable,
we did not get through before nearly eleven o'clock.
Cut loose, then, in high spirits, and rose gently but
Steadily, with a light breeze at north, which bore us
in the direction of the British Channel, Found the
ascending force greater than we had expected ; and
as we arose higher and so got clear of the cliffs, and
more in the sun's rays, our ascent became very rapid.
J did not wish, however, to lose gas at so early a
period of the adventure, and so concluded to ascend
for the present We soon ran out our guide-rope ;
but even when we had raised it clear of the earth, we
still went up very rapidly. The balloon was unusually
steady, and looked beautiful. In about ten minutes
after starting, the barometer indicated an altitude of
15,000 feet. The weather was remarkably fine, and
the view of the subjacent country — a most romantic
one when seen from any point — was now especially
213

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

sublime. The numerous deep gorges presented the
appearance of lakes, on account of the dense vapors
with which they were filled, and the pinnacles and
crags, to the south-east, piled ia inextricable confu-
sion, resembled nothing so much as the giant cities of
eastern fable. We were rapidly approaching the
mountains in the south ; but our elevation was more
than sufficient to enable us to pass them in safety.
Iri a few minutes we soared over them in fine style ;
and Mr. Ainsworth, with the seamen, were surprised
at their apparent want of altitude when viewed from
the car, the tendency of great elevation In a balloon
being to reduce inequalities of the surface below to
nearly a dead level. At half-past eleven still proceed-
ing nearly south, we obtained our first view of the
Bristol Channel; and, in fifteen minutes afterwards,
the line of breakers on the coast appeared immedi-
ately beneath us, and we were fairly out at sea. We
now resolved to let off enough gas to bring our guide-
rope, with the buoys affixed, into the water. This was
immediately done, and we commenced a gradual
descent. In about twenty minutes our first buoy
dipped, and at the touch of the second soon after-
wards, we remained stationary as to elevation. We
were all now anxious to test the efficiency of the
rudder and screw, and we put them both into requisi-
tion forthwith, for the purpose of altering our direc-
tion more to the eastward, and in a line for Paris. By
means of the rudder we instantly effected the neces-
sary change of direction, and our course was brought
nearly at right angles to that of the wind ; when
we set in motion the spring of the screw, and were
rejoiced to find it propel us teadily as desired. Upon
this we gave nine hearty cheers, and dropped in the
214

d by Google

THE BALLOON HOAX

sea a bottle, enclosing a slip of parchment with a
brief account of the principle of the invention.
Hardly, however, had we done with our rejoicings,
when an unforeseen accident occurred which dis-
couraged us in no little degree. The steel rod connect-
ing the spring with the propeller was suddenly jerked
out of place, at the car end (by a swaying of the car
through some movement of one of the two seamen we
had taken up), and in an instant hung dangling out of
teach, from the pivot of the axis of the screw. While
we were endeavoring to regain it, our attention being
completely absorbed, we became involved in a strong
current of wind from the east, which bore us, with
rapidly increasing force, towards the Atlantic. We
soon found ourselves driving out to sea at the rate of
not less, certamly, than fifty or sixty miles an hour, so
that we came up with Cape Clear, at some forty miles
to our north, before we had secured the rod and had
time to think what we were about. It was now that
Mr. Ainsworth made an extraordinary, but to my
fancy, a by no means unreasonable or chimerical
proposition, in which he was instantly seconded by
Mr. Holland — viz., that we should take advantage
of the strong gale which bore us on, and, in place of
beating back to Paris, make an attempt to reach the
coast of North America. After slight reflection I
gave a willing assent to this bold proposition, which
(strange to say) met with objection from the two sea-
men only. As the stronger party, however, we over-
ruled their fears, and kept resolutely upon our course.
We steered due west ; but as the trailing of the
buoys materially impeded our progress, and we had
the balloon abundantly at command, either for ascent
or descent, we first threw out fifty pounds of ballast,

;v Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

and then wound up {by means of a windlass) so much
of a rope as brought it quite clear of the sea. We
perceived the effect of this manteuvre immediately,
in a vastly increased rate of progress ; and, as the
gale freshened, we flew with a velocity nearly in-
conceivable; the guide-rope flying out behind the car
like a streamer from a vessel. It is needless to say
that a very short time sufficed us to lose sight of the
coast. We passed over innumerable vessels of all
kinds, a few of which were endeavoring to beat up,
but the most of them lying to. We occasioned the
greatest excitement on board all — an excitement
greatly relished by ourselves, and especially by our
two men, who, now under the influence of a dram
of Geneva, seemed resolved to give all scruple, or
fear, to the wind. Many of the vessels fired signal
guns ; and in all we were saluted with loud cheers
(which we heard with surprising distinctness) and the
waving of caps and handkerchiefs. We kept on in
this manner throughout the day, with no material
incident, and, as the shades of night closed around us,
we made a rough estimate of the distance traversed.
It could not have been less than five hundred miles,
and was probably much more. The propeller was
kept in constant operation, and, no doubt, aided our
progress materially. As the sun went down, the gale
freshened into an absolute hurricane, and the ocean
beneath was clearly visible on account of its phos-
phorescence. The wind was from the east all night,
and gave us the brightest omen of success. We
suffered no little from cold, and the dampness of the
atmosphere was most unpleasant; but the ample
space in the car enabled us to lie down, and by means
of cloaks and a few blankets we did suiiiciently welL
216

;v Google

THE BALLOON HOAX

P. S. [By Mr. Ainsworth.] The last nine hours
have been unquestionably the most exciting of my
life. I can conceive nothing more sublimating than
the strange peril and novelty of an adventure such as
this. May God grant that we succeed ! I ask not
success for mere safety to my insignificant person,
but for the sake of human knowledge and — for the
vastness of the triumph. And yet the feat is only so
evidently feasible that tlie sole wonder is why men
have scrupled to attempt it before. One single gale
such as now befriends us — let such a tempest whirl
forward a balloon for four or five days (these gales
often last longer) and the voyager will be easily borne,
in that period, from coast to coast. In view of such a
gale the broad Atlantic becomes a mere lake. I am
more struck, just now, with the supreme silence which
reigns in the sea beneath us, notwithstanding its agi-
tation, than with any other phenomenon presenting
itself. The waters give up no voice to the heavens.
The immense flaming ocean writhes and is tortured
uncomplainingly. The mountainous surges suggest the
idea of innumerable dumb gigantic fiends struggling
in impotent agony. In a night such as is this to me,
a man //v« — lives a whole century of ordinary life
— nor would 1 forego this rapturous delight for that
of a whole century of ordinary existence.

Sunday, the jth. [Mr. Mason's MS.] This morn-
ing the gale, by ten, had subsided to an eight or
nine knot breeie (for a vessel at sea), and bears
us, perhaps, thirty miles per hour, or more. It has
veered, however, very considerably to the north ; and
now, at sundown, we are holding our course due west,
principally by the screw and rudder, which answer
their purposes to admiration. I regard the project

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

as thoroughly successful, and the easy navigation ol
the air in any direction (not exactly In the teeth of a
gale) as no longer problematical. We could not have
made head against the strong wind of yesterday ; but,
by ascending, we might have got out of its influence,
if requisite. Against a pretty stiff breeze, I feel con-
vinced, we can make our way with the propeller. At
noon, to-day, ascended to an elevation of nearly
25,000 feet, by discharging ballast. Did this to search
for a more direct current, but found none so favor-
able as the one we are now in. We have an abun-
dance of gas to take us across this small pond, even
should the voyage last three weeks. I have not the
shghtest fear for the result. The difficulty has been
strangely exaggerated and misapprehended, I can
choose my current, and should I find aU currents
against me, I can make very tolerable headway still
with the propeller. We have had no incidents worth
recording. The night promises fair.

P. S. [By Mr. Ainsworth.] I have little to record,
except the fact (to me quite a surprising one) that, at
an elevation equal to that of Cotopaxi, I experienced
neither very intense cold, nor headache, nor difficulty
of breathing; neither, I find, did Mr. Mason, nor Mr.
Holland, nor Sir Everard. Mr. Osborne complained
of constriction of the chest — but this soon wore off.
We have flown at a great rate during the day, and
we must be more than halfway across the Atlantic,
We have passed over some twenty or thirty vessels
of various kinds, and all seem to be delightfully
astonished. Crossing the ocean in a balloon is not
so difficult a teat after all. Omne ignotum pro mag-
nijico. Mem. : at 25,000 feet elevation the sky appears
nearly black, and the stars are distinctly visible;
218

d by Google

THE BALLOON HOAX

while the sea does not seem convex (as one might
suppose) but absolutely and most unequivocally

Monday, the Uh. [Mr, Mason's MS.] This morn-
ing we had again some little trouble witb the rod of
the propeller, which must be entirely remodelled, for
fear of serious accident — I mean the steel rod, not
the vanes. The latter could not be improved. The
wind has been blowing steadily and strongly from
the north-east all day ; and so far fortune seems bent
upon favoring us. Just before day, we were all some-
what alarmed at some odd noises and concussions
in the balloon, accompanied with the apparent rapid
subsidence of the whole machine. These phenomena
were occasioned by the expansion of the gas, through
increase of heat in the atmosphere, and the consequent
disruption of the minute particles of ice with which

' Mt. Ainswoith has not attempted to account for this phe-
nomenon, which, however, is quite susceptible of explanation. A
line dropped from an elevation of 25,000 feet, perpendicularly to
the surface o( the earth (ot sea), would form the perpendicular of a
right-angled triangle, of which the base would extend from the
tight angle to the horizon, and the hypothenuse from the horizon
to the balloon. But the 25,000 feet of altitude is little or nothing,
in comparison with the extent of the prospect. In other words,
the base and hypothenuse of the supposed triangle would be so
long, when compared with the perpendicular, that the two former
may be regarded as nearly parallel. In this manner the horizon of
the aeronaut would appear to be on a level with the car. But, as
the point immediately beneath him seems, and is, at a great dis-
tance below him, it seems, of course, also, at a greatjdistance below
thehotiion. Hence the impression of amcamty, and this im-
pression must remain, until the elevation shall bear so great a
proportion to the extent of prospect, that the apparent parallelism
of the base and hypothenuse disa[tpear3 — when the earth's real
convexity must become apparent.

db, Google

the network had become incrusted during the night
Threw down several bottles to the vessels below.
Saw one of them picked up by a large ship — seem-
ingly one of the New York line packets. Endeavored
to make out her name, but could not be sure of it.
Mr. Osborne's telescope made it out something like
" Atalanta." It is now twelve, at night, and we are
still going nearly west, at a rapid pace. The sea is
peculiarly phosphorescent.

P. S. [By Mr. Ainsworth.] It is now two, A. M.,
and nearly calm, as well as 1 can judge — but it is
very difficult to determine this point, since we move
■with the air so completely. I have not slept since
quitting Wheal-Vor, but can stand it no longer, and
must take a nap. We cannot be far from the
American coasL

Tuesday, the gik. [Mr. Ainsworth's MS.] One
P. M. We are iu full view of the low coast of South
Carolina. The great problem is accomplished. We
have crossed the Atlantic — fairly and easily crossed
it in a balloon! God be praised! Who shall say
that anything is impossible hereafter?

The Journal here ceases, Some particulars of the
descent were communicated, however, by Mr. Ains-
worth to Mr. Forsyth. It was nearly dead calm when
the voyagers first came in view of the coast, which
was immediately recognized by both the seamen, and
by Mr. Osborne. The latter gentleman having
acquaintances at Fort Moultrie, it was immediately
resolved to descend in its vicinity. The balloon was
brought over the beach (the tide being out and the
sand hard, smooth, and admirably adapted for a
descent) and the grapnel let go, which took firm hold

d by Google

at once. The inhabitants of the island,, and of the
fort, thronged out, of course, to see the balloon ; but
it was with the greatest difficulty that any one could
be made to credit the actual voyage — ihe crossing of
the Atlantic. The grapnel caught at two, P. m., pre-
cisely; and thus the whole voyage was completed in
seventy-five hours ; or rather less, counting from shore
to shore. No serious accident occurred. No real
danger was at any time apprehended. The balloon
was exhausted and secured without trouble ; and when
the MS. from which this narrative is compiled was
despatched from Charleston, the party were still at
Fort Moultrie. Their farther intentions were not
ascertained ; but we can safely promise our readers
some additional information either on Monday or in
the course of the next day, at farthest.

This is unquestionably the most stupendous, the
most interesting, and the most important undertaking
ever accomplished or even attempted by man. What
magnificent events may ensue, it would be useless
now to think of determining.

db, Google

MS. FOUND IN A BOTTLE

Qui n'a plus qu'un moment i vivre
K'a plus rim k diisimuler.

QUINAULT : Alys.

\J F my country and of ray family I have little to say.
Ill usage and length of years have driven me from the
one, and estranged me from the other. Hereditary
wealth afforded me an education of no common ord^r,
and a contemplative turn of mind enabled me fo
mcthodiiC the stores which early study diligently
garnered up. Beyond all things, the works of the
German moralists gave me great delight; not frotn
any ill-advised admiration of their eloquent madness,
but from the ease with which my habits of rigid
thought enabled me to detect their falsities. I have
often been reproached with the aridity of my genius;
a deficiency of imagination has been imputed to me
as a crime ; and the Pyrrhonism of my opinions has
at all times rendered me notorious. Indeed, a strong
relish for physical philosophy has, 1 fear, tinctured
my mind with a very common error of this age — I
mean the habit of referring occurrences, even the
least susceptible of such reference, to the principles
of that science. Upon the whole, no person could be
less liable than myself to be led away from the severe
precincts of trutli by the igius fatui of superstition.

„ Google

MS. FOUND IN A BOTTLE

I have thought proper to premise thus much, lest the
incredible tale I have to tell should be considered
rather the raving of a crude imagination than the
positive experience of a mind to which the reveries of
fancy have been a dead letter and a nullity.

After many years spent in foreign travel, I sailed in
the year lE — , from the port of Batavia, in the rich
and populous island of Java, on a voyage to the
Archipelago of the Sunda Islands. 1 went as pas-
senger — having no other inducement than a kind of
nervous restlessness which haunted me as a fiend.

Our vessel was a beautiful ship of about four
hundred tons, copper-fastened, and built at Bombay
of Malabar teak. She was freighted with cotton-wool
and oil, from the Laceadive Islands. We had also on
board coir, jaggeree, ghee, cocoa-nuts, and a few
cases of opium. The stowage was clumsily done,
and the vessel consequendy crank.

We got under way with a mere breath of wind, and
for many days stood along the eastern coast of Java,
without any other incident to beguile the monotony
of our course than the occasional meeting with some
of the small grabs of the Archipelago to which we
were bound.

One evening, leaning over the taffrail, I observed a
very singular isolated cloud, to the N. W. It was
remarkable, as well for its color, as from its being the
first we had seen since our departure from Batavia.
I watched it attentively until sunset, when it spread
all at once to the eastward and westward, girding in
the horizon with a narrow strip of vapor, and looking
like a long line of low beach. My notice was soon
afterwards attracted by the dusky-red appearance of
the moon and the peculiar character of the sea.

223

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

The latter was undergoing a rapid change, and the
water seemed more than usually transparent. Although
I could distinctly see the bottom, yet, heaving the
lead, I found the ship in fifteen fathoms. The air
now tiecam.e intolerably hot, and was loaded with
spiral exhalations similar to those arising from heated
iron. As night came on, every breath of wind died
away, and a more entire calm it is impossible to
conceive. The flame of a candle burned upon the
poop without the least perceptible motion, and a long
hair, held between the finger and thumb, hung without
the possibility of detecting a vibration. However, as
the captain said he could perceive no indication of
danger, and as we were drifting in bodily to shore, he
ordered the sails to be furled, and the anchor let go.
No watch was set, and the crew, consisting princi-
pally of Malays, stretched themselves deliberately upon
deck. 1 went below — not without a full presentiment
of evil. Indeed, every appearance warranted me in
apprehending a simoon. I told the captain my fears;
but he paid no attention to what J said, and left me
without deigning to give a reply. My uneasiness,
however, prevented me from sleeping, and about
midnight I went upon deck. As I placed my foot
upon the upper step of the companion-ladder, I was
startled by a loud humming noise, like that occasioned
by the rapid revolution of a mill-wheel, and, before I
could ascertain its meaning, I found the ship quiver-
ing to its centre. In the next instant, a wilderness of
foam hurled us upon our beam-ends, and, rushing
over us fore and aft, swept the entire decks from stem
to stern.
The extreme fury of the blast proved, in a great
, the salvation of the ship. Although com-

;v Google

MS. FOUND IN A BOTTLE

pletely water-logged, yet, as her masts had gone by
the board, she rose, after a minute, heavily from the
sea, and, staggering awhile beneath the immense
pressure of the tempest, finally righted.

By what miracle I escaped destruction it is impos-
sible to say. Stunned by the shock of the water, I
found myself, upon recovery, jammed in between the
stern-post and rudder. With great difficulty 1 gained
my feet, and, looking dizzily around, was at first struck
with the idea of our being among breakers ; so terrific,
beyond the wildest imagination, was the whirlpool of
mountainous and foaming ocean within which we
were engulfed. After a while, I heard the voice of an
old Swede, who had shipped with us at the moment
of leaving port. I hallooed to him with all my
strength, and presently he came reeling aft. We
soon discovered that we were the sole survivors of
the accident. All on deck, with the exception of
ourselves, had been swept overboard ; the captain and
mates must have perished as they slept, for the cabins
were deluged with water. Without assistance, we
could expect to do little for the security of the ship,
and our exertions were at first paralyzed by the
momentary expectation of going down. Our cable
had, of course, parted like pack-thread, at the first
breath of the hurricane, or we should have been
instantaneously overwhelmed. We scudded with
frightful velocity before the sea, and the water made
clear breaches over us. The framework of our
stern was shattered excessively, and, in almost every
respect, we had received considerable injury ; but to
our extreme joy we found the pumps unchoked, and
that we had made no great shifting of our ballast
The main fury of the blast had already blown over,

VOL. IL— 15 22s

;v Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

and we apprehended little danger from the violence of
the wind; but we looked forward to its total cessation
with dismay; well believing that, in our shattered
condition, we should inevitably perish in the tremen-
dous swell which would ensue. But this very just
apprehension seemed by no means likely to be soon
verified. For five entire days and nights — during
which our only subsistence was a small quantity of
jaggeree, procured with great difficulty from the fore-
castle — the hulk flew at a rate defying computation,
before rapidly succeeding flaws of wind, which, with-
out equalling the first violence of the simoon, were
still more terrific than any tempest I had before
encountered. Our course for the first four days was,
with trifling variations, S- E. and by S. ; and we must
have run down the coast of New Holland. On the
fifth day the cold became extreme, although the wind
had hauled round a point more to the northward.
The sun arose with a sickly yellow lustre, and clam-
bered a very few degrees above the horizon — emitting
no decisive light. There were no clouds apparent,
yet the wind was upon the increase, and blew with a
fitful and unsteady fury. About noon, as nearly as
we could guess, our attention was again arrested by
the appearance of the sun. It gave out no light,
properly so called, but a dull and sullen glow with-
out reflection, as it all its rays were polarized. Just
before sinking within the turgid sea, its central fires
suddenly went out, as if hurriedly extinguished by
some unaccountable power. It was a dim, silver-like
Tim, alone, as it rushed down the unfathomable

We waited in vain for the arrival of the sixth day —

that day to me h^"» not arrived — to the Swede, never

226

d by Google

MS. FOUND IN A BOTTLE

did arrive. Thenceforward we were enshrouded in
pitchy darkness, so that we could not have seen an
object at twenty paces from the ship. Eternal night
continued to envelop us, all unrelieved by the phos-
phoric Bea-brilliancy to which we had been accustomed
in the tropics. We observed, too, that, although the
tempest continued to rage with unabated violence,
there was no longer to be discovered the usual appear-
ance of surf, or foam, which had hitherto attended us.
All around were horror and thick gloom, and a black
sweltering desert of ebony Superstitious terror crept
by degrees into the spirit of the old Swede, and my
own soul was wrapped up in silent wonder. We neg-
lected all care of the ship, as worse than useless, and
securing ourselves, as well as possible, to the stump
of the mizzen-mast, looked out bitterly into the world
of ocean. We had no means of calculating time, nor
could we form any guess of our situation, We were,
however, well aware of having made farther to the
southward than any previous navigators, and felt great
amazement at not meeting with the usual impediments
of ice. In the mean time every moment threatened to
be our last — every mountainous billow hurried to
overwhelm us. The swell surpassed anything I had
imagined possible, and that we were not instantly
buried is a miracle. My companion spoke of the
lightness of our cargo, and reminded me of the excel-
lent qualities of our ship ; but I could not help feeling
the utter hopelessness of hope itself, and prepared my-
self gloomily for that death which I thought nothing
could defer beyond an hour, as, with every knot of
way the ship made, the swelling of the black stupen-
dous seas became more dismally appalling. At times
we gasped for breath at an elevation beyond the
227

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

albatross — at times became dizzy with the velocity o£
our descent into some watery hell, where the air grew
stagnant, and no sound disturbed the slumbers of the
kraken.

We were at the bottom of one of these abysses,
when a quick scream from my companion broke fear-
fully upon the night. " See 1 see ! " cried he, shriek-
ing in my ears, " Almighty God ! see '. see ! " As he
spoke, 1 became aware of a dull, sullen glare of red
light which streamed down the sides of the vast chasm
where we lay, and threw a fitful brilliancy upon our
deck. Casting my eyes upwards, 1 beheld a spectacle
which froze the current of my blood. At a terrific
height directly above us, and upon the very verge of
the precipitous descent, hovered a gigantic ship, of
perhaps four thousand tons. Although upreared upon
the summit of a wave more than a hundred times her
own altitude, her apparent size still exceeded that of
any ship of the line or East Jndiaman in existence.
Her huge hull was of a deep dingy black, unrelieved
by any of the customary carvings of a ship. A single
row of brass cannon protruded from her open ports,
and dashed from their polished surfaces the fires of
innumerable battle-lanterns which swung to and fro
about her rigging. But what mainly inspired us with
horror and astonishment was that she bore up under
a press of sail in the very teeth of that supernatural
sea, and of that ungovernable hurricane. When we
first discovered her, her bows were alone to be seen,
as she rose slowly from the dim and horrible gulf
beyond her. For a moment of intense terror she
paused upon the giddy pinnacle, as if in contempla-
tion of her own sublimity, then trembled and tottered,
and — came down.

db, Google

MS. FOUND IN A BOTTLE

At this instant, I know not what . sudden sdf-
possession came over my spirit. Staggering as far
aft as I could, I awaited fearlessly the ruin chat was
to overwhelm. Our own vessel was at length ceasing
from her struggles, and sinking with her head to the
sea. The shock of the descending mass struck her,
consequently, in that portion of her frame which was
nearly under water, and the inevitable result was to
hurl me, with irresistible violence, upon the rigging of
the stranger.

As ] fell, the ship hove in slays, and went about ;
and to the confusion ensuing I attributed my escape
from the notice of the crew. With httle difficulty I
made my way, unperceived, to the main hatchway,
which was partially open, and soon found an oppor-
tunity of secreting myself in the hold. Why I did so
I can hardly tell. An indefinite sense of awe, which
at first sight of the navigators of the ship had takeo
hold of my mind, was perhaps the principle of my
concealment. I was unwilling to trust myself with a
race of people who had offered, to the cursory glance
I had taken, so many points of vague novelty, doubt,
and apprehension. 1 therefore thought proper to
contrive a hiding-place in the hold. This I did by
removing a small portion of the shifting-boards, in
such a manner as to afford me a convenient retreat
between the huge timbers of the ship.

I had scarcely completed my work, when a foot-
step in the hold forced me to make use of it. A
man passed by my place of concealment with a feeble
and unsteady gait. I could not see his face, but had
an opportunity of observing his general appearance.
There was about it an evidence of great age and in-
firmity. His knees tottered beneath a load of years,
229

d by Google

TALES OF P5EUDO-

and his entire frame quivered under the burden. He
muttered to himself, in i low broken tone, some words
of a language which I could not understand, and
groped in a corner among a pile of singular-looking
instruments, and decayed charts of navigation. His
manner was a wild mixture of the peevishness of
second childhood and the solemn dignity of a god.
He at length went oa deck, and I saw him no more.

A feeling, for which I have no name, has taken
possession of my soul — a sensation which will admit
of no analysis, to which the lessons of by-gone time
are inadequate, and for which I fear futurity itself will
offer me no key. To a mind constituted hke my own,
the latter consideration is an evil, I shall never — I
know that I shall never — be satisfied with regard to
the nature of my conceptions. Yet it is not wonderful
that these conceptions are indefinite, since they have
their origin in sources so utterly novel. A new sense
— a new entity is added to my soul.

It is long since 1 first trod the deck of this terrible
ship, and the rays of my destiny are, I think, gathering
to a focus. Incomprehensible men ! Wrapped up in
meditations of a kind which I cannot divine, they pass
me by unnoticed. Concealment is utter folly on my
part, for the people v/i/i not see. It was but just now
that I passed directly before the eyes of the mate ; it
was no long while ago that I ventured into the cap-
tain's own private cabin, and took thence the mate-
rials with which I write, and have written. I shall
from time to time continue this journal. It is true
that I may not find an opportunity of transmitting it
to the world, but I will not fail to make the endeavor.
230

;v Google

At the last moment I will enclose the MS. in a bottle,
and cast it within the sea.

An incident has occurred which has given me new
room for meditation. Are such things the operation ,
of ungoverned chance? I had ventured upon det^k
and thrown myself down, without attracting any notice,
among a pile of ratlin-stufE and old sails, in the bottom
of the yawl. While musing upon the singularity of
my fate, I unwittingly daubed with a tar-brush the
edges of a neatly-folded studding-sail which lay near
me on a barrel. The studding-sail is now bent upon
the ship, and the thoughtless touches of the brush are
spread out into the word Discovery.

1 have made many observations lately upon the
structure of the vessel. Although well armed, she is
not, i think, a ship of war. Her rigging, build, and
general equipment, all negative a supposition of this
kind. What she is not, I can easily perceive ; what
she is, I fear it is impossible to say. I know not how
it is, but in scrutinizing her strange model and singu-
lar cast of spars, her huge size and overgrown suits of
canvas, her severely simple bow and antiquated stern,
there will occasionally flash across my mind a sensa-
tion of familiar things, and there is always mixed up
with such indistinct shadows of recollection an unac-
countable memory of old foreign chronicles and ages
long ago.

I have been looking at the timbers of the ship.
She is built of a material to which I am a stranger.
There is a peculiar character about the wood which
strikes me as rendering it unfit for the purpose to
which it has been applied. I mean its extreme /^r^Kj-

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

neis, considered independently o£ the wofm-eaten con-
dition which is a consequence of navigation in these
seas, and apart from the rottenness attendant upon
age. It will appear perhaps an observation somewhat
over-curious, but this wood would have every charac-
teristic of Spanish oak, if Spanish oak were distended
by any unnatural means.

In reading the above sentence, a curious apothegm
of an old weather-beaten Dutch navigator comes full
upon my recollection. " It is as sure," he was wont
to say, when any doubt was entertained of his veracity,
" as sure as there is a sea where the ship itself will grow
in bulk like the living body of the seaman."

About an hour ago, I made bold to thrust myself
among a group of the crew. They paid me no man-
ner of attention, and, although I stood in the very
midst of them all, seemed utterly unconscious of ray
presence. Like the one i had at first seen in the hold,
they all bore about them the marks of a hoary old
age. Their knees trembled with infirmity; their
shoulders were bent double with decrepitude ; their
shrivelled skins rattled in the wind ; their voices were
low, tremulous, and broken; their eyes glistened with
the rheum of years; and their gray hairs streamed
terribly in the tempest. Around them, on every part
of the deck, lay scattered mathematical instruments of
the most quaint and obsolete construction.

I mentioned, some time ago, the bending of a
studding-sail. From that period, the ship, being
thrown dead off the wind, has continued her terrific
course due south, with every rag of canvas packed
upon her, from her truck to her lower studding-sail

;v Google

MS. FOUND IN A BOTTLE

booms, and rolling every moment her top-gallant yard-
arms into the most appalling hell of water which it
can enter into the mind of man to imagine. I have
just left the deck, where I find it impossible to main-
tain a'footing, although the crew seem to experience
little inconvenience. It appears to me a mira.cle of
miracles that our enormous bulk is not swallowed up
at once and forever. We are surely doomed to hover
continually upon the brink of eternity, without taking
a final plunge into the abyss. From billows a thou-
sand times more stupendous than any I have ever seen,
we glide away with the facility of the arrowy sea-gull;
and the colossal waters rear their heads above us like
demons of the deep, but like demons confined to
simple threats, and forbidden to destroy. 1 am led to
attribute these frequent escapes to the only natural
cause which can account for such effect. I must sup-
pose the ship to be within the influence of some strong
current, or impetuous under- tow,

I have seen the captain face to face, and in his own
cabin — but, as I expected, he paid me no attention.
Although in his appearance there is, to a casual
observer, nothing which might bespeak him more or
less than man, still, a feeling of irrepressible reverence
and awe mingled with the sensation of wonder with
which I regarded him. In stature, he is nearly my
own height; that is, about five feet eight inches. Ho
is of a well-knit and compact frame of body, neither
robust nor remarkably otherwise. But it is the singu-
larity of the expression which reigns upon the face —
it is the intense, the wonderful, the thrilling evidence
of old age so utter, so extreme, which excites within
my spirit a sense — a sentiment ineffable. His fore-
333

;v Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

head, although little wrinkled, seems to bea.r upon it
the stamp of a myriad of years. His gray hairs are
records of the past, and his grayer eyes are Sibyls of
the future. The cabin floor was thickly strewn with
strange, iron-clasped folios, and mouldering instru-
ments of science, and obsolete long-forgotten charts.
His head was bowed down upon his hands, and he
pored, with a fiery, unquiet eye, over a paper which I
took to be a commission, and which at all events bore
the signature of a monarch. He muttered to himself
— as did the first seaman whom I saw in the hold —
some low peevish syllables of a foreign tongue ; and,
although the speaker was close at my elbow, his voice
seemed to reach my ears from the distance of &
mile. .

The ship and all in it are imbued with the spirit of
Eld. The crew glide to and fro like the ghosts of
buried centuries ; their eyes have an eager and uneasy
meaning ; and when their figures fall athwart my path,
in the wild glare of the battle-lanterns, I feel as 1 have
never felt before, although I have been all my life
a dealer in antiquities, and have imbibed the shadows
of fallen columns at Balbec, and Tadmor, and Per-
sepolis, until my very soul has become a ruin.

When I look around me, I feel ashamed of my
former apprehensions. If I trembled at the blast
which has hitherto attended us, shall I not stand
aghast at a warring of wind and ocean, to convey
any idea of which the words tornado and simoon
are trivial and ineffective ? All in the immediate
vicinity of the ship is the blackness of eternal night,
and a chaos of foamless water; but, about a league
234

;v Google

MS. FOUND IN A BOTTLE

on either side of us, may be seen, indistinctly and at
intervals, stupendous ramparts of ice, towering away
into the desolate sky, and looking like the walls of
the t

As I imagined, the ship proves to be in a current

— if that appellation can properly be given to a tide
which, howling and shrieking by the white ice,
thunders on to the southward with a velocity like the
headlong dashing of a cataract.

To conceive the horror of my sensations is, I pre-
sume, utterly impossible; yet a curiosity to penetrate
the mysteries of these awful regions predominates
even over my despair, and will reconcile me to the
most hideous aspect of death. It is evident that we
are hurrying onwards to some exciting knowledge —
some Eever-to-be-imparted secret, whose attainment
is destruction. Perhaps this current leads us to the
southern pole itself. It must be confessed that a
supposition apparently so wild has every probability
in its favor.

The crew pace the deck with unquiet and tremulous
step ; but there is upon their countenances an expres-
sion more of the eagerness of hope than of the apathy
of despair.

In the mean time the wind is Still in our poop, and, as
we carry a crowd of canvas, the ship is at times lifted
bodily from out the seal Oh, horror upon horror!

— the ice opens suddenly to the right, and to the left,
and we are whiriing dizzily, in immense concentric
circles, round and round the borders of a gigantic
amphitheatre, the summit of whose walls is lost in

db, Google

TALES or PSEU DO- SCIENCE

the darkness and the distance. But little time wilt
be left me to ponder upon my destiny ! The circles
rapidly grow small — we are plunging madly within
the grasp of the whirlpool — and amid a roaring, and
bellowing, and thundering of ocean and tempest, the
ship is quivering — oh God ! and going down I

Note, — The " MS. Found in a Bottle " was originally
published in 1S31, and it was not until many years after-
wards that I became acquainted with the maps of Merca-
tor, in which the ocean is represented as rushing, by four
mouths, into the (northern) Polar Gutf, to be absorbed
into the bowels of the earth ; the Pole itself being repre-
sented by a black rock, towering to a prodigious height.

db, Google

DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM

The ways of God m Nature, as in Providence, ai
ways ; nor ate the models tliat we fiame any way con
[he vastness, profundity, and unsearchableness of His
hatv a diflh in them greater than the well of Dem6

W:

Jos

E had now reached the summit
crag. For some minutes the old m:
much exhausted to speak.

" Not long ago," said he at length,
have guided you on this route as well :
of my sons ; but, about three yea
happened to me an event such as n
before to mortal man-
ever survived to tell of

of the loftiest
.n seemed too

'and I could

the youngest

past, there

er happened

at least such as no man

id the six hours of deadly

terror which I then endured have broken me up body
and soul. You suppose "^^ a very old man — but I
am not. It took less than a single day to change
these hairs from a jetty black to white, to weaken my
limbs, and to unstring my nerves, so that 1 tremble
at the least exertion, and am frightened at a shadow.
Do you know 1 can scarcely look over this little cliff
without getting giddy ? "

The " little chff," upon whose edge he had so care-
lessly thrown himself down to rest that the weightier
portion of his body hung over it, while he was only
kept from falling by the tenure of his elbow on its
237

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

extreme and slippery edge — this "little cliff" arose,
a sheer unobstructed precipice of black shining rock,
some fifteen or sixteen hundred feet from the world
of crags beneath us. Nothing would have tempted
me to within half a dozen yards of its brink. In
truth so deeply was I excited by the perilous position
of my companion, that I fell at full length upon the
ground, clung to the shrubs around me, and dared
not even glance upward at the sky — while I struggled
in vain to divest myself of the idea that the very
foundations of the mountain were in danger from
the fury of the winds. It was long before I could
reason myself into sufficient courage to sit up and
look out Into the distance.

" You must get over these fancies," said the guide,
" for 1 have brought you here that you might have
the best possible view of the scene of Chat event I
mentioned — and to tell you the whole story with the
Spot just under your eye.

" We are now," he continued, in that particulariiing
manner which distinguished him — " we are now close
upon the Norwegian coast — in the sixty-eighth degree
of latitude — in the great province of Nordland — and
in the dreary district of Lofoden. The mountain
upon whose top we sit is Helseggen,- the Cloudy.
Now raise yourself up a little higher — hold on to the
grass if you feel giddy — so — and look out, beyond
the belt of vapor beneath us, into the sea."

I looked diziiiy, and beheld a wide expanse of
ocean, whose waters wore so inky a hue as to bring at
once to my mind the Nubian geographer's account of
the Mare Tetiebraram. A panorama more deplorably
desolate no human imagination can conceive. To the
right and left, as far as the eye could reach, there lay

238

„ Google

A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM

outstretched, iike ramparts o£ the world, hnes of
horridly black and beetling cUff, whose character at
gloom was but the more forcibly illustrated by the
surf wliich reared high up against it its white and
ghastly crest, howling and shrieking forever. Just
opposite the promontory upon whose apex we were
placed, and at a distance of some five or six miles out
at sea, there was visible a small, bleak-looking island ;
or, more properly, its position was discernible through
the wilderness of surge in which it was enveloped.
About two miles nearer the land arose another of
smaller size, hideously craggy and barren, and en-
compassed at various intervals by a cluster of dark

The appearance of the ocean, in the space between
the more distant island and the shore, had something
very unusual about it. Although, at the time, so
Strong 3 gale was blowing landward that a brig in the
remote offing lay to under a double-reefed trysail, and
constantly plunged her whole hull out of sight, still
there was here nothing like a regular swell, but only a
short, quick, angry cross dashing of water in every
direction — as well ia the teeth of the wind as other-
wise. Of foam there was little except in the imme-
diate vicinity of the rocks.

" The island in the distance," resumed the old man,
" is called by the Norwegians Vurrgh. The one mid-
way is Moskoe, That a mile to the northward is
Ambaaren. Yonder are Ifiesen, Hoeyholm, Kieldholm,
Suarven, and Buckholm. Farther off — between Mos-
koe and Vurrgh — are Otterholm, Flimen, Sandfiesen,
and Skarholm. These are the true names of the
places — but why it has been thought necessary to
name them at all is more than either you or I can
239

;v Google

TALES OF PSEU DO -SCIENCE

understand. Do you hear anything? Do you see
any change in the water?"

We had now been about ten minutes upon the top
of Helseggen, to which we had ascended from the
interior of Lofoden, so tliat we had caught no glimpse
o£ the sea until it had burst upon us from the summit.
As the old man spoke, I became aware of a loud and
gradually increasing sound, like the moaning of a vast
herd of buffaloes upon an American prairie ; and at
the same moment I perceived that what seamen term
the chapping character of the ocean beneath us, was
rapidly changing into a current which set to the east-
ward. Even while I gazed, this current acquired a
monstrous velocity. Each moment added to its speed
— to its headlong impetuosity, in five minutes the
whole sea, as far as Vurrgh, was lashed into ungov-
ernable fury; but it was between ^oskoe and the
coast that the main uproar held its sway. Here the
vast bed of the waters, seamed and scarred into a
thousand conflicting channels, burst suddenly into
frenzied convulsion — heaving, boiling, hissing — gy-
rating in gigantic and innumerable vortices, and all
whirling and plunging on to the eastward with a
rapidity which water never elsewhere assumes, except
in precipitous descents.

In a few minutes more, there came over the scene
another radical alteration. The genera! surface grew
somewhat more smooth, and the whirlpools, one by
one, disappeared, while prodigious streaks of foam
became apparent where none had been seen before.
These streaks, at length, spreading out to a great dis-
tance, and entering into combination, took unto them-
selves the gyratory motion of the subsided vortices,
>aad seemed to form the germ of another more vast.

db, Google

A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM

Suddenly — very suddenly — this assumed a distinct
and definite existence, in a circle of more than a mile
in diameter- The edge of the whirl was represented
by a broad belt of gleaming spray ; but no particle of
this slipped into the mouth of the terrific funnel, whose
interior, as far as the eye could fathom it, was a
smooth, shining, and jet-black wall of water, inclined
to the horizon at an angle of some forty-five degrees,
Speeding dizzily round and round with a swaying and
sweltering motion, and sending forth to the winds an
appalling voice, half shriek, half roar, such as not
even the mighty cataract of Niagara ever lifts up in
its agony to Heaven.

The mountain trembled to its very base, and the
rock rocked. I threw myself upon my face, and
clung to the scant herbage in an excess of nervous
agitation.

" This," said I at length, to the old man — " this
can be nothing else than the great whirlpool of the
Maelstrom."

" So it is sometimes termed," said he. " We Nor-
wegians call it the Moskoe-strom, from the island of
Moskoe in the midway."

The ordinary accounts of this vortex had by no
means prepared me for what I saw. That of Jonas
Ramus, which is perhaps the most circumstantial of
any, cannot impart the faintest conception either of
the magnificence or of the horror of the scene — or
of the wild bewildering sense of the novel which eon-
founds the beliolder. I am not sure from what point
of view the writer in question surveyed it, nor at what
time ; but it could neither have been from the summit
of Ilelseggen, nor during a storm. There are some
passages of his description, nevertheless, which may
VOL. iL — i6 241

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCK

be quoted for their details, although their effect is
exceedingly feeble in conveying an impression of the
spectacle.

" Between Lofoden and Moskoe," he says, " the
depth of the water is between thirty-six and forty
fathoms; but on the other side, toward Ver (Vurrgh),
this depth decreases so as not to afford a convenient
passage for a vessel, without the risk of splitting on
the rocks, which happens even in the calmest weather.
When it is ilood, the stream runs up the country
between Lofoden and Moskoe with a boisterous
rapidity ; but the roar of its impetuous ebb to the sea
is scarce equalled by the loudest and most dreadful
cataracts, the noise being heard several leagues off;
and the vortices or pits are of such an extent and
depth, that if a ship coraes within its attraction, it is
inevitably absorbed and carried down to the bottom,
and there beat to pieces against the rocks; and when
the water relaxes, the fragments thereof are thrown
up again. But these intervals of tranquillity are only
at the turn of the ebb and flood, and in caJra weather,
and last but a quarter of an hour, its violence gradu'
aliy returning. When the stream is most boisterous,
and its fury heightened by a storm, it is dangerous to
come within a Norway mile of it. Boats, yachts, and
ships have been carried away by not guarding against
it before they were within its reach. It likewise
happens frequently that whales come too near the
stream, and are overpowered by its violence ; and
then it is impossible to describe their bowlings and
bellowings in their fruitless struggles to disengage
themselves. A bear once, attempting to swim from
Lofoden to Moskoe, was caught by the stream and
borne down, while he roared terribly, so as to be
242

;v Google

INTO THE MAELSTROM

heard on shore. Large stocks of firs and piae trees,
after being absorbed by the current, rise again broken
and torn to such a degree as if bristles grew upon
them. This plainly shows the bottom to consist o£
craggy rocks, among which they are whirled to and
fro. This stream is regulated by the flux and reflux
o£ the sea — it being constantly high and low water
every six hours. In the year 1645, early in the moro-
ing of Sexagesima Sunday, it raged with such noise
and impetuosity that the very stones of the houses on
the coast fell to the ground."

In regard to the depth of the water, I could not
see how this could have been ascertained at all
in the immediate vicinity of the vortex. The "forty
fathoms " must have reference only to portions of
the channel close upon the shore either of Moskoe or
Lofoden. The depth in the centre of the Moskoe-
strom must be immeasurably greater; and no better
proof of this fact is necessary than can be obtained
from even the sidelong glance into the abyss of the
whirl which may be had from the highest crag of
Helseggen. Looking down from this pinnacle upon
the howling Phlegethon below, I could not help smil-
ing at the simplicity with which the honest Jonas
Ramus records, as a matter difficult of belief, the anec-
dotes of the whales and the bears; for it appeared to
me, in fact, a self-evident thing that the largest ships of
the line in existence, coming within the influence of
that deadly attraction, could resist it as little as a
feather the hurricane, and must disappear bodily and
at once.

The attempts to account for the phenomenon —
some of which, I remember, seemed to me sufficiently
plaasible in perusal — now wore a very different and

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-

unsatisfactory aspect. The idea generally received is
that this, as well as three smaller vortices among the
Feroe Islands, "have no other cause than the colli-
sion of waves rising and falling, at Huk and reflux,
against a ridge of rocks and shelves, which confines
the water so that it precipitates itself like a cataract;
and thus the higher the flood rises, the deeper must
the fall be, and the natural result of all is a whirlpool
or vortex, the prodigious suction of which is sufficiently
known by lesser experiments." — These are the words
of the " Encycioptedia Britannica." Kircher and
others imagine that in the centre of the channel of
the Maelstrom is an abyss penetrating the globe, and
issuing in some very remote part — - the Gulf of Both-
nia being somewhat decidedly named in one instance.
This opinion, idle in itself, was the one to which, as
1 gazed, my imagination most readily assented ; and,
mentioning it to the guide, I was rather surprised to
hear him say that, although it was the view almost
universally entertained of the subject by the Nor-
wegians, it nevertheless was not his own. As to the
former notion he confessed his inability to compre-
hend it; and here I agreed with him — for, however
conclusive on paper, it becomes altogether unintelli-
gible, and even absurd, amid the thunder of the abyss.

" You have had a good look at the whirl now," said
the old man, "and if you will creep round this crag,
so as to get in its lee, and deaden the roar of the
water, I will tell you a story that will convince yon I
ought to know something of the Moskoe-strom,"

I placed myself as desired, and he proceeded.

" Myself and my two brothers once owned a schooner-
rigged smack of about seventy tons burden, with which
we were in the habit of fishing among the islands be-
244

;v Google

A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM

yond Moskoe, nearly to Vurrgh. In ali violent eddies
at sea there is good fishing, at proper opportunities,
if one has only the courage to attempt it ; but among
the whole of the Lofoden coastmen we three were the
only ones who made a regular business of going out
to the islands, as I tell you. The usual grounds are
a great way lower down to the southward. There
fish can be got at all hours, without much risk, and
therefore these places are preferred. The choice spots
over here among the rocks, however, not only yield
the finest variety, but in far greater abundance ; so
that we often got in a single day what the more timid
of the craft could not scrape together in a week. la
fact, we made it a matter of desperate speculation —
the risk of life standing instead of labor, and courage
answering for capital.

"We kept the
higher up the coas

than this ; and

; about five miles
t was our practice,

of the

n this
h b w Up

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

shortly after our arrival, and made the channel too
boisterous to be thought of. Upon this occasion we
should have been driven out to sea in spite of every-
thing (for the whirlpools threw us round and round so
violently, that, at length, we fouled our anchor and
dragged it) if it had not been that we drifted into one
of the innurnerable cross currents - — here to-day and
gone to-morrow — which drove us under the lee of
Flimen, where, by good luck, we brought up.

" I could not tell you the twentieth part of the diffi-
culties we encountered 'on the ground' — it is a bad
spot to be in, even in good weather — but we made
shift always to run the gauntlet of the Moskoe-str6m
itself without accident ; although at times my heart
has been in my mouth when we happened to be a
minute or so behind or before the slack. The wind
sometimes was not as strong as we thought it at start-
ing, and then we made rather iess way than we could
wish, while the current rendered the smack unman-
ageable. My eldest brother had a son eighteen years
old, and I had two stout boys of my own. These
would have been of great assistance at such times, in
using the sweeps, as well as afterward in fishing —
but, somehow, although we ran the risk ourselves, we
had not the heart to let the young ones get into the
danger ~ for, after all said and done, it -was a horrible
danger, and that is the truth.

" It is now within a few days of three years since
what I am going to tell you occurred. It was on the
tenth of Juiy, i8 — ,a day which the people of this
part of the world wiU never forget — for it was one
in which blew the most terrible hurricane that ever
came out of the heavens. And yet all the morning, and
indeed until late lit the afternoon, there was a gentle
246

;v Google

A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM

and steady breeze from the south-west, while the
Bun shone brightly, so that the oldest seaman among
us could not have foreseen what was to follow.

" The three of us — my two brothers and myself —
had crossed over to the islands about two o'clock P.
M. , and soon nearly loaded the smack with fine fish,
which, we all remarked, were more plenty that day
than we had ever known them. It was just seven,
by my luatck, when we weighed and started for home,
so as to make the worst of the Strom at slack water,
which we knew would be at eight.

"We set out with a fresh wind on our starboard
quarter, and for some time spanked along at a great
rate, never dreaming of danger, for indeed we saw
not the slightest reason to apprehend it. Ail at once
we were taken aback by a'Lnreeze from over Helseg-
gen. This was most unusual — somethiufi; that had
never happened to us before — and I began to fee!
a tittle uneasy, without exactly knowing why. We
put the boat on the wind, but could make no head-
way at all for the eddies, and I was upon the point
of proposing to return to the anchorage, when, look-
ing astern, we saw the whole horizon covered with
a singular copper-colored cloud that rose with the
most amazing velocity.

" In the mean time the breeze that had headed us
oS fell away, and we were dead becalmed, drifting
about in every direction. This state of things, how-
ever, did not last long enough to give us time to think
about it. In less than a minute the storm was upon
us — in less than two the sky was entirely overcast —
and what with this and the driving spray, it became
suddenly so dark that we could not see each other
in the smack.

247

d by Google

S h h h bl f 11

mp d b g Th Id N y

p d ) 1 g 1 k \V d

Igbyhrabf 1 yk b

ffbh mts byhbd

hyhdb wdir— hm kg

whmj bl hdlhdh !f

f t y
Oh high £hfhgh

p Ihd plflhdk

whlj II hh hbwd 1

h d 1 ) b m b d h

b I S by y

g hhppg Bfl m

whldh fdd — f ly

ly b d f e~ H my II

b h p d d tr I J f

Id pp y f g my p rt,

h d 1 h £ 1 ru r h m If

fl dkhmyf hrrg

wlf b dhyhdgpg g

b 1 If f h f I w m

I p dm dh — hhw

udbdih ryb hgl Idl d —
f I h fl d h k

F m m mpl 1 d 1 g d

d 11 h m 1 Id m b d

1 g b 1 Wh I Id d 1 g

I d mj If p my k 11 k g h Id

whmhd dhg jhdl Ps-

ly lib g hlfhkjas
dgd mg thw dl d

h If mm f h I

trygghb fh phhdra

Hosted by Google

A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM

over me, and to collect my senses so as to see what
was to be done, when I felt somebody grasp ray
arm. It was my elder brother, and my heart leaped
for joy, for I had made sure that he was overboard
— but the next moment all this joy was turned into
horror — for he put his mouth close to my ear, and
screamed out the ■via'rA.' Moskoe-strom!'

" No one ever will know what my feelings were at
that moment. 1 shook from head to foot as if I had
had the most violent fit of the ague. I knew what he
meant by that one word well enough — ■ I knew what
he wished to make me understand. With the wind
that now drove us on, we were bound for the whirl
of the Strom, and nothing could save usi

"YoQ perceive that in crossing the Strflm channel,
we always went a long way up above the whirl, even
in the calmest weather, and then had to wait and
watch carefully for the slack — but now we were driv-
ing right upon the pool itself, and in such a hurricane
as this I ' To be sure,' I thought, 'we shall get there
just about the slack — there is some little hope in
that' — but in the next moment I cursed myself for
being so great a foo! as to dream of hope at all. I
knew very well that we were doomed, had we been
ten times a ninety-^un ship.

"By this time the first fury of the tempest had
spent itself, or perhaps we did not feel it so much
as we scudded before it; but at all events the seas,
Ivhich at first had been kept down by the wind, and
iay flat and frothing, now got up into absolute moun-
tains. A singular change, too, had come over the
heavens. Around in every direction it was still as
black as pitch, but nearly overhead there burst out,
all at once, a circular rift of clear sky — as clear as I
249

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

ever saw — and of a deep bright blue — and through
it there blazed forth the full moon with a lustre that
I never before knew her to wear. She lit up every-
thing about us with the greatest distinctness — but,
oh God, what a scene it was to light up !

" I now made one or two attempts to speak to my
brother — but, in some manner which I could not un-
derstand, the din had so increased that I could not
make him hear a single word, although I screamed
at the top of my voice in his ear. Presently he shook
his head, looking as pale as death, and held up one
of his fingers, as if to say listen!

"At first I could not make out what he meant —
but soon a hideous thought flashed upon me. I
dragged my watch from its fob. It was not going.
I glanced at its face by the moonlight, and then
burst into tears as I flung it far away into the ocean.
It had run down at seven o'clock .' We were behind
the lime of the slack, and the whirl of the Strom was
iit full fury I

" When a boat is well built, properly trimmed, and
not deep laden, the waves in a strong gale, when she
is going large, seem always to slip from beneath her
— which appears very strange to a landsman — and
this is what is called riding, in sea phrase.

" Well, so far we had ridden the swells very
cleverly; but presently a gigantic sea happened to
take us right under the counter, and bore us with It
as it rose — up — up — as if into the sky. I would
not have believed that any wave could rise so high.
And then down we came with a sweep, a slide, and a
plunge, that made me feel sick and dizzy, as if I was
falling from some lofty mountain-top in a dream.
But while we were up I had thrown a. quick glance

2JO

;v Google

A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTRCiM

around — and that one glance was all sufficient. I
saw our exact position in an instant. The Moskoe-
atrSm whirlpool was about a quarter of a mile dead
ahead — but no more like the every-day Moskoe-slrom,
than the whir! as you now see it is iike a mill-race.
If I had not known where we were, and what we had
to expect, I should not have recognized the place at
all. As it was, I involuntarily closed my eyes in
horror. The lids clenched themselves together as if
in a spasm.

" It could not have been more than two minutes
afterwards until we suddenly felt the waves subside,
and were enveloped in foam. The boat made a
sharp half turn to larboard, and then shot off in
its new direction like a thunderbolt. At the same
moment the roaring noise of the water was completely
drowned in a kind of shrill shriek — such a sound as
you might imagine given out by the water pipes o£
many thousand steam- vessels, letting off their steam
all together. We were now in the belt of surf that
always surrounds the whirl ; and I thought, of course,
that another moment would plunge us into the abyss
— down which we could only see indistinctly on
account of the amazing velocity with which we were
borne along. The boat did not seem to sink into the
water at all, but to skim like an air-bubble upon the
surface of the surge. Her starboard side was next
the whirl, and on the larboard arose the world of
ocean we had left. It stood like a huge writhing wall
between us and the horizon.

" It may appear strange, but now, when we were in

the very jaws of the gulf, I felt more composed than

when we were only approaching it. Having made up

my mind to hope no more, I got rid of a great deal of

251

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

that terror which unmanned me at first. I suppose
it was despair that strung my nerves.

"Itmaylook lilte boasting — but what I tell you is
truth — I began to reflect how magnificent a thing it
was to die in such a manner, and how foolish it was
in me to think of so paltry a consideration as my own
individual life, in view of so wonderful a manifestation
of God's power. 1 do believe that I blushed with
shame when this idea crossed my mind. After a little
while I became possessed with the keenest curiosity
about the whir! itself. J positively felt a wish to
explore its depths, even at the sacrifice i was going
to make ; and my principal grief was that 1 should
never be able to tell my old companions on shore
about the mysteries I should see. These, no doubt,
were singular fancies to occupy a man's mind in such
extremity — and 1 have often thought, since, that the
revolutions of the boat around the pool might have
rendered me a little light-headed.

" There was another circumstance which tended to
restore my self-possession; and this was the cessation
of the wind, which could not reach us in our present
situation — for, as you saw yourself, the belt of surf is
considerably lower than the general bed of the ocean,
and this latter now towered above us, a high, black,
mountainous ridge. If you have never been at sea in
a heavy gale, you can form no idea of the confusion
of mind occasioned by the wind and spray together.
They blind, deafen, and strangle you, and take away
all power of action or reflection. But we were now,
in a great measure, rid of these annoyances — just as
death-condemned felons in prison arc allowed petty
indulgences, forbidden them while their doom is yet
uncertain.

252

d by Google

" How often we made the circuit of the belt it is
impossible to say. We careered round and round for
perhaps an hour, flying rather than floating, getting
gradually more and more into the middle of the surge,
and then nearer and nearer to its horrible inner edge.
All this time I had never let go of the ring-bolt. My
brother was at the stern, holding on to a small empty
water-cask which had been securely lashed under the
coop of the counter, and was the only thing on deck
that had not been swept overboard when the gale first
took us. As we approached the brink of the pit he
let go his hold upon this, and made for the ring, from
which, in the agony of his terror, he endeavored to
force my hands, as it was not large enough to afford
us both a secure grasp. I never felt deeper grief
than when I saw him attempt this act — although I
knew he was a madman when he did it — a raving
maniac through sheer fright. I did not care, how-
ever, to contest the point with him. I knew it could
make no difference whether either of us held on at
all; so I let him have the bpU, and went astern to the
cask. This there was no great difiiculty in doing; for
the smack flew round steadily enough, and upon an
even keel — only swaying to and fro, with the immense
sweeps and swelters of the whirl. Scarcely had I
secured myself in my new position, when we gave a
wild lurch to starboard, and rushed headlong into the
abyss. I muttered a hurried prayer to God, and
thought all was over.

"As I felt the sickening sweep of the descent, I
had instinctively tightened my hold upon the barrel,
and closed my eyes. For some seconds 1 dared not
open them — while I expected instant destruction, and
wondered that I was not already in my death-struggles
253

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-

with the water. But moment after moment elapsed.
I still lived. The sense of falling had ceased ; and
the motion of the vessel seemed much as it had been
before, while in the belt of foam, with the exception
that she now lay more along. I took courage and
looked once again upon the scene.

" Never shall I forget the sensations of awe, horror,
and admiration with which I gazed about me. The
boat appeared to be hanging, as if by magic, midway
down, upon the interior surface of a funnel vast in
circumference, prodigious in depth, and whose per-
fectly smooth sides might have been mistaken for
ebony, but for the bewildering rapidity with which
they spun around, and for the gleaming and ghastly
radiance they shot forth, as the rays of the full moon,
from vhat circular rift amid the clouds, which I have
already described, streamed in a flood of golden glory
along the black walls, and far away down into the
inmost recesses of the abyss.

" At first I was too much confused to observe
anything accurately. The general burst of terrific
grandeur was all that I beheld. When I recovered
myself a little, however, my gaze fell instinctively
downward. In this direction I was able to obtain
an unobstructed view, from the manner in which
the smack hung on the inclined surface of the
pool. She was quite upon an even keel — that is
to say, her deck lay in a plane parallel with that
of the water — but this latter sloped at an angle
of more than forty-five degrees, so that we seemed
to be lying upon our beam-ends. I could not help
observing, nevertheless, that I had scarcely more
difficulty in maintaining my hold and footing in
m, than if we had been upon a dead
3S4

;v Google

O THE MAELSTROM

level ; and this, I suppose, was owing to the speed
at which we revolved.

" The rays of the moon seemed tc search the very
bottom, of the profound gulf ; but still I could make
out nothing distinctly, on account of a thick mist in
which everything there was enveloped, and over
which there hung a magnificent rainbow, like that
narrow and tottering bridge which Mussulmans say
is the only pathway between Time and Eternity.
This mist, or spray, was no doubt occasioned by the
dashing of the great walls of the funnel, as they all
met together at the bottom — but the yell that went
up to the Heavens from out o^ tiiat mist, I dare not
attempt to describe.

" Our first slide into the abyss itself, from the belt
of foam above, had carried us to a great distance
down the slope; but our farther descent was by no
means proportionate. Round and round we swept
— not with any uniform movement but in dizzying
swings and jerks, that sent us sometimes only a few
hundred yards — sometimes nearly the cornplete cir-
cuit of the whirl. Our progress downward, at each
revolution, was slow, but very perceptible.

" Looking about me upon the wide waste of liquid
ebony on which we were thus borne, I perceived that
our boat was not the only object in the embrace of the
whirl. Both above and below us were visible frag-
ments of vessels, large masses of building timber and
trunks of trees, with many smaller articles, such as
pieces of house furniture, broken boxes, barrels, and
Slaves. I have already described the unnatural
curiosity which had taken the place of my original
terrors. It appeared to grow upon me as I drew
nearer and nearer to my dreadful doom. 1 now began

2JJ

d by Google

t/ have been
nt in specula-
their several
us fir tree,' I
'. certainly be
ge and disap-

. . — rr to find that

the wreck of a Dutch merchant ship overtook it
and went down before. At length, after making
several guesses of this nature, and being deceived in
all — this fact — the fact of my invariable miscalcu-
lation, set me upon a train of reflection that made
my limbs again tremble, and my heart beat heavily

" It was not a new terror that thus affected me. but
the dawn of a more exciting hope. This hope arose
partly from memory, and partly from present obser-
vation. I called to mind the great variety of buoyant
matter that strewed the coast of Lofoden, having
been absorbed and then thrown forth by the Moskoe-
StrOm. By far the greater number of the articles were
shattered in the most extraordinary way — so chafed
and roughened as to have the appearance of being
stuck full of splinters — but then 1 distinctly recol-
lected that there were same of them which were not
disfigured at all. Now I could not account for this
difference except by supposing that the roughened
fragments were the only ones which had been com-
pUtdy absorbed — that the others had entered the
whirl at so late a period of the tide, or, from some
reason, had descended so slowly after entering, that
they did not reach the bottom before the turn of the
flood came, or of the ebb, as the case might be. I
2S6

db, Google

A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM

conceived it possible, in either instance, that they
might thus be whirled up again to the level of the
ocean, without undergoing the fate of those which
had been drawn in more early or absorbed more
rapidly. I made, also, three important observations.
The first was, that as a general rule, the larger the
bodies were, the more rapid their descent; the second,
that, between two masses of equal extent, the one
spherical, and the other of any other shape, the supe-
riority in speed of descent was with the sphere ; the
third, that, between two masses of equal size, the
one cylindrical, and the other of any other shape,
the cyhnder was absorbed the more slowly. Since my
escape, I have had several conversations on this
subject with an old school-master of the district ; and
it was from him that I learned the use of the words
' cyhnder ' and ' sphere.' He explained to me —
although I have forgotten the explanation — how
what 1 observed was, in fact, the natural consequence
of the forms of the floating fragments, and showed
me how it happened that a cylinder, swimming in a
vortex, ofEered more resistance to its suction, and was
drawn in with greater difficulty, than an equally bulky
body, of any form whatever.'

" There was one startling circumstance which went
a great way ia enforcing these observations, and
rendering me anxious to turn them to account, and
this was that, at every revolution, we passed some-
thing hke a barrel, or else the yard or the mast of a
vessel, while many of these things, which had been
on our level when I first opened my eyes upon the
wonders of the whirlpool, were now liigh up above us,

1 Se« Archimedes, Di Hi Qua in Humida Vikuntur, lib. ii.

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

uid seemed to have moved but little from their
original station.

" I no longer hesitated what to do. I resolved to
lash myself securely to the water cask upon which I
now held, to cut it loose from the counter, and to
throw myself with it into the water. I attracted my
brother's attention by signs, pointed to the floating
barrels that came near us, and did everything in my
power to make him understand what I was about to
do. I thought at length that he comprehended my
design — but, whether this was the case or not, he
shook his head despairingly, and refused Co move
from his station by the ring-bolt. It was impossible
to reach him; the emergency admitted of no delay;
and so, with a bitter struggle, I resigned him to his
fate, fastened myself to the cask by means of the
lashings which secured it to the counter, and precipi-
tated myself with it into the sea, without another
moment's hesitation.

" The result was precisely what I had hoped it
might be. As it is myself who now tell you this tale
— as you see that I did escape — and as you are
already in possession of the mode in which this
escape was effected, and must therefore anticipate
all that I have farther to say— I will bring my story
quickly to conclusion. It might have been an hour,
or thereabout, after my quitting the smack, when,
having descended to a vast distance beneath me, it
made three or four wild gyrations in rapid succession,
and, bearing my loved brother with it, plunged head-
long, at once and forevj , into the chaos of foam
below. The barrel to which I was attached sunk
very little farther than half the distance between the
bottom of the gulf and the spot at which I leaped

„ Google

A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM

overboard, before a great change took place id the
character of the whirlpool. The slope of the sides of
the vast funnel became momently less and less steep.
The gyrations of the whirl grew, gradually, less and
less violent. By degrees, the froth -and the- rawibow
disappeared, and the bottom of the gulf seemed
slowly to uprise. The sky was clear, the winds had
gone down, and the full moon was setting radiantly
in the west, when I found myself on the surface of
the ocean, in full view of the shores of Lofoden, and
above the spot where the pool of the Moskoe-strom
kadbeen. It was the hour of the slack, but the sea
still heaved in mountainous waves from the effects
of the hurricane. I was borne violently into the
channel of the StrOm, and in a few minutes was
hurried down the coast into the 'grounds' of the
fishermen. A boat picked me up — exhausted from
fatigue — and {now that the danger was removed)
speechless from the memory of its horror. Those
who drew me on board were my old males and daily
companions, but they knew me no more than they
would have known a traveller from the spirit-land.
My hair, which had been raven-black the day before,
was as white as you see it now. They say too that
the whole expression of my countenance had changed.
1 told them my story — they did not believe it. I
now tell it to you — and I can scarcely expect you to .
put more faith in it than did the merry fishermen of
Lofoden."

db, Google

THOUSAND-AND-SECOND TALE
OF SCHEHERAZADE

llAVING had occasion iately, in tlie course of
some Oriental investigations, to consult tlie Tellme-
now Isiiso'drnot, a work which (like the Zokar of
Simeon Jochaides) is scarcely known at all, even in
Europe, and which has never been quoted, to my
knowledge, by any American — if we except, perhaps,
the author of the " Curiosities of American Literature ; "
having had occasion, I say, to turn over some pages
of the first-mentioned very remarkable work, I was
not a little astonished to discover that the literary
world has hitherto been strangely in error respecting
the fate of the vizier's daughter, Scheherazade, as that
fate is depicted in the " Arabian Nights ; " and that
the denouement there given, if not altogether inaccu-
rate, as tar as it goes, is at least to blame in rot
having gone very much farther.

For full information on this interesting topic, I
must refer the inquisitive reader to the Isitsoornot
itself; but, in the mean time, I shall be pardoned for
giving a summary of what I there discovered.

!t will be remembered that, in the usual version of

the tales, a certain monarch, having good cause to be

260

;v Google

THE THOUSAND-AND-SECOND TALE

jealous of his queen, not only puts her to death, out
makes a vow, by his beard and the prophet, to
espouse each night the most beautiful maiden in his
dominions, and the next morning' to deliver her up to
the executioner.

Having fulfilled this vow for many years to the
letter, and with a religious punctuality and method
that conferred great credit upon him as a man of
devout feelings and excellent sense, he was interrupted
one afternoon (no doubt at his prayers) by a visit
from his grand vizier, to whose daughter, it appears,
there had occurred an idea.

Her name was Scheherazade, and her idea was, that
she would either redeem the land from the depopula-
ting tax upon its beauty, or perish, after the approved
fashion of all heroines, in the attempt.

Accordingly, and although we do not find it to be
leap-year (which makes the sacrifice more meritori-
ous), she deputes her father, the grand vizier, to make
an offer to the king of her hand. This hand the king
eagerly accepts — (he had intended to take it at all
events, and had put off the matter from day to day,
only through fear of the vizier) — but, in accepting it
now, he gives all parties very distinctly to understand
that, grand vizier or no grand vizier, he has not the
slightest design of giving up one iota of his vow or of
his privileges. When, therefore, the fair Schehera-
zade insisted upon marrying the king, and did actually
marry him despite her father's excellent advice not to
do anything of the kind — when she would and did
marry him, I say, will-I nill-I, it was with her beauti-
ful black eyes as thoroughly open as the nature of the
case would allow.

It seems, however, that this politic damsel (who had-

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

been reading Machiavelli, beyond doubt) had a verj
(Bgenious little plot in her mind. On the night of the
wedding she contrived, upon I forget what specious
pretence, to have her sister occupy a couch sufficiently
near that of the royal pair to adroit of easy conversa-
tion from bed to bed ; and, a little before cock-crowing,
she took care to awaken the good monarch, her hus-
band (who bore her none the worse will because he
intended to wring her neck on the morrow) — she
managed to awaken him, I say (although on account
of a capital conscience and an easy digestion, he slept
well), by the profound interest of a story (about a rat
and a black cat, I think) which she was narrating (all
in an under-tone, of course) to her sister. When the
day broke, it so happened that this history was not
altogether finished, and that Scheherazade, in the
nature of things, could not finish it just then, since it
was high time for her to get up and be bowstrung — a
thing very little more pleasant than hanging, only a
trifie more genteel.

The king's curiosity, however, prevaihng, I am sorrjr
to say, even over his sound religious principles, induced
him for this once to postpone the fulfilment of his
vow until next morning, for the purpose and with the
hope of hearing that night how it fared in the end
with the black cat (a black cat, I think it was) and
the rat.

The night having arrived, however, the Lady Sche-
herazade not only put the finishing stroke to the black
cat and the rat (the rat was blue), but before she well
knew what she was about found herself deep in the
intricacies of a narration, having reference (if I am not
altogether mistaken) to a pink horse (with green wings)
that went, in a violet manner, by clockwork, and was
362

;v Google

-SECOND TALE

wound up with an indigo key. With this history the
king was even more profoundly interested than with
the other — and, as the day broke before its conclu-
sion (notwithstanding all the queen's endeavors to get
through with it in time for the bowstringing), there
was again no resource but to postpone that ecremonj
as before, for twenty-four hours. The ne\t night
there happened a similar accident with a similir
result; and then the next — and then again the next,
so that, in the end, the good monarch, haMng been
unavoidably deprived of all opportunity to keep his
vow during a period of no less than one thousand and
one nights, either forgets it altogether bi the expira-
tion of this time, or gets himself absolved of it m the
regular way, or (what is more probable) breaks it out
right, as well as the head of his father confcs<ior
At all events, Scheherazade, who, being lineally
descended from Eve, fell heir perhaps to the whole
seven baskets of talk which the latter ladj, we all
know, picked up from under the trees in the garden of
Eden ; Sclieherazade, I say, finally triumphed, and the
tariff upon beauty was repealed.

Now, this conclusion (which is that of the story as
we have it upon record) is, no doubt, excessively
proper and pleasant — but, alas ! like a great many
pleasant things, is more pleasant than true ; and I
am indebted altogether to the Isitsoornot for the
means of correcting the error. " Le mieux^'' says a
French proverb, " est rennemi du bun" and, in men-
tioning that Scheherazade had inherited the seven
baskets of talk, I should have added that she put
them out at compound interest until they amounted

"My dear sister," said she, on the thousand-and-

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-

second night (I quote the language of the Isitsoor-
not, at this point, verbatim), "my dear sister," said
she, "now that all this little difficulty auout the bow-
string has blown over, and that this odious tax is so
happily repealed, I feel that 1 have been guilty of
great indiscretion in withholding from you and the
king (who, I am sorry to say, snores — a thing no gen-
tleman would do) the full conclusion of the history of
Sinbad the sailor. This person went through numer-
ous other and more interesting adventures than those
which I related ; but the truth is, I felt sleepy on the
particular night of their narration, and so was seduced
into cutting them short — a grievous piece of miscon-
duct, for which 1 only trust that Allah will forgive me.
But even yet it is not too late to remedy my great neg-
lect — and as soon as 1 have given the king a pinch
or two in order to wake him up so far that he may
stop making that horrible noise, I will forthwith enter-
tain you (and him if he pleases) with the sequel o£
this very remarkable story."

Hereupon the sister of Scheherazade, as I have
it from the Idtsoornot, expressed no very particular
intensity of gratification, but the king, having been
sufficiently pinched, at length ceased snoring, and
finally said "Hum!" and then "Hoo!" when the
queen understanding these words (which are no doubt
Arabic) to signify that he was all attention, and
would do his best not to snore any more — the queen,
I say, having arranged these matters to her satisfac-
tion, re-entered thus, at once, into the history of
Sinbad the sailor ; —

" At length, in my old age " (these are the words of

Sinbad himself, as retailed by Scheherazade) — "at

length, in my old age, and after enjoying many

264

d by Google

THE THOUSAND-AND-SECOND TALE

years of tranquillily at home, I became once more pos-
sessed with a desire of visiting foreign countries ; and
one day, without acquainting any of my family with
my design, 1 packed up some bundles of such merchan-
dise as was most precious and least bulky, and,
engaging a porter to carry them, went with him down
to the sea-shore, to wait the arrival of any chance
vessel that might convey me out of the kingdom into
some region which I had not as yet explored.

"Having deposited the packages upon the sands,
we sat down beneath some trees, and looked out into
the ocean in the hope of perceiving a ship, but during
several hours we saw none whatever. At length I
fancied that I could hear a singular buzzing or hum-
ming sound^and the porter, after listening awhile,
declared that he also could distinguish it. Presently
it grew louder, and then still louder, so that we could
have no doubt that the object which caused it was
approaching us. At length, on the edge of the hori-
zon, we discovered a black speck, which rapidly
increased in size unli! we made it out to be a vast
monster, swimming with a great part of its body
above the surface of the sea. It came towards us
with inconceivable swiftness, throwing up huge waves
of foam around its breast, and illummating all that
part of the sea through which it passed, with a long
line of fire that extended far off into the distance,

" As the thing drew near we saw it very distinclly.
Its length was equal to that of three of the loftiest
trees that grow, and it was as wide as the great hall of
audience in your palace, O most sublime and munifi.
cent of the caliphs. Its body, which was unlike thai
of ordinary fishes, was as solid as a rock, and of a .
jetty blackness throughout all that portion of it which
265

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

floa.ted above the water, with the exception of a
narrow blood-red streak that completely begirdled it.
The belly, which floated beneath the surface, and of
which we could get only a glimpse ftow and then as the
monster rose and fell with the billows, was entirely
covered with metallic scales, of a color like that of
the moon in misty weather. The back was flat and
nearly white, and from it there extended upwards six
spines, about half the length of the whole body.

" This horrible creature had no mouth tliat we
could perceive; but, as if to make up for this defi-
ciency, it was provided with at least four score of
eyes, that protruded from their sockets like those of
the green dragon-fly, and were arranged all around
the body in two rows, one above the other, and paral-
lel to the blood-red streak, which seemed to answer
the purpose of an eyebrow. Two or three of these
dreadful eyes were much larger than the others, and
had the appearance of solid gold.

" Although this beast approached us, as I have
before said, with the greatest rapidity, it must have
been moved altogether by necromancy ; for it had
neither fins like a £sh nor web-feet like a duck, nor
wings like the sea-shell which is blown along in the
manner of a vessel; nor yet did it writhe itself for-
ward as do the eels. Its head and its tail were
shaped precisely alike, only, not far from the latter,
were two small holes that served for nostrils, and
through which the monster puffed out its thick breath
with prodigious violence, and with a shrieking, dis-
agreeable noise-

" Our terror at beholding this hideous thing was
very great, but it was even surpassed by our astonish-
ment when, upon getting a nearer look, we perceived
266

d by Google

AND-SECONO TAI^

Upon the creature's back s. vast number of animals
about the size and shape of men, and altc^ether much
resembling them, except that thev wore no garments
(as men do), being supplied (by nature, no doubt)
with an ugly uncomfortable covering, a great deal like
cloth, but fitting so tight to the skin as to render the
poor wretches laughably awkward, and put them
apparently to severe pain. On the very tips of their
heads were certain square-looking boxes, which, at first
sight, I thought might have been intended to answer
as turbans, but I soon discovered that they were exces-
sively heavy and solid, and 1 therefore concluded
they were contrivances designed, by their great
weight, to keep the heads of the animals steady and
safe upon their shoulders. Around the necks of the
creatures were fastened black collars (badges of ser-
vitude, no doubt) such as we keep on our dogs, only
much wider and infinitely stiffer^ so that it was quite
impossible for these poor victims to move their heads
in any direction without moving the body at the same
time; and thus they were doomed to perpetual con-
templation of their noses — a view puggish and
snubby in a wonderful if not positively in an awful
degree.

" When the monster had nearly reached the shore
where we stood, it suddenly pushed out one of its
eyes to a great extent, and emitted from it a terrible
flash of fire, accompanied by a dense cloud of smoke,
and a noise that 1 can compare to nothing but thun-
der. As the smoke cleared away, we saw one of the
odd man-animals standing near the head of the large
beast with a trumpet in his hand, through which
(putting it to his mouth) he presently addressed us in
loud, harsh, and disagreeable accents, that perhaps
267

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-

we should have mistaken for language, had they not
come altogether through the nose.

" Being thus evidently spoken to, I was at a loss
how to reply, as I could in no manner understand
what was said; and in this difficulty I turned to the
porter, who was near swooning through affright, and
demanded of him his opinion as to what species of
monster it was, what it wanted, and what kind of
creatures those were that so swarmed upon its back.
To this the porter replied, as well as he could for
trepidation, that he had once before heard of this sea-
beast ; that it was a cruel demon, with bowels of
sulphur and blood of fire, created by evil genii as the
means of inflicting misery upon mankind ; that the
things upon its back were vermin, such as sometimes
infest cats and dogs, only a little larger and more
savage ; and that these vermin had their uses, how-
ever evil — for, through the torture they caused the
beast by their nibblings and stingings, it was goaded
into that degree of wrath which was requisite to make
it roar and commit ill, and so fulfil the vengeful and
malicious designs of the wicked genii.

"This account determined me to take to my heels,
and, without once even looking behind me, I ran at
full speed up into the hills, while the porter ran
equally fast, although nearly in an opposite direction,
so that, by these means, he finally made his escape
with my bundles, of which I have no doubt he took
excellent care — although this is a point I cannot
determine, as I do not remember that I ever beheld
him again.

" For myself, I was so hotly pursued by a swarm ol

the men-vermin (who had-come to the shore in boats)

that I was veiy soon overtaken, bound hand and foot,

268

d by Google

AND-SECOND TALE

and conveyed to the beast, which immediately swam
out again into the middle of the sea.

" I now bitterly repented my folly in quitting a
comfortable home to peril my life in such adventures
as this ; but regret being useless, I made the best of
my condition, and exerted myself to secure the good-
will of the man-animal that owned the trumpet, and
that appeared to exercise authority over its fellows.
1 succeeded so well in this endeavor that, in a few
days, the creature bestowed upon me various tokens
of its favor, and in the end even went to the trouble
of teaching me the rudiments of what it was vain
enough to denominate its language; so that, at length,
I was enabled to converse with it readily, and came
to make it comprehend the ardent desire I had of
seeing the world,

" ' Washish sqiiashish squeak, Sinbad, hey-diddU
diddle, grunt unt grumble, hiss,fiss, whiss' said he
to me, one day after dinner — but I beg a thousand
pardons, I had forgotten that your majesty is not
conversant with the dialect of the Cock-neighs (so
the man-animais were called; I presume because their
language formed the connecting link between that of
the horse and that of the rooster). With your per-
mission, I will translate. ' Waskhh squashish,' and
so forth; — that is to say, 'I am happy to find, my
dear Sinbad, that you are really a very excellent
fellow ; we are now about doing a thing which is
called circumnavigating the globe; and since you are
so desirous of seeing the world, I will strain a point and
give you a free passage upon the back of the beast.' "

When the Lady Scheherazade had proceeded thus
far, relates the Isitsoornot, the king turned over from
his left side to his right, and said :
Z69

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

" It is, in fact, very surprising, my dear queen,
that you omitted, hitherto, these latter adventures of
Sinbad. Do you know I think them exceedingly
entertaining and strange f "

The king having thus expressed himself, we are
told, the fair Scheheraiade resumed her history in
the following words :

" Sinbad went on in this manner with his narra-
tive — ' I thanked the man-animal for its kindness, and
soon found myself very much at home on the beast,
which swam at a prodigious rate through the ocean;
although the surface of the latter is, in that part of
the world, by no means flat, but round like a pome-
granate, so that we went— so to say —either uphill
or down hill all the time.' "

"That, I think, was very singular," interrupted the
king.

"Nevertheless, it is quite true," replied Schehe-

"I have my doubts," rejoined the king; "but, pray,
be so good as to go on with the story."

"I will," said the queen. "'The beast,' continued
Sinbad, 'swam, as I have related, up hill and down
hill, until at length we arrived at an island, many
hundreds of miles in circumference, but which, never-
theless, had been built in the middle of the sea by a
colony of little things like caterpillars.' " '

" Hum ! " said the king.

" ' Leaving this island,' said Sinbad " —(for Schehe-
razade, it must be understood, took no notice of hei
husband's ill-mannered ejaculation) — "'leaving thia
island, we came to another where the forests were

1 The Cotatlite*.

d by Google

o£ solid stone, and so hard that they shivered to pieces
the finest-tempered axes with which we endeavored to
cut them down.' " •

"Hum!" said the king, again; but Scheherazade,
paying him no attention, continued in the language of
Sinbad : —

"'Passing beyond this last island, we reached a
country where there was a cave that ran to the dis-

> One of tbe most remaikable natural curiosities in Tuas is a
petrified forest, near the held of Pasigono River, [I consists of

Some tiees, now growing, are partly petrified. This is a startling
fact for natural philosophers, and must cause them (o modifr the
enisling theory of petrifaction. —See William KBNNBDy: Tixai,

This account, at first discredited, has since been corroboiated
by the discovery of a completely petrified forest, near the head
waters of the Cheyenne, or Chienne River, which has its source in
the Black Hills of the Rocky chain.

" There is scarcely, perhaps, a spectacle on the surface of the
globe more remarkable, either in a geological or picturesque point
of view, than that presented by the petrified foiest, near Cairo.
The traveller, having passed the tombs of the caliphs, just beyond
the gates of the city, proceeds to the southward, nearly at right
angles to the road across the desn-t to Suez, and after having
travelled some ten miles up a low barren valley, covered with sand,
gravel, and sea shells, fresh as if the tide had retired but yesterday,
crosses a low range of sandhills, which has for some distance run
parallel to his path. The scene now presHited to him is beyond
conception angubr and desolate. A mass of fragments of trees,
all converted into stone, and, when struck by his horse's hoof,
ringing like cast-iron, is seen to extend itself for miles and milej
around him, In the (orm of a decayed and prostrate forest. The
wood is of a dark brown hue, but retains its form in perfection, the
pieces being from one to fifteen feet in length, and from half a foot
to three teet in thickness, strewed so closely together, as far as the
eye can reach, that an Egyptian donkey can scarcely thread its
way through amongst them, and so natural that, were it in Scotland
271

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-

tance of thirty or forty miles within the bowels of the
earth, and that contained a greater number of far
more spacious and more magnificent palaces than are
to be found in ail Damascus and Bagdad. From the
roofs of these palaces there hung myriads of gems,
like diamonds, but larger than men; and in among
the streets of towers and pyramids and temples, there
flowed immense rivers as black as ebony, and swarm-
ing with fish that had no eyes.' " •

" Hum ! " said the king.

" ' We then swam into a region of the sea where we
found a lofty mountain, down whose sides there
streamed torrents of melted metal, some of which were
twelve miles wide and sixty miles long,^ while from an
abyss on the summit issued so vast a quantity of
ashes that the sun was entirely blotted out from the
heavens, and it became darker than the darkest mid-
night; so that, when we were even at the distance of
a hundred and fifty miles from the mountain, it was
impossible to see the whitest object, however close we
held it to our eyes.' " '

peifect, and in some the worm-holes eaten under the bark ate
readily recognizable. The most delicate of the sap vessels, and all
the finer portions of the centre of the wood, are perfectly entire,
and bear to be ejiamined with the strongest magnifiers. The whole
ace so tboroughlj' sllkified as to scratch glass and be capable of
receiving the highest polish." — Aslaiii Jmrnal, iii. p. 359
{ Third Series).

1 The Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. * In Iceland, 1783.

« " During the eiuption of Hecia, in i?66, clouds of this bind

produced such a degree of darkness that, at Glaumba, which is more

than fifty leagues distant from the mountain, people could only find

thdr itajr by groping. During the eruption of Vesuvius, In 1794,

27a

d by Google

■AND-SECOND TALE

" Hum ! " said the king.

" ' After quitting this coast, the beast continued his
voyage until we met with a land in which the nature
of things seemed reversed — for we here saw a
great lalte, at the bottom of which, more than a,
hundred feet beneath the surface of the water, there
flourished in full leaf a forest of tall and luxuriant

" Hoo ! " said the king.

" ' Some hundred miles farther on brought us to a
climate where the atmosphere was so dense as to sus-
tain iron or steel, just as our own does feathers.' " ■

" Fiddle de dee," said the king.

" * Proceeding stil! in the same direction, we pres-
ently arrived at the most magnificent region in the
whole world. Through it there meandered a glorious
rivet for several thousands of miles. This river was
of unspeakable depth and of a transparency richer
than that ol amber. It was from three to six miles in

at Caserta, four leagues distant, people could only walk by the ligbt
of toTches On the first of Maf, iSi2, a cloud of volcanic ashes
and sand, coming from a volcano in the Island of St. Vincent,
covered the whole of Barbadoes, spreading over it so intense a
darkness that, at midday, in the open air, one could not perceive
the trees or other objects near him, or even a while handkerchief
placed at the distance of six inches from the eye." — Hugh
MURRAV; Encydopadia of Geography. 1. p. 215.

1 " fn the year 1790, in the Cataceas, during an earthquake, a
portion of the granite soil sunk and left a lake eight hundred yards
to diameter, and from eighty to a hundred /eet deep. It was a
part of the forest of Aripao which sunk, and the trees remained
green for several months under the water." — Hugh Murkav:

9 The hiKlest steel evei
a bk)w-pipe, be reduced tc
nadily in the atmospheric :

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

width ; and its banks, which arose on either side to
twelve hundred feet in perpendicular height, were
crowned with ever-blossoming trees, and perpetual
sweet-scented flowers, that made the whole territory
one gorgeous garden ; but the name of this luxuriant
land was the kingdom of Horror, ?.nd to enter it was
inevitable death.'"'

" Humph ! " said the king.

'"We left this kingdom in great haste, and, after
some days, came to another, where we were astonished
to perceive myriads of monstrous animals witji horns
resembling scythes upon their heads. These hideous
beasts dig for themselves vast caverns in the soil, of
a funnel shape, and line the sides of them with rocks,
so disposed one upon the other that they fall instantly,
when trodden upon by other animals, thus precipitat-
ing them into the monsters' dens, where their blood is
immediately sucked, and their carcasses afterwards
hurled contemptuously out to an immense distance
from "the caverns of death."'"'

" Pooh ! " said the king.

" ' Continuing our progress, we perceived a district
abounding with vegetables that grew not upon any
soil, but in the air.* There were others that sprang

< The legion of the Niger. See " Simmonds'i Coloaial Hiiga>

a The if jintuIitM —Koa-ant Thetenn "monster" Isequally
applicable to imall abnotmat things and to great, while such tpi-
theti as " Yast " are menly compatative. The cavsra of the myr-
tiKleon iu'df'hi comparison with the hole of the common red ant.
A grain of lilex is, also, a " rock."

• The E^idtndTMiK, Pitt Aeris, of the (imily of the O'chldes,
grows with merely the surface of its roots attached to a tree or
other object, from which it derives no nutriment — subsisting alto-
gether upon ui.

db, Google

AND-SECOND TALE

jom the substance of other vegetables;' others that
derived their sustena.iicc from the bodies of living
animals ; ' and then again, there were others that
glowed all over with intense fire ; * others that moved
from place to place at pleasure;* and what is still
more wonderful, we discovered fiowers that lived and
breathed and moved their limbs at will, and had,
moreover, the detestable passion of mankind for en-
slaving other creatures, and confining them in horrid
and solitary prisons until the fulfilment of appointed
tasks,' " *

I The ParasUes, such as tht wonderful Ra^eiia ArnelOi.

S Schoiiw advocates a class of plants that grow upon living »ni-
mats — ths Flanta Epltea. Of this class aie (he Fmi and Alga.

Mi. J. B. Willams ol Salfm, Mass., pressnted the National
Institute with an insect (rom New Zealand, with the following
description : — " ' The Holli,' a dedded caterpillar, or wotm, is
found growing at the foot of the Rata tree, with a plant growing
out oi its head. Tliis most peculiar and most extraordinary insect
travels up both the Rata and Puriri trees, and entering into the
top, eats its way, perforating tlie trunk of the tree until it reachet
the root; it then comes out of the root, and dies, or remains dor-
mant, and the plant propagates out of its head ; the Ijody remiini
perfect and entire, of a harder substance than when alive. From
this insect the natives make a coloring for tattooing."

< In mines and natuial caves we find a species of cryptogamotis
flingui that emits in intense phosphorescence.

* The Orais, Sraiimi, and Vallisntria.

» " The corolla of this flower {AristoIiKkia aematitis), which i»
tubolar, but terminating upwards in a ligulale limb, Is inflated into
t globular figure at the base. The tubular part is internally beset
with stiff hairs, pointing downwards. The globular part contains
the pistil, which consists merely of a getmtn and stigma, together
with the surrounding stamens. But the stamens, being shorter
than even the germen, cannot discharge the pollen so as to throw
It upon the stigma, as the flower stands always upright till after
•ipcegaation. And hence, without some additional and pecuUl'

275

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

" Pshaw ! " said the king.

'" Quitting this land, we soon arrived at another in
which the bees and the birds are mathematicians of
such genius and erudition that they give daily instruc-
tions in the science of geometry to the wise men of
the empire. The king of the place having offered a
reward for the solution of two very difficult problems,
they were solved upon the spot — the one by the bees,
and the other by the birds ; but the king keeping their
solution a secret, it was only after the most profound
researches and labor, and the writing of an infinity of
big books, during a long series of years, that the raen-
malhematicians at length arrived at the identical solu-
tions which had been given upon the spot by the bees
and by the birds.' " *

aid, the pollen must necessarily fall down to (he bottom of the
flower. Now, the aid Ihat nature hus furnished in this case, is that
of the Tipula Ptnnicsrnis, a small insect, which, entering the
tube o( the corolla in quest of honey, descends lo the bottom, and
rummages about till it becomes quite covered with pollen ; but,
not being able to force its way out again, owing to the downward
position of the hairs, which converge lo a point like the wires of 3
mouse-trap, and being somewhat impatient of tts confinement, it
brushes backwards and forwards, trying every corner, till, after
repeatedly traversing the stigma, it covets U with pollen suflicient
for its impregnation, in consequence of which Ihe flower soon begins
to droop, and the hairs to shrink to the side of the tube, effecting
an easy passage for the escape of the insect." — Rev. P. Kbith :
SysUm of PhysiolsgUal Betajsy.

1 The bees — ever since bees were — have been constructing
Ihdr cells with just such sides, in just such number, and at just
such inclinations, as, it has been demonstrated (in a problem in-
volving the piofoundest mathematical principles), are the very
Mdes, in the very number, and at the very angles, which will afford
the creatures the most room (hat is compatible with the greatest
staKIity of structure.

During the latter part of the last century, the question arose

276

db, Google

THE THOUSAND-AND-SECOND TALE

" Oh my ! " said the king.

" ' We had scarcely lost sight of this empire when
we found ourselves close upon another, from whose
shores there flew over our heads a flock of fowls, a.
mile in breadth, and two hundred and forty miles
long; so that, although they flew a mile during every
minute, it required no less than four hours for the
whole flock to pass over us — in which there were
several millions of millions of fowls.' " ■■

" Oh fy ! " said the king.

" ' No sooner had we got rid of these birds, which
occasioned lis great annoyance, than we were terrified
by the appearance of a fowl of another kind, and
infinitely larger than even the rocs which I met in my
former voyages ; for it was bigger than the biggest of
the domes on your seraglio, O most Munificent of
Cahphs. This terrible fowl had no head that we
could perceive, but was fashioned entirely of belly,
which was of a prodigious fatness and roundness, of a

among mathemalicians — "to detflrmine the best form that can be

is. in other words, to find the best possible position at an iniinily
of varied distances, and at an infinity of points on (he arm. There
were a thousand futile attempts to answei the query on the part of
the most iltustrioQs mathematicians ; and when, at length, an unde-
niable solution was discovered, men found thai the wings of a bird
had given it with absolute precisian ever since the first bird had
traversed the ^r.

1 He observed a flock of pigeons passing betwixt Frankfort and

a length of 140 miles 1 and, supposing three pigeons to each square
yard, gives 3,130,271,000 pigeons. — Travels in Canada and tht
UniUd Slain, iy Luul. F. Hall.

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

soft-looking' substance, smootti, shining, and striped
with various colors. In its talons, the monster was
bearing away, to his eyrie in the heavens, a house from
which it had knocked off the roof, and in the interior
of which we distinctly saw human beings, who, beyond
doubt, were in a state of frightful despair at the hor-
rible fate which awaited them. We shouted with all
our might, in the hope of frightening the bird into
letting go of its prey; but it merely gave a snort or
puff, as if of rage, and then let fall upon our heads a
heavy sack which proved to be filled with sand ! ' "

" Stuff ! " said the king.

" ' It was just after this adventure that we encoun-
tered a continent of immense extent and of prodi-
gious solidity, but which, nevertheless, was supported
entirely upon the back of a sky-blue cow that had no
fewer than four hundred horns.' " '

" That, now, I believe," said the king, " because I
have read something of the kind before, in a book."

" ' We passed immediately beneath this continent
(swimming in between the legs of the cow), and, after
some hours, found ourselves in a wonderful country
indeed, which, I was informed by the man-animal,
was his own native land, inhabited by things of his
own species. This elevated the man-animal very
much in my esteem ; and in fact, I now began to feel
ashamed of the contemptuous familiarity with which
I had treated him ; for I found that the man-animals
in general were a nation of the most powerful magi-
cians, who lived with worms in their brain,' which, no

1 " ThE earth ia upheld by x cow of a blue colai, liaving horns
four hundred in number." — SALE'S Koran.

3 " The Enlnoa, or intestinal irorms, have repeatedly been ab-
serred in the muscles, and in the cerebral substance of men." -•
S« Wvatt's Phyaotogf, p, 1^3,

278

db, Google

THE THOU SAN D-ANU-SECOND TALE

doubt, served to stimulate them by tlieir painful
writhings and wrigglings to the most miraculous
eSorts of imagination.'"

" Nonsense ! " said the king.

" ' Among the magicians were domesticated several
animals of very singular kinds ; for example, tliere
was a huge horse whose bones were iron and whose
blood was boihng water. In place of corn, he had
black stones for his usual food ; and yet, in spite of so
hard a diet, he was so strong and swift that he would
drag a load more weighty than the grandest temple
in this city, at a rate surpassing that of the flight of
most birds.' " ^

"Twattle ! " said the king.

" ' I saw, also, among these people, a hen without
feathers, but bigger than a camel ; instead of flesh and
Ixine she had Iron and brick ; her blood, like that o£
the horse (io whom, in fact, she was nearly related),
was boiling water ; and like him, she ate nothing but
wood or biack stones. This hen brought fortli, very
frequently, a hundred chickens in the day j and, after
birth, they took up their residence for several weeks
within the stomach of their mother.'"*

"Fal lal!" said the king.

" ' One of this nation of mighty conjurers created a
man out of brass and wood and leather, and endowed
him with such ingenuity that he would have beaten at
chess all the race of mankind with the exception of
the great Caliph, Haroun Alraschid." Another of

I On the Grfal Western Riilwiy, twtwetn London and Exfler,
a speed of 71 miles per hour ha5 been itlained. A ttiin weighing
90 tons w»s whirled from Paddington to DJdcot (53 milts) in 51

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-

these magi constructed (of like material) a creature
that put to shame even the genius of hira who made
it ; for so great were its reasoning powers that, in a
second, it performed calculations of so vast an extent
that they would have required the united labor of fifty
thousand fleshy men for a year.' But a still more
wonderful conjurer fashioned for himself a mighty
thing that was neither man nor beast, but which had
brains of lead, intermixed with a black matter like
pitch, and fingers that it employed with such incredible
speed and dexterity that It would have had no trouble
in writing out twenty thousand copies of the Koran in
an hour; and this with so exquisite a precision that in
all the copies there should not be found one to vary
from another by the breadth of the finest hair. This
thing was of prodigious strength, so that it erected or
overthrew the mightiest empires at a breath ; but its
powers were exercised equally for evil and for good.' "

" Ridiculous 1 " said the king.

'"Among this nation of necromancers there was
also one who had in his veins the blood of the sala.
manders ; for he made no scruple of sitting down to
smoke his chibouk in a red-hot oven until his dinner
was thoroughly roasted upon its fioor.^ Another had
the faculty of converting the common metals into
gold, without even looking at them during the process.'
Another had such a delicacy of touch that he made
a wire so £ae as to be invisible.' Another had such

I BabbagF's Calculating Machine.

3 Chabeit, and since him, a hundred others.

« The Electrotype.

» Wolla5ton made of platinum for the field of views in a tele-
scope a wire one nghteen-thousandlh part of an inch in thickaes*.
It could be seen only by means ot the microscope.

„ Google

THE THOUSAND-AND-SECOND TALE

quickness of perception that he counted ail the sepa-
rate motions of an elastic body, whiie it was springing
backwards and forwards at the rate of nine hundred
millions of times in a second.' " •

" Absurd ! " said the king.

" ' Another of these magicians, by means of a fluid
that nobody ever yet saw, could make the corpses of
his friends brandish their arms, kick out their legs,
fight, or even get up and dance at his will.^ Another
had cultivated his voice to so great an extent that he
could have made himself heard from one end of the
earth to the other.' Another had so long an arm
that he could sit down in Damascus and indite a
letter at Bagdad — or indeed at any distance what-
soever.' Another commanded the lightning to come
down to him out of the heavens, and it came at his
call ; and served him for a plaything when it came.
Another took two loud soutids and out of them made
a silence. Another constructed a deep darkness out
of two brilliant lights.' Another made ice in a red-

" The Vollaic pile.

» The Electro-Telegraph transmits intelligence inslantane-
Dusly — al least so far as regards any dislance upon the earth.

* Electro-Telegraph Printing Apparatus.

f Common experiments in Natural Philosophy. If two red
rays from two luminous points be admitted Into a dark chamber so
as to fall on a white surface, and differ in their length by 0.0000258
of an inch, their intensity is doubled. So also if the difference in
length be any whole-number multiple of that fraction, A multiple
*>y "h 3lt &C-. gives an intensity equal to one ray only ; but a mul-
tiple by z), 3J, &c, gives the result of total darkness. In violet
rays siniilat effects arise when the diOetence in lenfith is o.oooij;
281

d by Google

hot furnace.' Anotlier directed the sun to paint hia
portrait, and the sun did.* Another took this luminary
with the moon and the planets, and, having first
weighed them with scrupulous accuracy, probed into
their depths and found out the solidity of the substance
of which they are made. But the whole nation is,
indeed, of so surprising a necromantic ability, that not
even their infants, nor their commonest cats and dogs,
have any difficulty in seeing objects that do not exist
at all, or that for twenty millions of years before the
birth of the nation itself had been blotted out from
the face of c

of nil inch; and with all otliernys the results are the same — the
dilletence varying with a uniform increase from the violet to

Analogous expetiments in respect to sound produce analogous
results.

1 Place a platina crucible orer a S[»rit lamp, and keep it at a
red heat ; pouc in some sulphuric acid, which, though the most
volatile of bodies at a common temperature, will be found to become
completely fixed in a hot crucible, and not a drop evaporates ; —
bang surrounded by an atmosphere of its own, it does not, in fact,
touch the sides. A few drops of water are now introduced, when
the acid, immediately coming in contact with the heated sides of
the crucible, flies off in sulphurous acid vapor, and so rapid is its
progress that the caloric of Ihe water passes off with it, which falls
a lump of ice to the bottom ; by taking advantage of the moment
before it is allowed to re-melt, it may be turned out a lump of iea
from a red-hot vessel.

^ The Daguerreotype.

■ Although light travels 167,000 miles in a second, the distance
of 61 Cygni (the only sUr whose distance is ascertained) is so in-
conceivably great that its rays would require more (ban ten years
to reach the earth. For stars beyond this, 20 — or even 1,000— ^
years would be a moderate estimate. Thus, if they had been anni-
hilated ZD. or i,ooD, years ago, we might still see them to4ay, by
the light which started from their surfaces 20, or t,ooo, years ia

„ Google

THE THOUSAND-AND-SECOND TALE

" Preposterous ! " said the king.

" ' The wives and daughters of these incomparablj
great and wise magi,' " continued Scheherazade, with-
out being in any manner disturbed by these frequent
and most ungentlemanly mteriuptions on the part of
her husband — "'the wives and daughters of these
eminent conjurers arc everything that is accomplished
and refined; and ivould be everything that is inter-
esting and beautiful, but for an unhappy fatality that
besets them, and from which not even the miraculous
powers of their husbands and fathers has, hitherto,
been adequate to save. Some fatalities come in
certain shapes, and some in others — but this of
which I speak has come in the shape of a crotchet.' "

" A what ? " said the king.

" ' A crotchet,' " said Scheherazade. " ' One of the
evil genii, who are perpetually upon the watch to
inflict ill, has put it into the heads of these accom-
plished ladies that the thing which we describe as
personal beauty consists altogether in the protube-
rance of the region which lies not very far below the
small of the back. Perfection of loveliness, they say,
is in the direct ratio of the extent of this hump.
Having been long possessed of this idea, and bolsters
being cheap in that country, the days have long gone
by since it was possible to distinguish a woman from
a dromedary ' "

"Stop!" said the king — "I can't stand that, and

the past time. That many which we see daily are really extinct, is

The elder Herschd maintains that the light otthe faintest nebul«
seen through his great telescope must have taken 3,000,000 years
in reaching tlie earth. Some, made visible by Lord Boss's instru.

db, Google

TALES OP PSEUDO-SCIENCE

1 won't. You have already given me a dreadful head-
ache with your lies. The day, too, I perceive, is be-
ginning to breali. How long have we been married?

my conscience is getting to be troublesome again.

And then that dromedary touch — do you take me
for a fool ? Upon the whole, you might as well get
up and be throttled."

These words, as I learn from the Tsitsoornot, both
grieved and astonished Scheherazade; but, as she
knew the king to be a man of scrupulous integrity,
and quite unlikely to forfeit his word, she submitted
to her fate with a good grace. She derived, however,
great consolation (during the tightening of the bow.
string) from the reflection that much of the history
remained still untold, and that the petulance of her
brute of a husband had reaped for him a most right-
eous reward, ia depriving him of many inconceivable
adventures.

„ Google

SOME WORDS WITH A MUMMV

1 HE symposium of tne preceding evening had
been a little too much for my nerves. I had a
wretched headache, and was desperately drowsy. In-
stead of going out, therefore, to spend the evening,
as I had proposed, it occurred to me that I could not
do a wiser thing than just eat a mouthful of supper
and go immediately to bed.

A light supper, of course. I am exceedingly fond
of Welsh rabbit. More than a pound at once, how-
ever, may not at all times be advisable. Still, there
can be no material objection to two. And really,
between two and three there is merely a single unit
of difference. I ventured, perhaps, upon four. My
wife will have it five; but, clearly, she has confounded
two very distinct affairs. The abstract number, five, 1
am willing to admit; but, concretely, it has reference
to bottles of Brown Stout, without which, in the way
of condiment, Welsh rabbit is to be eschewed.

Having thus concluded a frugal meal, and donned
my nightcap, with the serene hope of enjoying it till
noon the next day, I placed my head upon the pillow,
and, through the aid of a capital conscience, fell into
a profound slumber forthwith.

But when were the hopes of humanity fulfilled?
I could not have- completed my third snore when

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

there came a furious ringing at the street-door bell,
and then an impatient thumping at the knocker,
which awakened me at once. In a minute afterward,
and while I was still rubbing my eyes, my wife thrust
in my face a note from my old friend, Doctor Pon-
nonner. It ran thus: —

" Come to me, by all means, my dear good friend, as
soon as you receive this. Come and help us to lejoice.
At last, by long perseveiing diplomacy, I have gained
the assent of the Directors of the City Museum to my
examination of the Mummy — you know the one I mean.
I have permission to unswathe it and open it, if desirable.
A few friends only wil! be present — you, of course. The
Mummy is now at my house, and we shall begin to uncoU
it at eleven to-tilght.

"PONNONNKR."

By the time 1 had reached the " Ponnonner," it
struck me that I was as wide awake as a man need
be. 1 leaped out of bed in an ecstasy, overthrowing
all in my way; dressed myself with a rapidity truly
marvellous; and set off, at the top of my speed, for
the Doctor's.

There I found a very eager company assembled.
They had been awaiting me with much impatience ;
the Mummy was extended upon the dining-table ;
and, the moment I entered, its examination was
commenced.

It was one of a pair brought, several years pre-
viously, by Captain Arthur Sabretash, a cousin of
Ponnonner's, from a tomb near Eleithias, in the Lybiati
Mountains, a considerable distance above Thebes on
the Nile. The grottos at this point, although less
magnificent than the Theban sepulchres, are of higher

d by Google

S WITH A MUMMY

t of affording more numerous illus-
trations of the private life of the Egyptians. The
chamber from which our specimen was taken was
said to be very rich in such illustrations — the walls
being completely covered with fresco paintings and
bas-reliefs, while statues, vases, and mosaic work of rich
patterns, indicated the vast wealth of the deceased.

The treasure had been deposited in the Museum
precisely in the same condition in which Captain
Sabretash had found it: that is to say, the coffin had
not been disturbed. For eight years it had thus
stood, subject only externally to public inspection.
We had now, therefore, the complete Mummy at our
disposal; and, to those who are aware how very
rarely the unransacked antique reaches our shores,
it will be evident, at once, that we had great reason
to congratulate ourselves upon our good fortune.

Approaching the table, I saw on it a large box, or
case, nearly seven feet long, and perhaps three feet
wide, by two feet and a half deep. It was oblong —
not coffin-shaped. The material was at first sup-
posed to be the wood of the sycamore {platanus), but,
upon cutting into it, we found it to be pasteboard, or,
more properly, papier machi, composed of papyrus.
It was thickly ornamented with paintings representing
funeral scenes, and other mournful subjects ^ inter-
spersed among which, in every variety of position,
were certain series of hieroglyphical characters, in-
tended, no doubt, for the name of the departed. By
good luck, Mr. Gliddon formed one of our party;
and he had no difficulty in translating the letters,
which were simply phonetic, and represented the
word, AUamistakeo.

We had some difficulty in getting this case open

db, Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-

without injury; but, having at length accomplished
the task, we came to a second, coffin-shaped, and very
considerably less in size than the exterior one, but
resembling it precisely in every other respect. The
interval between the two was filled with resin, which
had in some degree defaced the colors of the interior

Upon opening this latter (which we did quite easily),
we arrived at a third case, also cofiin-shaped, and
varying from the second one in no particular, except
in that of its material, which was cedar, and still
emitted the peculiar and highly aromatic odor of that
wood. Between the second and the third case there
was no interval — the one fitting accurately within the

Removing the third case, we discovered and took
out the body itself. We had expected to find it, as
usual, enveloped in frequent rolls, or bandages, of
linen; but, in place of these, we found a sort of
sheath, made of papyrus, and coated with a layer of
plaster, thickly gilt and painted. The paintings repre-
sented subjects connected with the various supposed
duties of the soul, and its presentation to different
divinities, with numerous identical human figures,
intended very probably as portraits of the persons
embalmed. Extending from head to foot was a
columnar, or perpendicular inscription, in phonetic
hieroglyphics, giving again his name and titles, and
the names and titles of his relations-

Around the neck thus unsheathed was a collar of
cylindrical glass beads, diverse In color, and so
arranged as to form images of deities, of the scara-
baeus, etc., with the winged globe. Around tha
small of the waist was a similar collar or belt.
288

;v Google

SOME WORDS WITH A MUMM\

Stripping off the papyrus, we found the flesh in
excellent preservation, with no perceptible odor. The
color was reddish. The skin was hard, smooth, and
glossy. The teeth and hair were in good condition.
The eyes (it seemed) had been removed, and glass
ones substituted, which were very beautiful and
wonderfully life-like, with the exception of somewhat
too determined 3 stare. The fingers and the nails
were brilliantly gilded,

Mr. Gliddon was of opinion, from the redness of
the epidermis, that the embalmment had been effected
altogether by asphaltum ; but on scraping the surface
with a steel instrument, and throwing into the fire
some of the powder thus obtained, the flavor of cam-
phor and other sweet-scented gums became apparent

We searched the corpse very carefully for the usual
openings through which the entrails are extracted,
but, to our surprise, we could discover none. No
member of the party was at that period aware that
entire or unopened mummies are not unfrequently
met. The brain it was customary to withdraw through
the nose ; the intestines through an incision in the
side ; the body was then shaved, washed, and salted ;
then laid aside for several weeks, when the operation
of embalming, properly so called, began.

As no trace of an opening could be found. Doctor
Ponnonner was preparing his instruments for dissec*
tion, when I observed that it was then past two
o'clock. Hereupon it was agreed to postpone the
internal examination until the next evening ; and we
were about to separate for the present, when some
one suggested an experiment or two with the Voltaic

The application of electricity to a mummy, three or
VOL. II. - 19 289

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCK

four thousand years old at the least, was an idea, if
not very sage, still sufficiently original, and we all
caught it at once. About one-tenth in earnest and
nine-tenths in jest, we arranged a battery in. the
Doctor's study, and conveyed thither the Egyptian.

It was only after much trouble that we succeeded
ia laying bare some portions of the temporal muscle
which appeared of less stony rigidity than other parts
of the frame, but which, as we had anticipated, of
course gave no indication of galvanic susceptibility
when brought in contact with the wire. This, the
first trial indeed, seemed decisive, and, with a hearty
laugh at our own absurdity, we were bidding each
other good.night, when my eyes, happening to fall
upon those of the Mummy, were there immediately
riveted in amazement. My brief glance, in fact, had
sufficed to assure me that the orbs which we had all
supposed to be glass, and which were originally notice-
able for a certain wild stare, were now so far covered
by the lids, that only a small portion of the tunica
albu^nca remained visible.

With a shout I called attention to the fact, and it
became immediately obvious to all.

I cannot say that I was alarmed at the phenomenon,
because "alarmed" is, in my case, not exactly the
word. It is possible, however, that, but for the Brown
Stout, I might have been a little nervous. As for the
rest of the company, they really made no attempt at
concealing the downright fright which possessed them.
Doctor Ponnonner was a man to be pitied. Mr.
Gliddon, by some peculiar process, rendered himself
invisible. Mr. Silk Buckingham, I fancy, will scarcely
be so bold as to deny that he made his way, upon all
fours, under the table.

;v Google

SOME WORDS WITH A MUHMT

After the first shock of astonish meot, however, we
resolved, as a matter of course, upon farther experi-
ment forthwith. Our operations were now directed
against the great toe of the riglit foot. We made an
incision over the outside of the exterior os sesamoi-
deum pollicis pedis, and thus got at the root of the
abductor muscle. Readjusting the battery, we now
applied the fluid to the bisected nerves — when, with
a movement of exceeding life-likeness, the Mummy
first drew up its right knee so as to bring it nearly in
contact with the abdomen, and then, straightening
the limb with inconceivable force, bestowed a kick
upon Doctor Ponnonner, which had the effect of dis-
charging that gentleman, like an arrow from a catapult,
through a window into the street below.

We rushed out en masse to bring in the mangled
remains of the victim, but had the happiness to meet
him upon the staircase, coming up In an unaccount-
able hurry, brimful of the most ardent philosophy,
and more than ever impressed with the necessity
of prosecuting our experiments with rigor and with

It was by his advice, accordingly, that we made,
upon the spot, a profound incision into the tip of the
subject's nose, while the Doctor himself, laying violent
hands upon it, pulled it into vehement contact with
the wire.

Morally and physically — figuratively and literally
— was the effect electric. In the first place, the corpse
opened its eyes and winked very rapidly for several
minutes, as does Mr. Barnes in the pantomime ; in the
second place, it sneezed ; in the third, it sat upon end ;
in the fourth, it shook its fist in Doctor Ponnonner's
face; in the fifth, turning to Messieurs Gliddon and
291

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

Buckingham, it addressed them, in very capital Egyp-
tian, thus :

" I must say, gentlemen, that I am as much sur-
prised as I am mortified, at your behavior Of Doctor
Ponnonner nothing better was to be expected. He
is a poor little fat fool who knows no better. I pity
and forgive him. But you, Mr. Gliddon — and you,
Silk — who have travelled and resided in Egypt untii
one might imagine you to the manner born — you, 1
say, who have been so much among us that you speak
Egyptian fully as well, I think, as you write your
mother-tongue — you, whom I have always been led
to regard as the firm friend of the mummies — I really
did anticipate more gentlemanly conduct from you.
What am I to think of your standing quietly by and
seeing me thus unhandsomely used ? What am I to
suppose by your permitting Tom, Dick, and Harry to
strip me of my cofRns, and my clothes, in this wretch-
edly cold climate? In what light {to come to the
point) am I to regard your aiding and abetting that
miserable little villain, Doctor Ponnonner, in pulling
me by the nose?"

It will be taken for granted, no doubt, that upon
hearing this speech under the circumstances we all
either made for the door, or fell into violent hysterics,
or went off in a general swoon. One of these three
things was, I say, to be expected. Indeed each and
all of these lines of conduct might have been very
plausibly pursued. And, upon my word, I am at a
loss to know how or why it was that we pursued
neither the one nor the Other. But, perhaps, the true
reason is to be sought in the spirit of the age, which
proceeds by the rule of contraries altogether, and is
now usually admitted as the solution of everything in

db, Google

SOME WORDS WITH A MUMMY

the way ot paradox and impossibility. Or, perhaps,
after all, it was only the Mummy's exceedingly natural
and matter-of-course air that divested his words of the
terrible. However this may be, the facts are clear,
and no member of our party betrayed any very par-
ticular trepidation, or seemed to consider that any.
thing had gone very especially wrong.

For my part I was convinced it was all right, ana
merely stepped aside, out of the range of the Eg]^
tian's fist. Doctor Ponnonner thrust his hands into
his breeches' pockets, looked hard at the Mummy,
and grew excessively red in the face. Mr. Gliddoo
stroked his whiskers and drew up the collar of his
shirt Mr. Buckingham hung down his head, and
put his right thumb into the left corner of his
mouth.

The Egyptian regarded him with a severe counte-
nance for some minutes, and at length, with a sneer,

"Why don't you speak, Mr. Buckingham? Did
you hear what I asked you, or not.' Do take your
thumb out of your mouth 1"

Mr. Buckingham, hereupon, gave a slight start,
took his right thumb out of the left corner of his
mouth, and, by way of indemnification, inserted his
left thumb in the right corner of the aperture above-
mentioned.

Not being able to get an answer from Mr. B., the
figure turned peevishly to Mr. Gliddon, and, in a
peremptory tone, demanded ia general terms what
we all meant

Mr. Gliddon replied at great length, in phonetics;
and but for the deficiency of American printing -offices
in hieroglyph ical type, it would afford me much pleas-

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

are to record here, in the original, the whole of hia

very excellent speech.

I may as well take this occasion to remark that all
the subsequent conversation, in which the Mummy
took a part, was carried on in primitive Egyptian,
through the medium (so far as concerned myself and
other untravelled members of the company) — through
the medium, I say, of Messieurs Gliddon and Buck-
ingham, as interpreters. These gentlemen spoke the
mother-tongue of the Mummy with inimitable fluency
and grace; but I could not help observing that
(owing, no doubt, to the introduction of images entirely
modern, and, of course, entirely novel to the stranger)
the two travellers were reduced, occasionally, to the
employment of sensible forms for the purpose of con-
veying a particular meaning. Mr. Gliddon, at one
period, for example, could not make the Egyptian
comprehend the term "politics," until he sketched
upon the wall, with a bit of charcoal, a little carbuncle-
nosed gentleman, out at elbows, standing upon a
stump, with his left leg drawn back, his right arm
thrown forward, with his fist shut, the eyes rolled up
toward heaven, and the mouth open at an angle of
ninety degrees. Just in the same way Mr. Bucking-
ham failed to convey the absolutely modem idea
"wig," until (at Doctor Ponnonner's suggestion) he
grew very pale in the face, and consented to take off
his own.

It will be readily understood that Mr. Gliddon's dis-
course turned chiefly upon the vast benefits accruing
to science from the unrolling and disembowelling of
mummies ; apologizing, upon this score, for any dis-
turbance that might have been occasioned him, in
particular, the individual mummy called AUamistakeo ;
294

d by Google

SOME WORDS WITH A MUMMY

and concluding with a mere hint (for it could scarcely
be considered more) that, as these little matters were
now explained, it might be as welt to proceed with
the investigation intended. Here Doctor Ponnonner
made ready his instruments.

In regard to the latter suggestions of the orator, it
appears that AUamistakeo had certain scruples of con-
science, the nature of which I did not distinctly learn ;
but he expressed himself satisfied with the apologies
tendered, and, getting down from the table, shook
hands with the company all round.

When this ceremony was at an end, we immediately
busied ourselves in repairing the damages which our
subject had sustained from the scalpel. We sewed up
the wound in his temple, bandaged his foot, and
applied a square inch of black plaster to the tip of

It was now observed that the Count (this was the
title, it seems, of AUamistakeo) had a slight fit of
shivering — no doubt from the cold. The Doctor im-
mediately repaired to his wardrobe, and soon returned
with a black dress-coat, made in Jennings' best man-
ner, a pair of sky-blue plaid pantaloons with straps, a
pink gingham chemise, a flapped vest oE brocade, a
white sack overcoat, a walking cane with a hook,
a hat with no brim, patent-leather boots, straw-
colored kid gloves, an eye-glass, a pair of whiskers,
and a waterfall cravat. Owing to the disparity of
aiie between the Count and the Doctor (the propor-
tion being as two to one) there was some little diffi-
culty in adjusting these habiliments upon the person
of the Egyptian ; but when all was arranged, he might
have been said to be dressed. Mr. Gliddon, therefore,
gave him his arm, and led him to a comfortable ch^T
295

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

by the fire, while the Doctor rang the bell upon the
spot and ordered a supply of cigars and wine.

The conversation soon grew animated. Much curi.
osity was, o£ course, expressed in regard to the some-
what remarkable fact of AUatnistakeo's still remaining

"I should have thought," observed Mr. Bucking-
ham, " that it is high time you were dead."

" Why," replied the Count, very much astonished,
" I am little more than seven hundred years old !
My father lived a thousand, and was by no means in
his dotage when he died."

Here ensued a brisk series of questions and com
putalions, by means of which it became evident that
the antiquity of the Mummy had been grossly mis-
judged. It had been five thousand and fifty years,
and some months, since he had been consigned to the
catacombs at Elelthias.

" But my remark," resumed Mr. Buckingham,
" had no reference to your age at the period of inter-
ment; (1 am willing to grant, in fact, that you are
still a young man) and my allusion was to the im-
mensity of time during which, by your own showing,
you must have been done up in asphaltum."

" In what ? ■' said the Count.

"In asphaltum," persisted Mr. B.

"Ah, yes; 1 have some faint notion of what you
mean ; it might be made to answer, no doubt, — but
in my time we employed scarcely anything else than
the bichloride of mercury."

" But what we are especially at a loss to under-
stand," said Doctor Ponnonner, " is how it happens
that, having been dead and buried in Egypt, five

296

db, Google

SOME WORDS WITH A MUMMY

thousand years ago, you are here to-day all alive, and
looking so delightfully well."

" Had I been, as you say, dead" replied the Count,
" it is more than probable that dead I should still be;
for I perceive you are yet in the infancy of Galvan-
ism, and cannot accomplish with it what was a common
thing among us in the old days. But the fact is, I
fell into catalepsy, and it was considered by my best
friends that I was either dead or should be; they
accordingly embalmed me at once — I presume you
are aware of the chief principle of the embalming

" Why, not altogether."

"Ah, I perceive; — a deplorable condition of igno-
rance ! Well, I cannot enter into details just now:
but it is necessary to explain that to embalm (properly
speaking) in Egypt, was to arrest indefinitely all the
animal functions subjected to the process. I use the
word 'animal' in its widest sense, as including the
physical not more than the moral and vital being. I
repeat that the leading principle of embalmment con-
sisted, with us, in the immediately arresting, and
holding in perpetual abeyance, all the animal func-
tions subjected to the process. To be brief, in what-
ever condition the individual was, at the period of
embalmment, in that condition he remained. Now,
as it is my good fortune to be of the blood of the
Scarabaus, I was embalmed ali-ve, as you see me at
present."

" The blood of the Scarabseus ! " exclaimed Doctor
Ponnonner.

" Yes. The Scarab^us was the insignium, or the

'arms,' of a very distinguished and very rare patrician

family. To be ' of the blood of the Scarabasus ' is

237

dbv Google

TALES OP PSEUDO-SCIENCE

merely to be one of that family of which the Sca^rabxas
is the insignium. I speak figuratively."

" But what has this to do with your being alive ?"

"Why, it is the general custom in Egypt to deprive
a corpse, before embalmment, of itsbowels and brains ;
the race of Scarab:ei alone did not coincide with the
custom. Had I not been a Searabasus, therefore, I
should have been without bowels and brains j and
without either it is inconvenient to live."

"I perceive that," said Mr. Buckingham, "and I
presume that all the entire mummies that come to
hand are of the race of Scarabsi."

" Beyond doubt."

" I thought," said Mr. Gliddon, very meekly, " that
the Scarabsus was one of the Egyptian gods."

" One of the Egyptian what?" exclaimed the
Mummy, starting to its feet.

"Gods ! " repeated the traveller.

" Mr. Gliddon, I really am astonished to hear you
talk in this style," said the Count, resuming his chair.
" No nation upon the face of the earth has ever
acknowledged more than one god. The Scarab^us,
the Ibis, etc., were with us (as similar creatures have
been with others) the symbols, or media, through
which we offered worship to the Creator too august to
be more directly approached."

There was here a pause. At length the colloquy
was renewed by Doctor Ponnonner,

"It is not improbable, then, from what you have
explained," said he, " that among the catacombs near
the Nile, there may exist other mummies of the
Scarabsus tribe, in a condition of vitality."

" There can be no question of it," replied the
Count; " all the Scarabxi embalmed accidentally

„ Google

while alive, are alive. Even some of those purposely
so embalmed may have been overlooked by their
executors, and still remain in the tombs."

" Will you be kind enough to explain," I said,
" what you mean by ' purposely so embalmed ' ? "

" With great pleasure," answered the Mummy, after
surveying me leisurely through his eye-glass — for it
was the first time I had ventured to address him a
direct question.

" With great pleasure," he said. "The usual dura-
tion of man's life, in my time, was about eight hundred
years. Few men died, unless by most extraordinary
accident, before the age of six hundred ; few lived
longer than a decade of centuries; but eight were
considered the natural term. After the discovery of
the embalming principle, as I have already described
it to you, it occurred to our philosophers that a laud-
able curiosity might be gratified, and, at the same
time, the interests of science much advanced, by
hving this natural term in instalments. In the case
of history, indeed, experience demonstrated that some-
thing of this kind was indispensable. An historian,
for example, having attained the age of five hundred,
would write a book with great labor and then get him-
self carefully embalmed ; leaving instructions to his
executors pro. tern., that they should cause him to be
revivified after the lapse of a certain period — say five
or six hundred years. Resuming existence at the
expiration of this time, he would invariably find his
great work converted into a species of hap-hazard
note-book — that is to say, into a kind of literary
arena for the conflicting guesses, riddles, and personal
squabbles of whole herds of exasperated commenta-
tors. These guesses, etc., which passed under the
299

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

name o! annotations, or emendations, were found so
completely to have enveloped, distorted, and over-
whelmed the text, that the author had to go about
with a lantern to discover his own book. When dis-
covered, it was never worth the trouble of the search.
After re-writing it throughout, it was regarded as the
bounden duty of the historian to set himself to woric,
immediately, in correcting from his own private
knowledge and experience, the traditions of the day
concerning the epoch at which he had originally
lived. Now this process of rescription and personal
rectification, pursued by various individual sages, from
time to time, had the effect of preventing our history
from degenerating into absolute fabie."

" I beg your pardon," said Doctor Ponnonner at
this point, laying his hand gently upon the arm of the
Egyptian — "I beg your pardon, sir, but may I pre-
sume to interrupt you for one moment ? "

" By all means, sir" rephed tlie Count, drawing up.

" I merely wished to ask you a question," said the
Doctor, " You mentioned the historian's personal
correction of traditions respecting his own epoch.
Pray, sir, upon an average, what proportion of these
Kabbala were usually found to be right ? "

" The Kabbala. as you properly term them, sir,
were generally discovered to be precisely on a par
with the facts recorded in the un-rewrltten histories
themselves ; — that is to say, not one individual iota
of either was ever known, under any circumstances,
to be not totally and radically wrong."

" But since it is quite clear," resumed the Doctor,
"that at least five thousand years have elapsed since
your entombment, I take it for granted that your his-
tories at that period, if not your traditions, were suffi-

;v Google

SOME WORDS WITH A MUMMY

ciently explicit on that one topic of universal interest,
the Creation, which took place, as I presume you are
aware, only about ten centuries before."

" Sir!" said the Count AUamistakeo.

The Doctor repeated his remarks, but it was only
after much additional explanation, that the foreigner
could be made lo comprehend them. The latter at
length said, hesitatingly:

" The ideas you have suggested are to me, I con-
fess, utterly novel. During my time I never knew any
one to entertain so singular a fancy as that the uni-
verse (or this world if you will have it so) ever had a
beginning at all. I remember once, and once only,
hearing something remotely hinted, by a man of many
speculations, concerning the origin of the human racej
and by this individual, the very word Adam (or Red
Earth), which you make use of, was employed. He
employed it, however, in a generical sense, with refer-
ence to the spontaneous germination from rank soil
(just as a thousand of the lower genera of creatures
are germinated) — the spontaneous germination, I say,
of five vast hordes of men, simultaneously upsprtnging
in five distinct and nearly equal divisions of the

Here, in general, the company shrugged their
shoulders, and one or two of us touched our foreheads
with a very significant air. Mr. Silk Buckingham,
first glancing slightly at the occiput and then at the
sinciput of AUamistakeo, spoke as follows :

" The long duration of human life in your time,
together with the occasional practice of passing it, as
you have explained, in instalments, must have had,
indeed, a strong tendency lo the general development
and conglomeration of knowledge. I presume, there-
30 1

d by Google

fore, that we are to attribute the marked inferiority of
the old Egyptians in all particulars of science, when
compared with the moderns, and more especially with
the Yankees, altogether to the superior solidity of the
Egyptian slcull."

" I confess again," replied the Count, with much
suavity, " that I am somewhat at a loss to compre-
hend you; pray, to what particulars of science do you
allude ? "

Here our whole party, joining voices, detailed, at
great length, the assumptions of phrenology and the
marvels of animal magnetism.

Having heard us to an end, the Count proceeded
to relate a few anecdotes, which rendered it evident
that prototypes of Gall and Spuriheimhad flourished
and faded in Egypt so long ago as to have been
nearly forgotten, and that the manceuvres of Mes-
mer were really very contemptible tricks when put
in collation with the positive miracles of the Theban
savants, who created lice and a great many other simi-
lar things.

I here asked the Count if his people were able to
calculate eclipses. He smiled rather contemptuously,
and said they were.

This put me a little out, but I began to make other
inquiries in regard to his astronomical knowledge,
when a member of the company, who had never as
yet opened his mouth, whispered in my ear that for
information on this head I had better consult Ptolemy
(whoever Ptolemy is) as well as one Plutarch De Facie

I then questioned the Mummy about burning-glasses
and lenses, and, in general, about the manufacture of
glass; but I had not made an end of my queries

d by Google

SOME WORDS WITH A MUMMY

before the silent member again touched me quietly on
the elbow, and begged me for God's sake to take a
peep at Diodorus Slculus. As for the Count, he
merely asked me, in the way of reply, if we moderns
possessed any such microscopes as would enable us to
cut cameos in the style of the Egyptians. While I
was thinking how I should answer this question, little
Doctor Ponnonner committed himself in a very extra-
ordinary way.

" Look at our architecture ! " he exclaimed, greatly
to the indignation of both the travellers, who pinched
him black and blue to no purpose.

" Look," he cried with enthusiasm, " at the Bowling-
Green Fountain in New York I or if this be too vast a
contemplation, regard for a moment the Capitol at
Washington, D. C. ! " — and the good little medical
man went on to detail, very minutely, the proportions
of the fabric to which he referred. He explained that
the portico alone was adorned with no less than four
and twenty columns, five feet in diameter, and ten feet

The Count said that he regretted not being able to
remember, just at that moment, the precise dimensions
of any one of the principal buildings of the city of
Aznac, whose foundations were laid in the night of
Time, but the ruins of which were still standing, at
the epoch of his entombment, in a vast plain of sand
to the westward of Thebes. He recollected, however
(talking of porticos), that one, affixed to an inferior
palace in a kind of suburb called Carnac, consisted of
a hundred and forty-four columns, thirty-seven feet
each in circumference, and twenty-five feet apart.
The approach of this portico, from the Nile, was
through an avenue two miles long, composed of
303

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

sphinxes, statues, and obelisks, twenty, sixty, and a
hundred feet in height. The palace itself (as well as
he could remember) was, in one direction, two miles
long, and might have been, altogether, about seven in
circuit. Its walls were richly painted all over, within
and without, with hieroglyphics. He would not pre-
tend to assert that even fifty or sixty of the Doctor's
Capitols might have been built within these walls, but
he was by no rneans sure that two or tliree hundred of
them might not have been squeezed in with some
trouble. That palace at Carnac was an insignificant
little building after all. He (the Count), however,
could not conscientiously refuse to admit tlie iiigenuity,
magnifieence, and superiority of the Fountain at the
Bowling Green, as described by the Doctor. Nothing
like it, he was forced to allow, had ever hecTi seen in
Egypt or elsewhere.

I here asked the Count what he had to say to our
railroads.

" Nothing," he replied, "in particular." They were
rather slight, rather ill-conceived, and clumsily put to-
gether. They could not be compared, of course, with
the vast, level, direct, iron-grooved causeways, upon
which the Egyptians conveyed entire temples and
solid obelisks of a hundred and fifty feet in altitude.

I spoke of our gigantic mechanical forces.

He agreed that we knew something in that way,
but inquired how I should have gone to work in get-
ting up the imposts on the Untels of even the little
palace at Carnac.

This question I concluded not to hear, and de-
manded if he had any idea of artesian wells-, but he
simply raised his eyebrows ; while Mr. Cliddon
winked at me very hard and said, in a low tone, that
304

d by Google

SOME WORDS WITH A MUMMY

one had been recently discovered by the engineers
employed to bore for water in the Great Oasis.

I then mentioned our steel ; but the foreLgner ele-
vated his nose, and asked me if our steel could have
executed the sharp carved work seen on the obelisks,
and which was wrought altogether by edge-tools of

This disconcerted us so greatly that we thought it
advisable to v.iry the attack to Metaphysics. We sent
for a copy of a book called the " Dial," and read out
of it a chapter or two about something which is not
very clear, but which the Bostonians call the " Great
Movement" or "Progress."

The Count merely said that "Great Movements"
were awfully common things in his day, and aa for
" Progress," it was at one time quite a nuisance, but
it never progressed.

We then spoke of the great beauty and importance
of Democracy, and were at much trouble in impress-
ing the Count with a due sense of the advantages we
enjoyed in living where there was suHrage ad Itbitum,
and no king.

He listened with marked interest, and in fact seemed
not a little amused When we had done, he said that,
a great while ago, there had occurred something of a
very similar sort. Thirteen Egyptian provinces de-
termined all at once to be free, and so set a magnifi-
cent example to the rest of mankind. They assem-
bled their wise men, and concocted the most ingenioi«
constitution it is possible to conceive. For a white
they managed remarkably well ; only their habit of
bragging was prodigious. The thing ended, however,
in the consolidation of the thirteen states, with some
fifteen or twenty others, in the most odious and ia-

VOL. 11—20 30s

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

supportable despotism that ever was heard of upon
the face of the Earth.

I asked what was the name of the usurping tyrant.

As well as the Count could recollect, it was Mob.

Not knowing what to say to this, I raised my voice,
and deplored the Egyptian ignorance of steam.

The Count looked at me with much astonishment,
but made no answer. The silent gentleman, however,
gave me a violent nudge in the nbs with his elbows

— told me I had sufficiently exposed myself for once

— and demanded if I was really such a fool as not to
know that the modern steam-engine is derived from
the invention of Heron, through Solomon de Caus.

We were now in imminent danger of being discom-
fited ; but, as good luck would have it. Doctor Pon-
noQner, having rallied, returned to our rescue, and
inquired if the people of Egypt would seriously pre-
tend to rival the moderns in the all important particu-
lar of dress.

The Count, at this, glanced downwards to the straps
of his pantaloons, and then takmg hold of the end of
one of his coat-tails, held it up close to his eyes for
Bome minutes. Letting it fall, at last, his mouth ex-
tended itself very gradually from ear to ear; but 1
do not remember that he said anything in the way of
reply.

Hereupon we recovered our spirits, and the Doctor,
approaching the Mummy with great dignity, desired
it to say candidly, upon its honor as a gentleman, if
the Egyptians had comprehended, at any period, the
manufacture of either Ponnonner's lozenges or Bran-
dreth's pills.

We looked, with profound anxiety, for an answer —
but in vain. It was not forthcoming. The Egyptian

306

„ Google

SOME WORDS WITH A MUMMY

blushed and hung down his head. Never was triumph
more consummate; never was defeat borne with so
ill a grace. Indeed, I could not endure the spectacle
of the poor Mummy's mortification. I reached my
hat, bowed to him stiffly, and took leave.

Upon getting home I found it past four o'clock,
and went immediately to bed. It is now ten, A. M.
I have been up since seven, penning these memo-
randa for the benefit of my family and of mankind.
The former I shall behold no more. My wife is a
shrew. The truth is, I am heartily sick of this life
and of the nineteenth century in general. I am con-
vinced that everything is going wrong. Besides, I
am anxious to know who will be President in 2045.
As soon, therefore, as I shave and swallow a cup of
coffee, I shall just step over to Ponnonner's and get
embalmed for a couple of hundred years.

db, Google

MESMERIC REVELATION

W HATEVER doubt maystill envelop the rationale
of mesmerism, its startling fads are now almost uni-
versally admitted. Of these latter, those who doubt
are your mere doubters by profession — an unprofit-
able and disreputable tribe. There can be no more
absolute waste of lime than the attempt to prove, at
the present day, that man, by mere exercise of will,
can so impress his fellow, as to cast him into an
abnormal condition, of wbich the phenomena resemble
very closely those of death, or at least resemble them
more nearly than they do the phenomena of any other
normal condition within our cognizance; that, while
in this state, the person so impressed employs only
with effort, and then feebly, the external organs of
sense, yet perceives, with keenly refined perception,
and through channels supposed unknown, matters
beyond the scope of the physical organs ; that, more-
over, his intellectual faculties are wonderfully exalted
and invigorated ; that his sympathies with the person
so impressing him are profound; and, finally, that his
susceptibility to the impression increases with its
frequency, while, in the same proportion, the peculiar
phenomena elicited are more extended and more
pronounced.

I say that these — which are the laws of mesmerism

ID its general features — it would be supererogatEon to

308

d by Google

MESMERIC REVELATION

demonstrate ; nor shall I inflict upon my readers so
needless a demonstration to-day. My purpose at
present is a very different one indeed, I am impelled,
even in the teeth of a world of prejudice, to detail
without comment the very remarkable substance of a
colloquy, occurring between a sleep-waiter and myself.

1 had been long in the habit of mesmerizing the
person in question (Mr. Vankirk), and the usual acute
susceptibility and exaltation of the mesmeric percep-
tion had supervened. For many months he had been
laboring under confirmed phthisis, the more distressing
effects of which had been relieved by my manipula-
tions; and on the night of Wednesday, the fifteenth
instant, I was summoned to his bedside.

The invalid was suffering with acute pain in the
region of the heart, and breathed with great difficulty,
having all the ordinary symptoms of asthma. In
spasms such as these he had usually found relief from
the application of mustard to the nervous centres, but
to- night this had been attempted in vain.

As I entered his room he greeted me with a cheerful
smile, and, although evidendy in much bodily pain,
appeared to be mentally quite at ease.

" I sent for you to-night," he said, " not so much to
administer to my bodily ailment, as to satisfy me con-
cerning certain psychal impressions which, of late,
have occasioned me much anxiety and surprise. I
need not tell you how sceptical I have hitherto been
on the topic of the soul's immortality. I cannot deny
that there has always existed, as if in that very soul
which I have been denying, a vague half -sentiment o£
its own existence. But this half -sentiment at no time
amounted to conviction. With it my reason had
nothing to do. All attempts at logical inquiry re-
309

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

suited, indeed, in leaving me more sceptical than
before. I had been advised to study Cousin. I
studied him in his own works as well as in those of
his European and American echoes. The ' Charles
Elwood ' of Mr. Brownson, for example, was placed
in my hands. I read it with profound attention.
Throughout I found it logical, but the portions which
were not merely logical were unhappily the initial
arguments of the disbelieving hero of the book. In
his summing up it seemed evident to me that the
reasoner had not even succeeded in convincing him-
self. His end had plainly forgotten his beginning,
like the government of Trineulo, In short, I was not
long in perceiving that if man is to be intellectually
convinced of his own immortality, he will never be so
convinced by the mere abstractions which have been
so long the fashion of the moralists of England, of
France, and of Germany. Abstractions may amuse
and exercise, but take no hold on the mind. Here
upon earth, at least, philosophy, I am persuaded, will
always in vain call upon us to look upon qualities as
things. The will may assent — the soul — the intellect,

"1 repeat, then, that I only half felt, and never
intellectually believed. But latterly there has been a
certain deepening of the feeling, until it has come so
nearly to resemble the acquiescence of reason, that I
find it difficult to distinguish between the two. 1 am
enabled, too, plainly to trace this efEeet to the mesmeric
influence. I cannot better explain my meaning than
by the hypothesis that the mesmeric exaltation enables
me to perceive a train of ratiocination which, in my
abnormal existence, convinces, but which, in full
accordance with the mesmeric phenomena, does not
310

;v Google

MESMERIC REVELATION

extend, except through its effect, into my normal eon-
dition. In sleep-waking, the reasoning and its conclu-
sion — the cause and its effect — are present together.
In my natural state, the cause vanishing, the effect
only, and perhaps only partially, remains

"These considerations have led me to think that
some good results might ensue from a series of well-
directed questions propounded to me while mesmeriied.
You have often observed the profound self-cognizance
evinced by the sleep-waker ^ the extensive knowledge
he displays upon all points relating to the mesmeric
condition itself; and from this self-cognizance may be
deduced hints for the proper conduct of a catechism."

I consented of course to make this experiment. A
few passes threw Mr. Vankirk into the mesmeric
sleep. His breathing became immediately more easy,
and he seemed to suffer no physical uneasiness.
The following conversation then ensued : — V. in the
dialogue representing the patient, and P. myself.

P. Are you asleep?

V. Yes — no; I would rather sleep more soundly.

P. [A/Ur a few more passes.] Do you sleep now ?

f. Yes.

P. How do you think your present illness will

V. [After a long hesitation and speaking as if with
effort-} I must die.

P. Does the idea of death afHict you ?

V. [Very guickfy.'] No — no!

P. Are you pleased with the prospect?

K If I were awake I should like to die, but now it
is no matter The mesmeric condition is so near
death as to content me.

P. I wish you would explain yourself, Mr. Vankirk.
3"

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

V. I am willing to do so, but it requires more effort
than I feel able to make. You do not question me
properly.

P. What then shall I ask?

V. You must begin at the beginning.

/". The beginning ! but where ia the beginning ?

y. You know that the beginning is God. IThu
Vias said in a loiv, fluctuating tone, and -with £v£rji
sign oj the mosl profound vineratioH.I

P. What then is God ? .

V. \_Hesitatittgfor many tninutes.'\ I cannot tell.

P. Is not God spirit ?

V. While I was awake I knew what you meant by
" spirit," but now it seems only a word — such for in-
stance as truth, beauty — a quality, I mean.

P. Is not God immaterial f

V. There is no immateriality — it is a mere word.
That which is not matter, is not at all — unless
qualities are things.

P. Is God, then, material ?

V. No. \^This reply startled me -very much."]

P. What then is he?

V. [After a long pause, and mutteringly.'] I see
— but it is a thing difficult to tell. [Another long
pause."] He is not spirit, for he exists. Nor is he
ToaXXsx, as you understand it. But there 2te gradations
of matter of which man knows nothing ; the grosser
impelhng the finer, the finer pervading the grosser.
The atmosphere, for example, impels the electric
principle, while the electric principle permeates the
atmosphere. These gradations of matter increase in
rarity or fineness, 'until we arrive at a matter unpar-
tichd — without particles — indivisible — one; and
here the law of impulsion and permeation is modified.

db, Google

MESMERIC REVELATION

The ultimate, or unparticled, matter not only perme-
ates all things but impels all things — and thus is all
things within itself. This matter is God. What men
attempt to embody in the word "thought" is this

P. The metaphysicians maintain that all action is
reducible to motion and thinking, and that the latter
is the origin of the former,

V. Yes ; and I now see the confusion of idea.
Motion is the action of mind — not of thinking. The
unparticled matter, or God, in quiescence, is (as nearly
as we can conceive it) what men call mind. And the
power of self movement (equivalent in effect to human
volition) is, in the unparticled matter, the result of Its
unity and omniprevalence ; how I know not, and now
clearly see that ! shall never know. But the unpar-
ticled matter, set in motion by a law, or quality, exist-
ing within itself, is thinking.

P. Can you give me no more precise idea of what
you term the unparticled matter?

V. The matters of which man is cognizant escape
the senses in gradation. We have, for example, a
metal, a piece of wood, a drop of water, the atmos-
phere, a gas, caloric, electricity, the luminiferous ether.
Now we call all these things matter, and embrace all
matter in one general definition ; but in spite of this,
there can be no two ideas more essentially distinct
than that which we attach to a metal, and that which
we attach to the luminiferous ether. When we reach
the latter, we feel an almost irresistible inclination to
class it with spirit, or with nihiUty. The only con-
sideration which restrains us is our conception of its
atomic constitution; and here even we have to seek
aid from our notion of an atom, as something possess-
313

d by Google

TALES OF PS EUDO- SCIENCE

ing an infinite minuteness, solidity, palpability, weight
Destroy the idea of the atomic constitution and we
should no longer be able to regard the ether as an
entity, or at least as matter. For want of a better
word we might term it spirit. Take, now, a step be-
yond the luminiferous ether — conceive a matter as
much more rare than the ether as this ether is more
rare than the metal, and we arrive at once (in spite of
all the school dogmas) at a unique mass — an unpar-
ticled matter. For although we may admit infinite
littleness in the atoms themselves, the infinitude of
littleness in the spaces between them is an absurdity.
There wdl be a point — there will be a degree of
rarity, at which, if the atoms are sufficiently numer-
ous, the interspaces must vanish, and the mass abso-
lutely coalesce. But the consideration of the atomic
constitution being now taken away, the nature of the
mass inevitably glides into what we conceive of spirit.
It is clear, however, that it is as fully matter as before.
The truth is, it is impossible to conceive spirit, since
it is impossible to imagine what is not. When we
flatter ourselves that we have formed its conception,
we have merely deceived our understanding by the
consideration of infinitely rarified matter.

P. There seems to me an insurmountable objection
to the idea of absolute coalescence; and that is the
very slight resistance experienced by the heavenly
bodies in their revolutions through space — a resis-
tance now ascertained, it is true, to exist in some
degree, but which is, nevertheless, so slight as to
have been quite overlooked by the sagacity even of
Newton, We know that the resistance of bodies
is, chiefly, in proportion to their density. Absolute
coalescence is absolute density. Where there are no
314

d by Google

interspaces, there can be no yielding. An ether,
absolutely dense, would put an infinitely more effec-
tual stop to the progress of a star than would an
ether of adamant or of iron.

y. Your objection Is answered with an ease which is
nearly in the ratio of its apparent unanswerability. —
As regards the progress of the star, it can make no
difference whether the star passes through the ether or
the ether through it. There is no astronomical error
more unaccountable than that which reconciles the
known retardation of the comets with the idea of their
passage through an ether : for, however rare this ether
be supposed, it would put a stop to all sidereal revolu-
tion in a very far briefer period than has been admitted
by those astronomers who have endeavored to slur
over a point which they found it impossible to com-
prehend. The retardation actually experienced is, on
the other hand, about that which might be expected
from the friction of the ether in the instantaneous
passage through the orb. In the one case, the retard-
ing force is momentary and complete within itself —
in the other it is endlessly accumulative.

P. But in all this — in this identification of mere
matter with God — is there nothing of irreverence ?
\^l was forced to repeat this question before the sleep-
■waker fully comprehended my meaning.]

V. Can you say -why matter should be less rever-
enced than mind? But you forget that the matter
of which I speak is, in all respects, the very '■ mind "
or " spirit " of the schools, so far as regards its
high capacities, and is, moreover, the " matter " of
these schools at the same time. God, with al! the
powers attributed to spirit, is but the perfection of

31S

d by Google

p. You assert, then, that the unparticled matter, \a
motion, is thought ?

V. In general, this motion is the universal thought
of the universal mind. This thought creates. All
created things are but the thoughts of God.

P. You say, " in general."

V. Yes. The universal mind is God. For new
individualities, matter is necessary.

F. But you now speak of " mind " and " matter "
as do the metaphysicians.

V. Yes — to avoid confusion. When I say " mind,"
I mean the unparticled or ultimate matter ; by
" matter," I intend all else.

P. You were saying that " for new individualities
matter is necessary."

V. Yes ; for mind, existing unineorporate, is merely
God. To create individual, thinking beings, it was
necessary to incarnate portions of the divme mind.
Thus man is individualized. Divested of corporate
investiture, he were God. Now, the particular motion
of the incarnated portions of the unparticled matter
is the thought of man ; as the motion of the whole is
that of God.

P. You say that divested of the body man will be
God?

V. [After much hesitation.'] 1 could not have said
this; it Is an absurdity.

P. [Referring to my ttoles."] You did say that
" divested of corporate investiture man were God."

V. And this is true. Man thus divested would be
God — would be unindividualized. But he can never
be thus divested, at least never will ie, else we must
imagine an action of God returning upon itself — a
purposeless and futile action. Man is
3'6

d by Google

REVELATION

Crestures are thoughts of God. It is the nature of
thought to be irrevocable.

P. I do not comprehend. You say that man wUI
never put off the body ?

V. I say that he will never be bodiless.

P. Explain.

V. There are two bodies — the nidimental and the
complete; corresponding with the two conditions of
the worm and the butterfly. What we call "death,"
is but the painful metamorphosis. Our present incar-
nation is progressive, preparatory, temporary. Our
future is perfected, ultimate, immortal. The ultimate
life is the full design.

P. But of the worm's metamorphosis we are palpa-
bly cognizant.

V. We, certainly — but not the worm. The matter
of which our nidimental body is composed is within
the ken of the organs of that body ; or, more distinctly,
our nidimental organs are adapted to the matter of
which is formed the rudimental body; but not to that
of which the ultimate is composed. The ultimate
body thus escapes our rudimental senses, and we
perceive only the shell which falls, in decaying, from
the inner form; not that inner form itself; but this
inner form, as well as the shell, is appreciable by those
who have already acquired the ultimate life.

P. You have often said that the mesmeric state
very nearly resembles death. How is this ?

V. When I say that it resembles death, I mean that
it resembles the ultimate life; for when I am entranced
the senses of my rudimental life are in abeyance, and
I perceive external things directly, without oi^ans,
through a medium which I shall employ in the ulti-
mate, unorganized life.

317

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

P. Unorganized?

V. Yes; organs are contrivances by which the
Individual is brought into sensible relation with par-
ticular classes and forms of matter, to the exclusion
of other classes and forms. The organs of man arc
adapted to his rudimental condition, and to that only;
his ultimate condition, being unorganized, is of unlim-
ited comprehension in all points but one — the nature
of the volition of God — that is to say, the motion of
the unparticled matter. You will have a distinct
idea of the ultimate body by conceiving it to be entire
brain. This it is nots but a conception of this nature
will bring you near a comprehension of what it is,
A luminous body imparts vibration to the luminiferous
ether. The vibrations generate similar ones within
the retina ; these again communicate similar ones to the
optic nerve. The nerve conveys similar ones to the
braio ; the br^n, also, similar ones to the unparticled
matter which permeates it. The motion of this latter
b thought, of which perception is the first undulation.
This is the mode by which the mind of the rudimental
life communicates with the external world; and this
external world is, to the rudimental life, limited,
through the idiosyncrasy of its organs. But in the
ultimate, unorganized life, the external world reaches
the whole body (which is of a substance having
affinity to the brain, as I have said), with no other
intervention than that of an infinitely rarer ether than
even the luminiferous; and to this ether — in unison
with it — the whole body vibrates, setting in motion
the unparticled matter which permeates it. It is to
the absence of idiosyncratic organs, therefore, that
we must attribute the nearly unlimited perception of

318

„ Google

MESMERIC

the ultimate life. To mdimental beings, organs are
tlie cages necessary to confine Ihem until fledged.

P. You speak of mdimental " beings." Are there
Other mdimental thinking beings than man?

V. The multitudinous conglomeration of rare matter
into nebuis, planets, suns, and other bodies which
are neither nebuls, suns, nor planets, is for the sole
purpose of supplying pabulum for the idiosj'ncrasy
of the organs of an infinity of mdimental beings.
But for the necessity of the mdimental, prior to the
ultimate, life, there would have been no bodies such
as these. Each of these is tenanted by a distinct
variety of organic, rudimental, thinking creatures. In
ail, the organs vary with the features of the place
tenanted. At death, or metamorphosis, these crea-
tures, enjoying the ultimate life — immortality — and
cognizant of all secrets but Ihi one, act all things and
pass everywhere by mere volition : indwelling, not
the stars, which to us seem the sole palpabilities,
and for the accommodation of which we blindly deem
space crealed — but that SPACE itself, that infinity of
whicii the truly substantive vastness swallows up the
star-shadows, blotting them out as non-entities from
the perception of the angels.

P. You say that " but for the necessity of the mdi-
mental life " there would have been no stars. But why
this necessity ?

V. In the inorganic life, as well as in the inorganic
matter generally, there is nothing to impede the action
of one simple unique law — the Divine Volition.
With the view of producing impediment, the organic
life and matter (complex, substantial, and law-en-
cumbered) were contrived.
319

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCK

p. But again — why need this impediment have
been produced ?

V. The result of law inviolate is perfection, right,
negative happiness. The result of law violate is im-
perfection, wrong, positive pain. Through the im-
pediments afforded by the number, complexity, and
substantiality ot the law« of organic life and matter,
the violation oi law is rendered to a certain extent
practicable. Thus pain, which in the inorganic life
Is impossible, is possible in the organic.

P. But to what good end is pain thus rendered
possible ?

V. All things are either good or bad by comparison.
A sufficient analysis will show that pleasure, in all
cases, is but the contrast of pain. Positive pleasure
is a mere idea. To be happy at any one point we must
have suffered at the same. Never to suffer would
have been never to have been blessed. But ithas been
shown that, in the inorganic life, pain cannot be;
thus the necessity for the organic. The pain of the
primitive life of Earth is the sole basis of the bliss
of the ultimate life in Heaven.

P. Still, there is one of your expressions which I
find it impossible to comprehend — " the truly sub-
stantive vastness of infinity."

V. This, probably, is because you have no suf-
ficiently generic conception of the term "substance''''
itself. We must not regard it as a quality, but as a
sentiment ; it is the perception, in thinking beings, of
the adaptation of matter to their organization. There
are many things on the Earth, which would be
nihility to the inhabitants of Venus: many things
visible and tangible in Venus, which we could not
be brought to appreciate as existing at all. But to
320

d by Google

MESMERIC REVELATION

the inorganic beings — to the angels — the whole o£
the un parti cled matter is substance; that is to say, the
whole of what we term " space " is to thera the truest
substantiality; the stars, meantime, through what we
consider their materiality, escaping the angelic sense,
just in proportion as the unparticled matter, through
what we consider its immateriality, eludes the
organic.

As the sleep-waker pronounced these latter words,
in a feeble tone, I observed on his countenance a
singular expression, which somewhat alarmed me,
and induced me to awake him at once. No sooner
had I done this, than, with a bright smile irradiating
all his features, he fell back upon his pillow and
expired. I noticed that in less than a minute after-
ward his corpse had all the stern rigidity of stone.
His brow was of the coldness of ice. Thus, ordinarily,
should it have appeared only after long pressure from
Azrael's hand. Had the sleep-waker, indeed, during
the latter portion of his discourse, been addressing
, me from out the region of the shadows ?

db, Google

THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF
M. VALDEMAR

\^F course I shall not pretend to consider it any
matter for wonder, that the extraordinary case of M,
Valdernar has excited discussion. It would have
been a miracle had It not — especially under the
circumstances. Through the desire of all parlies
concerned to keep the affair from the public, at least
for the present, or until we had farther opportunities
for investigation — through our endeavors to effect
this — a garbled or exaggerated account made Us way
Into society, and became the source of many un-
pleasant misrepresentations, and, very naturally, of a
great deal of disbelief.

It Is now rendered necessary that I give the/af/j,
as far as I comprehend them myself. They are,
succinctly, these;

My attention, for the last three years, had been
repeatedly drawn to the subject of Mesmerism ; and
about nine months ago it occurred to me, quite sud-
denly, that in the series of experiments made hitherto
there had been a very remarkable and most unac-
countable omission: — no person had as yet been
mesmerized «« articulo mortis. It remained to be
seen, first, whether, in such condition, there existed
la the patient any susceptibility to the magnetic

3^2

;v Google

THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR

influence; secondly, whether, if any existed, it was
impaired or increased by the condition ; thirdly, to
what extent, or for how long a period, the encroach-
ments of Death might be arrested by the process.
There were other points to be ascertained, but these
most excited my curiosity — the last in especial,
from the immensely important character of its
consequences.

' In looking around me for some subject by whose
means I might test these particulars, I was brought
to think of my friend, M. Ernest Valdemar, the well-
known compiler of- the BibUotheca Forensica, and
author (under the fiom de plume of Issachar Marx) of
the Polish versions of Wallenstein and Gargantua.
M. Valdemar, who has resided principally at Har-
lem, N. Y. , since the year 1839, is (or was) particu-
larly noticeable for the extreme spareness of his
person — his lower limbs much resembling those of
John Randolph; and also for the whiteness of his
whiskers, in violent contrast to the blackness of iiis
hair — the latter, in consequence, bemg very generally
mistaken for a wig. His temperament was markedly
. nervous, and rendered him a good subject for mes-
meric experiment. On two or three occasions I had
put him to sleep with little difficulty, but was disap-
pointed in other results which his peculiar constitu-
tion had naturally led me to anticipate. His will was
at no period positively, or thoroughly, under my con-
trot, and, in regard to clairvoyance, I could accom-
plish with him nothing to be relied upon. I always
attributed my failure at these points to the disordered
state of his health. For some months previous to
my becoming acquainted with him, his physicians
had declared him in a contirmed phthisis. It was
3:3

;v Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

his custom, indeed, to speak calmly of his approach-
ing dissolution as of a matter neither to be avoided
nor regretted.

When the ideas to which I have alluded first oc-
curred to me, it was of course very natural that I
should think of M. Valdemar, I Icnew the steady
philosophy of the man too well to apprehend any
scruples from kimj and he had no relatives in ^jnerica
who would be likely to interfere. I spoke to him
frankly upon the subject; and, to my surprise, his
Interest seemed vividly excited. I say to my sur-
prise; for, although he had always yielded his person
freely to my experiments, he had never before given
me any tokens of sympathy with what I did. His
disease was of that character which would admit
of exact calculation in respect to the epoch of its
termination in death ; and it was linally arranged
between us that he would send for me about twenty-
four hours before the period announced by his physi-
cians as that of his decease.

It Is now rather more than seven months since I
received, from M. Valdemar himself, the subjoined

"Mv DEAR P— -, You may as well come«ow. D— —
and F are agreed that I cannot hold out beyond to-
morrow midnight | and I think they have hit the time very

" Valdbmar."
I received this note withia half an hour after it
was written, and in fifteen minutes more I was in the
dying man's chamber. I had not seen him for ten
days, and was appalled by the fearful alteration which
the brief interval had wrought In him. His face wore
a leaden hue; the eyes were utterly lustreless; and
324

;v Google

THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR

the emaciation was so extreme that the skin had
been broken through by the cheek-bones. His ex-
pectoration was excessive. The pulse was barely
perceptible. He retained, nevertheless, in a very re-
markable manner, both his mental power and a cer-
tain degree of physical strength. He spoke with
distinctness — took some palliative medicines without
aid — and, when 1 entered the room, was occupied in
pencilling memoranda In a pocket-book. He was

propped up in the bed by pUIows. Doctors D

and F were in attendance.

After pressing Vaidemar's hand, I took these gen-
tlemen aside, and obtained from them a minutt ac-
count of the patient's condition. The left lung had
been for eighteen months in a semi-osseous or carti-
laginous state, and was, of course, entirely useless
for all purposes of vitality. The right, in its upper
portion, was also partially, if not thoroughly, ossified,
while the lower region was merely a mass of purulent
tubercles, running one into another. Several exten-
sive perforations existed; and, at one point, perma-
nent adhesion to the ribs had taken place. These
appearances in the right lobe were of comparatively
recent date. The ossification had proceeded with
very unusual rapidity; no sign of it had been dis-
covered a month before, and the adhesion had on|y
been observed during the three previous days. In-
dependently of the phthisis, the patient was suspected
of aneurism of the aorta; but on this point the
osseous symptoms rendered an exact diagnosis im-
possible. Jt was the opinion of both physicians that
M. Valdemar would die about midnight on the mor-
row (Sunday). It was then seven o'clock on Sat-
urday evening.

325

;v Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIEUCE

On quitting the invalid's bedside to hold convex

sation with myself, Doctors D and F had

bidden htm a final farewell. It had not been their
intention to return ; but, at my request, they agreed
to look in upon the patient about ten the next night.

When they had gone, I spoke freely with M. Valde- ,
mar on the subject of his approaching dissolution,
as well as, more particularly, of the experiment pro-
posed. He still professed himself quite willing and
even anxious to have it made, and urged me to com-
mence it at once. A male and a female nurse were
in attendance ; but I did not feel myself altogether
at liberty to engage in a task of this character with
no more reliable witnesses than these people, in case
of sudden accident, might prove. I therefore post-
poned operations until about eight the next night,
when the arrival of a medical student, with whom I
had some acquaintance (Mr. Theodore L 1), re-
lieved me from farther embarrassment. It had been
my design, originally, to wait for the physicians; but
I was induced to proceed, first, by the urgent
of M, Valdemar, and secondly, by my
1 that I had not a moment to lose, as he
was evidently sinking fast.

Mr. L 1 was so kind as to accede to my desire

that he would take notes of all that occurred ; and it
is from his memoranda that what I now have to re-
late is, for the most part, either condensed or copied
verbatim.

It wanted about five minutes of eight when, taking
the patient's hand, I begged him to state, as distinctly
as he could, to Mr. L 1, whether he (M. Valde-
mar) was entirely willing that I should make the
experiment of mesmerizing him in his then condition.
3!6

„ Google

THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR

He replied feebly, yet quite audibly, "Yes, I wfsh
to be mesmerized" — adding immediately afterwards,
" I fear you have deferred it too long."

While he spoke thus, 1 commenced the passes which
I had already found most effectual in subduing him.
He was evidently influenced with the first lateral
stroke of my hand across his forehead;, but, although
I exerted all my powers, no farther perceptible effect
was induced until some minutes after ten o'clock,

when Doctors D and F called, according to

appointment. I explained to them, in a tew words,
what I designed, and as they opposed no objection,
saying that the patient was already in the death
agony, 1 proceeded without hesitation — exchanging,
however, the lateral passes for downward ones, and
directing my gaze entirely into the right eye of the
sufferer.

By this time his pulse was imperceptible and his
breathing was stertorous, and at Intervals of half a

This condition was nearly unaltered for a quarter of
an hour. At the expiration of this period, however, a
natural although a very deep sigh escaped the bosom
of the dying man, and the stertorous breathing ceased
— that is to say, its stertorousness was no longer
apparent; the intervals were undiminished. The
patient's extremities were of an icy coldness.

At five minutes before eleven, I perceived unequi-
vocal signs of the mesmeric influence. The glassy
roll of the eye was changed for that expression of
uneasy inward examination which is never seen except
in cases of sleep-waking, and which it is quite impos-
sible to mistake. With a few rapid lateral passes I
made the lids quiver, as in incipient sleep, and with a
327

d by Google

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

few more I closed them altogether. I was not sati*
fied, however, with this, but continued the manipula-
tions vigorously, and with the fullest exertion of the
will, until 1 had completely stiffened the limbs of the
slumberer, after placing them in a. seemingly easy
position. The legs were at full length ; the arms '
were nearly so, and reposed on the bed at a moderate
distance from the loins. The head was very slightly
elevated.

When I had accomplished this, it was fully mid-
night, and I requested the gentlemen present to ex-
amine M. Valdemar's condition. After a few experi-
ments, they admitted him to be in an unusually per-
fect state of mesmeric trance. The curiosity of both
the physicians was greatly excited. Dr. D re-
solved at once to remain with the patient all night,

while Dr. F took leave with a promise to return

at daybreak. Mr. L 1 and the nurses remained.

We left M. Valdemar entirely undisturbed until
about three o'clock in the morning, when I approached
him and found him in precisely the same condition as

when Dr. F went away — that is to say, he lay

in the same position ; the pulse was Imperceptible ;
the breathing was gentle (scarcely noticeable, unless
through the application of a mirror to the lips); the
eyes were closed naturally ; and the limbs were as
rigid and as cold as marble. Still, the general ap-
pearance was certainly not that of death.

As I approached M. Valdemar I made a kind of
half effort to influence his right arm into pursuit of
my own, as I passed the latter gently to and fro above
his person. la such experiments with this patient, I
had never perfectly succeeded before, and assuredly
I had little thought of succeeding now; but, to mj
328

;v Google

THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR

astonishment, his arm very readily, although feebly,
followed every direction I assigned it with mine. I
determined to hazard a few words of conversation.

"M. Valdemar," I said, "are you asleep?" "He
made no answer, but I perceived a irennor about the
lips, and was thus induced to repeat the question,
again and again. At its third repetition, his whole
frame was agitated by a very slight shivering; the
eyelids unclosed themselves so far as to display a
white line of the ball ; the lips moved sluggishly, and
from between them, in a barely audible whisper,
issued the words:

"Yes; — asleep now. Do not wake me! -—let me

I here felt the limbs and found them as rigid as
ever. The right arm, as before, obeyed the direction
of my hand. I questioned the sieep-waker again;

" Do you still feel pain in the breast, M. Valdemar ? "

The answer now was immediate, but even less audi-
ble than before :

" No pain — I am dying."

I did not think it advisable to disturb him farther
just then, and nothing more was said or done until the
arrival of Dr. F , who came a little before sun-
rise, and expressed unbounded astonishment at find-
ing the patient still ahve. After feeling the pulse and
applying a mirror to the hps, he requested me to
Speak to the sleep-waker again. I did so, saying;

" M. Valdemar, do you still sleep ? "

As before, some minutes elapsed ere a reply was
made ; and during the interval the dying man seemed
to be collecting his energies to speak. At my fourth
repetition of the question, he said very faintly, almost
b audibly :

329

;v Google

"Yes; Btill asleep — dying."

It was now the opinion, or rather tlie wish, of the
physicians, that M. Valdemar should be suffered to
remain undisturbed in his present apparently tranquil
condition, until death should supervene — and this, it
was generally agreed, tnust now take place within a
few minutes. I concluded, however, to speak to hinj
once more, and merely repeated my previous question.

While I spoke, there came a marked change over
the countenance of the sleep-waker. The eyes rolled
themselves slowly open, the pupils disappearing up-
wardly ; the skin generally assumed a cadaverous hue,
resembling not so much parchment as white paper;
and the circular hectic spots which, hitherto, had been
Strongly defined in the centre of each cheek, -went out
at once, I use this expression, because the sudden-
ness of their departure put me in mind of nothing so
much as the extinguishment of a candle by a puf£ of
the breath. The upper lip, at the same time, writhed
itself away from the teeth, which it had previously
covered completely; while the lower jaw fell with an
audible jerk, leaving the mouth widely extended, and
disclosing in full view the swollen and blackened
tongue. I presume that no member of the party then
present had been unaccustomed to death-bed horrors;
but so hideous beyond conception was the appearance
of M. Valdemar at this moment, that there was a
general shrinking back from the region of the bed.

I now feel that I have reached a point of this nar-
rative at which every reader will be startled into
positive disbelief. It is my business, however, simply
to proceed.

There was no longer the faintest sign of vitality in

M. Valdemar; and concluding him to be dead, we

330

;v Google

THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR

were consigning him to the charge of the nurses, when
a strong vibratory motion was observable in the
tongue. This continued for perhaps a minute. At
the expiration of this period, there issued from the
distended and motionless jaws a voice — such as it
would be madness in me to attempt describing. There
are, indeed, two or three epithets which might be
considered as applicable to it in part; I might say,
for example, that the sound was harsh, and broken
and hollow ; but the hideous whole is indescribable,
for the simple reason that no similar sounds have ever
jarred upon the ear of humanity. There were two
particulars, nevertheless, which I thought then, and
stil! think, might fairly be stated as characteristic of
the intonation, as well adapted to convey some idea of
its unearthly peculiarity. In the first place, the voice
seemed to reach our ears — at least mine — from a vast
distance, or from some deep cavern within the earth.
In the second place, it impressed me (I fear, indeed,
that it will be impossible to make myself compre-
hended) as gelatinous or glutinous matters impress the
sense of touch.

I have spoken both of "sound" and of "voice." I
mean to say that the sound was one of distinct — of
even wonderfully, thriUingly distinct — syllabification.
M. Vaidemar spake — obviously in reply to the ques-
tion I had propounded to him a few minutes before,
I had asked him, it will be remembered, if he still
slept. He now said:

" Yes ; — no ; — I have ieen sleeping — and now —
now — /nOToVflrf,"

No person present even affected to deny, or at-
tempted to repress, the unutterable, shuddering horror
which these few words, thus uttered, were so well calcu-
33'

;v Google

TALES OF PSZtJDO -SCIENCE

lated to convey. Mr. L 1 (the student) swooned.

The nurses immediately left the chamber, and could
not be induced to return. My own impressions I
would not pretend to render intelligible to the reader.
For nearly an hour we busied ourselves, silently —
without the utterance of a word — in endeavors to

revive Mr. L 1. When he came to himself, we

addressed ourselves again to an investigation of M.
Valdemar's condition.

It remained in all respects as I hav. last described
it, with the exception that the mirror no longer
afforded evidence of respiration. An attempt to draw
blood from the arm failed. I should mention, too,
that this limb was no farther subject to my will. I
endeavored in vain to make it follow the direction of
my hand. The only real indication, indeed, of the
mesmeric influence, was now found in the vibratory
movement of the tongue, whenever I addressed M.
Valdemar a question. He seemed to be making an
eSort to reply, but had no longer sufficient volition.
To queries put to him by any other person than
myself he seemed utterly insensible, although I en-
deavored to place each member of the company in
mesmeric rapport with him. I believe that I have
now related all that is necessary to an understanding
of the sleep-waker's state at this epoch. Other nurses
were procured; and at ten o'clock I left the house in
company with the two physicians and Mr. L 1.

In the afternoon we all called again to see the
patient. His condition remained precisely the same.
We had now some discussion as to the propriety and
feasibility of awakening him ; but we had little diffi-
culty in agreeing that no good purpose would be
served by so doing. It was evident that, so far.

;v Google

THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M.

death (or what is isually termed death) had been
arrested by the mesmeric process. It seemed clear
to us all that to awaken M. Valdemar would be
merely to insure his instant, or at least his speedy,
dissolution.

From this period until the close of last week — an
interval of nearly seven months — we contiiiued to
make daily calls at M. Valdemar's house, accom-
panied, now and then, by medical and other friends.
All this time the sleep^waker remained exactly as I
have last described him. The nurses' attentions were
continual.

It was on Friday last that we finally resolved to
make the experiment of awakening, or attempting to
awaken him; and it is the (perhaps) unfortunate
resiait of this latter experiment which has given rise to
so much discussion In private circles — to so much of
what I cannot help thinking unwarranted popular

For the purpose of relieving M. Valdemar from the
mesmeric trance I made use of the custoraary passes.
These, for a time, were unsuccessful. The first indi-
cation of revival was afforded by a partial descent of
the iris. It was observed, as especially remarkable,
that this lowering of the pupil was accompanied by the
profuse outflowing of a yellowish ichor (from beneath
the lids) of a pungent and highly offensive odor.

It was now suggested that I should attempt to influ-
ence the patient's arm, as heretofore. I made the

attempt and failed. Dr. F then intimated a

desire to have me put a question. I did so, as
follows :

"M, Valdemar, can you expl^a to us what are
your feelings or wishes now?"
333

d by Google