Neuroomia/Chapter 7
CHAPTER VII.
THE SIFTING OF THE EVIDENCE.
My first care was to see to the improvement of the place. To Bashipolo, my senior employé, was left the matter of attending to the trees, flowers, vegetables, and cereals of all kinds, also the purchasing of animals to stock the land. I found that he was quite at home in working and managing a small estate, and as he was a most honest and truthful fellow, I afterwards became much attached to him.
Illilippli, the manager of my household affairs, was equally well versed in his branch, and things progressed smoothly enough at Raveria.
Having thus attended to outdoor matters, before very long I found myself poring over my books, with no anxieties about the present, and no cares about the future. This was well, for any one who has mental work to do cannot hope to achieve much success if he have any interruptions or annoyances.
I now turned my attention to the manuscripts. The first that attracted my notice was of an intensely absorbing character, and very ancient—so ancient, indeed, that not only had the original long crumbled away, but many of the succeeding facsimiles shared the same fate, the one I had before me being about the five-thousandth that had been taken, and it was calculated that the average life of each manuscript was about twenty thousand years. The original was supposed to have been written by one of the brothers Ylpa, who migrated from Neuroomia in a small vessel of their own, the Orino, during one of those terrible earthquakes which at very long intervals of time shattered portions of the great icefield. They sailed in a northerly direction till they came to the shores of another continent, which they explored and sketched, but the coast line, which ran, according to the plan, in a westerly direction for probably three or four thousand miles, was not like that of any of the continents known to our maps. It was evidently the coast of some unknown land, but what land could that be?
Was it all fiction? I asked of myself. No; that was impossible, for several things in the sketch and description proved conclusively that they were not the work of imagination. The capes, headlands, indentations, and mouths of the large rivers were carefully marked, as were also the hills and mountains near the sea. The inhabitants of this mysterious region, which was known as Arawarria in the native tongue, so the manuscript went on, were highly civilized, and lived under a monarchial form of government. They had great cities, important manufactures, and aqueducts. They were also well advanced in astronomy and meteorology, and, for the purposes of observation, calculation, and experiment, had massive buildings, with high towers, erected on many of the mountains and headlands. Their edifices were of the most substantial character, being built with blocks of a very durable kind of stone. The inhabitants told them that beyond the mountains, and towards the far interior, there were dense forests and great fresh inland seas. Here, secured in their natural fastnesses, lived a powerful, savage, and cruel people, of a paler colour than themselves, obtaining their subsistence by rude cultivation and the chase.
The climate was much warmer than that of Neuroomia, but the people they met led them to understand that in bygone ages it had been intensely cold. The days and nights were of brief duration, and nearly equal in length, which latter fact proved that the greater part of Arawarria must have been within the torrid zone. The soil was extremely prolific, and in a high state of cultivation, grass, grain, fruits, and flowers being abundant. Animals and birds, were also numerous. They had swift and commodious ships; some, indeed, were designed for sailing only, but the majority were propelled by machinery. With these they traded with other great divisions of land, some larger than their own.
The brothers were allowed the privilege of viewing some of their maps, and were astounded at the distance they ventured from Arawarria, and the vast proportions of the land they visited.
I considered it a matter for regret that the brothers had not copied the remainder of the coastline from the maps shown them. Whatever was their motive, probably a high sense of honesty, they did not do so, for the sketch only showed the part of the coast they had actually seen—the southern portion.
The course of the Orino was indicated by a broken line which ran near the shore. This line frequently ran into the coast, showing the places where they had landed. Contrary to what might be expected, however, they seldom entered what appeared to be the important harbours, but described semicircles round their entrances as they went along, and at the same time keeping well out to sea. Within the curves were small black dots, and the object of the Orino was obviously to avoid these.
But what could they represent? No clue as to their nature or use was given, and they were not reefs or isolated rocks, for these were shown by minute curved bars placed closely together. On examining the route, I found that they generally landed at the mouths of small creeks, but always some distance away from the principal harbours and cities.
According to the manuscript, it was the intention of the brothers to explore as much as possible of Arawarria, gather a cargo of interesting and useful objects, then return to Neuroomia. But of course they never returned, nor was it ever discovered what became of them, and their fate must remain a mystery to the end of all time; for it was now impossible that anything could be found to clear up, or indeed throw any further light on the matter. They appeared to have turned the western end of the continent before the manuscript was thrown into the sea, for the sketch curved round, indicating that the coast line trended to the north and north-east. But whether they examined the remainder of these mysterious shores, and consigned another manuscript to the deep, or whether they remained here, or commenced their return voyage, or departed for some other land, which they made their home, was, of course, a matter of pure speculation. It was not improbable they had got wrecked, for these seas were stormy at times; yet they made no mention of storms, although they referred to a mild and refreshing wind that always blew from the one quarter—the south-east.
This was the whole of the brief manuscript, and that any of the others before me would give any further information concerning the Orino and her occupants was altogether out of the question. As regards the continent itself, however, it was quite different, and with a view to learn more of it, I went through the whole bunch; but only one, which I placed aside, made any reference to land existing in the vicinity of where Arawarria should be. I then examined all the books and legends that I thought probable might contain references to the subject. This occupied a considerable time, and I had to write concerning paragraphs and sentences that I did not understand, on more than one occasion, to Yondozi, who always readily came to my assistance. His answers were of considerable help to me, for he had made an almost lifelong study of every branch of the history of his own country.
Replying to my last communication, he pointed out that it would be useless to search further among the books, for the two manuscripts already in my possession were the only original ones that dealt with or related in any way to the great unknown continent. At the same time, however, he neither suggested nor supplied an opinion, but left me to think the matter out for myself.
My experience as a navigator had already taught me the wisdom of not proceeding too hurriedly with questions that demanded subtle investigation, and also made me somewhat cautious in accepting deductions or hastily arriving at conclusions. So I made up my mind to drop the whole affair for the present, and devote my time to growing crops and raising herds.
Bashipolo had some ground prepared, so I planted a number of different kinds of seeds. Having finished this, I set to work and cleared the garden of all weeds, and had many improvements effected. Flanillas, olgommeras, and aleras gazed lazily in the grassy meadows, and appeared to be thriving well. Notwithstanding, however, Illilippli's highly successful management of the cuisine and his patient devotion to domestic affairs, I at times felt lonely, and on more than one occasion the idea of choosing a partner from the young ladies of Neuroomia entered my brain, for I was now fairly settled, and loved my rural home. My comparatively large house had a sound of emptiness about it that I did not at first appreciate, after being accustomed to so much company. However, I got used to it, but still missed my old acquaintances, for hitherto I had no visitors, doubtless owing to the fact that my friends conjectured I was busy over my literary work. I paid a visit to my nearest neighbour, Mitlinnimi, who had a grown-up family of one son and two daughters. The son had left them, and was settled on a place of his own, but the girls still lived with their parents, and as I found them to be agreeable and cheerful, I afterwards spent many pleasant hours in the company of the young ladies. I kept up a correspondence with Alvarez, Vandalia, Delemia, and a few others.
With regard to matrimonial affairs, I was not yet quite prepared to take the step, but the time would come, etc., etc. I had a lot of work before me, and I knew that when I once got fairly into it I should have quite enough to occupy my thoughts.
After resting for a reasonable time, I commenced the perusal of the second manuscript. Compared to the other, it belonged to a recent period. No date, however, was affixed. Probably there had been one, but no trace of it was now to be seen, for the manuscript was considerably damaged when found, owing to the water having penetrated the case that enclosed it. In this instance, too, I should have mentioned that the original of the copy I held had been converted to dust ages ago. It was the only result, as far as known, of the largest expedition that ever left Neuroomia. The movement took its origin from the enthusiasm of a number of brave and hardy men who were fond of adventure and filled with a desire to penetrate the mysteries of the great ocean beyond and the beautiful lands it was believed to contain. They fixed their ship, the Valina, on a huge sledge, and by powerful mechanical appliances managed to drag her over the frozen field. It was, however, a hazardous undertaking, and the men endured terrible sufferings on the ice; indeed, some of them lost their lives there, for the winter had set in before they reached the open sea. The survivors, however, embarked fall of hope, and with many promises to the effect that however enchanting the lands they might discover, they would return to Neuroomia, and endeavour to reach the icefield again at the place they were leaving it within a specified period. It was also understood that they would frequently throw manuscripts overboard while prosecuting their discoveries.
This expedition was not altogether a private concern, for it was countenanced and assisted by the Government, who sent exploring parties out on the ice from time to time for a number of years; but beyond the manuscript already referred to, nothing was ever heard of them. This one was the twenty-first they had cast into the water. They were then cruising in an extensive archipelago, the numerous islands of which were but the scattered fragments of a shattered continent, once the home of a kind and prosperous people, which had been reduced by the forces of nature to a condition of semi-barbarism. In some of the islands, indeed, notably those where cities had been left, the inhabitants still retained a portion of the civilization of the departed continent, but in the vast majority they had reverted to the state of the savage. Nor was this a matter for reproach or wonder, for their fate, in reality, bad been an excessively bard and cruel one.
This dreadful occurrence took place ages before, but the details were treasured up in their memories, and handed down from generation to generation with singular accuracy; for wherever the crew of the Valina landed, the tale in the main was the same, though in different islands there were many additions and omissions of minor particulars.
For some time preceding the dreadful catastrophe, they experienced frequent earthquakes and unusual meteorological disturbances; gales of a kind unrecorded in previous annals swept over land and sea, committing incalculable havoc, and causing the loss of numberless lives. The tides were of phenomenal height, and ceased to ebb and flow with their former regularity. They submerged whole low-lying tracts, while their heated waters scalded human beings and animals to death, and also withered up all the vegetable life that came within their reach. But the worst was yet to come. The surface of the sun appeared to have undergone a change, and his rays became more feeble, so that the moon and many of the stars began to shine by day. The former appeared to have come closer to the earth, and was sensibly of greater size than before. Then they saw a huge globe as it were suspended in the heavens, and coming towards them, growing larger and larger as it approached. Coming between them and the sun and moon, it totally eclipsed the light of both, yet they were not in darkness, for the strange world—a world they now knew it to be—gave out a peculiar kind of lurid light.
Nearer and nearer it came. The terrified inhabitants were now suddenly invigorated and endowed with extraordinary animation. They had tasted of the atmosphere of another world, but almost immediately there was a vibrating shock, and their continent was shattered, the greater portion of it having been pressed beneath the waters of the ocean. Then, as it were, to complete the work of destruction, volcanic disturbances followed on a scale fearful to contemplate. The sea was agitated, subsidences of the land took place, and islands were thrown up in the ocean.
The survivors could distinctly see the great world that was passing before them, and as it gradually moved away into space, kept constantly presenting a fresh surface to their view. They got a glimpse of its deep valleys, which were of immeasurable proportions, extremely beautiful, and teeming with many forms of animal and vegetable life; they beheld beings with faces and limbs like themselves, but the size of mountains, and they thought the gigantic strangers looked down upon them with pity as they passed. Many of the animals were even larger than these inhabitants; as for the vegetation, it appeared like hanging forests some distance away from, but yet connected with, this wonderful planet.
They were not, however, allowed to view these things at their leisure, for the earthquakes continued. Portions of the earth's surface were hurled into air, followed by enormous masses of flames. The ocean heaved and tossed, encroached and receded, sometimes reaching the tops of the lower hills, then revealing whole tracts of its mud-covered bed, with the huge monsters that luxuriated therein. The only cities left were those built high up on the mountains or most elevated tablelands; and even these suffered, some of them having been wrecked by the earthquakes.
After a time there was a calm. The new planet kept on its course, getting farther and farther away till lost in space, from which it came. The moon, however, remained nearer the earth than formerly, and gave a stronger light. It was also said that, through inhaling the strange atmosphere, some of those who escaped death from accident lived for hundreds of years.
The people began to go about in their boats, for they no longer possessed ships. Their continent, however, was broken up, and in such a brief space of time. They only found islands more or less scattered where it once had been. Between these, in many instances, were numerous shoals and currents that rendered navigation difficult and dangerous. This prevented that intercourse which might have saved, for a time at least, the civilization which had received such a terrible blow, and was already tottering.
The manuscript now at some length gave a detailed description of a few of the islands and their inhabitants, from which it appeared that the crew of the Valina was much pleased with what they had already seen, and that their voyage had hitherto been a most prosperous one. It concluded by stating they had not forgotten their promise to return.
I now learned, to my chagrin, that I should have read this manuscript first, or, at least, immediately after reading the other, for by so doing I should have spared myself considerable mental effort in endeavouring to solve the continental problem from the one only. Indeed, had I acted from impulse, as I felt strongly tempted to do, I should have commenced to study it on concluding the former. But I was trying to be methodical and digest every piece of intelligence as I went along. It was now, however, an easy matter to arrive at the only possible conclusion, right or wrong, from the evidence at hand concerning the solution of the continental mystery—Arawarria must be identical with the last continent of Lemuria, of which, according to many of our own geographers, the South Sea Islands once formed a part.
After finding this manuscript, the enthusiasm of the nation was aroused, and several expeditions left Neuroomia for the Northern Seas, all pledged to return. Their prolonged absence, however, caused some uneasiness, and the Government sent out parties of the hardiest men to keep a look-out in the vicinity of the ice; but nothing was ever seen of the wanderers, and only one manuscript was found. It was dropped by the ship Orobeda, which had been sailing for some time on her own account. It gave a very gloomy narrative of the voyage, stating that they believed the other vessels of the expeditions, two in number, to have been wrecked.
After leaving the solid mass, great caution had to be exercised to save their vessels from the icebergs which enclosed them on all sides. When they got beyond these, they encountered storms of the most violent character, and on several occasions their own vessel was on the point of foundering. It was during this period that they had lost sight of their companions. They had been drenched for days and nights together by chilling rains, and piercing winds tossed them in every direction. When the storms cleared off, they were almost scorched by the rays of a' burning sun, from which they suffered more than from the wet weather and storms.
Sickness had now set in among the crew, who were fast becoming aged and withered under their trials, when they beheld the welcome sight of land on the horizon. As they approached it, however, it presented a dismal and uninviting appearance, consisting of low sandy beaches, with numerous sandhills, on which they could see only a few stunted trees and scanty herbage stretching farther inland. They followed the shore for some distance, and at length came to the mouth of a large river, which they entered in the hope of finding a suitable place of shelter for themselves and their vessel. Their intention was to remain for some time, in order to rest and take in^ if possible, a fresh supply of water and food, for their stock of provisions was becoming uncomfortably low.
During their course up the river they saw many groups of natives along the banks. Their skins were black, and they wore no clothing. They belonged to the lowest order of savages possible, and had a very repulsive appearance, yet they appeared to be friendly, though they carried spears, clubs, and axes. The appearance of the country did not improve as they advanced, so they determined to proceed no farther, and cast anchor.
They were now distant two ellos—about four of our leagues—from the ocean. The natives followed the vessel along the banks, and seemed anxious to trade with them. They brought edible plants and roots, for which, in exchange, they received ornaments. Nearly half the crew went ashore to explore the neighbourhood, and, as they anticipated no treachery on the part of the natives, were unarmed. They were, however, taken on some pretext to an ambuscade a little distance away, and there instantly butchered with spears and axes in the very presence of their comrades, who were unable to render assistance, owing to the large number that had now gathered with the object of capturing the vessel. Fires were at once lit, and the bodies of the slain were torn to pieces and thrown on them to roast. Very soon the savages were seen greedily devouring the partially singed limbs.
In the meantime spears were being hurled at the ship, which they began to surround in their canoes, and it was only after several thousands had been destroyed by the bombs thrown from the vessel that they retreated, and then only to make further preparations to renew the attack. The remaining crew, however, managed to raise the anchor and get to sea without further trouble.
But they had already experienced more than enough, and had commenced their homeward voyage, broken down by hardship, when the little case enclosing the manuscript was consigned to the custody of the fickle waves and currents.
This curbed the spirit of adventure in Neuroomia, and although many generations had passed away since the sad event narrated above took place, no one had since ventured even to cross the icefield. This was not owing to fear, for the Neuroomians are brave; but they considered that there could be nothing in the other parts of the world worth risking their lives to reach, and also that the members of the many previous expeditions had probably perished. They turned their attention to their own continent, which this last piece of intelligence concerning another land made them love all the more.
I now proceeded to read the remaining manuscripts, but they were of a far too legendary character to make any reference to in my historical work. My next task was to read a brief history of Neuroomia, for to read the ordinary one would be a matter of years, and very probably unnecessary for the purpose I had in view.
A history of the world on the first reflection sounded a big concern to accomplish within a limited period. After a time, however, probably through thinking over the matter, it did not appear quite so formidable. My plan was to sketch a history of each continent, beginning with Africa.
After getting a start, I got fairly absorbed in my labours, which by no means proved disagreeable. However, I considered it would take a far greater time than I had at first calculated, and at one time there appeared to be little prospect of getting beyond two or three, at most, of the continents. However, I worked steadily at it, making a headway that astonished myself; but at the same time I found it to be tiring and wearisome, especially when I kept closely confined to the work for lengthened periods without diversion, and was very glad when my friend Yondozi appeared on the scene. I showed him the result of my seclusion as far as I had gone. He appeared pleased with it, and gave me some valuable suggestions, saying that what the Government and public would appreciate was exactness in every chapter, and that it would be better to omit a circumstance or event rather than hazard a guess. He also stated that he could understand the difficulty under which I laboured, writing wholly from memory, and if ever I should happen to be doubtful about date, place, or number concerning any event, it would be better to state the fact in every instance.
I now decided to take a brief holiday, and we went over the grounds together. The seeds I had sown were growing well, and, thanks to the instructions of Bashipolo, I was acquiring a knowledge of farming and grazing that proved doubly acceptable and interesting after my confinement indoors.