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THE WORKS
OF
VOL. Ill
NEW YORK
A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON
714 B ROADWAY
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by
J. S. REDFIELD,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court, for the Southern District of New York.
OCT 15 1956
CONTENTS.
PAGE
the domain of arnheim i
landor's cottage 25
william wilson 44
berenice 75
eleonora 88
LIGEIA . .
98
MORELLA 122
METZENGERSTEIN
A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS
THE SPECTACLES
.... .
131
145
l6l
THE DUC DE L' OMELETTE 1 99
THE OBLONG BOX .
205
KING PEST . „ 223
THREE SUNDAYS IN A WEEK 242
THE DEVIL IN THE BELFRY 252
LIONIZING
NARRATIVE OF
.
A.
. . .
FROM
bore my Nor do I use the
friend Ellison along.
word prosperity in its mere wordly 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, Priestly, and Condorcet of —
exemplifying by individual instance what has been deemed
the chimera of the perfectionists. In the brief existence of
Ellison I have seen refuted the dogma, that
fancy that I
kau, who makes the sum inherited ninety millions of pounds, and justly
observes that " in the 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 Prince's statement, although
a grossly exaggerated one. The germ, and in fact, the commencement of the
—
present paper was published many years ago previous to the issue of the
"
first number of Sue's admirable Juif Errant" which may possibly have
been suggested to him by Muskau's account.
THE DOMAIN OF ARNIIEIM. 5
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.
was not surprised, however, to perceive that he had
I
speculations ;
and it was this bias, perhaps, which led him
to believe that the most advantageous at least, if not the
sole legitimate field for the poetic exercise, lies in the
that the world has never seen — and that, unless through
some series of accidents goading the noblest order of mind
into distasteful exertion, the world will never see — that
THE DOMAIN OF ARNHEIM. 7
principle of the critic true , and, having felt its truth here,
it is but the headlong spirit of generalization which has
led him to pronounce it true throughout all the domains
of art. Having, I say,
felt its truth here ;
for the feeling
for whose scrutiny more especially than our own, and for
land detecting
;
and bringing into practice those nice rela-
tions of size, proportion and color which, hid from the
common observer, are revealed everywhere to the experi-
enced student of nature. The result of the natural style
plished ;
and the capacity for apprehension becomes uni-
versal. 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 extort
admiration from their instinct of beauty.
" The author's observations on the artificial style," con-
tinued Ellison,
"
are less objectionable. mixture ofA
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
;
a pestilence."
It was not until toward the close of the fourth year of
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
cipal 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 ponder-
trancing melody ;
there is an oppressive sense of strange
sweet odor; —there is a dream-like intermingling to the
sweet village of B ,
where I had determined to stop
for the night. The sun had scarcely shone
— strictly
—
speaking during the day, which, nevertheless, had been
unpleasantly warm. A
smoky mist, resembling that of
the Indian summer, enveloped all things, and of course,
added to my uncertainty. Not that I cared much about
the matter. If I did not hit upon the village before sun-
a bivouac in the open air was just the thing which would
have amused me. I sauntered on, therefore, quite at
ease — Ponto taking charge of my gun until at length,
—
just as I had begun to consider whether the numerous
little glades that led hither and thither, were intended to
be paths at was conducted by one of them into an
all, I
appeared, the sun had made its way down behind the
The first coup d' ceil, as the sun slid into the position
described, impressed me
very much as I have been im-
pressed, when a boy, by the concluding scene of some
well-arranged theatrical spectacle or melodrama. Not
even the monstrosity of color was wanting for the sun- ;
light came out through the chasm, tinted all orange and
was reflected more or less upon all objects from the cur-
tain of vapor that still hung overhead, as if loth 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
;
at this point was not more than fifty feet wide but as ;
explorer saw, at first, the same class of trees, but less and
less lofty and Salvatorish in character ;
then he saw the
valley itself
— (for it mind that the vege-
must be borne in
sides)
—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 :
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
an elevation of about eighty
at
perfumes.
The general floor of the amphitheatre was grass of the
same character as that I had found in the road ;
if
any
thing, more deliciously soft, thick, velvety, and miracu-
lously green. It was hard to conceive how all this beauty
had been attained.
have spoken of two openings into the vale. From the
I
above it, that where the true bank ended and where the
mimic one commenced, it was a point of no little difficulty
polished mirror. A
small island, fairly laughing with
flowers in full bloom, and affording little more space than
just enough for a picturesque little building, seeming-
ly a fowl-house —arose from the lake not from far its
of the tulip wood. This was forty feet long, and spanned
the interval between shore and shore with a slight but
abstract, a
—
more rigorous definition) and I do not mean
that merely outre was perceptible in any respect.
In fact nothing could well be more simple more ut- —
terly unpretending than this cottage. Its marvellous
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
did not extend to the floor, but were much longer and
narrower than usual —they had single shutters 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 moveable shutter secured it at night. The door
to the west wing was and quite simple a
in its gable, —
single window looked out to the 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 ballustrade) running diagonally across it
— the ascent being from the south. Under cover of the
ties to Ponto.
As no bell was discernable, I rapped with my stick
would here imply by the word — " romance " and " woman-
"
liness seem to me convertible terms :
and, after all,
of her.
of the globe have not the indignant winds bruited its un-
member.
The house, I have said, was old and irregular. The
grounds were extensive, and a high and solid brick wall,
topped with a bed of mortar and broken glass, encom-
passed the whole. This prison- like rampart formed the
limit of our domain beyond it we saw but thrice a week
;
hinges, we found
a plentitude of mystery a world of —
matter for solemn remark, or for more solemn meditation.
The extensive enclosure was irregular in form, having
or Midsummer holidays.
But the house !
—
how quaint an old building was this !
nativity.
It may seem strange that in spite of the continual anx-
iety occasioned me by the rivalry of Wilson, and his in-
propriated ;
in spite of his constitutional defect, even my
voice did not escape him. My louder tones were, of
course, unattempted, but then the key,
— it was identical ;
and his singular whisper it ', grew the very echo of my own.
How greatly this most exquisite portraiture harassed
me (for itcould not justly be termed a caricature), I will
not now venture to describe. I had but one consolation
— the imitation, apparently, was noticed by
in the fact that
obtuse can see), gave but the full spirit of his original for
my individual contemplation and chagrin.
I have already more than once spoken of the disgusting
air of patronage which he assumed toward me, and of his
not his general talents and wordly wisdom, was far keener
than my own and that I might, to-day, have been a bet-
;
existence.
do not wish, however, to trace the course of my
I
—
miserable profligacy here a profligacy which set at defi-
WILLIAM WILSON. 61
lamp ;
and now no light at all was admitted, save that of
perceive ;
but the features of his face I could not distin-
my ear.
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
time his countenance had been losing the florid tinge lent
itby the wine but now, to my astonishment, I perceived
;
fantastic invention ;
for I was fastidious to an absurd de-
ruffling of my temper ;
for I was anxiously seeking (let
me not say with what unworthy motive) the young, the
"
scoundrel impostor accursed villain you shall not
! ! !
—
you dog me unto death
shall not Follow me, or I stab!
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 an-
tagonist
— itwas 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 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,
"
You have conquered, and I yield. Yet henceforward
—
art thou also dead dead to the World, to Heaven, and to
•«*J^il££§©s*»
BERENICE.
MISERY
multiform.is Overreaching the wide horizon as
the rainbow, its hues are as various as the hues of that
arch — as distinct too, yet as intimately blended. Over-
paintings
— the fashion of the
in library chamber —and,
lastly, in the very peculiar nature of the library's con-
tents —there is more than sufficient evidence to warrant
the belief.
The recollection of my earliest years are connected with
that chamber, and with its volumes —of which latter I will
definite, unsteady ;
and like a shadow, too, in the impos-
sibility of my getting rid of it while the sunlight of my
reason shall exist.
In that chamber was I born. Thus awaking from the
long night of what seemed, but was not, nonentity, at
once into the very regions of fairy land into a palace of —
—
imagination into the wild dominions of monastic thought
and erudition — not singular that
it is gazed around me I
—
with a startled and ardent eye that loitered away I
fountains !
—
And then then all is mystery and terror,
and a tale which should not be told. Disease —a fatal
disease, fell like the simoon upon her frame; and even,
while gazed upon her, the spirit of change swept over
I
explanation.
Yet let me
not be misapprehended. The undue, ear-
nest, and morbid attention thus excited by objects in their
own nature frivolous, must not be confounded in character
with that ruminating propensitycommon to all mankind,
and more especially indulged in by persons of ardent
imagination. It was not even, as might be at first sup-
posed, an extreme condition, or exaggeration of such pro-
pensity, but primarily and essentially distinct and different.
speculative.
fluence of the —
atmosphere or the uncertain twilight of
the chamber— or the gray draperies which fell around her
figure
—that caused so vacillating and
in it indistinct an
outline ? I could not tell. She spoke no word ;
and I —
* For as
Jove, during the winter season, gives twice seven days of warmth,
men have called this clement and temperate time the nurse of the beautiful
H alcy on .
— Simonides.
BERENICE. 83
iety oppressed me
a consuming curiosity pervaded my
;
placid and the once jetty hair fell partially over it, and
;
******* my
selves slowly to
in their edges
—but what that brief period of her smile
had sufficed to brand in upon my memory. I saw them
now even more unequivocally than I beheld them then*
The teeth the teeth!
—
they were !
— here, and there, and
everywhere, and visibly and palpably before me; long,
narrow, and excessively white, with the pale lips writhing
moment of
about them, as in the very their first terrible
family physician ;
but how came
there, upon my table, it
alive !
heavily, and burst into pieces and from it, with a rattling
;
whether that
all is —
profound does not spring from disease
of thought — from moods of mind exalted at the expense
CEdipus.
She whom I loved in youth, and of whom I now pen
calmly and distinctly these remembrances, was the sole
daughter of the only sister of my mother long departed.
Elenora was the name of my cousin. We had always
dwelled together, beneath a tropical sun, in the Valley of
the Many-Colored Grass. No unguided footstep ever
came upon that vale ; away up among a range
for it lay far
of giant hills that
hung beetling around about it, shutting
out the sunlight from its sweetest recesses. No path was
trodden in its vicinity and, to reach our happy home,
;
day by day, lower and lower, until its edges rested upon
the tops of the mountains, turning all their dimness
into magnificence, and shutting us up, as if forever,
within a magic prison-house of grandeur and of glory.
The was that of the Seraphim
loveliness of Eleonora ;
she made acceptance of the vow, (for what was she but a
child ?)
and it made easy to her the bed of her death.
And she said to me, not many days afterward, tranquilly
sadly from the vale into the hills, with all the gay glowing
birds that had arrived in his company. And the golden
and silver fish swam down through the gorge at the lower
ELEONORA. 95
And the will therein lieth, which dieth not. Who knoweth the mysteries
of the will, with its vigor ? For God is but a great will pervading all things
by nature of its intentness. Man doth not yield himself to the angels, nor
unto death utterly, save only through the weakness of his feeble will.
—
Joseph Glanvill.
—
by that sweet word alone by Ligeia that I bring before —
mine eyes in fancy the image of her who is no more. And
now, while I write, a recollection flashes upon me that I
have never knoivn the paternal name of her who was
my friend and my betrothed, and who became the partner
of my studies, and finally the wife of my bosom. Was it
a playful charge on the part of my Ligeia ? or was it
a test of my strength of affection, that I should institute
no inquiries upon this point ? or was it rather a caprice of
—
heavenly the magnificent turn of the short upper lip
—
the soft, voluptuous slumber of the under the dimples —
which sported, and the color which spoke —the teeth glan-
cing back, with a brilliancy almost startling, every ray of
the holy light which fell upon them in her serene and
ness. Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto
death utterly, save only through the weakness of his
feeble will."
hue of the grave and the blue veins upon the lofty fore-
;
terrors ;
but not so. Words are impotent to convey any
just idea of the fierceness of resistance with which she
wrestled with the Shadow. I groaned in anguish at the
wildly earnest a desire, for the life which was now fleeing
so rapidly away. It is this wild longing
— it is this eager
It writhes !
— it writhes !
—with mortal pangs
The mimes become its food,
And the seraphs sob at vermin fangs
In human gore imbued.
" "
O God half shrieked Ligeia, leaping to her feet and
!
him to the angels, nor unto death utterly, save o?ily through
the weakness of his feeble will."
She died and I, crushed into the very dust with sor-
:
by
citability causes of fear. She spoke again, and
trivial
she then saw, but which I could not perceive. The wind
was rushing hurriedly behind the tapestries, and I wished
to show her (what, let me confess it, I could not all be-
fell back with a shudder upon the couch from which I had
been so startlingly aroused, and again gave myself up to
to the task which duty thus once more had pointed out.
There was now a partial glow upon the forehead and upon
the cheek and throat a perceptible warmth pervaded the
;
whole frame ;
there was even a slight pulsation at the
heart. The lady lived ; and with redoubled ardor I be-
bathed the temples and the hands, and used every exer-
tion which experience, and no little medical reading, could
of the tomb.
And againsunk into visions of Ligeia and again,
I —
(what marvel that I shudder while I write ?) again there
—
energy into the countenance the limbs relaxed and, —
save that the eyelids were yet pressed heavily together,
and that the bandages and draperies of the grave still im-
terable fancies connected with the air, the stature, the de-
but the fires were not of Eros, and bitter and tormenting
to my spirit was the gradual conviction that I could in no
manner define their unusual meaning, or regulate their
happiness to wonder ;
— it is a happiness to dream.
Morella's erudition was profound. As I hope to live,
did ;
but the fragile spirit clung to tenement of clay
its
for many days — for many weeks and irksome months until —
my tortured nerves obtained the mastery over my mind,
and I grew furious through delay, and, with the heart of a
fiend, cursed the days, and the hours, and the bitter
day.
But one autumnal evening, when the winds lay still in
heaven, Morella called me to her bedside. There was a
dim mist over all the earth, and a warm glow upon the
waters, and, amid the rich October leaves of the forest,
a rainbow from the firmament had surely fallen.
" " a
It is a day of days," she said, as I approached ;
the sons of earth and life —ah, more fair for the daughters
"
of heaven and death !
"
I am dying, yet shall I live."
" "
Morella !
"
The days have never been when thou couldst love me
— but her whom in life thou didst abhor, in death thou
shalt adore."
" Morella "
!
"
I repeat that I am dying. But within me is a pledge
of that affection — ah, how little !
—which thou didst feel
this ?
" —but
she turned away her face upon the pillow,
and, a slight tremor coming over her limbs, she thus died,
and I heard her voice no more.
Yet, as she had foretold, her child
—to which in dying
she had given birth, which breathed not until the mother
—
breathed no more her child, a daugher, lived. And she
MORELLA. I27
upon her holy, and mild, and eloquent face, and poured
over her maturing form, day after day did I discover new-
points of resemblance in the child to her mother, the mel-
ancholy and the dead. And, hourly, grew darker these
shadows of similitude, and more full, and more definite,
and more perplexing, and more hideously terrible in their
aspect. For that her smile was like her mother's I could
bear ;
but then I shuddered at its too perfect identity —
that her eyes were like Morella's I could endure ;
but then
pered within the ears of the holy man the syllables — Mor-
ella ? What more than fiend convulsed the features of my
child, and overspread them with hues of death, as starting
at that scarcely audible sound, she turned her glassy eyes
—
ignorant of the flowers and the vine but the hemlock
and the cypress overshadowed me night and day. And I
kept no reckoning of time or place, and the stars of my
fate faded from heaven, and therefore the earth grew dark,
130 MORELLA.
*
Mercier, in L
an deux mille quatre cents quarante," seriously maintains
the doctrines of the Metempsychosis, and J. D'Israeli says that " no system
isso simple and so little repugnant to the understanding." Colonel Ethan
" Green Mountain Boy," is also said to have been a serious me-
Allen, the
tempsychosist.
I3i
1 32 ME TZENGERSTEIN.
— I give the words of an acute and intelligent Parisian
—
" au
ne demure qii un seul fois dans un corps sensible ; reste
— un chevaly un chien, u?i homme meme, ri est que la ressem-
blance peu tangible de ces animaux."
The families of Berlifitzing and Metzengerstein had
been at variance for centuries. Never before were two
houses so illustrious, mutually embittered by hostility so
deadly. The origin of this enmity seems to be found in
the words of an ancient prophecy — " A lofty name shall
have a fearful fall when, as the rider over his horse, the
ing. But more trivial causes have given rise —and that no
long while —
ago to consequences equally eventful. Be-
sides, the estates, which were contiguous, had long exer-
cised a rival influence in the affairs of a
busy government.
Moreover, near neighbors are seldom friends and the in- ;
to by every instigation
quarrel of hereditary jealousy ?
meaning.
From some peculiar circumstances attending the ad-
ministration of his father, the young Baron, at the decease
134 METZENGERSTEIN.
—
dered to perceive that shadow as he staggered awhile
—
upon the threshold assuming the exact position, and
up the contour, of the relentless and tri-
precisely filling
umphant murderer of the Saracen Berlifitzing.
To lighten the depression of his spirits, the Baron hur-
ried into the open air. At the principal gate of the palace
he encountered three equerries. With much difficulty,
and at the imminent peril of their lives, they were re-
colored horse.
" "
Whose horse ? Where did you get him ? demanded
the youth, in a querulous and husky tone, as he became
"
You are mistaken, my lord ; the horse, as I think we
mentioned, is not from the stables of the Count. If such
had been the case, we know our duty better than to bring
him into the presence of a noble of your family."
I38 ME TZENGERSTEIN.
" "
True observed the Baron, drily and at that instant
!
;
but from the low tone of voice in which these latter were
communicated, nothing escaped to gratify the excited
curiosity of the equerries.
The young Frederick, during the conference, seemed
agitated by a variety of emotions.
soon, however, He
recovered his composure, and an expression of deter-
mined malignancy settled upon his countenance, as he
gave peremptory orders that the apartment in question
should be immediately locked up, and the key placed in
his own possession.
"
Have you heard of the unhappy death of the old
"
hunter Berlifitzing ? said one of his vassals to the
Baron, as, after the departure of the page, the huge steed
which that nobleman had adopted as his own, plunged
and curveted, with redoubled fury, down the long avenue
which extended from the palace to the stables of Metzen-
gerstein.
" "
No !said the Baron, turning abruptly toward the
" dead "
speaker, say you ?
!
" It is indeed
true, my
lord and, to the noble of your
;
flames."
" I n— —d — e— —d — e !
"
ejaculated the Baron, as if
hereditary pique ;
and merely proved how singularly un-
meaning our sayings are apt to become, when we desire
to be unusually energetic.
The charitable, nevertheless, attributed the alteration
in the conduct of the young nobleman to the natural
sorrow of a son for the untimely loss of his parents ;
—
forgetting, however, his atrocious and reckless behavior
great benefit. The result was that Bedloe, who was wealthy,
A TALE OF THE LAGGED MOUNTAINS. 1
47
the acute pains of his patient and this success had very
;
sleep-producing power ;
but this power itself had attained
great intensity. At the first attempt to induce the mag-
netic somnolency, the mesmerist entirely failed. In the
fifth or sixth he succeeded very partially, and after long-
continued effort. Only at the twelfth was the triumph
148 A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS.
dozen yards of the path before me. This path was exces-
sively sinuous, and as the sun could not be seen, I soon
150 A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS.
interest. —
In the quivering of a leaf in the hue of a blade
of grass— the shape of a
in — the humming a
trefoil in of
the wind —in the odors that came from the forest —
faint
the vast fleets of deeply burdened ships that far and wide
encountered its surface. Beyond the limits of the city
arose, in frequent majestic groups, the palm and the cocoa,
with other gigantic and weird trees of vast age and here
;
so. — —
What I saw what I heard what I felt what I —
thought
—had about it nothing of the unmistakable idiosyn-
crasy of the dream. All was rigorously self-consistent. At
first, doubting that I was really awake, I entered into a
series of tests, which soon convinced me that I really was.
154 A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS.
the
engaged, at great odds, with the swarming rabble of
the alleys. I joined the weaker party, arming myself with
the weapons of a fallen officer, and righting I knew not
whom with the nervous ferocity of despair. were We
soon overpowered by numbers, and driven to seek refuge
in a species of kiosk. Here we barricaded ourselves, and,
into the recesses of which the sun had never been able to
shine. The rabble pressed impetuously upon us, harass-
battery ;
the sense of weight, of volition, of substance, re-
turned. I became my original self, and bent my steps
eagerly
—
homeward but the past had not lost the vivid-
ness of the real —and not now, even for an instant, can I
regarded it.
" "
You will perceive," said Templeton, the date of this
158 A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS.
picture
— it is here, scarcely visible, in this corner — 1780. In
this year was the portrait taken. It is the likeness of a dead
friend — a Mr. Oldeb — to whom I became much attached
at Calcutta, during the administration of Warren Hastings.
I was then only twenty years old. When I first saw you,
Mr. Bedloe, at Saratoga, it was the miraculous similarity
which existed between yourself and the painting which
induced me to accost you, to seek your friendship, and to
yourself.
"
In your detail of the vision which presented itself to
you amid the hills, you have described, with the minutest
accuracy, the Indian city of Benares, upon the Holy
River. The riots, the combat, the massacre, were the ac-
tual events of the insurrection of Cheyte Sing, which took
place in 1780, when Hastings was put in imminent peril of
his life. The man escaping by the string of turbans was
Cheyte Sing himself. The party in the kiosk were sepoys
and British officers, headed by Hastings. Of this party I
was one, and did all I could to prevent the rash and fatal
"
We have the painful duty of announcing the death of
Mr. AUGUSTUS BEDLO, a gentleman whose amiable
manners and many virtues have long endeared him to the
citizens of Charlottesville.
" Mr. some years been subject to neu-
B., for past, has
typographical error."
«*x^&mm&<&^
THE SPECTACLES.
plebeian one
— Simpson. I say
"
at present
"
;
for it is
is
Napoleon Buonaparte
— more or, properly, these are
my first and middle appellations.
I assumed the name, Simpson, with some reluctance,
as in my true patronym, Froissart, I felt a very pardon-
able pride — believing
that I could trace a descent from
the immortal author of the " Chronicles." While on the
I know
nothing, indeed, which so disfigures the counte-
nance of a young person, or so impresses every feature with
an air of demureness, if not altogether of sanctimoniousness
and of age. An eye-glass, on the other hand, has a savor
of downright foppery and affectation. I have hitherto
managed as well as I could without either. But some-
thing too much of these merely personal details, which,
after all, are of little importance. I will content myself
with saying, in addition, that my temperament is san-
magnificent proportion,
—and even the term " "
divine
seems ridiculously feeble as I write it.
The magic of a lovely form in woman —the necromancy
of —
female gracefulness was always a power which had I
found it
impossible to resist ; but here was grace personi-
fied, incarnate, the beau ide*al of my wildest and most en-
thusiastic visions. The figure, almost all of which the
construction of the box permitted to be seen, was some-
what above the medium height, and nearly approached,
without positively reaching, the majestic. Its perfect
during this period, I felt the full force and truth of all
"
that has been said or sung concerning love at first
—
only true love of the love at first sight and so little
—
reallydependent is it upon the external conditions which
only seem to create and control it.
While was thus wrapped in admiration of this lovely
I
—
velop some expression about the countenance which
slightly disturbed me while it greatly heightened my in-
travagance. Had
the lady been alone, I should undoubt-
edly have entered her box and accosted her at all hazards ;
"
woman ?
M
She is very beautiful, no doubt," he said.
" "
I wonder who she can be ?
"
Why, in the name of all that is angelic, don't you know
who she is ? '
Not to know her argues yourself unknown.'
She is the celebrated Madame Lalande— the beauty of the
1 68 THE SPECTACLES.
day par excellence, and the talk of the whole town. Im-
mensely wealthy too — a widow—and a great match —has
just arrived from Paris."
" "
Do you know her ?
"
Yes — I have the honor."
" "
Will you introduce me ?
" —
Assuredly with the greatest pleasure ;
when shall it
be?"
"
To-morrow, at one, I will call upon you at B 's."
"
Very good and now do hold your tongue, if you
;
can."
In this latter respect I was forced to take Talbot's ad-
vice ; he remained obstinately deaf to every further
for
the stage.
In the meantime I kept my eyes riveted on Madame
Lalande, and at length had the good fortune to obtain a
full front view of her face. It was exquisitely lovely :
surprise.
Iobserved that, upon her first elevation of the glass,
she had seemed satisfied with a momentary inspection of
I
JO THE SPECTACLES.
am sure.
ently saw the head slowly and slightly change its posi-
I
seeing her unfold, for the second time, the eye-glass which
hung at her side, fully confront me as before, and, disre-
garding the renewed buzz of the audience, survey me,
from head to foot, with the same miraculous composure
which had previously so delighted and confounded my
soul.
"
Out," said the footman —Talbot's own.
" "
Out ! I replied, staggering back half a dozen paces
— "
let me tell you, my fine fellow, that this thing is thor-
liant air ;
but art will do wonders. Upon my word, she
looks better than she did at Paris five years ago. A
beautiful woman still ;
— don't you think so, Froissart ?— -
Simpson, I mean."
THE SPECTACLES. 1 75
address, and the next morning sent her a full and elabo-
rate letter, in which I poured out my whole heart.
I —
spoke boldly, freely in a word, I spoke with passion.
I —
concealed nothing nothing even of my weakness. I
alluded to the romantic circumstances of our first meet-
—
ing even to the glances which had passed between us.
I went so far as to say that I felt assured of her love ;
" Monsieur me
Simpson vill pardonne for not compose de
butefulle tong of his contree so veil as might. It is only de
late dat I am arrive, and not yet ave de opportunite for to —•
1' £tudier.
" Vid dis apologie for the maniere, I vill now say dat, helas!
— Monsieur Simpson ave guess but de too true. Need I say
de more ? Helas am I not ready speak de too moshe ?
!
"
Eugenie Lalande."
urgent business
—but
would shortly return. He begged
—
me not to be impatient to moderate my transports to —
read soothing books —to drink nothing stronger than Hock
178 THE SPECTACLES.
—and to bring the consolations of philosophy to my* aid.
The fool he could not come himself, why, in the name
! if
" Left S
yesterday, for parts unknown — did not say
where — or when be back — so thought best to return letter,
All this she said with a charming air of naivety which en-
Ah non
!
guinge uman pensiero
Al contento ond 'io son piena.
nothing
— felt had a right to conceal nothing from
that I —
her confiding affection. Encouraged by her candor upon
the delicate point of her age, I entered, with perfect frank-
ness, not only into a detail of my many minor vices, but
made full confession of those moral and even of those
hush !
—you have already consented to wear them,/*??' my
sake. You toy which I now hold in
shall accept the little
This —
request must I confess it ? — confused me in
"
exultingly to myself, indeed the speaking image
this is
"
of my beloved ! I turned the reverse, and discovered
the words — " Eugenie Lalande — aged twenty-seven years
and seven months."
found Talbot at home, and proceeded at once to
I
by north, half-north.
It had been determined for us by Talbot, that, as
"
And now, mon ami" said she, taking my hand, and so
interrupting this train of reflection, "and now, mon clier
gether understand.
"
Veil, Monsieur," said she, after surveying me, in great
192 THE SPECTACLES.
of de Saint Vitusse dat you ave? If not like me, vat for
"
vy buy de pig in de poke ?
'•'You wretch
"
said I, catching !
my breath — "you —
you — you villainous old hag !
"
"
To be sure !
— dat is so !
— ver true ! but den de por-
traite has been take for dese go fifty-five year. Ven I
"
vat den ? Vat you know about de Moissart ?
"
Nothing, you old fright I know nothing about him !
—
at all only
;
I had an ancestor of that name, once upon a
time."
"
Dat name and vat you ave for say to dat name ?
!
respectaable name."
THE SPECTACLES. 1
93
•*
Yes," she replied, leaning fully back in her chair, and
"
stretching out her lower limbs at great length yes, ;
rage.
Meantime sank aghast into the chair which she had
I
" "
vacated. Moissart and Voissart I repeated, thought- !
that me
's — —
ye hear? that
d' mt" — here screamed at 's I
contour of head, the fine eyes and the Grecian nose of her
—
Hades: " L' homme done qui voudrait savoir ce dont je suis mort, qui V ne
demande pas si 7 fdt de fievre ou de podagre ou d' autre chose mais qui V en-
tende que ce fut de '
V
Andromache.
"
,'
199
200 THE DUG DE V OMELETTE.
more :
—
the Due expired in a paroxysm of disgust.
* * *
" Ha! ha! ha " said his Grace on the
! third day after
his decease.
" "
He ! he ! he !
replied the Devil faintly, drawing him-
self up with an air of hauteur.
"
Why, surely you are not serious," retorted De L' Ome-
lette.
" I have sinned — e'est vrai— but, my good sir, con-
sider—you have no actual intention of putting such—
!
—
such barbarous threats into execution."
"
No what ? " said his majesty— " come, strip
"
sir, !
"
Strip, indeed !
very pretty i' faith !
no, sir, I shall not
together by Rombert
—to say nothing of the taking my
hair out of paper — not to mention the trouble I should
"
have in drawing off my gloves ?
impunity
— Sir ! ! I shall take the earliest opportunity of
like the city of Boston, parmi les nues. From its nether
extremity swung a large cresset. The Due knew it to be
a ruby but from it there poured a light so intense, so
;
poppies, his back to the flowers, and his face to the God
Apollo. The Due muttered a slight oath, decidedly ap-
probatory.
The corners of the room were rounded into niches.
Three of these were filled with statues of gigantic propor-
tions. Their beauty was Grecian, their deformity Egyp-
tian, their tout ensemble French. In the fourth niche the
statue was veiled ; it was not colossal. But then there
was a taper ankle, a sandalled foot. De L' Omelette
pressed his hand upon his heart, closed his eyes, raised
fires !
Mais —how
happy a thought
il joue ! but his Grace !
—
had always an excellent memory. He had dipped in the
"
Diable" of the Abbe Gualtier. Therein it is said "que
le Diable n ose pas refuser un jeu d* e'earte'."
But the chances —the chances ! True —desperate ;
but
scarcely more desperate than the Due. Besides, was he
—
not in the secret ? had he not skimmed over Pere Le
Brun — was he not a member of the Club Vingt-un
?
" Si ?
*'
que les cartes soient pre'pare'es I
204 THE DUC DE H OMELETTE.
confidence. A
spectator would have thought of Francis
and Charles. His Grace thought of his game. His Maj-
esty did not think he shuffled. The Due cut.
;
taking leave,
"
que s' il n eUt /// De L Omelette ilri aurait
point (T objection d' etre le Diable."
<^^^}M^^^
THE OBLONG BOX.
ried, and I had never yet seen her. He had often talked
about her in my presence, however, and in his usual style
of enthusiasm. He described her as of surpassing beauty,
"
but then an apology came. Mrs. W. was a little indis-
phrase),
not sail for a day or two, and that when all was ready, he
would send up and let me know." This I thought
strange, for there was a stiff southerly breeze ;
but as
" "
the circumstances were not forthcoming, although I
pumped for them with much perseverance, I had nothing
to do but to return home and digest my impatience at
leisure.
fore, for the extra baggage. After some delay, a cart ar-
was the first time I had ever known Wyatt to keep from
me any of his artistical secrets ;
but here he evidently in-
Wyatt's own ;
and there, too, it remained, occupying
very nearly the whole of the floor — no doubt to the
exceeding discomfort of the artist and his wife ;
— this the
and contents would never get farther north than the stu-
dio of my misanthropic friend, in Chambers Street, New
York.
For the first three or four days we had fine weather, al-
love only ;
and his bride was far more than worthy of his
love." When I thought of these expressions, on the part
of my friend, I confess that I felt indescribably puzzled.
Could it be possible that he was taking leave of his senses?
What else could I think ? He, so refined, so intellectual,
so fastidious, with so exquisite a perception of the faulty,
in the most pointed manner, and, for the most part, shut
seemed slowly to make its way into his brain, his eyes, in
the same proportion, seemed protruding from their
sockets. Then he grew very red —then hideously pale
—
then, as if
highly amused with what I had insinuated, he
began a loud and boisterous laugh, which, to my astonish-
ment, he kept up, with gradually increasing vigor, for ten
minutes or more. In conclusion, he fell flat and heavily
upon the deck. When I ran to uplift him, to all appear-
ance he was dead.
I called assistance, and, with much difficulty, we brought
him to himself. Upon reviving he spoke incoherently for
some time. At length we bled him and put him to bed.
The next morning he was quite recovered, so far as re-
214 THE OBLONG BOX.
indeed, the whole of this latter noise were not rather pro-
duced by my own imagination. I say it seemed to
resemble sobbing or —
sighing but, of course, it could not
have been either. I rather think it was a ringing in my
own Mr. Wyatt, no doubt, according to custom,
ears.
We had been at sea seven days, and were now off Cape
Hatteras, when there came a tremendously heavy blow
from the southwest. We were, in a measure, prepared
for it, had been holding out
however, as the weather
threats for some time. Every thing was made snug, alow
and aloft and as the wind steadily freshened, we lay to,
;
lence, and, as the sea went down with it, we still enter-
tained faint hopes of saving ourselves in the boats. At
eight P. M., the clouds broke away to windward, and we
—
had the advantage of a full moon a piece of good fortune
which served wonderfully to cheer our drooping spirits.
After incredible labor we succeeded, at length, in getting
the long-boat over the side without material accident,
and into this we crowded the whole of the crew and
most of the passengers. This party made off imme-
diately, and, after undergoing much suffering, finally ar-
rived, in safety, at Ocracoke Inlet, on the third day after
the wreck.
Fourteen passengers, with the captain, remained on
board, resolving to trust their fortunes to the jolly-boat
at the stern. We lowered it without difficulty, although
it was only by a miracle that we prevented it from
negro valet.
We had no room, of course, any thing except a few
for
" Sit
down, Mr. Wyatt," replied the captain, somewhat
sternly, "you will capsize us if you do not sit quite still.
Our gunwale is almost in the water now."
" The box !
"
vociferated Mr. Wyatt,
standing still —
" will not
the box, I say Captain Hardy, you
! cannot, you
refuse me. Its weight will be but a trifle it is nothing — —
mere nothing. By the mother who bore you — for the
"
Mr. Wyatt, you are mad.cannot listen to you. Sit I
from the boat, and, as we were yet in the lee of the wreck,
succeeded, by almost superhuman exertion, in getting
hold of a rope which hung from the fore-chains. In an-
other moment he was on board, and rushing frantically
down into the cabin.
In the meantime, we had been swept astern of the ship,
and being quite out of her lee, were at the mercy of the
ance, when I saw him lash himself to the box, and com-
mit himself to the sea."
"
They sank as a matter of course/' replied the captain,
" and that like a shot.
They will soon rise again, how-
ever —but not till the salt melts."
u "
The salt ! I ejaculated.
"
Hush " ! said the captain, pointing to the wife and
sisters of the deceased. " We
must talk of these things at
some more appropriate time."
THE OBLONG BOX. 221
general, was not the less utterly solemn and serious be-
yond all attempts at imitation or description.
The younger seaman was, in outward appearance, the
all
swung off dangling from his sides like the fins of a sea-
turtle. Small eyes, of no particular color, twinkled far
KING PEST. 225
and his thick upper-lip rested upon the still thicker one
beneath with an air of complacent self-satisfaction, much
heightened by the owner's habit of licking them at inter-
vals. He evidently regarded his tall shipmate with a feel-
ing half-wondrous, half-quizzical ; and stared up occasion-
ally in his face as the red setting sun stares up at the crags
of Ben Nevis.
Various and eventful, however, had been the peregrina-
tions of the worthy couple in and about the different tap-
houses of the neighborhood during the earlier hours of
the night. Funds even the most ample, are not always
—
than the art of inditing could, in strict justice, have been
laid to the charge of either disciple of the sea but there ;
226 KING PEST.
many years before and after, all England, but more espe-
cially the metropolis, resounded with the fearful cry of
" "
Plague ! The city was
a great measure depopulated
in
—and in those horrible regions, in the vicinity of the
where prevailed by
;
— and
the aid of that ghastly light
surrounding houses ;
and while actual exertion became
necessary to force a passage through frequent heaps of
rubbish, was by no means seldom that the hand fell
it
Opposite him, and with her back to the door, was a lady
of no whit the less extraordinary character. Although
quite as tall as the person just described, she had no right
to complain of his unnatural emaciation. She was evi-
aristocracy.
Next to him, and at the right hand of the president,
his lower jaw still lower than usual, and spread open his
"
It becomes our duty upon the present happy occa-
"
sion
" "
Avast there !
interrupted Legs, looking very serious,
"
avast there a bit, I say, and tell us who the devil ye all
236 KING PEST.
are, and what business ye have here, rigged off like the
foul fiends, and swilling the snug blue ruin stowed away
for the winter by my honest ship-mate, Will Wimble, the
"
undertaker !
Ilential
'
— '
His Grace the Duke Tem-Pest
'
—and '
Her
Serene Highness the Arch Duchess Ana-Pest.'
"
As regards," continued he, " your demand of the
business upon which we sit here in council, w e might be
r
"
A sentence — a sentence—a righteous and just sen-
! !
"
and holy condemnation shouted the Pest family alto-
!
ugh !
ugh ugh !
ugh !
— ugh ! !
ugh — ! I was saying," said
he,
—"I was saying when Mr. King Pest poked in his mar-
"
14
Treason said the little man with the gout,
!
" "
Treason ! screamed the Arch Duchess Ana-Pest.
'• "
Treason ! muttered the gentleman with his jaws
tied up.
" "
Treason !
growled he of the coffin.
" "
Treason ! treason ! shrieked her
majesty of the
mouth and, seizing by the hinder part of his breeches
;
uge of liquor so
—
—so
impetuous so overwhelming
fierce
—that the room was flooded from wall to wall —the
loaded table was overturned — the were thrown
tressels
ancy did exist, just then, between what I said and what I
—
had not the courage to say between what I did and what
I had half a mind to do.
The old porpoise, as Iopened the drawing-room door,
was sitting with his feet upon the mantel-piece, and a
"
My dear uncle," said I, closing the door gently, and
approaching him with the blandest of smiles, "you are
always so very kind and considerate, and have evinced
—
your benevolence in so many so very many ways that —
—that I feel I have only to suggest this little point to
"
To be sure — of course ! I knew you were jesting.
"
Come off, you scoundrel !
—what do you mean by
that ? —
Better wait till it goes on."
"
Ha ha ha !— he ! ! ! he he !— hi
! ! hi ! hi !— ho ! ho !
ho !
— hu ! hu ! hu !
— oh, that 's good !
— oh, that 's
capital
—such a wit ! But all we want just now, you
know, uncle, is that you would indicate the time pre-
cisely."
"Ah!— precisely?"
"
Yes, uncle — that is, if it would be quite agreeable to
yourself."
"Would n't it answer, Bobby, if I were to leave it
"
If'you please, uncle — precisely."
"
Well, then, Bobby, my boy —you 're a fine fellow,
244 THREE SUNDA YS IN A WEEK.
are n't you ? —since you will have the exact time I '11 —
why I '11 oblige you for once."
" Dear uncle " !
"
Hush, sir !
"
[drowning my voice]
— I '11
oblige you for
A very "
fine old English gentleman," was my grand-
uncle Rumgudgeon, but unlike him of the song, he
had his weak points. He was a little, pursy, pompous,
passionate semicircular somebody, with a red nose, a thick
skull, a long purse, and a strong sense of his own conse-
long end
—there were exceedingly few requests which he
refused. Against all attacks upon his purse he made the
most sturdy defence but the amount extorted from him,
;
grace.
For the fine arts, and especially for the belles-lettres, he
entertained a profound contempt. With this he had been
five years in prospect are very much the same as five hun-
dred. In vain we besieged the old gentleman with
importunities. Here was a piece de resistance (as
Messieurs Ude and
Carene would say) which suited his
perverse fancy to a T. It would have stirred the indigna-
THREE SUNDA YS IN A WEEK. 247
"
Capt. Pratt. Well, I have been absent just one year.
Just one year to-day, as I live — let me see !
yes !
— this is
spects."
Uncle.
"
Yes, yes, yes — I remember it very well
—very
queer indeed ! Both of you gone one year.
just very A
strange coincidence, indeed !
Just what Doctor Dubble
THREE SUNDA YS IN A WEEK. 249
"
Kate. [Interrupting.] To be sure, papa, it is some-
thing strange ;
but then Captain Pratt and Captain
Smitherton did n't go altogether the same route, and that
makes a difference, you know."
" know any such
Uncle. I don't you huzzy
thing, !
Pratt. "
Whist, my dear fellow —you forget. To-mor-
row will be Sunday. Some other evening— "
Kate. "
Oh, no, fie — Robert not quite so bad as that.
! 's
Pratt.
"
beg both your pardons but I can't be so
I —
much mistaken. I know to-morrow 's Sunday, because " —
"
Smitherton. (Much surprised^) What are you all
Uncle.
"
To-day Sunday, I say don't / know ?
's — "
Pratt.
"
Oh no —
to-morrow 's Sunday."
!
Sunday : so it is ;
we are right.
Captain Pratt maintains
that to-morrow will be Sunday so it will he is right, :
;
too. The fact is, we are all right, and thus three Sundays
have come together in a week."
"
Smitherton. {After a pause.) By the by, Pratt, Kate
has us completely. What fools we two are Mr. Rum- !
twenty-four hours ;
that is to say, I am a day in advance
"
of your time. Understand, eh ?
"
Uncle. But Dubble L. Dee—"
"
Smitherton. {Speaking very loud.) Captain Pratt, on
the contrary, when he had sailed a thousand miles west of
this position, was an hour, and when he had sailed twenty-
upon that."
THE DEVIL IN THE BELFRY.
tions, I am
enabled to say, positively, that the borough
of Vondervotteimittiss has existed, from its origin, in
red, with black ends, so that the walls look like a chess-
board upon a great scale. The gables are turned to the
front,and there are cornices, as big as all the rest of the
house, over the eaves and over the main doors. The
windows are narrow and deep, with very tiny panes
and a great deal of sash. On the roof is a vast quantity
of tiles with long curly ears. The wood-work, throughout,
is of a dark hue, and there is much carving about it, with
but a trifling variety of pattern for, time out of mind,
;
ing. She is a little fat old lady, with blue eyes and a red
with big circular eyes and a huge double chin. His dress
—
resembles that of the boys and I need say nothing fur-
ther about it. All the difference is, that his pipe is some-
what bigger than theirs, and he can make a greater smoke.
Like them, he has a watch, but he carries his watch in his
pocket. To say the truth, he has something of more im-
—
portance than a watch to attend to and what that is, I
shall presently explain. He sits with his right leg upon
his left knee, wears a grave countenance, and always
round, oily, intelligent men, with big saucer eyes and fat
double chins, and have their coats much longer and their
shoe-buckles much bigger than the ordinary inhabitants
of Vondervotteimittiss. Since my sojourn in the bor-
ough, they have had several special meetings, and have
adopted these three important resolutions :
—
" That it is wrong to alter the good old course of
"
things :
258 THE DEVIL IN THE BELFRY.
"
That there is nothing tolerable out of Vondervottei-
mittiss :
"
and —
" That we will stick by our clocks and our cabbages."
Above the session-room of the Council is the steeple,
and in the steeple is the belfry, where exists, and has ex-
isted time out of mind, the pride and wonder of the vil-
—
lage the great clock of the borough of Vondervotteimit-
tiss. And this is the object to which the eyes of the old
never yet known to have any thing the matter with it.
Until lately, the bare supposition of such a thing was con-
sidered heretical. From the remotest period of antiquity
to which the archives have reference, the hours have been
a reverse !
of Vondervotteimittiss !
who beheld him that day would have given a trifle for a
here, and a whirligig there, did not seem to have the re-
nity and dismay. But the little chap seized him at once
by the nose ; gave it a swing and a pull ; clapped the big
chapeau-de-br as upon his head ;
knocked itdown over his
eyes and mouth and then, lifting up the big fiddle, beat
;
and the little gilt repeaters on the tails of the cat and pig.
" "
Two ! continued the big bell and ;
" "
Doo !
repeated all the repeaters.
"Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine!
"
Ten said the bell.
!
putting up their watches. But the big bell had not done
with them yet.
" Thirteeti / " said he.
" Der Teufel " !
gasped the little old gentlemen, turning
THE DEVIL IN THE BELFRY. 263
"
Vot is cum'd to mein kraut?" screamed all the vrows,
"
"It has been done to rags for dis hour !
disgust, and now appeal for aid to all lovers of correct time
and fine kraut.Let us proceed in a body to the borough,
and restore the ancient order of things in Vondervottei-
mittis by ejecting that little fellow from the steeple.
LIONIZING
" "
My son," said he, when we were seated, what is the
"
chief end of your existence ?
u
My father/' I is the study of Nosology."
answered, "it
"And what, Robert," he inquired, "is Nosology?"
" "
Sir," I said, it is the science of Noses."
" "
Profound thinker said the Dublin. !
" "
Great man said Bent ley.
!
" "
Divine soul said Fraser. !
" "
One of us said Blackwood.
!
" "
Whocan he be? said Mrs. Bas-Bleu.
u What can he be ? " said
big Miss Bas-Bleu.
" "
Where can he be ? said little Miss Bas-Bleu. — But I
trait ;
the Marquis of So-and-So was holding the Duchess'
poodle ;
the Earl of This-and-That was flirting with her
salts ; Royal Highness of Touch-me-Not was
and his lean-
" "
Oh my lisped the Marquis.
!
" "
Oh, shocking groaned the Earl. !
" "
Oh, abominable !
growled his Royal Highness.
" "
What will you take for it ? asked the artist.
" "
For his nose ! shouted her Grace.
"
A thousand pounds," said sitting down. I,
"
A thousand pounds " inquired the artist, musingly. ?
268 LIONIZING.
" "
Do you warrant it ? he asked, turning the nose to
the light.
"
I do," said I, blowing it well.
" "
Is it quite original ? he inquired, touching it with
reverence.
" "
Humph i said I, twisting it to one side.
" "
Has no copy been taken ? he demanded, surveying
it through a microscope.
"
None," said I, turning it up.
" "
Admirable ! he ejaculated, thrown quite off his
"
A thousand pounds ? " said he.
"
Just so," said I.
"
You shallhave them," said he. " What a piece of
"
virtu ! So he drew me a check upon the spot, and took
a sketch of my nose. engaged rooms
Jermyn street,
I in
trap ;
about talc and calc ;
about blende and horn-blende ;
please.
There was myself. I spoke of myself ;
—of myself, of
myself, of myself ;
—of Nosology, of my pamphlet, and of
myself. I turned up my nose, and I spoke of myself.
LIONIZING. 2?i
" "
Marvellous clever man ! said the Prince.
11 "
Nose and all ? she asked.
"
As I live," I replied.
"
Here then is a card, my life. Shall I say you will
"
be there?
"
Dear Duchess, with all my heart."
u
Pshaw, no —
but with all your nose
! ?
"
"
Every bit of it, my love," said I so :
— I gave it a twist
or two, and found myself at Almack's.
The rooms were crowded to suffocation.
" "
He is coming ! said somebody on the staircase.
" He "
is coming ! said somebody farther up.
" "
He is coming ! said somebody farther still.
"
He is come " ! exclaimed the Duchess. "
He is come,
the little love !
" —and, seizing me firmly by both hands,
she kissed me thrice upon the nose.
A marked sensation immediately ensued.
" "
Diavolo ! Count Capricornutti.
cried
"
Dios guarda /" muttered Don Stiletto.
" "
Mille tonnerres / ejaculated the Prince de Grenouille.
" "
Tousand teafel ! growled the Elector of Bludden-
nuff.
" "
Fool ! said the second.
" "
Dolt ! said the third.
" "
Ass said the fourth.
!
" "
Ninny said the fifth.
!
" "
Be off ! said the seventh.
" "
My son," he replied, the study of Nosology it is still ;
but in hitting the Elector upon the nose you have over-
shot your mark. You have a fine nose, it is true ;
but
then Bluddennuff has none. You are damned, and he has
become the hero of the day. I grant you that in Fum-
Fudge the greatness of a lion is in proportion to the size
of his —
proboscis but, good heavens ! there is no compet-
ing with a lion who has no proboscis at all."
274 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
carry with them sufficient evidence of their own authenticity, and that I had
consequently little to fear on the score of popular incredulity.
This expose being made, it will be seen at once how much of what
follows I claim to be my own writing and it will also be understood that
;
no fact is misrepresented in the first few pages which were written by Mr.
Poe. Even to those readers who have not seen the Messenger, it will be
unnecessary to point out where his portion ends and my own commences ;
CHAPTER I.
thought, very quietly (it being near one when the party
broke up), and without saying a word on his favorite
topic. It might have been half an hour from the time of
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 277
our getting in bed, and I was just about falling into a doze,
when he suddenly started up, and swore with a terrible
light of the moon —his face was paler than any marble,
pected, and that his conduct in bed had been the result of
a highly-concentrated state of intoxication —a state which,
like madness, frequently enables the victim to imitate the
outward demeanor of one in perfect possession of his
senses. The air, however, had had
coolness of the night
its usual effect —the mental energy began to yield before
its influence — and the confused perception which he no
doubt then had of his perilous situation had assisted in
the sea behind fell combing over our counter, and deluged
us with water. I was so utterly benumbed, too, in every
with water, carried away the mast short off by the board.
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 28 1
—
ment along the keel of her destroyer but this was all.
Thinking our boat (which it will be remembered was dis-
for any such nonsense and if there was a man run down,
;
They had just left the lee of the vessel (the moon still
green baize jacket I had on, and through the back part of
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 285
CHAPTER II.
of character.
position ;
but my mother went into hysterics at the bare
mention of the design and, more than all, my grand-
;
out of the way until dark, and then slip on board the
brig ; but, as there was now a thick fog in our favor, it
was agreed to lose no time in secreting me. Augustus
led the way to the wharf, and I followed at a little dis-
street, shaking all the while with rage, and muttering be-
tween his teeth :
"
Won't do — new glasses
—thought it
drinking department.
He now pressed with his knuckles upon a certain spot
of the carpet in one corner of the space just mentioned,
concealed.
The taper gave out so feeble a ray that it was with the
greatest difficulty I could grope my way through the con-
fused mass of lumber among which I now found
myself.
By degrees, however, my eyes became accustomed to the
gloom, and I proceeded with less trouble, holding on to
the skirts of my friend's coat. He
brought me, at length,
after creeping and winding through innumerable narrow
passages, to an iron-bound box, such as is used sometimes
for packing fine earthenware. It was nearly four feet
high, and full six long, but very narrow. Two large
296 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
common ;
and never, certainly, did any creature more
truly deserve it. For seven years he had been my in-
separable companion, and in a multitude of instances had
304 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
state-room ;
but none was visible. I then forced the blade
of mypenknife through them, until I met with some
hard obstacle. Scraping against it, I discovered it to be a
solid mass of iron, which, from its peculiar wavy feel as I
CHAPTER III.
lection.
mained but a small piece of the skin and all the biscuit, ;
Augustus
— for I knew that the person who called my
name could be no one but himself. All was silent for some
"
moments. At length I again heard the word u Arthur !
CHAPTER IV.
hour after he had left the watch. This was on the twen-
tieth of June. It will be remembered that I had then
been in the hold for three days ; and, during this period,
there was so constant a bustle on board, and so much run-
specified above.
grasp upon his throat; still he was able to see what was
going on around him. His father was tied hand and foot,
the most humble manner, to spare his life. The only reply-
was a blow on the forehead from an axe. The poor fellow
fell to the deck without a groan, and the black cook lifted
him up in his arms as he would a child, and tossed him
deliberately into the sea. Hearing the blow and the
plunge of the body, the men below could now be induced
to venture on deck neither by threats nor promises, until
a proposition was made to smoke them out. general A
rush then ensued, and for a moment it seemed possible
that the brig might be retaken. The mutineers, however,
succeeded at last in closing the forecastle effectually be-
fore more than six of their opponents could get up. These
six, finding themselves so greatly outnumbered and with-
ments/
After much indecision and two or three violent quar-
rels, it was determined at last that all the prisoners (with
living
— for, it will be remembered, he was left below when
the mutineers came up. Presently the two made their
330 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
him by the arms and hurled him over the brig's side into
the boat, which had been lowered while the mate went
below. The four men who were lying on the deck
were then untied and ordered to follow, which they did
—
without attempting any resistance Augustus being still
left in his painful position, although he struggled and
prayed only for the poor satisfaction of being permitted
to bid his father farewell. A
handful of sea-biscuit and
a jug of water were now handed down but neither mast,
;
sail, oar, nor compass. The boat was towed astern for a
few minutes, during which the mutineers held another
—
consultation it was then finally cut adrift. By this time
console himself with the idea that the boat might either
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDQN PYM. 33 1
CHAPTER V.
For some minutes after the cook had left the fore-
the same time some salt junk and potatoes, with a can of
upper deck, there being barely room enough left for his
body. Upon reaching the hatch he found that Tiger
had followed him below, squeezing between two rows of
the casks. It was now too late, however, to attempt get-
ting to me
before dawn, as the chief difficulty lay in pass-
This slip of paper being tied upon the dog, he was now
put downthe hatchway, and Augustus made the best of
his way back to the forecastle, where he found no reason
to believe that any of the crew had been in his absence.
To conceal the hole in the partition, he drove his knife in
the berth. His handcuffs were then replaced, and also the
rope around his ankles.
33$ , NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
than of anger.
The crash of the bottle was distinctly heard, yet Au-
gustus was not sure that it proceeded from the hold.
The doubt, however, was sufficient inducement to perse,
vere. He clambered up nearly to the orlop deck by means
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 343
utter exhaustion.
CHAPTER VI.
question. He now
seemed to be perfectly quiet, and we
could not even distinguish the sound of his breathing
pure.
In explanation of some portions of this narrative,
wherein I have spoken of the stowage of the brig, and
which may appear ambiguous my
to some of readers who
may have seen a proper or regular stowage, I must here
state that the manner in which this most important duty
is not too much to say that at least one half of the in-
loosely, when it did not much more than half fill the ves-
sel. For the first portion of the voyage he met with
nothing more than but when within a day's
light breezes ;
*
Whaling vessels are usually fitted with iron oil-tanks —why the
Grampus was not I have never been able to ascertain.
35° NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
side. All this time Tiger was lying in the foot of the berth,
and appeared to have recovered in some measure his fac-
ulties, for I could see him occasionally open his eyes and
draw a long breath.
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 35 I
the box. This day was the thirtieth of June, and the
thirteenth since the Grampus made sail from Nantucket.
On the second of July the mate came below, drunk as
The brig was still cruising for the vessel from the Cape
Verds, and a sail was now in sight, which was thought to
be the one in question. As the events of the ensuing
eight days were of little importance, and had no direct
bearing upon the main incidents of my narrative, I will
here throw them into the form of a journal, as I do not
wish to omit them altogether.
July ^d.
—Augustus furnished me with three blankets,
with which I contrived a comfortable bed in my hiding-
nothing better could be done, and that any thing was pref-
erable to a piratical life.
July 4t/i.
— The vessel in sight proved to be a small brig
354 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
were on the look-out. The mate hailed her, but the reply
was drowned in the roaring of the gale. At eleven, a sea
was shipped amidships, which tore away a great portion
of the larboard bulwarks, and did some other slight
day with Augustus, and told him that two of his gang,
Greely and Allen, had gone over to the mate, and were
resolved to turn pirates. He put several questions to
Augustus which he did not then exactly understand.
During a part of this evening the leak gained upon the
vessel and little could be done to remedy it, as it was
;
CHAPTER VII.
about taking the command from the mate but the pro- ;
tols which Peters had concealed about his person, and the
large seaman's knife which he always wore in the waist-
band of his pantaloons. From certain indications, too —
such, for example, as there being no such thing as an axe
or a handspike lying in their customary places —we began
to fear that the mate had his suspicions, at least in regard
I could not believe that the mate (who was a cunning fel-
low in all matters which did not affect his superstitious
when the wind is fair, but the sea too heavy for the vessel
to be put before it. If a vessel be suffered to scud before
the wind in a very heavy sea, much damage is usually
done her by the shipping of water over her stern, and
sometimes by the violent plunges she makes forward.
This manoeuvre, then, is seldom resorted to in such case,
unless through necessity. When a leaky
the vessel is in
nally across the vessel. This being done, the bows point
within a few degrees of the direction from which the wind
cordingly.
Rogers had died about eleven in the forenoon, in vio-
lent convulsions and the corpse presented in a few min-
;
time), and being either touched with remorse for his crime
fore he could utter a single cry, tossed him over the bul-
find nothing more fit for our purpose than the two pump-
CHAPTER VIII.
and afterward added more loudly, that " he could not un-
368 NARRATIVE OF A, GORDON PYM.
"
of the mate. Peters cried out, Ay, ay," in a disguised
voice, and the cook immediately went below, without en-
tertaining a suspicion that all was not right.
My two companions now proceeded boldly aft and
down into the cabin, Peters closing the door after him in
out all that was said, but I could plainly see the effects of
the conversation in the countenances of those present.
The mate was evidently much agitated, and presently,
when some one mentioned the terrific appearance of
Rogers' corpse, I thought he was upon the point of
swooning. Peters now asked him if he did not think it
would be better to have the body thrown overboard at
once as it was too horrible a sight to see it floundering
about in the scuppers. At this the villian absolutely
gasped for breath, and turned his head slowly round upon
his companions, as if
imploring some one to go up and
perform the task. No one, however, stirred, and it was
quite evident that the whole party were wound up to the
highest pitch of nervous excitement. Peters now made
me the signal. immediately threw open the door of the
I
was from the cook, John Hunt, and Richard Parker; but
they made but a feeble and irresolute defence. The two
former were shot instantly by Peters, and I felled Parker
with a blow on the head from the pump-handle which I
had brought with me. In the mean time, Augustus
seized one of the muskets lying on the floor and shot
another mutineer ( through the breast.
Wilson)
There were now but three remaining but by this time
;
partially down into the cabin during our scuffle, the hatch-
morning.
By midnight we had settled very deep in the water,
which was now up to the orlop deck. The rudder went
soon afterward, the sea which tore it away lifting the after-
CHAPTER IX.
water which tumbled upon us, and which did not roll
from above us until we were nearly exhausted. As soon
as I could recover breath, I called aloud to my com-
"
panions. Augustus alone replied, saying It is : all over
"
with us, and may God have mercy upon our souls !
By
and by both the others were enabled to speak, when they
exhorted us to take courage, as there was still hope it ;
above us, would drive the hulk so far beneath the water
that we should be drowned before it could regain the sur-
face. By the mercy of God, however, we were preserved
from these imminent dangers, and about midday were
cheered by the light of the blessed sun. Shortly after-
ward w£ could perceive a sensible diminution in the force
of the wind, when, now for the first time since the latter
scarcely more than one wave broke over the hulk from
382 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
legs, and soon cut loose all the lashings about him, when,
after a short delay, he also recovered the partial use of his
limbs. We now lost no time in getting loose the rope
and made its way into his groin, from which the blood
flowed out copiously as we removed the cordage. No
sooner had we removed it, however, than he spoke, and
seemed to experience instant relief, being able to move
with much greater ease than either Parker or myself
— this
ing been torn off by the water none of the ropes which
;
ings, and got him clear of the broken wood about the
windlass, we secured him in a dry place to windward, with
his head somewhat lower than his body, and all three of
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 385
the cabin, and dragged them to and fro, in the faint hope
of being thus able to entangle some article which might
be of use to us for food, or which might at least render us
assistance in getting it. We spent the greater part of
the morning in this labor without effect, fishing up noth-
ing more than a few bedclothes, which were readily caught
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 387
out without it, and found that he was almost at the last
CHAPTER X.
bow near the bowsprit. This last was a stout and tall
he had on fall from his head into the water but of this ;
a wide yaw threw her off full five or six points from the
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 393
ging itself with the horrible flesh, its bill and talons deep
buried, and its white plumage spattered all over with
blood. As the brig moved farther round so as to bring
us close in view, the bird, with much
apparent difficulty,
drew out its crimsoned head, and, after eying us for a mo-
ment as if stupefied, arose lazily from the body upon
which it had been feasting, and, flying directly above our
deck, hovered there a while with a portion of clotted and
liver-like substance in its beak. The horrid morsel dropped
at length with a sullen splash immediately at the feet of
Parker. May God forgive me, but now, for the first time,
there flashed through my mind a thought, a thought
which I will not mention, and I felt myself making a step
toward the ensanguined spot. I looked upward, and the
did upon the rope, had been easily swayed to and fro by
the exertions of the carnivorous bird, and it was this
swung round and fell partially over, so that the face was
fully discovered. Never, surely, was any object so terribly
full of awe ! The eyes were gone, and the whole flesh
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 395
passed under our stern, and made its way slowly but
steadily to leeward. With her and with her terrible crew
went all our gay visions of deliverance and joy. Deliber-
nor act, until, alas ! too late. How much our intellects
had been weakened by this incident may be estimated
CHAPTER XL
WE spent the remainder of the day in a condition of
stupid lethargy, gazing after the retreating vessel until
the darkness, hiding her from our sight, recalled us in
some measure to our senses. The pangs of hunger and
thirst then returned, absorbing all other cares and consid-
erations. Nothing, however, could be done until the
morning, and, securing ourselves as well as possible, we
endeavored to snatch a little repose. In this I succeeded
beyond my expectations, sleeping until my companions,
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 397
Giving
thanks to God for this timely and cheering assistance, we
immediately drew the cork with my penknife, and, each
taking a moderate sup, felt the most indescribable com-
fort from the warmth, strength, and spirits with which it
inspired us. We then carefully recorked the bottle, and,
by means of a handkerchief, swung it in such a manner
that there was no possibility of its getting broken.
Having rested a while after this fortunate discovery, I
weeping like a child, with loud cries and sobs, for two or
three hours, when, becoming exhausted, he fell asleep.
Peters and Augustus now made several ineffectual efforts
to swallow portions of the leather. I advised them to
CHAPTER XII.
at an earlier period.
Augustus ;
in short, that I was in a condition to have my
own way by force if I found it necessary ;
and that if he
attempted in any manner to acquaint the others with his
anger, I forced him to the vessel's side, with the full in-
tention of throwing him overboard. He was saved from
however, by the interference of Peters, who now
this fate,
in), the fog lifted before the hour had expired, when, no
vessel appearing in sight, we prepared to draw lots.
provisions.
When I communicated this project to my companions,
414 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
—
necessary to accomplish our task that is, to cut an open-
ing sufficiently large to admit of a free access to the store-
room. This consideration, however, did not discourage
us ; and, working all night by the light of the moon, we
succeeded in effecting our purpose by daybreak on the
lifting it out.
The water we drew carefully from the bag into the jug,
which, it will be remembered, had been brought up before
from the cabin. Having done this, we broke off the neck
of a bottle so as to form, with the cork, a kind of glass,
CHAPTER XIII.
July 25th.
—This
morning the gale had diminished to a
mere ten-knot breeze, and the sea had gone down with it
so considerably that we were able to keep ourselves dry
that the hulk lay more along than ever, so that we could
not stand an instant without lashing ourselves. On this
judge. She was lying keel up, rocking furiously from side
to side, and the sea in all directions around was much
agitated, and full of strong whirlpools. I could see noth-
tered about.
Bitterly did we now regret the loss of our jug and car-
August jth.
—Just at daybreak we both at the same in-
lungs, although the vessel could not have been less than
fifteen miles distant. However, she still continued to
near our hulk, and we felt that, if she but held her present
agine it possible that she did not observe us, and were
apprehensive that she meant to leave us to perish as we
—
were an act of fiendish barbarity, which, however in-
the masts going by the board, she afterward righted. They remained in this
situation, without fire, and with very little provision, for the period of one
hundred and ninety-one days (from December the fifteenth to June the
twentieth), when Captain Casneau and Samuel Badger, the only survivors,
were taken wreck by the Fame, of Hull, Captain Featherstone,
off the
bound home from Rio Janeiro. When picked up, they were in latitude 28
N., longitude 13 W., having drifted above two thousand miles ! On the
ninth of July the Fame fell in with the brig Dromeo, Captain Perkins, who
landed the two sufferers in Kennebeck. The narrative from which we
gather these details ends in the following words :
"It is natural to inquire how they could float such a vast distance, upon
the most frequented part of the Atlantic, and not be discovered all this
time. They were passed by more than a dozen sail, one of which came so nigh
them that they could distinctly see the people on deck and oti the rigging look-
ing at them ; but, to the inexpressible disappointment of the starving and
freezing men, they stifled the dictates of compassion, hoisted sail, and cruelly
abandoned them to their fate ."
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 433
CHAPTER XIV.
The
Jane Guy was a fine-looking topsail schooner of a
hundred and eighty tons burden. She was unusually
sharp in the bows, and on a wind, in moderate weather,
the fastest sailer I have ever seen. Her qualities, how-
endured during the days spent upon the hulk. The inci-
43 6 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
dents are remembered, but not the feelings which the in-
cidents elicited at the time of their occurrence. I only
They always bring with them a heavy sea, and one of their
most dangerous features is the instantaneous chopping
round of the wind, an occurrence almost certain to take
place during the greatest force of the gale. A perfect
hurricane will be blowing at one moment from the north-
ward or northeast, and in the next not a breath of wind
will be felt in that direction, while from the southwest it
easily procured.
Some and hair species are still to be
seal of the fur
nests here and there, wherever they can find room, never
able that his design was to leave the letter on that height
for some vessel which he expected to come after him. As
soon as we lost sight ofhim we proceeded (Peters and
myself being mate's boat) on our cruise around the
in the
CHAPTER XV.
On the twelfth we made
from Christmas Harbor,
sail
gators.
I believe it was not long after Captain Patten's visit
W. and ;
the most southern in latitude 53 15' 22" S.,
CHAPTER XVI.
for, upon reaching latitude 6y° 15', they found all farther
—
uary and we should not be surprised if a portion of the
icy mountains described was attached to the main body
of Palmer's Land, or to some other portions of land lying
farther to the southward and westward."
In 1803, Captains Kreutzenstern and Lisiausky were
In this latitude there was 710 field ice, and very few ice
islands in sight."
Under the date of March fourteenth I find also this
entry: "The sea was now entirely free of fiald ice, and
there were not more than a dozen ice islands in sight. At
the same time the temperature of the air and water was
at least thirteen degrees higher (more mild) than we
had ever found it between the parallels of sixty and
sixty-two south. We
were now in latitude 70 14' S., and
the temperature of the air was forty-seven, and that of the
water forty-four. In this situation I found the variation
to be 14 27' easterly, per azimuth. * * * I havesev-
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 4$?
tude 66° 30' S., longitude 47 13' E., he descried land, and
"
clearly discovered through the snow the black peaks of
a range of mountains running E. S. E." He remained in
this neighborhood during the whole of the following month,
concur ;
nor do the discoveries of Briscoe warrant any
such inference. It was within these limits that Weddel
proceeded south on a meridian to the east of Georgia,
Sandwich Land, and the South Orkney and Shetland
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 459
by the society.
These are the principal attempts which have been
made at penetrating to a high southern latitude, and it
will now be seen that there remained, previous to the
CHAPTER XVII.
January $tk.
—We had still held on to the southward
without any very great impediments. On this morning,
however, being in latitude 73 15' E., longitude 42 io'
going over the bows his foot slipped, and he fell be-
tween two cakes of ice, never rising again. At noon of
this day we were in latitude 78 30', longitude 40 15' W.
The cold was now excessive, and we had hail squalls con-
.
tinually from the northward and eastward. In this direc-
tion also we saw several more immense icebergs, and the
462 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
Ja?iuary \2th.
— Our passage to the south again looked
doubtful, as nothing was to be seen in the direction of the
January 14///.
—This morning we reached the western
2i', longitude 42
°
W. We here again sounded, and found
a current setting still .
southwardly, and at the rate
of three quarters of a mile per hour. The variation
blow. The brute tumbled into the sea lifeless, and with-
out a struggle, rolling over Peters as he fell. The latter
soon recovered himself, and a rope being thrown him, he
secured the carcass before entering the boat. We then
returned in triumph to the schooner, towing our trophy
behind us. This bear, upon admeasurement, proved to
be full fifteen feet in his greatest length. His wool was
perfectly white, and very coarse, curling tightly. The
eyes were of a blood red, and larger than those of the
Arctic bear the snout also more rounded, rather resem-
;
bling the snout of the bull-dog. The meat was tender, but
excessively rank and fishy, although the men devoured it
with avidity, and declared it excellent eating.
our view ;
we were getting short of fuel, and symptoms of
CHAPTER XVIII.
remark, in this place, that I cannot, in the first portion of what is here
gitudes, having kept no regular journal until after the period of which this
first portion treats. In many instances I have relied altogether upon
memory.
468 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
canoes put off from the shore, filled with men who seemed
to be well armed. We waited for them to come up, and,
as they moved with great rapidity, they were soon within
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 469
long and five broad, there were a hundred and ten savages
in They were about the ordinary stature of Euro-
all.
There were two large mirrors in the cabin, and here was
the acme of their amazement. Too-wit was the first to
but, throwing himself upon the floor, with his face buried
in his hands, he remained thus until we were obliged to
drag him upon deck.
The whole of the savages were admitted on board in
this manner, twenty at a time, Too-wit being suffered to
commingle ;
and that was perfect in regard
their cohesion
CHAPTER XIX.
being more than nine miles in the interior, and the path
lying through a rugged country. As we passed along,
the party of Too-wit (the whole hundred and ten savages
of the canoes) was momentarily strengthened by smaller
detachments, of from two to six or seven, which joined
us, as if by accident, at different turns of the road. There
appeared so much of system in this that I could not help
opening.
This if it were worthy of the name, lay in a
village,
carpet.
To this hut we were conducted with great solemnity,
and as many of the natives crowded in after us as possible.
Too-wit seated himself on the leaves, and made signs that
we should follow his example. This we did, and presently
found ourselves in a situation peculiarly uncomfortable, if
CHAPTER XX.
The chief was as good ashis word, and we were soon
"
It is that mollusca from the Indian Seas which is
eight dollars ;
and the eighth, four dollars small cargoes, ;
although the high value they set upon the goods we had
with us was evident by the extravagant demonstrations of
deeply laid plan for our destruction, and that the islanders
for whom we entertained such inordinate feelings of
49° NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
diately.
The six men on board, our shore-party con-
being left
CHAPTER XXI.
our steps and look for him. After a long search, and
much danger from the farther caving in of the earth above
496 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
true, and that, of course, life had been long extinct. With
sorrowful hearts, therefore, we left the corpse to its fate,
pery, being wet, that we could get but little foothold up-
on them even in their least precipitous parts ;
in some
places, where the ascent was nearly perpendicular, the
difficulty was, of course, much aggravated ; and, indeed,
for some time we thought insurmountable. We took
courage, however, from despair and what, by;
dint of cut-
ting steps in the soft stone with our bowie knives, and
swinging at the risk of our lives, to small projecting
points of a harder species of slaty rock which now and
then protruded from the general mass, we at length
reached a natural platform, from which was perceptible
a patch of blue sky, at the extremity of a thickly-wooded
ravine. Looking back now, with somewhat more leisure,
at the passage through which we had thus far proceeded,
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 497
our whereabouts.
After having reposed for about an hour, we pushed on
slowly up the ravine, and had gone no great way before
we heard a succession of tremendous yells. At length we
reached what might be called the surface of the ground ;
for our path hitherto, since leaving the platform, had lain
the face of the precipice from which the mass had fallen,
it was clear, from marks left in the soil resembling those
made by the drill of the rock-blaster, that stakes similar
to those we saw
standing had been inserted, at not more
than a yard apart, for the length of perhaps three hundred
feet, and ranging at about ten feet back from the edge of
one another ;
and a very moderate exertion of art would
be sufficient for effecting the same purpose. Of this strat-
ification the savages had availed themselves to accom-
CHAPTER XXII.
we forbore.
tion,
Our next thought was to attempt to rush toward the
up from the bushes at the head of the bay, and put off
swiftly to join the other parties. Thus, in less time than
I have taken to tell it, and as if by magic, the Jane saw
502 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
ripped up ;
the cordage, sails, and every thing movable
on deck demolished as if by magic ; while, by dint of
504 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
only just now created by the fall of the cliff opposite, and
that no other way of attaining it could be perceived, we
were not so much rejoiced at the thought of being secure
from molestation as fearful lest there should be absolutely
no means left us for descent. We resolved to explore the
summit of the hill when a good opportunity
thoroughly,
should offer. In the meantime we watched the motions
of the savages through our loophole.
CHAPTER XXIII.
gether, the one soft, the other hard. The bird we had
taken in such good season proved excellent eating, al-
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
about thirty feet, and found that the aperture was a low
and regularly formed arch, having a bottom of the same
impalpable powder as that in the main chasm. strong A
light now broke upon us, and, turning a short bend, we
We
found the entire length of the third chasm three
hundred and twenty yards. At the point a was an open-
ing about six feet wide, and extending fifteen feet into
Fig. 3. Fig. 5.
.<
IA/ fSX. A3
Fig. 4.
CHAPTER XXIV.
On the the twentieth of the month, finding it altogether
impossible to subsist any longer upon the filberts, the use
of which occasioned us the most excruciating torment, we
resolved to make a desperate attempt at descending the
southern declivity of the hill. The face of the precipice
was here of the softest species of soapstone, although
feet in the hole just cut, taking hold with his hands upon
Peters had taken off his shirt before descending, and this,
with my own, formed the rope necessary for the adven-
ture. After throwing down the musket found in the
chasm, I fastened this rope to the bushes, and let myself
down rapidly, striving, by the vigor of my movements, to
banish the trepidation which I could overcome in no other
ness, and the last struggle, and the half swoon, and
the final bitterness of the rushing and headlong descent.
$20 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
a new
being, and, with some little further aid from my
companion, reached the bottom also in safety.
We now found ourselves not far from the ravine which
had proved the tomb of our friends, and to the southward
of the spot where the hill had fallen. The place was one
of singular wildness, and its aspect brought to my mind
the descriptions given by travellers of those dreary regions
high latitudes.
As food was our most immediate object, we resolved to
make our way to the sea-coast, distant not more than half
a mile, with a view of catching turtle, several of which we
had observed from our place of concealment on the hill.
We had proceeded some hundred yards, threading our
route cautiously between the huge rocks and tumuli,
when, upon turning a corner, five savages sprung upon us
from a small cavern, felling Peters to the ground with a
blow from a club. Ashe fell the whole party rushed upon
him to secure their victim, leaving me time to recover from
time, were not more than twice as far from the beach as
ourselves, and were rapidly advancing to the pursuit. No
time was now to be lost. Our hope was, at best, a forlorn
one, but we had none other. It was very doubtful
whether, with the utmost exertion, we could get back in
time to anticipate them in taking possession of the canoe ;
had attained it. This man paid dearly for his superior
agility, Peters shooting him through the head with a pis-
tol as he approached the shore. The foremost among the
rest of his party were probably some twenty or thirty
CHAPTER XXV,
We now found ourselves in the wide and desolate An-
tarctic Ocean, in a latitude exceeding eighty-four degrees,
in a frail canoe, and with no provision but the three
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. $2?
east for the present, with the view of weathering the most
southerly of the group This being done, we
in sight.
our tortoises, and obtained from him not only food but a
copious supply of water, we continued on our course,
without any incident of moment, for perhaps seven or
its color.
—
March 2d. To-day by repeated questioning of our cap-
tive, we came to the knowledge of many particulars in
was precisely the same with the note of the black bittern
we had eaten up on the summit of the hill.
—
March 3d. The heat of the water was now truly re-
markable, and in color was undergoing a rapid change,
being no longer transparent, but of a milky consistency
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. 531
March %th.
—The wind had entirely ceased, but it was
evident that we were still hurrying on to the southward,
under the influence of a powerful current. And now, in-
was all.
March 6th. —The gray vapor had now arisen many more
degrees above the horizon, and was gradually losing its
grayness of tint. The heat of the water was extreme,
53 2 NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM.
even unpleasant to the touch, and its milky hue was more
evident than ever. To-day a violent agitation of the
water occurred very close to the canoe. It was attended,
as usual, with a wild flaring up of the vapor at its summit,
and a momentary division at its base. fine white A
powder, resembling ashes — but
certainly not such fell —
over the canoe and over a large surface of the water, as
the flickering died away among the vapor and the com-
motion subsided in the sea. Nu-Nu now threw himself on
his face in the bottom of the boat, and no persuasions
could induce him to arise.
March ph. —This day we questioned Nu-Nu concern-
March gt/i.
—The whole ashy material fell now continu-
NOTE.
The circumstances connected with the late sudden and distressing death
of Mr. Pym are already well known to the public through the medium of
the daily press. It is feared that the few remaining chapters which were
tohave completed his narrative, and which were retained by him, while the
above were in type, for the purpose of revision, have been irrecoverably lost
through the accident by which he perished himself. This, however, may
prove not to be the case, and the papers, if ultimately found, will be given
to the public.
No meanshave been left untried to remedy the deficiency. The gentle-
man whose name is mentioned in the preface, and who, from the statement
there made, might be supposed able to fill the vacuum, has declined the
—
task this, for satisfactory reasons connected with the general inaccuracy
of the details afforded him, and his disbelief in the entire truth of the latter
imity ;
and as, too, the statements of the author in relation to these regions
would afford the writer of this appendix much pleasure if what he may here
observe should have a tendency to throw credit, in any degree, upon the
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM. $3S
very singular pages now published. We allude to the chasms found in the
island of Tsalal, and to the whole of the figures upon pages 241. 242,
243, 244.
Mr. Pym has given the figures of the chasms without comment, and
speaks decidedly of the indentures found at the extremity of the most east-
erly of these chasms as having but a fanciful resemblance to alphabetical
characters, and, in short, as being positively not such. This assertion is
made in a manner so simple, and sustained by a species of demonstration so
conclusive (viz., the fitting of the projections of the fragments found among
the dust into the indentures upon the wall), that we are forced to believe
the writer in earnest ;
and no reasonable reader should suppose otherwise.
But as the facts in relation to all the figures are most singular (especially
when taken in connection with statements made in the body of the narra-
tive), it may be as well to say a word or two concerning them all this, too,
—
the more especially as the facts in question have, beyond doubt, escaped the
attention of Mr. Poe.
Figure 1, then, figure 2, figure 3, and figure 5, when conjoined with one
another in the precise order which the chasms themselves presented, and
when deprived of the small lateral branches or arches (which, it will be re-
hieroglyphical appearance was really the work of art, and intended as the
representation of a human form. The delineation is before the reader, and
he may, or may not, perceive the resemblance suggested ;
but the rest of the
indentures afford strong confirmation of Peters' idea. The upper range is
"
evidently the Arabic verbal root ^^.LAO To be white," whence all
the inflections of brilliancy and whiteness. The lower range is not so im-
Conclusions such as these open a wide field for speculation and exciting
conjecture. They should be regarded, perhaps, in connection with some of
the most faintly-detailed incidents of the narrative although in no visible ;
53^ NARRATIVE OF A. CORDON PYM.
manner is this chain of connection complete. Tekeli-li ! was the cry of the
affrighted natives of Tsalal upon discovering the carcass of the white animal
picked up at sea. This also was the shuddering exclamation of the captive
Tsalalian upon encountering the white materials in possession of Mr. Pym.
This also was the shriek of the swift-flying, white, and gigantic birds which
issued from the vapory white curtain of the South. Nothing white was to
be found at Tsalal, and nothing otherwise in the subsequent voyage to the
region beyond. It is not impossible that "Tsalal," the appellation of the
island of the chasms, may be found, upon minute philological scrutiny, to
betray either some alliance with the chasms themselves, or some reference
to the Ethiopian characters so mysteriously written in their windings.
"I have graven it within the hills, and my vengeance upon the dust within
the rock"
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